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Sean didn’t try further. No doubt she was letting guilt swamp her. As if she could have done anything if she had been there. Sean pulled on his clothes, threw his other items in his bag then called the hospital requesting to speak to the emergency department. After a few minutes, he had a clear picture of Rick’s situation.
Cynthia joined him with her bag in hand.
“I just talked to the doctor seeing about Rick. He’s going to be fine. He needs surgery but he’s young and should do great.” Sean hoped to reassure her. She was acting panicky. Her face twisted with worry, and her hands shaking.
“Do you know the man who’s going to do it?” she asked.
“I do. It’s me.”
She searched his face. “You? Can he wait that long?”
“Cynthia, this isn’t a life and death issue.”
Her face turned furious. “He’s my brother. As far as I’m concerned it is life or death!” Striding ahead of him, she was out of the door and almost to the car when she said, “I should have been there.”
On the way to the hospital Cynthia said little. Her eyes were so serious and sad. Sean wanted to hold her but he couldn’t do that while driving. He made a couple of calls and organized his team for the upcoming surgery. At the hospital, Sean pulled into his slot in the parking lot. Before he could turn off the engine, Cynthia was out of the car and stalking toward the ER. He caught up with her. “We’ll go through the staff entrance.”
At the nurses’ station, he asked what trauma room Rick was in. When they entered she hurried to the bed.
“Oh, Rick, I’m sorry I wasn’t there. How do you feel?” She gently touched the top of his head, then his hand.
The boy did look awful with his swollen face and the purple and red discoloration beneath his eyes. Sean was used to the appearance but probably for Cyn it looked much worse on her beloved brother.
“Hey, Cyn. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. It’s just hard to breathe,” Rick complained.
“I’m going to fix that,” Sean said, stepping closer to the bed.
Rick looked at him with bloodshot watery eyes. “You’re going to do the surgery?”
“You want the best nose guy in town, don’t you?” Sean smiled at him.
“Yeah, I’d like to have a nose instead of a pancake.”
“Understood.” Sean touched Cynthia’s back, gaining her attention. “I’m going to step out and look at the results from some tests I ordered. I’ll be back to examine Rick in a few minutes.” To Rick he said, “We’ll be going into surgery within the hour.”
Cynthia didn’t even acknowledge him. Her actions baffled Sean. She was acting as if he’d caused Rick’s accident. Was she blaming him for her not being there when Rick got hurt? Hadn’t she learned from her parents that some things couldn’t be prevented?
He reviewed all the material and discussed with the ER doctor what had been done so far for Rick, then returned to his room. Cynthia still stood beside his bed with her hand on his arm.
Sean stepped toward them. Cynthia threw him a quick glance when he announced, “Well, Rick, you took a good shot to the face. I’ve reviewed the X-rays and CT. You have an extreme septal hematoma. It’ll need to be surgically repaired so you can breathe correctly. Thankfully you don’t have a broken cheekbone. What I’ll do is straighten your nose. You’ll have packing inside and a brace across it when you come out of surgery. Give it a few weeks and you should be back to normal. Now, before I leave to get ready for surgery I need to give you a quick exam.”
Cynthia stepped back and allowed him in closer to the bed. Sean gently touched around Rick’s face, at his ears, jaw and neck. He finished, pleased that the young man didn’t flinch any more than expected. Rick was lucky the injury wasn’t worse.
There was a knock at the door. Ann Marie stuck her head in the room. She wore an unsure smile. “Can I come in?”
Rick groaned. “Now you get to see me as the Elephant Man.”
Sean touched Cynthia’s arm. “Can I talk to you outside for a minute?”
With an unsure look, she glanced back at Rick before following him out. Outside the room, she turned worried eyes up at Sean.
“I just wanted to give you an idea of what’ll happen. Surgery will take a few hours at least. Rick will probably be out of it until morning. I’m going to give him some pretty strong pain meds. I want him to spend the night here just to make sure everything is okay and rule out a concussion. He had a major trauma to his head. If he has no issues he should be able to go home tomorrow.”
“Is he going to be okay?” Her eyes begged for reassurance.
Sean hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “Rick’s going to be fine. Promise.” He released her so he could look at her face. “You can stay here with him until he’s ready to go to surgery. I’ve instructed one of the nurses to show you to the waiting room. I’ll meet you there when we’re done.”
She grabbed his arm. “Take care of my brother.” “You know I will.” Sean patted her hand and headed down the hall.
* * *
Cynthia didn’t like waiting. Especially when a loved one was involved. She’d paced the waiting room, spoken to Mark who was at work and would be here as soon as he got off. Now she was mindlessly watching the TV without really hearing or seeing it. Other families had come and gone in the waiting room, but she remained.
She took a chair and put her head in her hands. What had she been doing? She should have been at the basketball game instead of off with Sean. She was responsible for Rick. When he had needed her she’d been curled in Sean’s arms. Her parents would be so disappointed in her.
Cynthia hated it but she was going to have to give up Sean. There was no way she could meet her obligations to her brothers and to Sean too. One of them would have to wait. Unfortunately, right now in her life that must be Sean. She would be tearing her heart out to do it but she would. It wasn’t fair to him to take second seat all the time. If she gave him up it wouldn’t be that way any more.
She must to tell him soon. For his sake and hers.
With relief, and a sadness that went bone deep, she was glad to see Sean come through the doors toward her. He was still wearing his blue surgical cap and matching scrubs. What she appreciated the most was the smile on his face. Surgery had been successful.
When she reached him, he pulled her close. She resisted holding tight. He gave her a concerned look. She didn’t give him time to ask questions. “By the look on your face Rick is doing well.”
“He is. He’s being moved to a room and you should be able to see him in about an hour. Someone will come tell you what room. They were having to juggle rooms when I last asked. Are you good?” Sean studied her. Anxiety showing in his eyes.
“I’m fine now.”
“Good. I hate to leave you again but I have some paperwork to do. I’ll see you later in Rick’s room.”
She nodded. “Thanks for taking care of my brother.”
He smiled and brushed her cheek with a finger. “Anything for you.”
That statement didn’t make her feel any better about what she had to do.
Two hours later Cynthia was sitting at Rick’s bedside when Sean entered. He’d changed back into the shirt and jeans he’d worn to the hospital.
“How’s the patient doing?” He studied Rick.
She looked at her brother. “Okay, I think. He moans every once in a while, but that’s it.”
“He’ll have a lot of swelling but it’ll be gone in a couple of weeks. In about six weeks you shouldn’t be able to tell this even happened.” Sean sounded pleased with his work.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
“Not a problem. Just sorry this happened to him.” Sean came around the bed to her.
“How about going home with me and getting some rest? I can bring you bac
k first thing in the morning.”
Cynthia didn’t stand to meet him. She wasn’t going anywhere until Rick did. “I’m going to stay here tonight.”
