My nerves are screaming at me. Whatever they’re about to tell me, I already know I won’t like it.
Great.I’m probably going to be stuck in here for another damn month.
Colt takes my hand and squeezes it so tightly I swear it might snap.
“Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?” I ask, the panic clawing up my throat.
Colt closes his eyes and swallows hard like he’s trying to force the truth down before it spills out.
My mind goes wild with what they’re going to tell me. Maybe there’s a complication with my leg—God knows it still aches. Perhaps it’s not healing right. Maybe I’ve got an infection, and the only way to save me is to amputate.
Oh God, I’m going to lose my leg.
Colt opens his eyes and glances at the doctor, giving him the slightest nod.
That’s it.
That’s the confirmation.
He’s permitting him to deliver the death sentence to my leg.
Because what else could it possibly be?
It has to be that.
“Dee, baby…” Colt’s voice is shaky. Too shaky. “What the doctor’s about to tell you… it doesn’t change anything, okay? I love you. Nothing changes that. Nothingevercould.”
No.
No, no, no.That’s not something you say about a leg. That’s something you say when your world is about to be obliterated.
I bite down hard on my bottom lip as my chest tightens. My breath catches, stuttering in and out like I’ve forgotten how to breathe.
The doctor steps forward, his face already telling me that whatever he’s about to say will wreck me.
“This is too much,” I whisper, my voice trembling. “You’re scaring me. Just… what the hell is going on?” My eyes sting as tears threaten to fall.
The doctor clears his throat, but the hesitation in his eyes says everything. “Dee, there were complications during your surgery,” he begins, carefully choosing his words. “When you were hit, a piece of metal tubing pierced your abdomen—”
“I know that,” I interrupt quickly, confused. “That’s old news. What does that have to do with my leg?”
I glance at Colt, but he can’t meet my eyes.
Oh God, it’s not about my leg.
The doctor’s voice lowers, “The tubing caused severe trauma to your internal organs…” He pauses.
My whole body tenses. “But you fixed it, right?” I ask, my voice rising, desperate. “I mean, I feel fine, so you fixed it?”
Please say yes.
He shakes his head slightly. “We removed the damaged organs. There was no way to save them.”
I blink, trying to keep up. “What do you mean,removed?”
The doctor draws in a breath. “Your ovaries, uterus, and fallopian tubes were all beyond repair. I’m sorry, Dee, but we had no choice.”
The world goes quiet, like someone’s dropped me into a vacuum.
