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"She flatlined for two minutes and forty-two seconds."
"No," I breathe like I can deny what the doctor is telling me.
"After considerable action, we have Ms. Miller stable, but she is in critical condition. She has a broken leg and an array of bruising and minor lacerations on most of her body." I gulp, knowing that's not all he has to say because there is no way Eve basically fucking died on his table from those injuries.
"Ms. Miller had internal bleeding and bruising from what we call blunt abdominal trauma, which is a direct blow to the abdomen without an open wound. Unfortunately, the bleeding took us a while to find as it seemed to be an older wound than the brain injury."
"WHAT?" Ryan roars next to me, making me and the brothers jump in surprise. "The internal bleeding wasn't from the fall?"
"No. From what we can tell, Ms. Miller suffered neglect and assault. She is malnourished and extremely dehydrated. We can discern that the injury to her stomach was before the cliff. Most likely from either being shoved into something or a direct hit from a fist or foot."
I'm going to be sick.
"We found the bleed coming from her spleen, which we had to remove; it was already damaged beyond what we could repair. Her kidneys, ribs, and liver are showing signs of extreme bruising as well, which we will need to monitor."
Jesus, fucking Christ.
"The swelling on her brain is most likely from when she fell off the cliff. There is no bleeding, but as I said, both of these injuries are very serious to vital organs...Ms. Miller is in a coma."
"What?" Amiri whispers, unable to control the emotions rolling off of him.
"I know this is hard to hear, but we are doing everything we can to keep her stable, but yes, Ms. Miller is in critical condition."
"What does that mean? Is she not going to make it?" I about fucking shatter into fragments at Ryan's defeated tone.
"It's hard to say right now. I'm sorry I can't tell you more. We aren't sure when she may wake from the coma, but we are doing everything we can. She is being moved to the ICU. I'll be back with more information shortly. Excuse me."
With that, Dr. Ellis walks back the way he came, leaving us broken and devastated in his wake.
"Hi, Mom," I can't contain how my voice quivers.
"Oh, baby! Are you okay? How is Eve? How are the boys? We will be there soon!" I don't have the energy to fight with her on this.
We are a few hours outside Bisbee, where Eve's original doctor, Dr. Levine, is on call in case we need her experience with our girl. As much as I want to go home, Eve can't be transferred while in this condition.
She's still in the ICU and under a fuck ton of watchful eyes, but we haven't been allowed to see her yet. My stomach spasms at her being in there all alone.
"Not good, Ma," I murmur into my phone, ducking my head and leaning it against the cool wall outside the waiting room we have been in for what seems like years.
"We will get you guys a few hotel rooms before we get there, okay?"
"Okay." She will do it no matter what I say...and I have nothing to say. Everything in me is crying out for the girl lying somewhere in this hospital, fighting for her life. Or at least I hope she's fighting.
Fuck. Eve, don't give up on us now. I swear if you wake up and keep fighting this, we will move far away where the memories and the people our city spawned can cause you no harm. Fight, my Little Phoenix...please.
My inner praying to the woman we all worship is cut short by my mom's worried tone, "Nolan?"
"I'm here. It's-It's not good." I know I have to tell Mom and Dad, but it's so hard to be the one to break someone's heart and damage their hope. "Evie's...It's bad."
"It's okay, Son. Tell us, please," Dad's voice makes me stand just a bit taller while simultaneously cracking me open even more. The last they knew was when we found Eve and were rushing to the hospital. I've been avoiding their messages and calls all night.
"They had to remove her spleen. Something about abdominal assault and internal bleeding. She is bruised and cut up. She has swelling on the brain, and-" I hiccup, "other major organs are also bruised."
"So, what does this mean?" Dad's voice is still strong, but my mom's crying in the background makes me choke up even more.
I just want a hug. Ryan went back to his comatose state after the surgeon walked away. I want my mom and dad. I want someone to make this better.
"She's in a coma...they don't know if she's going to m-make it."
