Page 199 of The Encore’s Crown

A fall.

A stroke.

A car accident.

Dad.

I don’t let myself land on the last one too long, even though it's the most obvious one. At Harborview, I leave the car in the first space I find and barely remember locking it. The only thing I make sure of is that I’m holding Natalia’s hand as I head toward the emergency entrance. Inside, everything is glaringly bright. A security guard directs us toward the front desk. I give Ma’s name, mine, my identification. The woman behind the counter makes one call, then asks us to wait.

“I’m her son.”

“I understand.”

“I’m her emergency contact.”

“Someone will be with you shortly.”

“How shortly?”

Natalia’s hand closes around my arm. I look at her. She doesn’t tell me to calm down. Just stays there, touching me. A nurse appears a minute later and leads us away from the main waiting room into a smaller room. There are four chairs, a table, and a box of tissues positioned so strategically for grief, right in the center, that I can’t look at it.

“Where is she?” I ask.

“The trauma team is still working with her. The physician will explain everything as soon as they can.”

The nurse leaves and I start pacing. Natalia sits, then stands again when I don’t. She comes closer and presses both hands against my chest.

“She’s alive.”

“For now.”

“She’s alive.”

I look away. The door opens before I can answer. A doctor steps inside wearing dark blue scrubs. There’s blood on one sleeve that I try not to look at.

“Mr. Drysdale?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Dr. Reynolds. I’m one of the trauma surgeons caring for your mother. She arrived unconscious with significant injuries to her head and neck. There are signs of strangulation, blunt-force trauma, several fractured ribs, and a small bleed around the brain.”

Natalia’s fingers find mine.

“Is she gonna make it?”

The doctor doesn’t lie quickly enough, I see the doubt there.

“She's critical. We’ve secured her airway because of swelling in her throat, and she’s on a ventilator. The brain bleed is small enough that we’re monitoring it closely rather than operating immediately, but the loss of oxygen is our biggest concern.”

“What does that mean?”

“We don’t yet know whether there has been permanent neurological injury.”

My hand crushes Natalia’s. She doesn’t pull away. The doctor continues carefully.

“The fact that emergency services reached her when they did gave her a chance. Right now, she is stable enough to transfer to the intensive care unit, but the next twenty-four hours will be important.”

Stable enough which is another way of saying not stable at all.