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Scarlett sagged against Darren’s shoulder. “Can I see him?”
“Only family is allowed in recovery,” the doctor answered.
“I’m his fiancée.”
The doctor nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. Right now, I wouldn’t let anyone in to see him.”
“Why?” Scarlett asked softly.
“Mr. Braxton pulled through the surgery, which is good, obviously. He’s still not awake, and his brain waves aren’t registering very high.”
“What does that mean?” Scarlett asked shrilly.
“He’s in a coma. I don’t know when, or if, he’ll awaken. When he does, he might be mentally impaired, or he might be just fine.”
“Mentally impaired?” Scarlett asked with dread. “Will he know us?”
“I can’t evaluate the extent of brain damage until he awakens. Keep in mind there might be no brain damage. I’ve seen much worse wounds where patients were up and around in a few days with no permanent injuries.”
“I’d like to see him,” Scarlett said again.
“Wait until he’s out of recovery, and up in a room,” the doctor said firmly. “That will be an hour or two at most.” She nodded and he left the waiting room.
“What if he doesn’t know us?” Scarlett burst out as tears poured down her face.
“We’ll deal with that if the time comes,” Darren said stoically.
Just under two hours later, Scarlett sat beside Carter’s bed, holding his hand. He was breathing on his own, but his eyes weren’t open. She would give anything to see his baby blues again.
“Please wake up,” Scarlett whispered, touching his face with her other hand. The nurse finally came for her an hour later, and Scarlett didn’t bother to protest her removal. She brushed a kiss on his cheek and whispered, “I love you,” in his ear before leaving.
She was drained and didn’t argue with Darren when he insisted on taking her back to the house to rest. Scarlett wanted to spend every moment at the hospital until he woke up, but she knew that might never happen. It was better to pace herself so she would have the endurance to go through this for several...she stopped thinking, refusing to speculate how long it might be. She hated hospitals, but Carter was too important to her to let her phobia keep her away.
20
Scarlett
A week passed with no change in Carter’s condition. The steady beep of the heart monitor was driving her insane, but she continued to sit beside him and talk to him for as long as the hospital would allow it. Darren would faithfully drive her to and from the hospital, and he seemed to have shifted his bodyguard duties to include her. His arm bore a scar, but the graze on his temple was already well on its way to healing.
Scarlett fell into bed each night, exhausted, to sleep for five or six hours before rising to repeat the process. On the sixth night of Carter’s coma, she received a call at three in the morning and was instantly awake when Edward tapped on her door. She snatched up the phone, praying it was the hospital, but Lecy’s voice was on the other end. “What’s wrong?” she asked wearily.
“There’s been a fire at the house,” said Lecy in a voice thick with tears.
“Did Chrys get out of her room? Was she still locked in?” Scarlett demanded.
“Yes, I got her out, but Father refused to leave Terini Manor. He was trying to put out the fire when we were forced to leave because of the smoke.” Lecy’s crying, made some of her words garbled.
“Did everyone else get out?”
Lecy took a deep breath. “Yes, but Father didn’t,” she said again. “He never came out of the house.”
“I hope he turns up,” Scarlett said, feeling hollow. Despite everything he’d done, he was her father, and she loved him. She was ashamed of his actions, but she hadn’t wanted him to die. “Call me if he shows up.”
“I will,” Lecy promised. “What are we going to do now?” she asked helplessly.
For the first time, Scarlett didn’t try to solve her sisters’ problems. They were older than her, and she couldn’t help them anymore. “You’ll figure something out,” she said gently. “I’m glad you made it out all right.”
“Did he cause this?” asked Lecy.
