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“It won’t come to that,” I said with ridiculous false certainty.
Ally blew out a breath. “I’m just glad you were with me when Gabe called. I wouldn’t have kept it together if I’d been on my own. You were so calm.”
“I’d be a pretty lousy nurse if I’d panicked,” I replied with a shrug. The truth was, ever since Ally had looked up from her phone, horror in her eyes, to tell me Jake had been in a really bad accident, I’d been anything but calm. I’d been screaming on the inside. I’d nursed in combat zones and not felt as bone deep terrified as I had in that moment. “Dante seems to be keeping it together pretty well, too, considering.” He’d been Jake’s best friend back in the day, and a passenger in the car when Jake crashed the first time.
“Seriously. It can’t be easy for him. Talk about fucking flashback city.”
“Yeah.”
We went back to the waiting room and because of where I was sitting, I saw him before everyone else did. The doctor, tall and thin, slightly balding, walking towards us like the fucking grim reaper. My heart twisted so painfully I could barely breathe.No!I wanted to shout. But I didn’t. Instead, I whispered, “Gabe…”
A murmur spread through the group at the doctor’s approach, and we all got to our feet. He looked tired and drawn, and a bit like the bearer of bad news—or was I imagining that? “Hi, everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting so long.” He ran a hand over his face and gave us a weary smile as he looked around the group. “Who’s the next of kin?”
Gabe shot me a pleading look before stepping forward and I moved to stand next to him.
“You’re Jacob’s brother, right?”
Gabe nodded.
“Your brother has been through a rough time, I can’t deny it. And the road ahead will be painful.”
My knees almost went out from under me.Road ahead.Not dead. “How bad are his injuries?” Wow, my voice sounded so calm.
“He has a bang to the head, but no skull fracture, thank goodness. His right arm is broken in two places, and two of his ribs are fractured. So in terms of overall severity, not too bad.” He took a deep breath. “We did have quite a lot of internal bleeding to contend with because of a ruptured spleen, so we removed it. That will take the most recovery time. On top of pain management, he’ll need to take antibiotics to stave off infection.”
The doctor stopped talking and I realized he’d finished his summary. “So… That’s it?”
“Yes. He’s extremely fortunate. I can’t tell you how close he came to major organ damage. He’s in Recovery now.”
“Can I see him?” Gabe asked.
“Yes, but keep it short. He needs a lot of rest right now. I’ll take you through.”
After Gabe and the doctor left, all eyes turned to me. “Okay, Nurse, what are we looking at?” Ellen Cooper, Gabe and Jake’s foster mother, was a small, dark-haired woman with kind blue eyes and a sweet smile.
I chewed my bottom lip. “I can’t really say much more than what the doctor already said. He’ll be in a lot of pain, so managing that will be very important. Infection control will be huge, since the spleen helps prevent infections and now he doesn’t have one. So handwashing and stuff for anyone visiting him. Umm…”
“What about food?” Ally asked.
I smiled. Typical Ally, always wanting to feed everyone. “Hard to say, but I can’t imagine he’ll be too hungry for a while. It might be best to start with small, easily digestible meals full of fibre.”
“On it.”
“Great.” I folded my arms across my chest, already feeling calmer. It helped to switch into professional mode, think about what Jake would need going forward from a purely medical point of view.
“Em?”
I turned around to see Gabe at the double doors, his gaze calm and steady. “I don’t think the doctor meant you had to keep itthatshort.”
“Can you come here a minute?” I felt all eyes on me as I walked over to Gabe. If it weren’t for the fact that he clearly wasn’t freaking out, I would be. “He’s asking for you,” he said in a low voice.
“Me?” I asked in surprise. The man I’d barely spoken to for the past decade woke up from major surgery, asking for me?
“Yeah.”
“How does he even know I’m here?”
“I’m not sure he does, to be honest. He’s not really with it. He was saying something about Dante, so I think he’s flashing back to the first accident. He’s pretty agitated, though. Maybe seeing you will calm him down enough so he can sleep. Of course, if you aren’t up for it, don’t worry about it—”
