Unraveled (23 page)

Dad drove into the hospital parking lot as the ambulance whipped into the circular drive in front of the emergency room doors. Lauren trembled.
Please. No.
Bile rose in her throat. Grabbing her purse, she was out of the car before Dad could turn off the ignition. A passel of nurses and doctors swarmed the ambulance. They snapped on latex gloves and barked orders as the back doors were opened. The white coats and scrubs blocked her view. She turned toward the main entrance of the hospital, determined to find out who was on that stretcher.

The automatic doors whooshed open and she stepped inside. She brushed a stubborn curl out of her eyes and looked around. A man snoozed in one of the orange vinyl chairs in the corner, unfazed by the chaos outside. Even the nurses’ station was abandoned. An icy chill tingled down her spine. Without waiting for Dad, she headed for Granny’s room. Maybe she’d find someone—anyone—who knew what was going on.

She stopped in the doorway, praying Shannon would be at Granny’s side. But Granny was asleep in her bed, mouth hanging open. A magazine had slipped to the floor and she leaned over to pick it up.

“InStyle? You always were the fashionable one.” Lauren flipped through the first few pages. Granny stirred but didn’t open her eyes. She sighed and closed the magazine, sliding it back on the table next to the bed.
Oh, Granny. If only you were awake, I’d ask you to pray.
One tiny snippet of scripture popped in her head, long-dormant from her days in the high school youth group.
Pray without ceasing
. Although her prayers had probably seemed more like wish lists, she’d submitted her urgent requests to the Lord on the short ride to the hospital. If anything happened to Blake at this point, she’d never forgive herself.

Commotion in the hallway interrupted her thoughts. She heard footsteps running and Shannon’s frantic voice. “I’ll check in here, sometimes she visits Mrs. Watson.” Shannon burst into the room and stopped short when her eyes met Lauren’s.

“Shannon?” The color drained from her friend’s face. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, Lauren.” Shannon pressed her fingers to her cheeks.

Lauren’s stomach clenched. This can’t be happening. “It’s him, isn’t it?”

Shannon lowered her hands, eyes wide with fear. “I really need to find Sandy.”

“If you’re looking for Sandy then it has to be Blake. Tell me. Please.” Her voice was one she didn’t recognize as her own.

Shannon swallowed hard and grabbed her hand. It was warm against Lauren’s clammy skin. “Dang it. This is a total HIPA violation but I can’t not tell you. Blake is in serious trouble. He was in the water a long time, Lo. His body temperature is dangerously low, they’re trying to rule out a spine injury. A near-drowning has tons of risks, I don’t even—”

“Wait. Did you say drowning?”

Tears filled Shannon’s eyes. “He was thrown from the raft, without a helmet, so they think he hit his head. Jeremy never lost consciousness but he’s a wreck and doesn’t really know what happened.”

Lauren dropped her chin to her chest. Tears slid down her cheeks. What if Blake didn’t make it? Her heart ached as though it might split in two. If only she had told him the truth from the beginning. He had begged her to stay but she was too stubborn to listen. Just had to run off to Oregon and handle everything herself.
And look where it got you?
She watched Granny still sleeping, oblivious to the drama swirling around her.
What now, Granny?

She lifted her head and squeezed Shannon’s hand. “Is there any way I could see him? Just for a minute?”

Shannon hesitated. She gnawed on her lower lip and then nodded. “Come with me. I’ll see what I can do.”

Lauren blew Granny a kiss and followed Shannon out of the room. She battled back a wave of nausea. What if it was already too late?
Hold on, Blake. I’m coming.

"What do you think you’re doing?”

Lauren nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned slowly and stared up into the piercing blue eyes of Ben Tully. He folded his arms across his chest, sweat ringing the armpits of his gray t-shirt. Grease stained the legs of his faded jeans and a frown dragged the edges of his mustache down. Shannon had deserted her in the hallway, just steps from Blake’s hospital room, in an effort to find a way to sneak Lauren in.

