Page 70 of Don’t Open Your Eyes

“Are the messages there?”

The detective nodded “Yes. They go back quite a ways.”

She jumped up and held out her hand. “Let me see.”

“Hang on a second.”

She was about to grab the phone out of his hand, but before she could, the elevator opened and James came running toward her. “Any news?”

“No, the doctors are evaluating her. They said they’ll come update us as soon as they know anything.”

The detective introduced himself to James and briefed him on what he and Annabelle had discussed. James’s face turned red. “Who is this son of a bitch messaging her? He had to have done this!”

The doors to the unit opened, and Annabelle stood as a man in a white coat approached them.

“Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds?” he asked.

“Yes. How’s our daughter?” Annabelle asked.

“She’s stable. I’m Doctor Jenkins. She’s suffered a blow to the head and has a closed brain injury. No other injuries, other than contusions on her arms and legs. Scans showed no bleeding, which is good. But we’re concerned with brain swelling, so we’ve put her in a medically induced coma to let her brain rest. She hadn’t regained consciousness before we did so. We’ll be keeping her in ICU where we can keep a close eye on her.”

“Oh my God! Is she going to be okay?” Annabelle asked.

“She’s on a vent?” James asked.

The doctor nodded. “Yes, we’ve intubated her and have her on midazolam. We’ll continue monitoring her vitals and her neurological status, including intracranial pressure.”

“I’d like to see her scans and take a look at her pupils too,” James said, then stopped. “Sorry, you don’t know me. I’m Doctor Reynolds, a neurologist. Nothing against you, Doctor Jenkins, but I want Matthias on this.” He turned to Annabelle. “He’s the chief of neurosurgery.” He looked back at the doctor. “I want his assessment before we go any further.”

Dr. Jenkins nodded. “I understand. I’ll have Doctor Matthias paged.”

“Can we see her?” Annabelle asked.

“Yes. Someone will be out shortly once we get her settled in a room.”

Annabelle burst into tears again, and James put his arms around her. “She’s going to be okay. Everything’s going to be okay,” he whispered.

But Annabelle took no comfort in his words.

Annabelle

It had been a week, and Scarlett was still in a coma. Dr. Matthias had taken over. It killed Annabelle to see her baby lying there so still, with a tube down her throat. She was improving, but the doctor wanted to give her more time. Annabelle hadn’t left her side, spending the nights in a recliner by her bed.

James walked into the room with two cups of coffee. He came every morning before work.

“Any updates?” he asked.

“Doctor Matthias will be by after nine. He said he hopes they can lighten the sedation soon.”

“You look exhausted. Why don’t you let me come and stay tonight? You should go home and get a good night’s sleep.”

“No. There’s no such thing as a good night’s sleep until she’s awake, and I know she’s okay.” Her voice broke, and she took a deep breath. This unending nightmare was taking a huge toll, but there was no way she would step foot outside the hospital until it was time to take Scarlett home. Ironically, her sleep had been dreamless all week. She was losing hope.

“You won’t do her any good if you get so run-down that you get sick. Just one—”

“Stop it, James. I’m not leaving, and that’s final! Maybe if you hadn’t tried to make me think I was crazy with those dreams, this could have been prevented. Something was warning me that Scarlett was in trouble, but you chalked it up to anxiety. So stop telling me what to do and what to think.”

He was momentarily speechless. “You’re blaming me for this?”