Yet…I couldn’t stop caring. Even if I should be ambivalent at this point.
“Other than that, she has no more broken bones. Which is a miracle in and of itself. Her lower half was somewhat unaffected. But our main worry right now is the rabies that we’re fairly sure that this bear carried. We’re treating her now for it despite not having full confirmation that the bear was a carrier.”
“What are the side effects of that if she does get it?” Nettie asked.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat this,” the doctor said. “If she contracts rabies, she’ll die. It’s almost always fatal once symptoms appear.”
Fuck.
“But she won’t get it if you’re giving her these shots, right?” Nettie’s voice rose.
“It’s not guaranteed, no,” the doctor admitted. “But we’re hopeful that preemptively treating her for the disease will halt the process. We’re giving her those injections now…but it’s a lot. She was bitten several times. Then, if she survives this—because we will be worried about infection over the next several weeks—we’ll also be giving her shots every few weeks to ensure that the rabies won’t appear.”
Nettie covered her face with both of her gloved hands.
“Will she need surgery?”
The doctor turned to stare at me. “Ahh, you must be the man she’s been muttering about this entire time.”
“Good things?” I tried for levity.
“Not much of anything, really,” he admitted. “She was quite…delusional. In pain and drugged to control that pain, she kept talking about you. Something about you being her personal electrician or something. It was cute.”
My lips quirked despite the situation.
“As to your question.” The doctor took a deep breath. “We’re going to take her to surgery. She’ll for sure need to get her arm fixed. It’ll need screws and some plates to ensure that it heals properly. While she’s in surgery, they’ll be cleaning her wounds up and stitching her closed…there are quite a few necessary. She’ll need to be sedated fully for some of them.”
“Can I see her?” Nettie asked.
Did I have a right to ask to see her, too?
“No,” the doctor said. “We’re working furiously right now to get her stable. Despite what I told you about everything that needs fixed, we’re still needing to get her blood pressure up. She’s likely already headed to surgery as we speak.”
Fuck.
“Okay,” Nettie said. “Where do you want me to wait?”
“Surgery will be on the second floor. There’s a waiting room near there that you can wait. But they have your number. They’ll call you as soon as she’s finished, so you can really wait anywhere.”
“Okay.” Nettie stood up and offered the doctor her hand.
That was when I noticed all the blood on the man’s sleeve.
Eddy’s blood?
My stomach roiled.
The doctor left with a nod of his head at me, leaving Nettie and me alone.
“You don’t…” Nettie’s breath hitched. “I know y’all just met recently. You don’t have to stay.”
I walked toward her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders.
It was like the dam broke the moment I enclosed her in my arms.
Her breath hitched, as if she’d been trying so hard to hold on, and then she started to sob.
My shirt was soaked in moments, and I wondered if a person could break from crying.
