“Um... yes, there’s one folded in the closet. Maybe after the doctor sees you tomorrow, we can get ya in it for a quick spin?”
Lana smiled, and her eyes rested on her badge. Nurse AlMaria Thompson. She was an older lady with big brown eyes, exceptionally nurturing in the way she spoke and moved, and Lana could tell she was great at her job. She was already applying a band-aid to her arm when Lana realized she had never felt the prick from the huge four-gauge needle go in. The wheelchair information was great news because as soon as she left, Lana had plans to go on a spin of her own.
“Now, you lie back and get some rest, OK? I’ll be back in about four hours to help you clean up before breakfast.”
Lana nodded and felt the drug begin to do its job. As Nurse Thompson closed the door behind her, Lana threw the blanket from her body and looked down at her mangled leg. Slowly, she shifted her weight to the right and raised her bed in an upright position. Next, she lowered the bed to the lowest point, so she didn’t have far to go when she figured out how to get down.
Grabbing her calf with both hands, she inched her heavy leg over the edge until it hung over the side. Bad idea. The weight of the cast tugged on her broken extremity, shooting pain up her leg and thigh, and nestling in her lower back. Lana howled out loud and thought she might even pass out when that prickly feeling tickled her head again.
Covering her mouth and preparing for what she had to do next, she tossed her right leg over, balanced on it, and slowly dragged the broken one toward the closet a few feet from her bed. Scorching tears rolled down her face, but she didn’t care how much pain it caused her anymore. It was too late to turn back, and she needed to lay her eyes on him. Luckily, the loveseat Sam used earlier that night was against the wall, so she used it to balance on as she opened the closet door.
Lana reached in and pulled out the folded wheelchair, then lowered herself on the arm of the loveseat. Her entire leg throbbed deep as she fought to open the wheelchair with onearm and her good leg. When it finally relented, she was winded from the struggle but scooted as close to the handles of the chair that she could, then locked the wheel closest to her. In a swift motion, she semi-turned and plopped down hard in the chair.
The resulting blast of pain had dulled since the medication started kicking in, but she almost regretted the idiotic plan. Her mind flashed back to Kayden lying helpless, covered in blood, and pushed all her pain deep down. She fixed her left leg inside the calf strap and footplate, her face covered in sweat and tears, then unlocked the tire and rolled the chair forward.
Slowly, she wheeled herself to her room door and cracked it open. No nurses were at the station directly in front of her, so she turned herself around, backed up, and poked her head out the door to check the hallway to the right and left. Still no one. In a flurry, Lana rolled herself back, then down the hall in search of room three-fifteen.
She scanned the room doors and got to the end of the hall, where the last door was three-twelve. Lana turned the corner and slowed the wheelchair to a crawl when she came upon the police officer outside Kayden’s room. He was fast asleep, his head slung over on his shoulder with visible drool oozing from the corner of his mouth.
Not at all surprised by his lack of police work and the huge wet stain on his shirt, she turned her chair around and backed into the slightly cracked room door. As she wheeled in, she could hear the beeping of machines and the slight snoring coming from her soon-to-be husband. When Lana turned her chair around, her heart stopped. Standing directly over Kayden, with her mess of blonde hair, was Kim.
She hadn’t even realized that Lana had let herself in. Without even thinking, Lana rolled her chair toward Kim as fast as she could, crashing the foot guard into the bitch’s shins. Kim hollered, backed into the window near Kayden’s bed, her eyeswere bulging and wild as she pushed Lana backward. Balancing on her good leg, Lana leaped from the rolling chair, all sense of pain in the broken limb gone.
“Get away from him, you bitch!” Lana screamed, arms lunging for Kim’s head.
In an instant, she had mounds of Kim’s bleached blonde hair in both fists, her nails digging into and scratching at her scalp as she pulled and tugged her head towards the floor.
“Get off !” Kim screeched as Lana used every ounce of her strength to yank her down, swinging her head side to side.
She twisted Kim’s head as hard as she could, craning her neck in an uncomfortable position, and she wailed louder. That put a semi-sinister smile on Lana’s face as she wanted her to feel as much pain as she could possibly inflict on her before someone came and broke them up.
Kim tried with all her might to break free of the grip, her neck feeling like it might pop free of her head, but it was useless. Lana’s grip was like a vice, and clumps of her hair were falling free from her scalp. Kim finally locked eyes with Lana’s injured leg and tried to kick for it, but Lana pivoted her attempt, dragging her cast along the smooth linoleum out of the way. Kim’s foot slammed into the wheelchair instead, causing it to crash into the wall by the door, and now Lana was up against the window.
Digging her fingers further into Kim’s scalp, she yanked, turning her body hard, trying to bring her to the floor. As she did, she caught a glimpse of Kayden for the first time in days. The sight of him made her breath hitch, made her mind go blank for a moment. The distraction caused her to loosen her grip just enough to give Kim the opportunity to wrestle free. Before Lana could react, Kim slapped her hard across the face, causing her to stumble back, but not before Lana returned the blow in a reflex, her tight fist landing firmly on her eye.
“You bitch, you started all this,” Kim spat, holding her face.
“Yeah? And I’m gonna finish it too,” Lana challenged.
There was a darkness Lana kept on a leash, under lock and key deep inside, and it took a lot for her to let it loose. She could take any abuse someone threw atherand shrug it off. But when it came to her family and the people she loved, all the gloves came off. Lana, spent, leaned her tired body on the edge of Kayden’s bed and reached for the call button next to him.
Kim turned to run from the room, wisps of her hair still falling free. As she started for the door, the officer was already standing in the doorway, his weapon drawn and pointed at Kim. An alarm rang through the intercom, and Kayden’s nurses pushed themselves into the room and swarmed to his bed. Kim put her hands in the air—there was no escape this time.
“Let me see your hands! Turn around slowly and get down on the ground!” he screamed.
Kim complied, her eyes locked on Lana’s as her left eye began to swell from the punch moments before.
“Put your hands behind your back!” the Officer spat, as the nurses huddled over Kayden’s bed.
Lana’s nurse, Ms. Thompson, grabbed her wheelchair and helped her get back into it.
“How in the devil did you get in here?” she hollered, concerned.
Lana didn’t answer; her eyes were on Kim as the officer pinned her to the floor and placed handcuffs on her. She couldn’t help but wish that Kim would catch a staph infection for having her mouth smashed into the dirty floor. He lifted her with one arm and carried her out of the room as she thrashed about like a child in a toy store, throwing a tantrum. Nurse Thompson began to wheel Lana from the room, but she slammed her good foot down, causing the chair to stop.
“No, I’m not leaving him,” she protested over her shoulder.
“But you should lie down...” Nurse Thompson insisted, but studying the expression on Lana’s face, she knew it was pointless.
