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The machine continues. “Shock delivered, analyzing rhythm, shock advised, stand clear.”
Again, I watch in horror as the machine shocks Ava.
One of the staff gazes down at the bag leading from her abdominal drain. I gasp when I follow their eyes and take in the color of the liquid. It’s a deep, dark red. “We’ve got a problem,” a nurse says.
“There must be some internal bleeding,” a doctor adds.
“Fight, baby girl, fight,” I plead when the color drains from the doctor’s face.
“Okay. Let’s get her back to the operating room. We must have missed something,” the doctor orders.
When I move toward Ava, Nurse Peyton grabs my arm. “Mr. Manarch, let them do their job.”
I pull my arm back. “I need to be with my wife.”
“You’ll only be in their way. These things happen. Your wife has major trauma, and it’s easy to miss a small area of damage. That’s why we keep people with injuries like Ava’s in the ICU. They’ll take her back into surgery, and I’ll update you as soon as I know something. Now, follow me, and I’ll take you to a room where you can wait,” Nurse Peyton explains patiently. She’s calm and confident, which helps my anxiety a little.
She shows me to a small room with a coffee machine and comfortable seating just outside the ICU.
As soon as she leaves, I dig out my cell and dial Oliver.
“Fuck,” I explode when he answers.
“What’s wrong?”
I close my eyes and suck in a deep breath. I’m way out of my depth. “I need you here.”
“I’m already driving to the hospital. I should be there in ten minutes.” His reply should relieve my panic, but it doesn’t. I hang up.
Feeling desperate, I walk over to the window. The sky is dark, almost black, exactly how I feel. The woman I love is slipping away in front of my eyes, and I can’t do a goddamned thing about it.
I close my eyes and think of the many things I’d do differently, given a chance. Everything else is trivial compared to this. I might be the heir to the Manarch Clan, but that means nothing without Ava.
Staring outside, I find myself lost in my thoughts. What am I supposed to do? I’m a man who lives by facts, and from what I see, she can’t possibly make it through this alive.
I lose myself in the darkness of the night. If I need to give it all up to be with Ava, then so be it. That is what I will do. The Manarch name means nothing without her.
Only minutes later, Oliver asks, “What happened?”
I spin to face him, conscious of the concern in his voice. “She nearly died, that’s what.” Ignorant to the shaking in my hands, I run my fingers through my hair. If there were ever a time to be fearful, this would be it. “I don’t know how to do this.”
He drops his tone a smidge. “You have to be strong. Ava needs you to be strong. If not for her, then for the kids.”
“I can’t lose her. She’s my world,” I feel vulnerable. It is not an emotion I’m familiar with or what I need now, but it is honest.
“You won’t lose her. Ava is a fighter. She won’t give up, and neither should you.”
I recall back to the first time I truly craved her. The moment I needed to spend time with the woman—my solace, who seized my every thought. I understood that to be centered, I had to surrender to her.
A life without Ava is no life at all.
As more memories roll through my head, Oliver and I wait. I’m not sure how much time passes, but it feels like a fucking eternity. The waiting room is filled with silence and a horrid sterile scent. It’s enough to drive anyone insane.
Finally, the door opens, and Nurse Peyton enters.
I shoot out of my chair. “How is she?”
“She’s out of surgery and in recovery. They’ll be bringing her back to her room shortly.”
