“Bloody hell,” Scott’s words rushed out as soon as I made my way inside the far too tiny room, not nearly big enough to hold the tension and worry spilling out from the both of us. “How the fuck did you get here?”
Ignoring him, I took a seat and pushed my elbows into my knees to control the bouncing, rubbing my palms up and down my face. “How was she? In the ambulance? Have you heard anything?” I asked, lifting my head to meet his eyes just as Lynch walked through.
Everyone’s gaze made the journey around the room before falling back on me. I jumped to my feet and gripped the ends of my hair to avoid finding their way to flesh, drywall, or glass. “How the fuck is she?”
Scott looked to Lynch again. “She passed out in the bus, lost too much blood,” Scott shook his head with a tremor in his voice, “It’s not looking good.”
“She’ll make it.”She had to.
“And how are you so sure of everything? Mr. Glass-Half-Full, everything honky-dory,” tears pricked his eyes, “And why is he here?” Scott turned to Lynch. “Why the fuck did you bring him? You will risk everythin—
“He knows,” Lynch interrupted.
It turned quiet after that.
I couldn’t sit still. The smell of the emergency department did nothing to ease the sickness eating away inside as I wordlessly prayed to any god who would listen to take care of my love. Every doctor, nurse, and worker who walked by, I’d asked the same bloody question, and the only answer I’d received was the same, “Her doctor will come to talk to the family as soon as they can.”
Milliseconds turned to minutes. Minutes turned to hours. I’d walked over every inch of the small room, sat in every chair, touched every surface of the glass wall. I’d prayed, cursed, and replayed that moment in my head over and over, condemning myself for letting her out of my sight.
“Mia?” A doctor announced, walking through the electric sliding door with her information in the palms of his hands.
I was the first to appear before him as the other two surrounded me. “She’s okay?”
“She pulled through,” the doctor said and exhales let go like a domino effect between the three of us. “Now … ” his eyes darted between the three of us, “Who’s family?”
“I am,” Lynch and I said in unison. “I need to see her,” I added through gritted teeth.
“She’s being transferred to a room now, but the pain meds have her out cold at the moment. She probably won’t wake for another hour or so. In the meantime, I have a few officers coming to take statements.”
“Of course,” Lynch breathed, dropping his tense shoulders and relief visible in his expression. Me? Not yet. Not until I saw her with my own eyes.
“What room?” I demanded.
The doctor looked up from Mia’s file. “Excuse me?”
“What room is she in?”
For the first time, the doctor examined my wardrobe. His eyes fell to Jinx’s shoes on my feet, up to the blood smeared across my arms, then down the front of the white tee hanging loosely around me.
I cleared my throat.
“It’s best you stay here for the police to take your statement.”
I narrowed my eyes and took a step forward. “I’m not doing shit until I see Mia.”
“Oliver,” Lynch warned with a hand over my shoulder. “What room?” he asked the doctor from behind me.
“Nine-sixty-four.”
My shoulder bumped the doctors as I moved past him and jogged down the hall. The numbers beside each door declined, falling into the eight hundreds, and I whipped around to run back the other way. Each step felt like a thousand-pound weight had been anchored around each ankle, not able to get there fast enough.
I’d reached the room and didn’t slow down until I was face to face with Mia.
Tangled hair. Perfect lips. Twelve freckles.
My hand eagerly laced in hers by her side, and it was cold to the touch. Though the monitor showed a steady heartbeat, I dropped my head over her chest, needing to be reassured. The steady rhythm allowed me to breathe, and the moment that one long breath escaped, so did the tears. I held them for far too long, imprisoned and undeserving to relieve my heavy heart. “I’m so sorry … ” I cried, kissing her cheek, her temple, her forehead, her nose. My thumb smoothed across her forehead. “Open your eyes, love. I need to see your eyes.”
“Oh, she’ll be out for a while,” a nasally voice said, closing in from behind. I didn’t bother turning around, knowing the casual tone could only come from someone who dealt with situations like this on an everyday basis. My entire being stayed focus on Mia, taking notice in the way her lashes fluttered under a dream coursing through her beautiful mind.