“I just—I heard the call on my Dad’s radio. I was hoping it wasn’t Blake.” She gulped back a sob.

Mr. Tully’s countenance crumpled. He swiped at his eyes with his beefy fingers and nodded. “Me too, kiddo, me too.”

“It’s bad, isn’t it?”

He cleared his throat. “His mom is in there now. I came straight from work. I’m waiting on her for an update.”

Lauren’s heart plummeted. If Mrs. Tully knew about the baby, and surely Blake had told her by now, she wouldn’t let her anywhere near her son.

Shannon came out of Blake’s room, her face ashen. She pasted on a thin smile but Lauren could see the despair in her eyes. She stopped and slipped her arm around Lauren’s shoulders. “Hi, Mr. Tully.”

“Shannon. How is he?”

Shannon’s eyes darted between Lauren and Mr. Tully. “He’s on a ventilator. Dr. Wheeler’s on the phone with a swift water rescue trauma specialist in Anchorage right now. They’re talking about inducing a coma.”

Mr. Tully began to pace the hallway, rubbing his temples and murmuring through tears. It was more than Lauren could stand to watch. She grabbed Shannon’s elbow and tugged her in the opposite direction. “A coma?” she hissed. “Are you serious?”

Shannon hesitated. “He’s tolerating the ventilator but we’re not sure one hundred percent oxygen is enough after what he’s been through. I guess studies have shown controlled cooling through a comatose state helps the brain and the body recover.” She bit her lip. “That’s all I can tell you. I’ve said too much already.”

“Ben?” They turned as Mrs. Tully came out of Blake’s room. Her face was streaked with tears and Mr. Tully pushed past the girls to scoop his wife into his arms, her blond ponytail bobbing as her body shook. Lauren and Shannon turned away as Mrs. Tully’s cries echoed in the hallway.

“This is awful. I shouldn’t be here.” Lauren turned to go. She felt empty inside. She had given up her right to be part of the Tully family a long time ago.

“Wait.”

Lauren froze.

Mrs. Tully stepped toward her, dabbing at her red-rimmed eyes with a tissue. “Regardless of what’s happened between you and Blake … recently, I know you want to see him. I think everyone deserves closure. I couldn’t live with myself if I deprived you of that.”

Her words were like a sucker punch.
Closure?

“He’s on shaky ground right now, Lauren. But he is stable and Dr. Wheeler said he could tolerate a visitor or two for a few minutes.”

The lump in her throat kept her from speaking. She dared to look Mrs. Tully in the eye.
Please, please.

“Five minutes. That’s it.”

Lauren steepled her fingers and pressed them to her lips. “Thank you.”

Shannon squeezed her arm. “Come on, I’ll take you in.”

Lauren followed her to the door of Blake’s room, trembling all over. Her mouth was dry and her chest tightened. She gripped the door frame and whispered a prayer for strength. All her hours of rotations in the hospital and working for Dr. Putnam hadn’t prepared her for this. She drew a deep breath and stepped inside.

Her eyes traveled to the bed, absorbing each detail. He was lying on his back, with a gauze bandage wrapped around his forehead. Blood had soaked through the gauze, leaving a bright red stain near his temple. Gnarly purple bruises marred the skin around his eyes. The cervical collar that stabilized his neck made Lauren choke back a sob.

“D-does he have a spine injury?”

Shannon’s brow furrowed while she studied the monitors that beeped a steady rhythm. “We’re still uncertain about his right leg. He wasn’t conscious long enough for them to test all of the extremities. They left the collar on for now, probably in case they need to transport him.”

“Where?”

The paramedics had cut open his clothes and the remaining fragments of his white t-shirt crisscrossed his exposed chest like an angry gash. Lauren smoothed the bed sheet across his torso, tucking it between his arm and his body. The haunting push and pull of the ventilator unnerved her. The ghastly tube taped to his mouth sent an ominous shiver down her spine. Handsome, confident, selfless Blake … tethered to life by a complex series of tubes and machines.
How can this be?

