Page 81 of Wrecked

They X-ray his broken leg next. It’s a compound fracture.Again.

Then he’s moved to the ICU until it’s time for his surgery, which will be soon. The doctors are concerned about bleeding in his skull. There may be brain damage, but we won’t know until after he regains consciousness. The silent wordsif he regains consciousnessare rattling around in my head.

I pull a chair up beside his bed in the ICU room and sit as close as I can, clutching his hand in mine and staring at his still, ashen face.

“Please, wake up, baby,” I whisper. “Please.”

He came so close to dying today. In fact, he’s not out of the woods yet. I could still lose him.

I reach out and stroke his forehead, just below the bandages covering his head. I link our fingers together and bring his hand to my mouth to kiss. “Sam, please wake up.”

A nurse comes into the room a few minutes later and asks me to move back from the bed. “We’re getting him ready for surgery.” She says something about relieving the pressure inhis skull. “If he’s stable during the procedure, they’ll bring someone in to repair the damage to his leg while he’s still under anesthesia.”

Things are moving quickly, which makes me think his condition is serious.

When they wheel him out of the room, I sit and stare at the empty space where his bed was. If things go badly, he might never return to this room. My chest tightens, and my heart aches. If that’s the case, I don’t think I’ll ever recover. I can’t imagine living without him.

It dawns on me that probably no one has called his family. I locate Sam’s phone in the cupboard holding his personal possessions. The screen is cracked, but fortunately the phone still functions. I know his passcode, so I unlock the phone and place a call to his mom. I hate that the first time I’m going to talk to her is to tell her that her son’s in the hospital fighting for his life.

The phone rings three times before she answers. “Sammy, honey!” She sounds so excited. “How are you?”

It breaks my heart to be the one to tell her bad news. “Mrs. Harrison?”

Her voice sobers instantly. “Yes, this is Michelle Harrison. Who is this? Why are you calling on my son’s phone?”

“This is Daniel Cooper. I’m Sam’s… friend.”

“Cooper.” She sounds hesitant. “Sam has mentioned you. And I know you’re more than a friend.”

I wasn’t sure how much Sam had told his family about me. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but your son is in the hospital.”

She makes a sound, part gasp and part cry. “What happened? Is he all right?”

“He was hit by a car this afternoon while crossing the street.”

“Hit by a car! How could that happen?”

“It’s complicated. He was protecting his client.”

“What’s his prognosis?” she asks, suddenly sounding more like a medical professional than a mom.

“I don’t know. They just took him to surgery. The CT scan shows there’s bleeding in his skull. His doctor said something about relieving the pressure. And then there’s his leg—”

“His leg?” She groans. “Not again. My poor boy.”

“His left leg has a compound fracture, but I guess that’s minor compared to his head injury.”

Sam’s mother is silent for a moment before she sucks in a deep breath. “All right. My daughter and I will catch the first flight we can to O’Hare.”

“I’d offer to come pick you up at the airport, but—”

“No, that’s okay,” she says. “You stay at the hospital. We can get a ride from the airport.”

“I appreciate that. I don’t want to leave him. I want to be here when he wakes up.”

I give her the name of the hospital, and we end the call so she can contact her daughter and make plans.

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