I locked eyes with her over Ollie’s shoulder. “He’s in surgery right now. The doctors are helping him.”
“But—”
“That’s all I know for right now, Ollie-bear. I’m sorry.”
Grace’s eyes held mine.Grayden, I mouthed silently. She shook her head. I’d told her over the phone that Grayden found Danny and texted me, but hadn’t been answering his phone.
So she didn’t know where he was either.
“Callum’s trying to see what he can learn,” she said. “I texted our whole group thread. We’ll figure out what’s going on.”
But an hour later, we still had few answers. Ollie was watching videos on an iPad Grace had brought, because she was a genius.
I wanted to pace across the waiting room. Curse to let out my frustration. But I couldn’t. I had to keep myself together for my kid. Couldn’t let him see me coming apart at the seams.
Why hadn’t I heard from Grayden yet? Was Danny going to be okay?
Even through all our difficulties, I’d never wished for him to disappear from Ollie’s life. Our son deserved better than that. I would never wish physical harm on Danny either.
Stabbed. Who could have done this?
Finally, a doctor came in and motioned for me.
Ollie looked up as I stood. “Mom?”
“Stay with Aunt Grace for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
We stepped just outside. “Ms. Carmichael?” the doctor asked. She looked young, mid-thirties maybe. “I’m Dr. Richardson. I was part of the surgical team working on Daniel today. I understand he’s your ex-husband?”
“Just tell me how Danny is. Please.”
She nodded. “He sustained two stab wounds to the abdomen.The blade penetrated deeply enough to cause significant internal bleeding and lacerated his spleen. We performed emergency surgery to control the bleeding and remove the spleen. He tolerated the surgery, which is encouraging.”
“So he’s going to be okay?”
“He’s stable right now, which is different from okay.” Her voice was gentle but careful. “He lost a substantial amount of blood before he arrived, and his body has been through serious trauma. He’s receiving more transfusions, and he’s on a ventilator to support his breathing. We also have him sedated. We’re giving his body the best possible chance to begin healing without additional stress. We’ll be watching closely for any signs of complications.”
I covered my mouth with my hand. “How long until he wakes up?”
“We’ll start to wean the sedation after twenty-four to forty-eight hours. It’s the next seventy-two hours that are most critical. It’s difficult to give an exact recovery timeline. But he’s being monitored constantly, and our team is doing all we can.”
I felt numb. All the anger I’d felt at Danny, all the pain he’d caused me and Ollie both… I would never have wanted it to end like this.
“My son. I mean, our son. He’ll want to see Danny. Is that allowed? He’s nine.”
She gave me a sympathetic look. “We’ll allow a short visit with you accompanying him. But your son might be frightened by what he sees.”
A breath punched out of me.
“Is there anyone else we can call for you?” Dr. Richardson asked. “Does Danny have any other family we should notify?”
“Not really. No. But I have family. They’re helping me.”
“That’s great. If Danny’s condition worsens, we may need you to make decisions. Do you understand?”
“Yeah. I do.”
I understood perfectly. Danny had nobody but me and Ollie. He’d burned every other bridge, and we were the only ones left.
