“The car was struck on the driver’s side. Pace Williams was with us for twelve minutes. He suffered multiple injuries to his left side—dislocated shoulder, cracked ribs, fractures of the wrist and fingers, open fracture of the arm. Head trauma and internal injuries were also likely. He was unconscious, but his vitals were pretty good. Both will be taken to the ICU post-op, so why don’t you follow me? I’ll get you to the waiting room there, where their team can keep you updated.”
“I don’t know if I can go up there, Phillip,” I hear my mom whisper to my dad.
“Sure you can,” he says. “I’ll hold your hand the whole time. Just like I did back then.”
And I realize they must be talking about when her parents died. I know they were in a really bad accident. But I don’t know much more than that.
“Mom seems really freaked out,” I tell my dad later when we go get coffees for everyone.
We’ve been waiting to hear more news for a couple of hours. Nurses come out every so often to let us know that the surgeries are going well and that Haley and Pace are stable, but that’s about it.
“Being in the ICU brings back a lot of painful memories for her, Chase. I was there with her though, and I’m still here.”
“I know they died. I guess I just don’t know the story.”
“When we arrived at the hospital, my parents were already here. They had been following them home. Saw the crash happen. When we got to the ICU, she was told that her mother had already passed. Her father was in the ICU. She got to see him, speak to him a little, but he passed a few hours later. It was rough.”
“I can’t imagine,” I say, feeling so bad for her. “It sounds like Haley is going to be okay though, right?”
“She’s going to be fine. A little dinged up.”
“Don’t sugarcoat it for me, Dad. I can handle it.”
He looks me in the eye. “I forget you’re a grown man now. Sorry. I’m very worried by the fact that she had an arterial injury. That means, she could have lost a lot of blood. I’m worried about what kind of shape she will be in. But mostly, I just want her to be alive and healthy when this is over. And I’m really worried about Pace.”
“Me, too.”
We get back up to the ICU and hand out coffees.
A doctor comes out, and Damon is the first one on his feet. “How are they?”
“Are you the family of Haley Mackenzie?”
“We are,” Damon says then points toward my mom and dad. “Parents.”
The doctor shakes hands with my parents and then tells them Haley is out of surgery and stable, but that she will be in the ICU overnight. He produces an X-ray, holding it up to a light bar.
Damon is like, “Whoa, she’s going to set off the metal detectors, isn’t she?”
The doctor then explains the surgery she had, showing where the rods and pins are holding her leg together.
“The break, although open, wasn’t that bad. We only had to put a rod in the tibia, and once we did, the fibula lined up on its own. The surgery took a little longer than normal, as we wanted to make sure we handled the vascular injury with care. The blood flow after looked to be pretty good, but we’ll be keeping an eye on it.”
As soon as he leaves, Mom puts her head on my dad’s shoulder and cries with relief.
Damon, Dani, and I are back in our spots, our hands stacked on each other’s, as they have been for most of this time. Mom looks up and sees us, and then she puts her hand over her mouth and starts crying again.
I go over to her immediately and give her a hug. “It’s okay, Mom. She’s okay.”
“I know,” she says. “It’s you kids. Your hands.”
“What do you mean? Like, how we were holding them? We’ve been doing that since we got in the car at the house.”
“You have?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“You know how when you play sports, you do that and then break to start the game?”
I nod. Not really following.
“I had some, um, unusual experiences when we had our accident.”
“I read in the diary pages how Dad said he thought he’d lost you. Did you die?”
“I lost a lot of blood. They did surgery to get you out. And then my heart stopped beating, I guess. They say people this happens to have, I don’t know, dreams, out-of-body experiences, that kind of thing.”
“And you had that happen?”
“Yes. And while it’s common to hear stories of people floating over their own bodies, it’s not as common to hear they saw things outside of that space. In my head, or wherever, I was watching scenes on a television. They ranged from memories to possible futures. But at the end, I saw Danny rushing down the hall to where your dad was sitting in a folding chair, sobbing outside of the operating room. Danny put his hand on top of your dad’s. I was drawn to it. I put my hand on top of that pile, but then I saw myself on the television, standing there with them, but I was faint. And I thought it was going to be the last time I would ever touch either one of them. You’d think that would make me feel sad, but it gave me comfort. As did when you touched my shoulder in the car.” She wraps me in a hug. “It’s hard, not being able to go in there and hold your sister’s hand. But seeing the three of you do that and knowing that Haley’s hand belongs in the picture gives me a lot of comfort. I know she will be okay. And I think so will the friendship between you four.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without them,” I say, tearing up.
Another two hours later, we learn that Pace is finally out of surgery. Most of his bodily injuries, although significant, involved bone and tissue damage. We’re happy to hear that he suffered no internal injuries. The question mark in the equation though revolves around the head injury he suffered. Definitely a concussion and some swelling, so they will be monitoring that closely for the next forty-eight hours.
We’re all relieved he’s out of surgery but really worried about the swelling.
And eventually, we’re allowed to go in to see Haley, who is somewhat alert. Mom and Dad go first.
I grab Dani’s hand. “Will you go in there with me?”
She squeezes it. “Of course I will.”
The second we walk into the room, Haley says, “You’re holding hands. Did watching the video of that day help? Are you finally back together? Like, for good this time?”
“Uh, Haley, you were just in a bad car accident—you know that, right?” Dani says.
“Yeah, I know. And I also know that you just walked into my room, holding hands. I want to know why.”
“I’m trying to support your brother,” Dani says. “He’s been—we’ve all been—worried about you.”
Haley rolls her eyes, says, “You didn’t answer my question,” and then dozes off.
“I am glad you were here with me,” I tell Dani.
“Nowhere more important than this,” she says.
I suddenly feel exhausted again. Only this time, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have any problem falling asleep.
Damon peeks his head in the room. “It’s my turn.”