AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll get the doctor.” Harrison stands to attention immediately and walks out the door, Beth coming to my bedside and giving my other hand a squeeze.
“Hey, you gave us all a bit of a scare,” Ben says as he slaps Eddie on the shoulder, giving him a squeeze, and I see Eddie wipe his tears with the back of his hand. Em joins Beth and passes me a tissue so I can wipe my own.
“What happened?” I ask, looking at each of them, and Eddie takes a deep breath.
“There was a fire in the hospital. It is still early days, though. They are not sure how it started,” he says, and I nod, more memories coming back.
“Your mother?” I ask him, and he remains silent, his lips pursed as he just shakes his head.
“Oh…” My voice catches in my throat as the tears start again.
“There are still a few people unaccounted for, and Mrs. Rothschild is one of them,” Em says, looking sad but not emotional.
“Shelley?” I ask quickly, panic rising all over again.
“Fine. Home resting. She will come and see you tomorrow,” Eddie says, and I relax into the bed in relief. “Buddy too. He was moved to this hospital and is sleeping well,” he adds, a small, sad smile on his lips. With that news, my heart finally slows back to normal.
“Miss Taylor, it’s great to see you awake. How is your pain level?” a doctor I have never met asks as he walks into the room, with Harrison behind him, followed by a nurse who comes to my side immediately, fixing up my bed and refilling the jug with fresh water.
“Fine. A little sore, but nothing too much,” I say as he tests a few things and marks them off on my chart.
“Good. Good. You are a little battered and bruised, with stitches in your leg here, and a slight concussion. Your ears will be ringing for a while, and I suggest a hearing test in a couple of weeks to ensure no permanent damage, but your eardrum is all intact and there have been no other issues from the blast that we can see. All in all, you are made of tough stuff, and as long as you take it easy, you should be able to go home in a few days,” he says, smiling, and I sigh in relief, as does everyone else in the room.
“Great, thank you,” I say, feeling my body relax little by little.
“Thank you, Doctor,” Eddie says, stepping forward and shaking his hand. As he does, I notice a bandage on his inner elbow. In fact, as I look around, I notice all their sleeves are pushed up with the same kind of bandage.
“Why do you all have bandages on your elbows?” I ask.
“We gave blood. We wanted to keep busy while you were being treated. We don’t know if they need it, but it was all we could think to do so we didn’t all go mad waiting to see you,” Beth says. I look at Eddie with admiration, wondering how he got through it all with his aversion to blood. Like he knows what I am thinking, he gives me a small smile and shrugs.
“Actually, about that, I do need to speak with you boys, please,” the doctor says seriously, looking at all the Rothschild men.
“Anything you need to say, you can say here. We are all family,” Harrison says, stepping forward. The doctor looks around the room at each of us, and we all look at each other, just as confused.
“We have a patient who needed a blood transfusion, but her blood type is AB negative, which is extremely uncommon,” he relays.
“That’s us. We are all AB negative, so we are happy to donate more,” Ben says, stepping forward just like Harrison.
“Perfect, that would be great. She had a severe leg injury and has lost a lot of blood. She will require another blood transfusion and, well, since it is such an uncommon blood type, if you have the ability, we sure could use your donations.”
“We will follow you down to the blood bank now. We are all happy to donate,” Harrison says, and everyone nods, standing and gathering their things. Eddie remains by my side, holding my hand.
“We will let you guys have some time. Good to see you looking better, Pinkie. You had us all worried there for a moment,” Harrison says, smiling, his wide grin oddly charming. I only just now see the appeal. There is no doubt he is a leader.
“Thank you,” I say quietly, still in awe of this family and what it all means to be a part of it.
“Thanks, brother,” Eddie says, giving Harrison, then Ben and Tennyson a hug and a backslap, before they all say their goodbyes and walk out the door.
I sigh. My mind feels heavy, like a jumbled mess.
“I have so many questions…” I look at Eddie, knowing he is the one to give me the answers. “I tried to get your mom, Eddie, I really did,” I say, choking up.
“I know. I know you would have. I also know she would have given you a hard time, probably called you a name or shouted at you.” I can’t talk, so I just nod. “Was Dr. Wilson with her?” he asks, his expression pinched, like he is still processing everything too.
“Yes. He came, and we both tried to get her wheeled out, but the wheel on the bed got caught, and the smoke, the alarms…” I say shakily, reliving the memory.
“He stayed with her, then? She wasn’t alone?” My heart breaks at that question, and I cry, nodding.
