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“That’s good. You’re doing fine, Ms. Preston. The doctor will be in to talk to you in a few minutes. Just try to relax.”
“Denise,” I croaked.
“Yes, I’m still here, sweetie. I’m not going anywhere.”
I raised my arm to feel what was covering my eyes. I felt gauze wrapped around my head.
“Tylar, you don’t want to mess with that bandage. The doctor will explain everything to you when he comes in, okay?”
I nodded. Several minutes later, someone entered the room. “Hello Tylar, I’m Dr. Greyson, your treating physician. I’m glad to see that you’ve come around. You have been in a slight coma due to the head injury you sustained a couple of days ago. Your memory of that may be fuzzy, but it will come back in time. The fact that you came to indicates that the swelling in your brain has reduced. It’s all part of the healing process.”
I nodded to let him know that I was listening.
“As for the bandage over your eyes, this was done as a result of a blow to your left eye. The injury is called an indirect orbital floor fracture, or ‘blowout fracture.’ What this means, Ms. Preston, is that there is a small hole in the floor of the eye socket. Because you’ve been unconscious, we don’t know if there was any damage done to the surrounding eye muscles, which may affect your vision. I can remove the bandage now, and we can test your vision.”
I felt the bandage being unwrapped from around my head. There were two cotton pads resting against both eye sockets. The doctor removed those. I blinked my eyes several times, adjusting to the light in the hospital room. The doctor leaned over my bed, holding one finger up in the center of his face, in front of his nose.
“How many fingers am I holding up, Ms. Preston?”
“One,” I answered hoarsely.
“Very good.”
He leaned over and took a pen light from his pocket, turning it on and shining it directly into each of my eyes. “Dilation is occurring, that's good.” He held his index finger up again, asking for my eyes to follow its movement without moving my head. He moved it east to west, then north to south.
“Very, very good, Ms. Preston. It appears that you have no damage to the muscles. We’ll do a more thorough eye exam later. You'll be here for a couple of more days. We’ll want to run a few more tests. For now, your immediate instructions are to get rest and regain your strength. Your throat will be sore for a few days more as the bruising heals. I'll check you in the morning.”
With that, he left. I had no opportunity to ask any questions, though it was doubtful that I could have spoken anyway. I looked over at Denise, feeling helpless. She came over and sat in the chair next to my hospital bed. Just like old times, I thought wryly.
“Tylar,” she asked softly, “do you remember what happened the night…well the night you got injured?”
I shook my head.
“It’s probably just as well, at least for now anyway. Listen, I have to go out for a couple of minutes, but I’ll be back.”
I desperately tried to think of the last thing I could remember. I wasn’t even sure what day it was. I looked around the hospital room. It was just like the last one I was in.
Denise returned. “I had to call Trey to let him know the good news,” she said, smiling as if she knew something that I didn’t. “He will be here shortly,” she winked, “and I'll leave you two alone.”
I had no clue what I looked like. I brushed my hand through my hair. It felt kind of greasy. I looked over at Denise.
“It’s not that bad, honey,” she said.
Yeah, I bet!
Suddenly, Trey walked in. His gorgeous majesty was here. I'd never tire of looking at him. I was hoping that he hadn’t brought Charlotte along to rub it into my face. Denise immediately vacated her chair next to my bed. She leaned over, giving me a kiss.
“I’ll be back to see you tomorrow.”
Trey took a seat in the chair, watching me as if I'd burst into flames at any moment. “I’m glad to see you’re awake, Tylar. You had us pretty worried. Can you talk?”
“A little,” I rasped.
“I’ll try to make this so you don’t have to talk unless absolutely necessary. Denise said that you had no memory of what happened to you. Do you want me to tell you what happened?”
I nodded my head. I needed to know eventually. I’d rather hear it from Trey now than have it return to me in a nightmare later. How bad could it be?
“Okay,” he started, his smooth and silky voice played like music to my ears. “This past Wednesday night, close to midnight, Mark heard you screaming for help from your cottage. Mark apparently was in the stable, checking a wrapping he'd put on one of Derringer’s legs earlier in the day.”
