“A few broken bones is nothing too serious?”
“Nothing life-threatening then, okay? Can you come or not?” I snap. I’m not in the mood to answer questions or talk. I want to focus on Em and make sure she’s not in pain.
“Yeah, I’ll be there. Who’s Ethel?”
“My sugar granny.”
Em chuckles then winces in pain, clutching her side.
Keys rattle and a door opens on the other side of the line. “I’m not even going to touch that with a ten-foot pole. I’m on my way. What room?”
“204.”
He hangs up without another word.
“You okay?”
“Okay, I might have bruised ribs too,” she hisses, and I huff out a breath. She’s not okay.
“Who was that?” Em asks once I’ve put my phone back in my pocket.
“Austin.”
“You asked him to come?”
“If I don’t, I think you might be eating roast chicken tonight for dinner,” I say, glancing down at the birds. They ruffle their feathers and cluck once. It almost sounds angry.
“Don’t scare them like that. It’s okay, chickies. No one is eating you for dinner,” Em coos at them and they return to pecking the chair leg.
“You sure you’re okay? What did the doctor say?”
“I’m fine. They want to keep me in overnight for observation. I’m being taken into surgery soon.”
“Surgery! What for? You said you were fine.”
“Relax. It’s for my arm. It’s broken in three places and needs pins. They’re waiting for a free operating room.”
I lean forward and grab her hand. “What about your head?”
“I have some swelling. Doc says I should be fine in the next day or so.” She shrugs. She’s so blasé about the whole thing, meanwhile my heart is about to beat its way out of my chest, and I can’t catch a breath.
I run my hand through my hair and pull on the ends until it hurts. I can’t sit still; my legs are trembling and my chest aches. The fear of something terrible happening to her is too real. I can’t deal with it. My vision blurs and the room spins.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. “Head injuries are no joke, Em. Are you sure that’s all it is? Have they run a CAT scan? Are they sure there’s no damage?”
“I’m fi—”
I pull my hand back and stand, pacing the room. “Don’t say you’re fine. My mom said she was fine, too, but then she died six hours later from a bleed on her brain. They didn’t run a CAT scan when they should have, Em.”
Em’s reassuring smile drops from her face and she pales, turning a sickly white. She brings her hand up to her mouth and whispers, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think. Your mom. You... This must bring back a lot of memories. Colt, I—”
I walk over to her and kiss the top of her head. “You worry me. I can’t lose you, too.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispers.
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart.”
Breathing out a sigh of relief, I’m content for now but it doesn’t mean the worry still isn’t there. I hope this hospital does a better job of looking after her than what the last one did my mom.
I’ve learned to live without Mom, but I don’t think I can live without Em. She’s a part of me, and without her, I’m afraid of what would become of me.
The door opens and a man walks in. His white lab coat is blindingly bright under the fluorescent glow of the harsh hospital lighting. He smiles at Em and opens his mouth to speak when Clyde clucks and pecks at his shoes. Pulling his glasses off his face, he looks down, blinks and blinks again. When that doesn’t seem to be enough, he wipes his glasses clean and places them back on. His eyes widen. “Well that’s not something you see every day in here.”
Em grins. “They said family could visit. This is Colt,” she introduces me before gesturing to the chickens “And they are...” she points to each individually, “Jordan and Clyde.”
“Nice to meet you Colt, I’m Doctor Wentworth. You must be Emerson’s fiancé. The nurse told me you were here, but she failed to mention you brought two guests with you.” He reached out a hand for me to shake.
“Ah, yeah. We were on a date when I got the phone call about Em. I came straight here.”
He frowns and opens his mouth to speak before thinking better of it, instead choosing to nod and direct his focus at Em. “I’m here to check up on you and make sure you’re comfortable. Someone will be in shortly to take you down to the operating room where we can get that arm fixed and that ankle in a cast. We’ll have you on the mend in no time.”
“When can she go home?” I ask.
“If everything goes well in surgery, she should be able to go home tomorrow. We want to run another CAT scan later tonight to make sure everything is okay up here first.” He taps his pen to his head. “Never can be too careful with a head injury.” He smiles, and I wonder if he had been listening to our conversation from the other side of the door. “Emerson, do you have any questions?”
“I don’t think so.” She shakes her head.
“How long will she be in surgery for?”
“It’s hard to say until we get her in there and have a better look at the damage. The ankle is straight forward. But the arm is a different story. From the scans it should be a few hours, but, like I said, we won’t know for sure until we get in there and have a better look. You’re welcome to go home for a few hours and the nurse will call you when Emerson wakes up.” He glances down at the chickens.
“Nope. I’m staying here.”
Doctor Wentworth clears his throat. “Perhaps you can take the birds home. It’s against hospital regulations to have animals in the building.”
“It’s fine, their uncle is coming to collect them. I’m not leaving here until Em does.” I cross my arms over my chest and lean back in the seat.
“Okay.” The doctor chuckles, realizing he won’t win an argument with me. “Well, Emerson, I’ll see you down there soon.” He writes something on her chart and then leaves.
“Uncle? You really are running with this whole family thing, huh?”
“What else was I going to say? The guy my fiancée may or may not be dating is coming to pick them up.”
She rolls her eyes “Austin and I are friends. You could have just told the doctor someone was coming.”
“I did. Their uncle.”
Em sighs. “Colt, go home. I’ll be okay. I’ll call you when I wake up.”
“Not leaving, Em. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
She gives me a grateful smile, relieved that I’m staying.
“Will they put me to sleep?”
“Most likely. It’ll hurt too much otherwise.”
The relieved expression on her face changes to one of tension and fear at my words, and I want to ask if I can go into surgery and lie beside her. Hold her hand.
The nurse arrives about thirty minutes later and nearly trips over Clyde when she walks in. Where the hell is Austin? It doesn’t take that long to get here.
“Okay, Emerson, are you ready? We’re taking you down now to get that arm in a cast.”