Leah could hear the female voice on the other end tell him something in medical gibberish. She could have possibly understood if her focus hadn’t been on the pain that was ripping through her insides. The pain was awful. Her doctor had told her she’d have pain, but she knew he meant nothing like this.
“She says to take you to the hospital. It could be serious,” Liam said, shoving his phone into his pocket.
“No, I’ll be fine. It’s probably just muscles going crazy or something.”
“Leah,” Liam said, placing his arms around her. He placed his finger under her chin and lifted her face to look her in the eyes. “This could be something serious. Megan says to get you checked out ASAP.”
There was a pause in the pain and she took the unknown amount of time she had to talk. “I really hate hospitals. I don’t want to go back there. I really don’t want to stay there again.”
“There’s no sense in worrying about it. We need to get you there and get you checked out. I don’t want to take a chance of losing you.”
His words interrupted her focus on the sharp sporadic pains that shot from her side across her stomach. Losing you… her thoughts trailed off at the thought of someone being worried about losing her.
“I’m really…” she stuttered, and leaned back against the couch.
“You’re what?” Liam was panicked, and standing right next to her. She could feel him lift her up as he said, “That’s it; I’m taking you to the hospital.”
The whole room spun around her—she felt nauseated. She could feel the sweat running down her face—or was it tears? Either way, her face was damp and something was trickling down it.
“Leah, can you hear me?” Liam asked. Setting her in his truck, he lightly patted her face. “Leah, answer me. Leah.”
She could hear his voice—it was distant, but she could hear him. She could hear the panic in his voice as he hurried to the hospital. She couldn’t talk, she had tried. She was too weak. She felt lifeless as she sat there—her whole upper body hung over into the middle seat.
“Leah, talk to me!” His voice boomed over the engine of the truck. “Leah!”
He was on the phone with someone. She could hear him telling them that they were on their way to St. Mary’s. She heard him tell whoever was on the phone to hurry up and meet them at the hospital. “She doesn’t look good. She’s pale… she’s full of sweat… she’s not talking to me!”
Buildings, street lights, and clouds swirled around them in a blur. She tried to focus her eyes on something, but she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Her whole body was weak. She tried to push herself up from the middle seat, but the more she tried, the weaker she became. “What’s wrong with me?” she attempted to ask, but nothing but a hoarse whisper came out.
“Leah,” he said, while he patted her face. A strong grip grabbed her shoulder and gave it a shake. “Leah, hang in there! We’re almost to the hospital!”
The need to sleep crept over her and she fought against it. She tried to keep her eyes open for as long as she could—even though it made the nausea and dizziness that much worse. Within a few minutes, she slowly surrendered to the need to sleep. The minute she couldn’t fight anymore, darkness fell upon her.
The emergency room was crowded with nurses, doctors, families, and children. Loud conversation seemed to pause the minute Liam busted through the doors. Nurses scrambled to grab Leah from his arms while another nurse guided him in the opposite direction.
“She was just fine when I brought her home from the hospital! Less than an hour ago!” Liam hollered over the commotion. “How’d she go from doing well to this? What happened?”
“Liam, you need to go to the waiting room,” the nurse said, trying to guide him out of the emergency room. “We’ll keep you updated as often as we can.”
“What’s going on with her?” Liam asked, pointing back to the room they had taken Leah to. “Is she going to be okay? I need to know!”
Anger, fear, all the emotions stirred in him. He was not happy with leaving Leah’s side. He wanted to be there with her. Frustration coursed through him as the nurse guided him to the waiting room—where he had once spent the majority of his time when his grandmother had been fighting for her life. Tears of anger and other emotions he tried to shove back, escaped without control. He pointed to the closed emergency doors and begged the nurse, “I have to see her. I have to be by her side. You don’t understand. I can’t lose her.”
“I understand, but you have to allow the doctor and nurses to look her over,” the nurse kindly explained. “I promise, I’ll keep you updated as often as I can.”
