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Leaning over, I whisper in Maddie’s ear, telling her everything is going to be okay and that I love her. Nothing will ever make me leave her, not even Blake and his insinuations. Her being unconscious and her having the possibility of internal bleeding from the hit concerns me the most. The piece that smacked her flew over so fast, there was no way she could’ve seen it in time to move out of the way. Guys on my college football team used to get concussions all the time but were never out for this long. Granted, they were much bigger than Maddie.
The ambulance slows and pulls into the bay outside of the emergency room. They unload the stretcher, but I don’t let her out of my sight as they rush Maddie inside and take her into a room. I hear one of the EMTs giving the nurses a brief summary of what happened and her injuries. I watch in panic as chaos ensues, a nurse hooks her up to an IV of fluids, another puts a blood pressure cuff around her arm, and another inspects the wound on her head. They talk to each other, listing what tests need to be done, and what they’re looking for.
“Her O2 is a little low, putting an oxygen mask on,” a female nurse instructs to the other who’s typing on a portable computer desk.
“What? Why’s her oxygen low?”
“It’s not uncommon, especially if she inhaled any smoke.” She gives me a soft smile. “It’s mostly precautionary.”
I can’t inhale deep enough to fill my lungs so I’m nearly gasping for air. Maddie lays on the bed, looking so fragile and battered, and I feel helpless as hell. Standing here, all I can do is hold her hand and beg her to wake up.
“Wow, this one is deep,” one of the nurses says as she inspects her head wound.
“Is she going to be okay?” I ask nervously.
She glances up at me. “Are you her husband?”
I swallow hard. “I’m her boyfriend and was with her when this happened,” I explain, looking down at my shirt, noticing blood on it. Maddie’s blood. All this time, I’ve been worried about her getting hurt being around me; however, I never imagined something like this could happen.
Once the wound is cleaned, a male doctor enters and introduces himself to me. Next, the nurse reads out pertinent information, and he looks at her cut. After a moment, the doctor explains he’ll suture the cut to hopefully avoid infections and to stop the bleeding. Afterward they’ll take her for a CT scan to check for any fractures or internal bleeding. All I can think about is how confused she’s going to be about all of this. She’ll have a lot of questions, but unfortunately, I don’t have many answers.
Whoever did this will fucking pay, it’s the last thought that comes into my mind as my phone buzzes with a group text message from Lennon, Sophie, Hunter, and Mason.
Sophie: We’re all on our way there right now.
Lennon: I’m so worried. Please update us, Liam.
Hunter: Yeah, let us know how she’s doing. Also, I talked to the cops. They said a detective may meet you at the hospital.
Mason: What the fuck happened?
I read them all, already overwhelmed.
Liam: She’s stable. They just stitched the cut on her head, and they’re taking her to get a scan soon. Finding out as much as I can, but it’s gonna be a while. Don’t know what happened. I pressed unlock to the G-Wagon and it exploded. That’s all I know.
They each send a thank you. There has only been a handful of times in my life where I’ve felt so defeated, and this is one of them. I stare at Maddie as they continue to work on her, then wheel her off for a CT scan. She’s gone for almost an hour, and I can barely concentrate. Everyone’s in the waiting room since they’ll only allow one person in here, and I told them I’d take turns if they wanted to see her. I pace, reading all the medical signs posted on the wall, and just when I sit down in the chair, she’s brought back in.
I stand over her, gently brushing my fingers against her arm, overly anxious.
With a raspy voice, she looks at me. “Liam?”
Relief and joy flood through me, and I kneel so I can be closer to her face. “Mads. Baby.”
“What happened?” Wincing, she reaches for her head, but I grab her hand and place kisses along her knuckles. “My head hurts so bad. The room feels like it’s spinning.”
“I know, baby. There was an accident. Someone planted a bomb in the G-Wagon, and when it exploded, a piece of metal flew off and struck you. It gave you a pretty big gash and bruises but they stitched it up. You probably have a concussion, but they did a CT scan to check for bleeding or fractures. They should be back with the results soon.”
