They’d lost their daughter.
He had to see her.
“Is that everything?”
Mindy Sue swept her blonde hair back over her shoulder. “That’s all I know. She’s determined to turn in her term paper and take her exam tomorrow, though I don’t know how she’ll do it. She’s a basket case. She can’t hold a thought for more than a moment. She sits for long periods just staring into nothing and cries for hours. The doctors say she needs time to process everything that’s happened and to grieve for her daughter. I’ve spent the last few days with her, and I can tell you, she’s only gotten worse.”
“I’ll take her back to the ranch. I’ll get her whatever help she needs. I’ll take care of her.”
“I don’t think taking her back to the ranch is a good idea. Not with Kristi there and the wedding in a couple weeks.”
He didn’t want to think about anything but Brooke. The wedding, everything, everyone could go to hell. He’d lost a daughter, and all he wanted to do was take care of his baby girl’s mother.
Chapter Seven
Cody slid off the stool. “I need to see her now.”
Tired beyond words, Mindy Sue’s fatigue mirrored his own. The last several days had taken a toll on her. The last few hours had worn him down, even more than the last six months without Brooke had.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to wake her. Her meds finally kicked in, and she was sleeping well when I left. I wasn’t planning on leaving her alone this long, but I didn’t want to tell you what happened where she could overhear us if she woke up.”
“I just need to see her, so I’ll know that she’s really okay.”
“I don’t think seeing her will ease your mind.” Mindy Sue stood and started back down the hall.
He followed. “I know she’s injured.”
“There’s just no way to prepare yourself to see her. Believe me. Before I walked into her hospital room, the doctor tried to warn me. You just can’t believe it until you see it.”
Cody walked beside Mindy Sue to their room. She unlocked the door as quietly as she could. The deadbolts clicked and slid out of place. Opening the door slowly, she peeked in to see if Brooke was awake. Mindy Sue sighed with relief.
Cody looked past her and got his first look at Brooke. He moved farther into the small room. A lamp shone on the desk. A scarf over it cast a blue glow, soft, but enough light that he could see her. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed, disrupted by soft hiccups from crying herself to sleep. Wadded-up tissues lay beside her on the bed. Mindy Sue gathered them up and tossed them into a wastebasket under the desk that separated her bed from Brooke’s.
He took a moment to catalogue Brooke’s injuries. Her face was pale as death with dark circles under her eyes. A long, stitched cut on her cheek. She wore a tank top, allowing him to see a large bandage on her shoulder. Her left arm was bandaged. He couldn’t see the cuts, but the fact that it was bandaged from her elbow down to her hand told him they were serious. Her hand rested over a silver-covered oval dish.
“Is that my daughter?” Cody whispered.
Mindy Sue touched her fingertips to Brooke’s hand over the too-small vessel that held a tiny life that had never gotten a chance to really live. “Yes. She won’t let go of her.”
Cody wanted to pick her up and hold her. This was as close to his daughter as he would ever get. He knew that would wake Brooke, so he stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued to stare down at her.
Her right arm was bandaged much in the same way as her left, but it was in a strapped brace that served as a cast. He guessed despite her broken wrist, she still needed to be able to clean and re-bandage the stitched cuts. The tank top covered the bandages around her midsection. The outline of them showed through the material. Her leg, encased in a heavy black brace, lay outside theblankets that slightly covered her to the waist. She couldn’t be comfortable, though pillows kept her propped up. Her right arm rested on a pillow by her side. He bet any time she moved her arm, it sent pain through her shoulder.
He had no idea how to get her back to the ranch without subjecting her to more agonizing pain.
The thought of hurting her made him ill.
“Why did they let her out of the hospital so soon? Shouldn’t they have waited a few more days at least? Kept an eye on her injuries?”
Mindy Sue gathered some clothes from her closet and whispered over her shoulder. “She didn’t need to be there anymore. The surgery went well. They patched her up and put her back together. She can walk and get around on her own. It’s not easy, and it’s painful. She can’t use her hands and arms very well, but she’ll manage with help.”
“But the C-section,” he protested.
“Most women who have one spend only three days in the hospital; she was there nearly five. She’s okay, Cody. Physically, she’s healing well.”
Mindy Sue came over and stood beside him. They whispered, but even that small sound made Brooke squirm and mumble in her sleep. Her shirt turned wet over her left breast. He gave Mindy Sue a questioning look.
“Her milk came in. That’s why her breasts are so big. Can you imagine your own body rebelling against you? You know there’s no baby in your head, but your body insists there is. The doctor said her milk will dry up in a few more days.”