Whether it was the emotion from losing his grandma or a little bit of everything, he was not ready to sit and wait. He pushed himself through the nurse and made his way to the emergency doors. He shoved past them as the nurse trailed close behind him. He was oblivious to what she was saying—he didn’t care. He needed to be by Leah’s side, and there was nothing that would stop him from being there—not now, not ever.
* * *
Security at the hospital was on point the minute the emergency room notified them of an issue. He was pissed that they wouldn’t settle on letting him stay back there. Instead, he was led out to the waiting area by the security guards and told that “If you don’t stay here, until notified otherwise, we’ll have to ask you to leave the premises.”
He followed their order, but he was frustrated, none the less. He knew he was overreacting and being a bit immature, and if his grandmother had been there, she would have told him so.
This waiting room hadn’t changed a bit in the years since his grandmother had passed away. He had been in his late twenty’s when his grandfather had called him at work and questioned what he should do. He had instructed his grandfather to call for an ambulance and told him he would meet them at St. Mary’s. He had hurried everyone out of Levy’s within minutes, but had still managed to arrive at the hospital too late—his grandmother had passed away minutes after she had arrived.
He shook away the thoughts. He had waited for what seemed like an eternity—in this same waiting room—to hear the news of his grandmother’s passing. He and his grandfather had shed a lot of tears and had said a lot of prayers in this room.
He wiped the tears off his face. He looked at the time on the wall—damned near twenty minutes had passed and not a single word had been said. He tried to relax, but his nerves said otherwise.
He left the waiting room and paced the hallway. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he dialed Rachel’s number. She answered on the fourth ring.
“Hey, what’s up?” she whispered into the phone. “I’m at work.”
“Leah’s in the hospital,” he said.
“I’ll be right there.”
“They’re not letting me…” he tried to say, but his voice trembled and he had to pause to catch himself. He cleared his throat. “They’re not letting me back there to see her. She’s been back there for almost thirty minutes, and I haven’t heard anything.”
“I’m on my way,” she said. He could hear her car start in the background, along with the music that blared from her speakers. The radio was shut off within seconds. “Liam…”
He could hear her soft sobs. He gripped the phone to his ear and said, “Rachel, be careful driving. I’ll be here when you get here.”
After a few sniffles and a cleared throat, she said, “Ok.”
The minute he shoved his phone in his pocket, a nurse rounded the corner. Her attention was on him and she moved quickly in his direction. He inhaled a deep, elongated breath and held it for quite some time.
“Are you Miss Adams’ family?” the nurse asked, still a few feet away from him.
He stammered and stuttered—with no idea what to really say—what to call himself in relation to her—friends? No, they had crossed into something more than that just hours ago.
The nurse, impatient with whatever news she was dying to tell, repeated herself. “Are you family to Miss Adams?�
�
“No, ma’am,” Liam said, worried now that he wouldn’t hear the updated information. “Is she all right?”
The nurse motioned to the waiting room. “Does she have family we can call?”
Liam straightened—full attention to every word this lady said—hanging onto each word. Slowly shaking his head, he said, “She doesn’t have immediate family. All she has is me and a few other good friends.”
The nurse looked torn on the decision to tell him the information. “Is there anyone else coming?” she asked.
“Yeah, uh,” he stammered anxiously. “Her best friend Rachel’s on her way.”
The nurse nodded, and said, “Ah, okay, I think I heard her ask for her.”
The thought of Leah asking for Rachel instead of him hit him like a sucker punch to the stomach. He shrugged it off with frustration, and asked, “Is she okay? What’s going on?”
The sound of heavy footsteps and sobbing sniffles came from down the hall. Liam watched as Rachel ran toward them. She was out of breath as she shouted down the hall, “I came as fast as I could! The traffic…”
Rachel came to a complete stop once she realized a nurse was standing within touching distance of Liam. The look on the nurse’s face could tell anyone the news—it wasn’t good.
