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I thinned my lips as he straightened his posture. Whatever he was about to say, I was pretty certain it wasn’t gonna be good.
“Well, sir. It seems Ms. Olsen has lapsed.”
“Lapsed?” I said, as I wrinkled my brow. “In English.”
“She’s in a coma, sir.”
“A coma?”
He nodded as he looked at me.
“Look, is she going to live or die? What about the baby?”
“I don’t know, sir. A coma is the body’s last line of recuperative defense. At this point, anything is possible. It’s early days yet. She is in critical but stable condition. There’s not much we can do for her right now.”
“Jesus Christ!” I exclaimed. Pointing, I continued to berate him. “You cannot be fucking serious! Isn’t there a goddamn specialist here? What kind of shit show is this place? Get me someone who knows what the fucking hell they’re doing! Do it now, goddamn it!”
“Grey!” Katy said with a loud whisper as she swung in front of me, inserting herself between me and the doctor. “Please, calm down.”
I thinned my lips, spinning away from them. I paced to the other side of the room, running my fingers through my hair as I did. A sudden heat warmed me, making me feel as if I were about to sweat right through my shirt. Grabbing my tie, I tugged at the knot in frustration, loosening it as I glanced out the window of the hospital room to the parking lot below.
The doctor appeared to be waiting for me to finish. When it became apparent I had, he cleared his throat and said, “Visiting hours are over in one hour.”
I bit my lip, spun around and pointed at him. “Hey! Shithead! I am staying right here. You got a fucking problem with that, call the goddamn police!”
The grey-haired sonofabitch looked at me over the rims of his glasses. Nodding, he motioned for the nurses to follow him. As we walked out of the room he cast a nervous glance over his shoulder until the door hissed closed behind him.
No sooner had he gone than Katy stormed over to me.
“Grey!” she said, as she balled her fists and stomped.
Not wanting to get into it, I waved her off as I turned my attention back out of the window.
“Don’t fucking talk to me, Katy.”
“Grey, please. I am begging you. You have got to calm down.”
“Why should I, Katy?” I said as I did a half-turn and looked down at her over my shoulder. “These jackasses have no idea what they’re doing. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t be outraged right now. Go ahead. One.”
Unfolding her arm, Katy turned and pointed towards Maddie.
“That. Right there. That’s the reason, Grey.”
I closed my eyes as she spoke. I rubbed my forehead in disbelief. Pinching the skin between my fingertips, I groaned.
“Why didn’t she tell me, Katy?”
Katy’s featured softened as she looked up at me. She shook her head and paused before she answered.
“She was afraid, Grey. Afraid.”
“Afraid? Of what?”
“That she would lose you. That if you found out about all the problems she was having with the pregnancy…” she paused and glanced in Maddie’s direction for a moment before continuing. “She thought you would never want to see her again and worse, make her get rid of the child.”
I shook my head as the confession sputtered from her. At last, I pointed at Maddie.
“Did she say that to you? Did she use those exact words?”
“Yes.”
I slid my hands in the pockets of my pants and walked back towards the bed. Katy followed. As I reached it, she circled around the other side of it until we stood on either side of Maddie. I removed a hand from my pocket and touched the back of my palm to Maddie’s cheek. Her skin felt cool to the touch. It was definitely cooler than mine but not cold either. It was if life was deciding what it would do with her, keeping her in suspended animation.
Moisture drained from my mouth as I looked down at her. Trying to force down a hard swallow, I replayed our conversation in her bedroom over in my mind. All the while the monitoring equipment keeping her and the baby alive beeped at regular intervals, pissing me off even more.
I withdrew my hand from her forehead and slid back inside the pocket of my pants.
My baby, our goddamn child.
Here I was with all the resources to do something about it, but I couldn’t, because Maddie didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth before this all got out of hand. How was I supposed to fix this now? To the best of my recollection, I’d never given her a reason to act like this or believe I’d be capable of something like what Katy alleged.
Not one.
And now, because of our ridiculous communication breakdown, I could lose them both.
Katy repositioned herself closer to Maddie, edging towards her head. I looked down at her as she tugged the blanket up around Maddie, brushed the hair from her eyes and generally tried to make her more comfortable.
If she came out of this, and that looked to be a pretty goddamn big if, then what?
I didn’t know whether to be furious with her or apologize.
I just didn’t.
Just then, Katy started to lean away from Maddie when all of sudden Maddie opened her mouth. A gasping wheeze emerged from between her lips even though her eyes remained closed and she still appeared to be unconscious. If I didn’t know any better, it sounded like she was struggling to get air.
“Oh my God, Grey!” Katy yelled as she confirmed my suspicion. “She can’t breathe!”
At the same time, the room lit up as the monitoring equipment flickered to life. Katy screamed while Maddie convulsed in place. I turned and ran for the door, but as I reached it, it flew open. Dr. Matthews and the two nurses from before reappeared and hurried to Maddie’s bedside.
“What is happening to her?” Katy cried out.
“Step back, please!” The doctor answered as he nodded for me to come and remove Katy. I hustled over and grabbed hold of her. Katy collapsed against me. All the while, the doctor and nurses hovered over Maddie as her condition worsened. It wasn’t long before guttural moans escaped from her mouth as her fight for breath continued.
“Doctor,” I began. “Please, can you tell us what is going on?”
He flashed his face back towards us. “She’s gone into cardiac arrest. Please, sir! Allow us to work! We could lose her.”
“Lose her!” Katy cried out. “Maddie, oh God, Maddie no!!!”
Katy folded into me, and wept.
