"What's your name, miss?"
"Becky. That's my best friend in there. Is she—"
"Don't look in that direction. I promise to let you know everything that's happening, okay?"
Becky kept her face turned away. The sounds of metal being cut and torn would stay in her mind forever. Please, God, please. The horrid sounds seemed to go on forever.
"They're putting her in the ambulance. Mercy is the closest trauma center, so they'll take her there. I can drive you as soon as I'm finished with my report."
Becky shoved him away from her, jumped in her Jaguar and revved up the engine. Throwing it in first gear, she squealed the tires and drove quickly on the shoulder of the road to get behind the ambulance. The siren was blaring. It ran red lights and so did Becky. When they pulled up at the emergency entrance, the driver quickly got out, ran to the back and opened the doors. Becky flew out of her car toward the driver but was stopped in her tracks by the view of Chloe's bloody body.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Matthew ran from the apartment without closing the door behind him. He went flying to his old pickup, and while reaching in his pocket, he felt the single key he meant to give back to Chloe. Without a second thought, he switched direction, jumped in the new Chevy, and sped to the hospital so fast he had a cramp in his calf muscle when he got out of the truck.
He found Becky inside of the ER, leaning against a wall with her face in her hands.
"Becky!"
She looked up and then fell into Matthew's arms. Loud voice commands were coming from a room near them. Doctors and nurses were running in and out with grim faces.
"She's alive but barely. I saw her. I saw all the blood. Her car was mangled and she was trapped in there. They cut her out of it and—"
"Shhh, slow down some. Come with me, Becky. Let's go sit over there and you can tell me what happened. I'm not going anywhere." Matthew wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her to a bench by the nurse's station. He turned his body to face her and picked up her hands and held them. "Start from the beginning." Matthew didn't even bother to wipe the tear from his cheek.
"Chloe was going to cook dinner for you and your father today, so she was on her way to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients…"
"Why would she—"
"She thought she could get you to give her a chance to explain why she lied to you."
"Oh my God. She doesn't even know how madly in love with her I am! I have to tell her."
Becky placed her hand on Matthew's shoulder to stop him from getting up. "Chloe is strong. After getting through everything she's had to get through in her life, she's not about to die. She'll be okay. She has to be okay. She has to…"
Matthew looked up as Chloe's gurney was being pushed out of the room. The staff began practically running with it down the hall. He got up and ran down after it. A doctor was coming out of the room Chloe was in. Puddles of blood, bloody linen…Matthew gasped.
"Are you looking for someone?" asked the doctor as he pulled the door closed behind him.
"The woman who was in here…Chloe Burlington. Is she--" Matthew swallowed hard, unable to say the words.
"She's going to surgery. If you go straight down this hall you'll see a sign for the surgical waiting room. That's where the doctor will go to find you when there's news."
"Is she going to make it?"
"I hope so, but you should prepare yourself for the worst."
Lois walked into the hospital's main entrance and walked to the desk. An older woman looked up and smiled.
"May I help you?"
"Do you have a Miss Chloe Burlington admitted here?"
"Let me check."
Lois watched the woman pluck at keys on the computer. Please say no.
"Are you family?"
"I am. I'm her…aunt."
"Yes, she's in surgery. If you follow the signs to the surgical waiting room, you can get more information there."
Lois did as instructed. Her heart seemed to pound faster with each footstep she took. I should have called her and made her come home. As she stepped through the doorway, she saw Becky's tear-streaked face and the same young man she saw Chloe with in the parking lot in Detroit. He was holding her hand.
"Lois!" Becky got up and ran to the woman.
"Tell me it isn't so. Tell me, please!"
Becky and Lois embraced for a long time. Every time a doctor stepped in the lounge, they gripped each other tighter. When their emotions had settled some, Becky walked Lois over to Matthew. He stood up, not knowing what to say or do.
"You're the young man who loves our Chloe." Lois reached up and patted his cheek.
"Yes, that would be me. I just should have told her…"
Chapter 10
Becky walked out of the surgical intensive care unit with her head hung low, her face reddened from wiping away tears. She wanted to stay at Chloe's bedside, but the nurse escorted her out, saying she could visit again in a couple of hours. She knew Matthew and Lois would be sitting in the lounge on the edge of their seats, waiting for her to give them a report. There wasn't anything she could say that would bring them comfort. Becky stayed out in the hall for a few extra minutes trying to absorb it all. The doctor had stopped by while she was in the room, and what little she recalled from the conversation left her knowing it was as bad as her friend looked. Possible brain damage…might not wake up…hopefully she makes it through the next twenty-four hours…more surgeries to come…internal bleeding…The worst was when the doctor asked if she knew if Chloe wanted to be an organ donor. That's when the reality sunk in. Slowly she rounded the corner and went inside the lounge.
Matthew and Lois stood up and stared at her, neither wanting to ask.
"It's bad," began Becky. "It's really, really bad."
Matthew walked into Chloe's room after begging the nurses. They gave him permission to see her, but only for a couple of minutes. The hospital room was mostly glass so the nurses could keep watch over her, and he hoped they'd do their very best. He could've easily walked right by the small woman in the bed if the nurse hadn't escorted him to the correct room. Chloe was covered in bandages, her face cut up and unrecognizable. There were drains and tubes running from her chest, her abdomen, and her head. Matthew walked to the edge of the bed and wiped his eyes. Every part of her was swollen, cut, and severely bruised. He wanted to hold her, but was afraid to do so much as touch her hand.
"Hi, I'm Ellen, Chloe's nurse. I know this is difficult to see, but all her wounds are fresh. It's okay to hold her left hand, but her right one is broken. Touching will help her to know you're here and so will speaking to her in a soft voice." Ellen smiled and left the room.