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“Jay’s out of surgery and the good news is he did not fracture his spinal cord. If he recovers, there is a slim chance of paralysis. He does have a concussion, but that’s only a minor problem. His collarbone is broken. His brain is swollen and the activity low; that coupled with the loss of blood has the doctor keeping him in a medically induced coma. Once the swelling starts going down, they’ll try to wake him up. Then we’ll know the extent of the damage.”
No one says anything and I try to absorb the information. Jay could be permanently brain damaged because he was protecting Raven. I should have been the one with her. She already said she didn’t feel good, and instead of taking her myself to get something to eat, I sent my friend. Now both he and my wife were in the hospital, and I was perfectly healthy.
“Dec, I know that look on your face. This is not your fault. There was a horrible accident that can’t be explained right now. There are trained people looking into what the hell happened to that stage. No one could have known it was going to collapse. From what I’ve heard around the hospital today, five people died. We’re lucky. Our loved ones are alive.” My dad puts his arm around me.
“Mr. Collins?” a nurse asks from the doorway.
“Yes.” Both my dad and I answer.
“I’m looking for the Mr. Collins married to Ravenel.”
“That’s me.” I raise my hand.
“Your wife is asking for you. She’s awake.”
Jenna gets up too, but James stops her. I promise to come back as soon as possible and give them an update.
Raven is sitting up in the hospital bed watching the door for me. There is no longer blood all over her, and her hair is on top of her head in a wet bun. She wearing a hospital gown, and there are cuts and bruises visible on her arms, but otherwise I wouldn’t believe I dug her from under a stage a few hours ago.
I rush to her and gently pull her head to my chest, kissing everywhere I can.
“Honey, I’m fine. Really, I’m probably going home tomorrow.”
“Sparkle, I was so fucking scared. You will never know what it was like to watch that stage collapse, and you fall.”
She leans back and pats for me to sit with her on the small bed. “I’m fine. When I fell I hit my hip pretty hard, and it’s bruised. My ankle is twisted, and I have a bruised kidney. Other than a few scrapes, that’s it. Jay saved me. How is he?”
I tell her what we found out and watch her face pale. Tears fill her eyes, and she leans into me sobbing.
“He practically saved my life Declan. He braced against me to protect my fall and then used his body to shield me.”
“Baby, you may have saved his life too by clotting the knick in his neck. He could have bled out.”
“We saved each other.”
“
Yeah, that sounds about right.”
“I want to see him when they get him to a room.”
“We’ll see what the doctors say. Now, you ready for company? I think your mom is about to slip out of her skin with worry. Everyone is out there, but I can keep it to a few visitors at a time.”
“Yeah, but will you do me a favor? They washed out my hair because it was covered in blood, but they’re going to let me take a real shower later. Can you go home and pack me a small bag?”
“Don’t really want to leave you. I’d also like to talk to your doctor when he comes back by.”
“Who’s here?”
“Practically all of Nashville, but specifically all of our friends.”
“I’ll get one of the girls to do it.”
I nod my head in agreement and kiss her lightly before going to get her parents. Her family and my dad go in first, and we all wait for the doctor to come back by. He confirms what Raven told us and tells us she needs a few days of bed rest. Her kidney will probably cause the most discomfort but if we keep her still, it should heal soon.
Our parents leave and others come in and out mostly to see for themselves Raven is okay. When Finn comes in, panic is all over his face. Even though it kills me, I give them a few minutes alone.
Kendall and Harper go to our house and pack us both a bag to stay at the hospital tonight. They grab some extra shirts for my band too. We are all staying until Jay’s parents get here tomorrow.