“The trauma specialist will decide if he needs to be flown to Anchorage. But let’s not worry about that now.” Shannon rolled a stool up beside the bed and patted it with her hand. “Come close so he can hear you.”

Lauren sat down and reached for Blake’s hand. His fingers were warm but unresponsive to her touch. She wrapped her fingers around his and squeezed. “Hey,” she whispered. “It’s me.” She glanced at Shannon who nodded and offered an encouraging smile.

“You’ve had a lot of excitement this week.” She smoothed the sheet again, tucking it tighter under his side. “I’m sorry I contributed to that.”

This was excruciating. “Your mom says I only have a few minutes. There’s some things I want you to know about our son, just in case I don’t get another chance to tell you.” Her voice broke, and she looked away, right at Shannon, whose eyes shimmered with tears.

Lauren dragged the back of her hand across her nose and sniffed. “He’s eight now. You probably figured that out already. He lives on a farm in Milton-Freewater, Oregon. That’s eastern Oregon, by the way. I haven’t visited him but his parents write this great blog and they post awesome pictures. I’ll show it to you when you—when you wake up.”

One of the monitors behind her started to beep more frequently and she shot a glance at Shannon. “Keep going,” she whispered, watching the monitor over Lauren’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry I never told you about him. I regret that so much. I know you’d be a great dad.” She watched his chest rise and fall as the ventilator pushed air in and out of his lungs. “I was scared and I thought I could handle it by myself. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Lauren, look.” Shannon pointed toward the monitor, her eyes bright.

She twisted on the stool to look at the numbers but none of it made sense anymore. She shook her head. “What? I don’t get it.”

“I think he hears you. As soon as you started talking, his heart rate picked up a little. Say something else.”

That’s crazy. If he could hear her, why didn’t he open his eyes? She swallowed hard and squeezed Blake’s hand. “His name is Shaun. The boy. Our son. His parents seem really cool. I wish—” she was babbling now. Her cheeks grew hot. She stared at the monitor. Shannon was right. As long as she was talking, his heart rate picked up a few beats per minute.

“Mrs. T, you won’t believe this,” Shannon said as the door opened and Blake’s parents came and stood behind Lauren. “When Lauren talks, Blake’s heart rate increases. Show them. Say something else.”

Lauren hesitated. She hadn’t expected an audience.

“We’re all pulling for you, Blake. Jeremy and Megan aren’t here yet but I know they’ll come as soon as they can. I heard Coach is finally announcing his retirement this week. Wouldn’t you love to coach basketball this winter?” The monitor increased its beeping significantly.

Mrs. Tully moved closer and studied the numbers on the screen. Lauren noted his heart rate was increasing while his oxygen saturation looked questionable. She turned to mention it to Shannon, whose face was already clouded with concern.

“Shan—” Lauren pointed, her own heart rate increasing as a wave of uncertainty washed over her. The monitors standing guard around Blake changed from a steady beep to an ominous screech. Shannon’s expression grew stern and she locked eyes with Mrs. Tully.

“Out. Now.” Shannon pointed to the door. “I mean it, Sandy. Go.”

Lauren cried out as someone grasped her shoulders and pulled her off of the stool. “What’s happening?”

Mr. Tully had one arm around her and the other around his wife. She watched in horror as Mrs. Tully pressed her fist to her mouth and clutched her husband’s shirt as he forced her out of the room. “No.” she whimpered, her eyes wide in disbelief. He grunted as she clawed wildly at his arms. “Let me go, Ben. They’re losing him!”

Lauren’s knees buckled and spots of color flashed in her peripheral vision. Was it hot in here? Heart hammering in her chest, she reached for Mr. Tully’s arm.
Help me.
Crumpling to the floor, she noticed that the linoleum felt so cool against her cheek before everything went black.