Page 67 of Level Me Up

“Simon, key card,” says Bernie. “Go. We will be on the one after.” Right as I open the cab door, Wade grabs my shoulder pulling me back to him, and hugs me.

"Everything is going to be ok, Dex," he says in a gruff voice. He lets go of me, and then he and Bernie head back in the direction to the hotel as Simon and I get in the cab and head to the airport.

~~~

Link is sitting with Ruby and Gia when we arrive in the ER waiting room hours later. Morgan's dad is already there too, but only just beat us. There is no time for awkwardness when I introduce myself to Mr. Lawson. I’m too consumed with worry about Morgan to notice the skeptical look in his eyes that a father gives the boy who shows too much interest in his daughter.

“Any news yet?” I ask Gia and Mr. Lawson.

“No, nothing yet. They have her in surgery. That’s all we know. The nurse at the desk said a doctor will come and update when they can.,” he answers.

“What happened?” Simon asks. I haven't talked much. I’m too far in my head thinking about all the possible outcomes. I’ve tried really hard not to think about the worse-case scenario, but it’s haunting me.

Shakily, Gia says, “The cab she was in tried to beat the train at a crossing, but the train ended up nailing the back end of the cab.” She takes a deep breath, seemingly preparing for what’s left to say. But she starts to cry again, and Ruby, with tear stains down her face, wraps her arm around her and hugs her close.

“All we know is that the car ended up smashing back into the train, and they had to use the Jaws of Life to pull her out of the cab,” Mr. Lawson adds somberly.

My vision becomes spotty again, and the room starts to spin. I’m being pulled over to the nearest seat. My head is being shoved down through my knees. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

I stay here for several minutes before being able to get myself under control. My head whips up when I hear my parents. My dad is talking to Mr. Lawson, and my mom is heading straight for me.

I’m not surprised that they showed up, Wade must have called them. My mom loves Morgan, even though we aren’t together anymore. When I had that awkward conversation about how the girl I brought home broke up with me, she wasn't convinced it would stick. She said, “She knew it in her heart that Morgan was the one for me.” She has always been a romantic.

I’m so out of focus, I didn’t realize I was sitting next to Gia when I hear Simon bring her a cup of water. She takes a deep breath before saying, “Dex, I think I know where she was going this morning. Why she was in that cab."

"Yeah?" I gulp.

"To you," she whispers.

She was coming to me. I repeat this over again in my head. And focus on breathing.

~~~

Finally, after more than an hour of waiting, the first doctor comes looking for Morgan's dad. He tells us that Morgan is in critical condition due to internal bleeding, and that they just brought her out of an emergency surgery. In addition to a severe head laceration, she has a broken leg and cracked ribs. He then tells us that no one can see her yet, that they are still trying to assess the damage and hope there isn’t any more bleeding.

I want to scream. I want to punch something. I needed to see her, to be by her side, but not being able to is almost too much to bear. The panic and fear that I am going to lose her haven't gone away. I don’t know when Bernie and Wade show up, but they arrived with coffee. I can’t drink it, though.

What seems like hours later, I spot a female doctor I haven’t seen yet come through the same doors the last doctor exited through. She walks to the nurse’s station; a nurse jerks her head toward our group. A pained expression falls quickly across her face, but it’s gone in a blink of an eye. I jump out of my seat, my heart racing with fear. As she walks to our group of ten, she asks for Mr. Lawson. As he stands, I join him to talk with the doctor.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Davis. I'm the doctor working with your daughter. Morgan has lost a lot of blood in addition to her other injuries. She ended up having more internal bleeding than we initially thought, and after we had rushed her back into surgery, her body went into shock.” She pauses to give us time to process what she just said. “When a body loses more than 20% of its blood, it goes into hypovolemic shock, which makes it hard for the heart to pump enough blood to the rest of the body. We have to monitor her extremely carefully right now because going into shock like this can cause a heart attack, damage to several different organs, even brain damage. Right now, we are prepping her for a blood transfusion."

Numbness climbs through my body. I think I'm going to be sick this time, but I manage to keep down the bile and try to focus on the doctor who is still talking.

"When can I see her?" her dad asks.

"Unfortunately, she is unconsciousness right now, and since the transfusion will start soon, it won't be possible until sometime after that process is complete. I will come back out and update you when that is finished. Or," she pauses, "if there are any new developments in her condition." She gives us a tight but sympathetic smile and walks away.

I just stand there and stare at her retreating back, but the trance is broken when Link is by my side and says, "Come on, Dex. You need to sit down. You look like you're going to pass out."

I think Iamgoing to pass out, but I say nothing and let him steer me to the seat next to my mom. She hugs me, and I lose control over my emotions and start to cry. I think the last time I cried I was ten. My mom had been right by my side then, too.

Time seems to stop in the waiting room after that. I hear quiet murmurs around me, but I sit staring at the door, waiting for the doctor to return.

Finally, she does, and to my relief, she looks less distraught, tired as hell, but less distraught for sure.

This time, she addresses the group instead of waiting for someone to come to her.

"Morgan is conscious, and her body took well to the transfusion. We’ve removed her from critical condition. We need to monitor her closely, and run more tests, but if those results come back and look how I suspect them to, we are going to move her out of ICU and into a private room, hopefully by morning. I can take one person back right now, but that's it, as visiting hours are almost over. Once she is in a private room, more can go back at a time.”

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