Page 74 of Chasing Honor

“I deserve that. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, good, you're awake.” The nurse interrupted. “Let me get the doctor.”

“How long have I been out?”

“You’ve been out of surgery for two hours,” he told me.

“Surgery?”

“Yes. Four of the longest hours of my life. I can’t remember a time I’ve ever been so scared.”

Before I could ask any more questions, an older man entered the room and smiled.

“Glad you finally decided to wake up. I thought I was going to have to sedate your fiancé here. He was worse than a two-year-old on a road trip asking, are we there yet,” the doctor chuckled.

Fiancé? I looked at Ethan and he shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m Doctor Levine, I performed your surgery. How do you feel? On a scale of one to ten what’s your pain level?”

I was trying to focus on Dr. Levine, however my head was still spinning at the revelation Ethan had told him we were engaged.

“Um, maybe a four, but I do have a headache and I feel like I might throw up.”

“Both are normal. Your vitals all look great. Dr. Krier was able to treat the pneumothorax in the ambulance. I removed the cath she put in during transport and replaced it with a chest tube.” The doctor pulled the unsnapped hospital gown down revealing a tube inserted just below my armpit. “You’re connected to a wall suction, so you’re leashed, so to speak, to the bed. Do not try and get up. Tomorrow you’ll be able to use the restroom with assistance. For now, you need to be connected to the suction at all times. To stop internal bleeding I had to remove your damaged spleen. The incision will be sore for a few weeks. I’m more concerned with your lung at the moment. You were extremely lucky Dr. Krier was there; pneumothorax can be life-threatening.”

“You removed my spleen? Don’t I need that?”

“I’ve performed hundreds of splenectomies. You can live a normal, healthy life without your spleen. There’s a chance you’ll be more prone to infection; however, it’s not significant.”

“When I woke up, I didn’t notice this.” I pointed to the tube coming out of my chest.

“That’s good. I don’t want you in pain. You’ll still feel a shortness of breath while your lung inflates. I won’t sugarcoat it, young lady, pneumothorax is extremely painful. I was very impressed with Dr. Krier’s original efforts.”

“Who’s Dr. Krier? Is she here? I’d like to thank her. It sounds like she saved my life.”

Ethan’s hand on my arm tightened, bringing my attention to him.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. His brows were pulled together, and he was staring at me with wide eyes. He opened his mouth, and I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t lie to me.”

“Nothing’s wrong. We’ll talk after the doctor is done with his exam.”

I continued to hold Ethan’s gaze. I only broke contact when Dr. Levine asked me to look at him, so he could check my pupils and throat. Once he deemed I was fine, he left the room with a promise to return before he left for the evening.

“Tell me,” I demanded.

“What do you remember about the accident?”

I tried to recall the moment of impact, but the details were fuzzy. “I was driving through an intersection and I was hit from behind. But it wasn’t like I was rear-ended. I was being pushed. I tried to step on the brakes, but it was too late, I couldn’t turn and there was a light post in front of me. Why? What does this have to do with why you look like you’ve swallowed a lemon?”

“What about after? Do you remember the EMTs working on you?”

God my head hurt, and the harder I tried to remember details the more it hurt.

“Not really. I remember opening my eyes and the airbag was in my face and it was hard breathe. I could taste blood mixed with chalk. I called out to Carson, she was crying. Then the airbag was deflated. I remember a woman was trying to talk to me, but I couldn’t understand her. I begged her to leave me and help Carson. I’m not sure if I was making sense, though, or if I was even talking. I hurt everywhere.”

“Did you recognize the woman who helped you?”

“No, I don’t remember. Why? Just tell me what’s wrong. My head hurts too fucking badly to play guessing games.”