Liam wrapped an arm around Rachel’s shoulders, and she leaned into him—sobbing as she tried to ask, “Is she…”
“She’s out of surgery…”
“Surgery?” Liam asked, frustration turned to anger in seconds. “She was in surgery? I was never told!”
He could feel the heat in his face. He was pissed and the nurse knew it. She had been the one who had promised to keep him updated—she had dropped the ball.
“Things happened so fast,” the nurse tried to explain. She motioned for the two of them to sit down, but both refused her offer. She cleared her throat and said, “The doctor directed her to surgery as soon as he saw her. There wasn’t a minute wasted getting her there.”
Liam let out a low growl as he tried to control his anger. “Surgery for what?” he asked, raising his arms in the air. “Is she okay?”
“The tear on her spleen, that the doctor fixed,” the nurse tried to explain.
Shaking his head, he held out a hand to halt the nurse from saying anything else. “Is she okay?”
He wondered why the nurse wouldn’t tell him. He dropped his arm from Rachel’s shoulders and made his way towards the Emergency Room. He could hear Rachel’s sobs as he sprinted down the hall.
“Where’s Leah?” he asked the first nurse he bumped into. With no direction from her and a puzzled look, he asked the next nurse, and the next, until someone showed him the way to the room without asking questions.
The nurse moved the curtain back from the door and he froze. Rachel raced up behind him and gasped. The nurse nodded, and said, “She’s a fighter, that’s for sure.”
“Is she going to be okay?” Rachel asked, in a hoarse whisper.
The nurse nodded and said, “The tear on her spleen that the doctor fixed from her accident hadn’t healed completely and it reopened.”
“But that was weeks ago,” Rachel said. Liam stood frozen, his attention on Leah as she lay motionless in the bed while monitors beeped and the IV pumps buzzed. From a distance, he could see she had recovered the color in her face—she wasn’t as pale as she had been in his truck.
“The spleen is a delicate organ,” the nurse explained. “Everyone’s healing time is different. Even though it appeared she had healed rather quickly, compared to others who have also had a tear repaired, it may not have been back to normal, which can take weeks and months.”
Liam walked into the room, Rachel and the nurse followed him in. He grabbed Leah’s hand and squeezed it. He hated seeing her like this—the hell she had been through since the accident.
“She was so weak,” Liam said, watching over Leah. “She was saying she didn’t feel right. She had sharp pains and was dizzy…”
The nurse nodded. “You made the right decision to bring her like you did,” she said. “You most likely saved her life. If you had waited any longer, it’s hard to say what could’ve happened.”
Rachel sobbed from the corner of the room as she made her way to the bed. She hung onto Leah’s hand and begged her to wake up.
“She’ll be asleep for a while yet,” the nurse explained. “The anesthesia is still in her system, which is good because she needs the rest.”
Liam had questions to ask the nurse, but decided against them. The only thing that mattered now was that Leah was going to be okay.
18
The hum of machines and the loud, ear-piercing beeps of the monitors woke her. She opened her eyes only to find herself staring at a plain white ceiling. She recognized the smell—a musty, old closet smell, with a hint of bleach thrown in the mix.
Her arm was pressed against cold metal and her hand… her hand was holding onto something warm. Trying to see over the mound of bleach white blankets, she propped herself on an elbow, but a pinch of pain in her stomach caused her to lie back down.
She rested her head against the too-flat pillow, and realized she was back in the hospital. She thought she had been released. Was it just a dream? Did she really have a dream of getting released and going with Liam… Liam… Had that… Her mind searched for answers. The kiss…
She heard a distant voice that sounded like it was in the hallway. It sounded familiar—she listened closely—she really had nothing better to do. The voice was deep and gruff, it sort of sounded like Liam. Something was said about someone not doing so well and being brought back to the hospital. Surgery. Doing okay now. She heard the last of the conversation—Levy’s—
“Liam!” she shouted, but heard nothing. Her voice was raspy and almost diminished.
