“I highly doubt they will tell me anything if they didn’t tell you.”
“Worth a try,” Wes says.
I watch as they stand at the nurse station. Joan becomes very animated as she demands information. Wes just keeps his arm around her the whole time.
When my phone buzzes in my hand and Charles’ name flashes across the screen the realization that Ben took a bullet for nothing makes me throw my phone at the wall. It crashes into the wall and hits the floor as I bury my head into my knees.
Ben is probably dead, while Charles is still a free man. He’s going to come after me and I’m going to be trapped for the rest of my fucking life.
“I think it’s toast,” Wes says, holding my broken phone out to me.
“I’m not staying here.” I stand up. “He did it for nothing. Charles is calling me. He is going to show up at some point and try to get his revenge. He did it for nothing.”
“Don’t worry about Charles. He won’t be a problem much longer.”
“Why?”
“Don’t worry about that right now.” He sighs. “You’re his emergency contact,” he says, staring at me. The disbelief on his face lets me know he was unaware of this part of Ben’s plan.
“What?”
“Not sure when he changed it, but they won’t tell Joan or me anything because you’re his emergency contact.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh.”
The lady looked over my ID for a full three minutes before finally taking me back to a smaller waiting room. I tried to convince them to let Wes and Joan come with me, but they wouldn’t let them join me, so I’m forced to find out this news by myself.
They just left me in this tiny room all alone. I fear any moment they are going to tell me Ben is dead, and I’ll have to find a way to tell Wes and Joan when all I’ll want to do is cry.
My heart is pounding in my chest so hard I barely hear when the doctor walks into the room.
“I’m Dr. Richardson. You’re here about Benjamin Parker?” I simply nod. “He came in with a gunshot wound to the chest. Just a few inches above his heart. He lost a lot of blood, and by the time they got him here, he already coded once. They were able to get his heart started in the ambulance, but he did code once more on the operating table. It took a moment, but we were able to bring him back. We don’t know if there will be any lasting damage from that, but he seems determined to live. He has a long road to recovery ahead of him. Nerve damage, three broken ribs, a lot of internal bleeding, and a concussion.”
“But he’s alive?” My voice comes out as a whisper.
“He’s in critical condition, but yes, he is alive.”
“Good. Because I’m going to kill him,” I say as tears pour down my face.
Lucky for me the doctor has a sense of humor and doesn’t forbid me from seeing Ben after threatening to kill him.
They currently have him in the ICU but hope to move him to a private room once he is more stable. I can’t go in the room, but they allow me to stand outside. My eyes are glued to him through a small window.
I watch as his chest rises and falls, with help from the tube down his throat. There are so many wires going from his body to different machines. A monitor displays his heart rate, and the repetitive beating sound brings me a little more peace.
He is in tough shape, and it terrifies me. I keep waiting to wake up and find out he isn’t alive after all. The damage is severe. No one knows for sure if he will fully recover. Talk of brain damage or lasting nerve damage has me fearing the worst.
He risked his life for me. I have no idea if it even worked. Charles could’ve covered his tracks too well to get caught. This might not be the end of trouble for us, but just the start.
Wes doesn’t seem concerned, but I’m not sure he fully realizes the situation.
They finally make me leave after close to an hour. It’s hard to walk away. Leaving Ben alone is hard to do, but I don’t have a choice. I need to go update Wes and his mother anyways.
When I walk back to the waiting room, I find Wes and Joan sitting side by side. He holds her hand, comforting her. Both of them look so distraught it makes me feel bad for being gone so long.
