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“I love you too,” I tell her. “I’m going to fix this. I promise.”
“Taylor Jacobs’ family,” a voice says from behind me.
“Tell her I love her,” Paisley whispers.
“I will.”
I follow the nurse through the double doors and along the hallway. She stops outside a door with the wordRECOVERYon it.
“There’ll be lots of machines and wires, but don’t let that overwhelm you. They’re all there to help her,” she says kindly.
I nod and take a deep breath as she pushes open the door. The sound of whirring machines fills the air, and she leads me past two curtained-off bays before she stops.
“If you need anything, let me know.”
“Thanks.”
Nerves erupt in my stomach as I step forward into the bay. My heart breaks when I see her lying in the bed. She looks so small and fragile. I frown when I see she’s intubated. I wasn’t expecting that. The machine connected to her breathing tube whirrs as it pushes air into her lungs, her chest rising and falling methodically. There’s a bandage around her head, and the hair I can see poking out is matted with blood. A large graze covers the right side of her face, and her eye is swollen and bruised. Despite there being a blanket covering most of her, her right leg is uncovered, and a bright blue cast covers her foot up to her knee.
“Are you okay?” the same nurse from earlier asks as she comes up behind me.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Why is she intubated? She was breathing after… after the accident.”
“She just needs some help. We’re letting the machines do all the work so her body can rest.” She places her hand on my arm. “She’s in good hands.”
“Can she hear me?”
“We think so, yes. You should talk to her.” She guides me toward a chair at the side of the bed. “You can hold her hand too.” She smiles encouragingly, and I sit down. “I’ll give you a minute.”
Taking Taylor’s hand in mine, I tangle our fingers together before bringing her hand to my lips. Brushing a kiss on the back of her hand, I rest my forehead on our joined hands.
“I’m so sorry, baby.”
I lift my head from her hand and stare at her face, willing her to wake up, even though I know she won’t. I rub my thumb across the back of her hand.
“Everyone’s waiting to see you. They love you so much, Tay.” I blow out a breath. “I love you so much. Please come back to me.”
I sit with her for another few minutes until the nurse appears again.
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave now. We don’t normally let relatives into the recovery room. She’ll be moved to her own room in the morning and you can come back then.”
I sigh and nod. “Okay.”
I reluctantly stand, her hand still encased in mine. Leaning over her, I brush a gentle kiss on her head.
“I love you, baby,” I whisper in her ear. “I’m going to make this right, I swear to you. No more secrets.”
I don’t want to leave her, but I know I have to. As I walk away from her, I feel like I’m leaving my heart behind, and I know I’m going to be sleeping in the waiting room tonight. I can’t go home and leave her here. Sheismy home.
CHAPTERFORTY-ONE
Seb
Taylor’s been in an induced coma for two weeks. It’s been the longest two weeks of my life. In the days after the accident, she seemed to be improving and a CT scan showed the swelling was beginning to reduce. Only days later, another scan showed a bleed on the brain. A subdural hematoma. The doctors had no choice but to operate again. She was in surgery for hours, and other than the night of the accident, I’d never been so scared. The doctors had hoped to try and wake her up after the surgery, but there’d been complications with a bigger bleed than expected and they’d decided to keep her asleep. She is breathing on her own now, though, thank God.
I look over my shoulder as the door to Taylor’s room opens and my mom walks in.
“How’s she doing?” she asks, kissing me on the cheek before going to Taylor and doing the same.
