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“It’s going to be a long wait, Tom. I’m fine here. You go. The nurses will look after me.”
He eyes me suspiciously, but nods. “Fine. Call me if you need anything,” he says, and I watch him leave reluctantly as I take a few steps and collapse into the white plastic chair in the waiting room. Mary was right, they are busy, but I guess this is normal for a late Sunday afternoon.
I pull up my legs to my chest and wrap my arms around them, curling my body in tight as the noises and the smell of disinfectant take me back to a time that I don’t want to relive. A time when I was being rushed through the doors by paramedics.
I bury my head into my knees, wanting to forget it all, yet the visions come back in full force, and I squeeze my eyes shut to push through the throbbing pain in my hand. Keeping myself small, just like I did here when I was a kid, the memories of my mother pulling me under.
And like back then, all I see is darkness.
20
HARRISON
As I finish up on the eighteenth hole, my cell phone buzzes in my pocket. I have ignored it for the last ten minutes as I try to finish this awful game, not made any better by the relentless teasing my brothers continue to give me about Beth. I can’t help but smile and laugh, though. I haven’t felt this lighthearted in… well, forever.
I pull my cell from my pocket as we are driving our cart back to the club house, surprised to see that it is Tom.
“Tom?” I answer in question, because it is Sunday, our one and only true day off for the week.
“It’s Beth. She’s in the hospital,” he spits out quickly.
“What? Where?” My heart rate increases, and concern fills my veins. Tom reels off the address and what he knows, and as soon as the cart stops, I am already running to my car.
“What happened?” Eddie asks as all my brothers look at me, ready to jump into action.
“It’s Beth. She is at the hospital.”
“Wait. We will come!” Eddie says.
“No. I will call you later.” I close the door of my car and start the engine, leaving all three of them standing in the parking lot, watching me leave.
The hospital is an hour away, but I make it in forty minutes, and I see Tom standing next to his car outside, exactly where he told me he would be.
“She is still waiting in the ER. They haven’t seen her yet,” he says, as I run past him and head inside. It is bedlam. People and nurses are everywhere, nothing like the private hospital in Baltimore City where our family goes.
People are yelling, machines are being pushed around from room to room, and the phones are ringing off the hook. There is a line of people waiting to be seen, and the staff all look exhausted. My eyes wander over everyone until I spot her vibrant red hair.
“Beth!” I say, relieved that I can see her, but panicked that she looks like she is out cold.
“Beth,” I say again as I get to her, her body curled up on a cheap plastic chair, her eyes closed, and I see dried blood on her cheek.
“Beth,” I say again, a little louder, and I shake her shoulder gently.
“Hmmmm,” I hear her moan, her eyes squeezing shut as she wakes.
“Beth, are you alright?” Pulling her shoulders back, I brush the hair off her face. Her beautiful skin is stained with blood, her face is pale and cold, and she doesn’t have much strength.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch!” she says as her eyes open slowly, squinting at the bright lights, and she pulls up her hand up to block the brightness and it is then that all I see is red. Blood coating her hand and her arm, the poorly wrapped bandage is soaked, and now I am angry.
“Nurse! Nurse!” I yell at the older lady at the counter who looks up. Her eyes widen in recognition before she rushes around to where we are sitting.
“Beth, how are you feeling, darlin’?” she asks like she knows her.
“How do you think she is feeling? She needs a doctor, now!” I state, barely containing my anger.
“Exam room one has just cleared, let me get a wheelchair,” she says, her eyes full of concern as she starts to waddle down the hall.
“It’s fine, I’ve got her,” I grit out as I lift Beth up bridal style, her body limp in my arms, her beautiful head falling to my shoulders. I stand up strong, holding her close, wishing she would look a little more lively. She’s making me nervous.
