Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
The doctor didn’t seem to notice my distress. He continued cataloging Alex’s injuries as though reading from his grocery list. “We are monitoring him extremely closely because he also has a small skull fracture. Luckily, there is no evidence of bleeding in his brain, but we will be doing a few more scans throughout the night. We also have him sedated and intubated with a breathing tube and a ventilator. There is a lot of facial swelling and swelling in his chest, which is compromising his ability to breathe on his own. He’ll remain sedated and ventilated for a few days until we get some of that swelling down, and he can safely breathe without assistance.”
I stared at the physician as though he’d spoken another language, one I didn’t understand and never would. How could this be real? I had to be in the throes of a sickening night terror.
My Alex. My boyfriend, my lover, my life was lying back there somewhere, alone and unconscious with a machine doing his breathing for him. Any second now, I’d wake from this nightmare, roll over, and pull him against me. If I held him a little too tight, he’d just have to deal.
Any second now.
Right?
I’m waiting…
“Do either of you have any questions for me?”
Did I have questions? Fuck yes, I had questions. At least a few million, but as I blinked at the physician, a few inches shorter than me, I couldn’t think of anything to ask. “I….” I shook my head. “I don’t know. I can’t… my brain isn’t working.”
The doctor reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “I know this is overwhelming, but Alex is young, and he is strong. He will recover well with time and proper care. He’s fortunate you found him when you did,” he said, shifting his gaze to Kenny, who seemed to have shrunken in on himself. Someone must have explained to the doctor how Kenny discovered his injured brother.
“Can we see him?” I whispered.
The physician nodded. “He’s been transferred to the ICU. Two at a time may visit, so you can go in together.” He pointed to his right. “Follow that hallway and make the first left. You’ll see the elevator bank there. The ICU is on the fifth floor. They will admit you, and a nurse will take you to his room.”
Yeah, I knew the drill. It’d barely been half a year since I did this very same thing with my father. Only this time, the shock and numbness were a million times worse, and I didn’t have Alex by my side to get me through as he’d done when my father had a stroke. I had to make my way there without Alex, and God, did I miss him already.
“Okay, thank you.”
The doctor extended his hand. “I’m so sorry to have to meet you this way, but I promise your boyfriend is in the best of hands. Try to stay positive, okay?”
Positive. Sure, no problem. I gave him a limp handshake, then began the trek to the ICU. Kenny followed suit, mumbling his gratitude to the physician as well. Maybe I should check in with him and see how he was holding up, but I couldn’t. My mind was one hundred percent focused on getting to Alex. Anything else would have to wait, and that included Kenny.
We rode the elevator in silence, then I used the familiar phone to request entry to the intensive care unit. A young nurse with a blunt bob cut and a no-nonsense expression met us as the doors opened.
“I’m Peggy,” she said with a sympathetic smile on her makeup-free face. “I’ll be taking care of Alex until the morning. He’s in room eight over here.” She pointed to a glass room with pulled curtains. “Follow me. I’ll explain everything once we’re in there.”
I followed her with wooden movements, feeling like I was slogging through five feet of thick mud. Every step took a monumental amount of effort. My heart pounded like the hooves of a wild stallion, dreading and demanding to see Alex at the same time.
“Here we are,” she said as we reached the room.
“Peg, Dr. Seymore is on hold for you.”
The nurse glanced toward the semicircular desk where another woman in scrubs held out a phone. “That’s Alex’s doctor. Excuse me for one moment,” she said with a squeeze on my forearm. “You can go on in and see him.”
My skin prickled, and I swallowed hard before reaching for the curtain. Beside me, I could feel Kenny trembling with anxiety. Were I in a better headspace, I’d grab his hand or offer a reassuring word, but I had nothing to give him.
I opened the curtain wide enough to slip into the room and immediately gasped at the sight before me.
Alex lay flat in the bed with wires extending from every angle, attached to various machines, medications, and monitors. As we’d been warned, a tube ran from his throat to a loud machine that made a whirring sound every time it pumped oxygen into my boyfriend’s lungs. I stepped close, whimpering when my gaze landed on his skin.