Page 29 of Born To Be My Baby

Brody shook his head, turned, and looked at Sean. "Do you have any questions, Sean?"

Sean shook his head. He needed to digest this information first.

"Thank you for all you did for Mina. Can you please tell me about Gloria's condition?"

The doctor looked at Brody for permission. That raised Sean's ire quite a bit, but the situation was what it was. Brody nodded, and the doctor lifted the lid on the laptop on the rolling cart and read.

"She has bruising from her right shoulder to her left hip from the seat belt. No broken bones, thank goodness. She does have swelling from the head injury, but not severe. We're watching her. She's going to have a headache for a while, but for the most part other than the few cuts on her face which don't require stitching, she'll be fine in a couple of days."

Sean nodded, "Thank you."

He looked at Brody and nodded. "Thank you, Brody."

Brody nodded and looked at the doctor. "Thank you so much, Doctor. When can we go in and see Mina?"

The doctor glanced at Sean briefly and then back to Brody. "Not for a while. I'll say a few hours. But the nurses here will keep you up-to-date. As soon as somebody can go in and see her, we will let you in."

Brody thanked him, held his hand out, shook his hand. The doctor stepped toward Sean and held his hand out. Sean gratefully shook his hand in return. He quietly left the room.

The nurse handed Sean another cup of ice chips. "I'm guessing the other ones have melted by now, so I brought you fresh chips for her."

"Thank you, yes they've melted. Would you like the cup?"

"Yes, I'll take care of that, thank you."

He handed her the cup with the water in the bottom. He sat back down, picked up Gloria's hand in his once more. And prayed that both she and Mina would be alright.

23

Gloria woke and slowly opened her eyes. The room was somewhat dark. There was a small light on in the corner of her room. She couldn't see the sun coming in the windows. It must be nighttime.

She blinked a few times to let her eyes adjust. She felt Sean squeeze her hand and her eyes slowly landed on him.

He looked tired. She could see cuts on the side of his face and a nice bruise forming on his handsome cheekbone. She swallowed and her mouth was dry again. He immediately leaned forward and picked up a cup. He pulled an ice cube from the cup and ran it along her lips. She opened her mouth and took the ice cube from his fingers. He didn't say anything. He just continued to take care of her.

A chair squeaked, and she turned her head and then froze from the pain. Remembering to go slow, she allowed her head to turn slowly. Brody. He came.

"Hey," she said.

Brody leaned forward. "How are you, beautiful?"

A soft smile appeared on her lips. "Well, I've got this blaring headache and I'm guessing I look like death warmed over. Not beautiful."

Brody chuckled. "No, you're always beautiful."

She smiled, but it tugged her face.

She asked. "How's Mina?"

She listened quietly as Brody told her of Mina's injuries.

He ended with, "She's out of surgery and they have her in the ICU for a little while. We're not allowed to see her until later on. I've given the hospital permission to speak with Sean if I'm not here. I hope you're fine with that."

She started to nod, then closed her eyes and opened them again instead of nodding.

"Yes, I'm fine with that and thank you for doing that."

She slowly turned her head to look at Sean.

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