She felt a gentle tug on her side, the warmth left her hand and someone yawned. She tried to prop herself up so she could see who it was next to her, but failed. With everything she had—a sore throat and a raspy voice—she said, “Who’s here?”
“Oh, my God! Lee!” Rachel said. Jumping out of the chair, she hovered over Leah. “I’m so glad you’re awake! Hang on! Don’t go anywhere!”
“I don’t have a choice, Rach.”
“Liam!” Rachel hollered on her way to the door. So, it had been Liam outside the room. Who had he been talking to? And what was going on with Levy’s? “She’s awake!”
“All right, I’ll talk to you later,” Liam said, before shoving his phone in his pocket. Hurrying to the side of her bed, he sat down in the chair closest to her. He grabbed her hand and threaded his fingers through hers.
“Liam,” her voice still raspy. “Liam.”
“She wants you up here, she can’t really move too well,” Rachel told him.
Standing, he leaned over Leah. It was like all those fairy tale stories she had read when she was kid, with the prince who had come to rescue the damsel in distress.
She smiled, a bit worried on how goofy she looked, being half out of it. She felt tired and a bit sore—like she had been kicked by a horse.
“Hey there, beautiful,” he said, smiling down at her.
Rachel carried in an armful of pillows and Liam helped her prop them behind Leah. Helping her sit up, they made sure she wasn’t in any pain. The bed dipped down as Liam gently sat beside her.
“I let the nurse know you’re awake. She should be in any minute to check on you,” Rachel said, running a hand through Leah’s hair. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I need something to drink,” Leah whispered. Her throat was sore and she wanted to get rid of the raspiness in her voice—she hated it.
“I’ll ask for some and see when the nurse will be in to check on you.”
Resting her head against the pillow, she relaxed into Liam. It was a good feeling having him here—a relief. She was still confused, and would wait until later to try to figure out what had happened. If she had been dreaming, it had been so realistic…
The nurse wrote something on the white board next to the bed. She tapped some buttons on the monitor that hovered near Leah’s head, causing something to tighten on her left arm.
“You just relax while I take your blood pressure and check your vitals, ok?” Melissa’s voice was soft and calming. The tight grip on her arm released. “How are you feeling?”
She wasn’t sure how she should really feel—normal? She was far from that. She felt worse now than she had in the last week. Trying to clear her throat, she coughed, only to regret it because doing so made things hurt worse. “I feel awful,” she said, her voice sounded like sandpaper on wood. “My throat hurts and my left side feels like I was kicked by a horse.”
Nodding, Melissa wrote tiny notes on the clipboard. “On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?”
She hated the pain scale. She didn’t know how to rate her pain—like what was one? A splinter? A stubbed toe? And she could only imagine a ten would compare to labor, which she had absolutely no clue about.
Melissa smiled a warm understanding smile and said, “I know, the pain scale is sometimes a horrible way to tell us about your pain.” She placed the clipboard on the computer desk and turned back to Leah. “So, instead I’ll take your description of being kicked and go with that. How does that sound?”
Smiling, Leah nodded. “Sounds good.”
“I’m going to give you something for the pain every few hours, but just enough to take the edge off,” Melissa explained. She motioned to Liam and said, “It looks like you have some great company here.”
The nurse wiggled her eyebrows and Leah laughed, regretting it as her left side hollered at her—causing her to wince in pain. “You sit right here, I’ll be back with some water and some pain relievers.”
“Actually, I grabbed her some water, if you want to just get her pills,” Rachel said, holding up a plastic cup full of ice water and a straw. She brought it close to Leah’s mouth and aimed the straw at her lips. “I’ll help so you don’t poke your nose or eye with it,” Rachel said, chuckling.
All She Ever Wanted (Cedar Valley Novel Book 1) Page 14