“But Parker?” Delilah shuffled on her feet nervously looking between Hank and the Doctor.
“Yes… Parker suffered severe trauma to his left leg. It was pinned beneath the dashboard and shattered. We splinted the injury for now.”
“Why not cast it or do surgery?” Hank asked.
“His leg injury, while severe, is not the most concerning thing. Parker suffered a head injury. We cannot do any surgery on him until the swelling goes down and he is stable enough to be operated on.”
“Shit.” Hank swore, causing Delilah to inhale sharply.
“What does that mean?”
“Delilah, we have Parker in an induced coma. We need to give his brain time to heal. We won’t know if there will be any long-term damage or not. The brain is fickle like that.”
Delilah nodded, hearing what the doctor was saying, but not really understanding.
“Can we see him?” her voice barely audible.
“Yes. But I warn you. Parker isn’t going to look like the man you saw this morning. He is bruised, covered in bandages with a lot of wires attached to him and a tube coming out of his mouth to help him breathe. So, prepare yourself. It will be a shock.”
Delilah and Hank followed the doctor through the doors to the back. The walk to ICU seemed to take forever. They stopped in front of his door, “You can go in when you’re ready. Remember, how he looks now won’t last forever.”
The doctor left the two of them standing alone in the hallway. Hank tugged Delilah’s hand in his, “You ready?”
“Yeah.” She took a deep breath and followed him through the door.
Chapter 25
Nothing could have prepared Delilah for what she saw. Parker laid still on the bed. His head was wrapped in gauze, a plastic tube protruded from his mouth that ran to the machine placed by his bedside. The slow and steady sound of air filled the room. What could be seen of his face was swollen and bruised. Delilah couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe.
“Jesus Christ.” Hank muttered, rubbing his hand over his face.
Delilah cut her eyes towards him, tears pooling on her cheeks. She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath until he’d spoken. Hank pulled a chair to the edge of the bed, “Sit, Delilah.”
Nodding she took the empty seat, her hands folded in her lap. She couldn’t believe this was happening. “Why did this happen?”
“Delilah…” Hank squeezed her shoulder, “This was an accident. Parker is a tough son of a bitch, he’ll pull through.”
“He has too…” She laced her fingers with Parker’s hand on the bed. “I need him to know how I feel.”
Hank’s phone buzzed in his pocket, Delilah listened as he talked to the person on the other end. She couldn’t take her eyes off Parker. Her heart ached – she needed him to be alright.
“Delilah,” Hank broke her train of thought, “That was Meghan. She’s going to meet me in a bit to give me Ed’s remains. Will you be ok here?”
“Yes… Thank you for taking care of that, Hank. I am not leaving his side.”
Hank squeezed her arm, “Take care of yourself too, Delilah. Parker is going to need us when he wakes up.”
“I know. See you later?”
“Call me if you need something before I get back.” Hank walked closer to the bedside, “Parker, we need your ugly ass to wake up.” Hank tapped his arm, turning and leaving Delilah alone with him in the room.
She scooted her chair closer to him, “Please Parker, wake up.” Delilah stood, leaning down towards his face, “I need you to wake up. I need to tell you how wrong I was. How…” she swallowed, “please…” her tears spilled onto his exposed skin. Delilah sat back down, the letters she’d shoved into her pocket crinkled beneath her. Pulling them out, she set them on the table. She couldn’t think of reading anything right now. Not with Parker lying so helplessly in front of her. Folding her arms across the edge of the bed, she rested her head against her forearms and closed her eyes. She had no intention of leaving his side – not until he woke up at least.
∞ ∞ ∞
“Delilah,” a warm hand pressed against her back, stirring her from her sleep. Sitting up, the memory of where she was rushed back to her, propelling her from her resting position.
“Parker.”
“He’s still not awake.” Hank stood against the wall beside her, “Doc will be in to give us an update. You slept here all night. The nurses said you didn’t budge at all.”
“I couldn’t leave him.”
“Good morning,” the doctor walked through the door, “I see you’re awake now.” He smiled as he walked towards Parker. “His vitals all look good, but the swelling has not gone down enough for surgery. We are going to redress and splint his leg – hopefully in the next twenty-four hours the swelling will subside some more and we can take him in for surgery. The good news is the swelling on his brain has gone down. We are going to remove the breathing tube and take him off the medicine keeping him in the coma.”
“Is that safe? Could it… I mean, can he…” Delilah’s words hung in the air, her hand laced with his on the bed.
“Delilah, there is always a chance he could not wake up. But we need to see if he can breathe without the tube. Plus – it may allow him to wake up. Right now, the medicine is preventing that for sure.”
She nodded, “When?”
“The nurse will be in, in just few minutes to assist me.”
“Ok.” Delilah pushed her chair back and stood. Hank tugged the chair into the corner and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder.
“He’s going to be ok.” He tried to assure her, though his voice wavered when he spoke.
The nurse joined them in the room, pushing a tray of supplies. She stopped the i.v. drip, removing the bag of clear medicine from the stand. The doctor removed the tape from his mouth, holding the plastic tube in place. Nodding towards the nurse, Delilah watched as she flicked the metal contraption pushing air into his lungs off. The machine made a hissing sound as it came to a stop. The doctor pressed his stethoscope to his chest and listened. “Alright, let’s see how he does.” Slowly the doctor pulled the tube from between his lips and watched as the heart rate monitor continues to beep steady. “Looks like he is breathing on his own. Now we wait.”
“Wait for what?” Hank spoke.
“For him to wake up. Someone from upstairs will come down and take him for another cat scan.”
“Delilah, you should go home and get some rest.”
“No. I’m not leaving him.”
Hank shrugged, “I can go to your house and get you some clothes. I think you’re going to need them. Is that ok?”
“How are you so calm?” Delilah scoffed.
“Parker and I have a log history. We served together in Iraq – we’ve seen and survived a lot of shit. I know he ain’t going nowhere, not like this.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed you weren’t taking this seriously. Yes, if you could just go and get some things from my house, I’d appreciate that. I’ll make you a list.” Delilah grabbed the pen from the table and scribbled out a quick list and handed it to him. “Hope it’s not too weird for you, going through my things.”