As he guided me away from the treatment area, something inside me broke. The fear, the adrenaline, the confession—it all crashed over me at once. My knees buckled, and Declan caught me before I hit the floor.
“I can’t lose her,” I choked out, my vision blurring with tears I hadn’t allowed myself to shed. “Not like this. Not like Avril and Melanie.”
Declan’s arms tightened around me. “You won’t,” he said firmly. “She’s fighting. You got her out in time.”
I wanted to believe him, needed to believe him, but all I could see was Ella’s lifeless body on the ice, Nora’s terrified face as she watched us perform CPR.
“Sir?” A nurse appeared beside us, her expression kind but insistent. “We really need to check you for hypothermia as well. Your friend can come too.”
Declan helped me to my feet, supporting me when my legs threatened to give way again. “I’ll stay with you,” he promised. “And I’ll make sure someone updates us on Ella every few minutes.”
I nodded, too exhausted to argue further. As the nurse led us to an examination room, I glanced back at the trauma bay where Ella was fighting for herlife.
“Please,” I whispered, unsure whether I was praying to God, the universe, or just the stubborn will I knew lived inside her. “Please don’t take her too.”
The nurse helped me onto an exam table, then immediately started taking my vital signs while Declan stood watch at the door. My temperature was low but not dangerously so—apparently, adrenaline and fear had kept my blood pumping enough to ward off any serious hypothermia.
“You’re very lucky,” the nurse said, wrapping a heated blanket around my shoulders. “Another few minutes in that water, and you might be in the same condition as your wife.”
I didn’t correct her assumption. Somehow, in this moment, it felt right to let her think Ella was my wife.
“When can I see her?” I asked instead.
“The doctor will come speak with you as soon as they’ve stabilized her.” She handed me a hospital gown. “Now, I need you to change into this so we can get you completely dry and warm.”
As she left to give me privacy, Declan stepped further into the room. “Mikhail just arrived with Nora,” he said quietly. “They’re in the waiting room.”
I nodded, struggling to remove my borrowed clothes with fingers that still felt clumsy and numb. “How is she?”
“Scared. Confused. But holding it together.” He helped me with the ties on the hospital gown.
“What did Mikhail tell her?”
Declan shrugged. “Just that her mom got very cold and the doctors are warming her up. Kid’s smart, though. She knows it’s more serious than that.”
I sat heavily on the exam table, the events of the past hours crashing over me in waves. “This is all my fault. I should never have tried to cross that ice.”
“And what was the alternative? Let Kozlov’s men catch you?” Declan shook his head. “You made the best decision with the information you had. That’s all any of us can do.”
Before I could respond, there was a knock at the door, and the doctor who had been treating Ella entered. My heart lurched at the sight of him.
“Mr. Brennen?” he asked, glancing at the chart in his hands.
“How is she?” I demanded, already halfway off the exam table.
“Stabilizing,” he said, and I felt my legs go weak with relief. “Her core temperature is rising slowly, which is what we want. We’ve got her on warm fluids and oxygen. The fact that CPR was so quickly administered after the submersion was critical—there doesn’t appear to be significant brain hypoxia.”
“So she’ll be okay?” I hardly dared to hope.
“It’s still too early to make promises,” he cautioned. “But she’s fighting hard. We’re moving her to the ICU for overnight observation, but I’m cautiously optimistic.”
I closed my eyes briefly, a prayer of thanks rising unbidden. “When can I see her?”
“Once she’s settled in the ICU, perhaps an hour. And there’s a little girl in the waiting room asking for you. Says you promised to tell her when her mom wakes up.”
Nora. I’d almost forgotten my promise to her in the chaos.
“I’ll go to her now,” I said, standing despite the nurse’s protests that I needed more rest. “Thank you, doctor.”
