Page 53 of In the Shadows

“Will someone please tell me what happened and why I’m in the damn hospital?”

One by one, we recounted the tragic events of the bus crash. Something we’d never soon forget and ended with Joey being the last to recover. His eyes grew weary as the story played on and before we could finish, he was already nodding off.

“I think that’s enough for today, guys,” the nurse warned.

“Agreed,” Joe said, “but you know he’s gonna come back around to the hair missing.”

“Ha-ha, that he will. But it should be the least of his concerns. His brain isn’t fully functional, and the doctor said there is still swelling that needs to go down. I don’t think he’s fully grasped the concept of the fact that he’s going to have physical therapy for a few weeks either. He’s got a tough road ahead of him.”

While my heart was beyond thrilled that Joey found his way back to us, the reasonable part of my brain had controlling reigns over this issue.

Dr. Stone came in, reiterating what we already knew. Need to monitor the swelling for a couple more days, then in house PT. They wouldn’t release him to travel until they’re confident he could do so without causing himself further harm. I’d hopefully have my sling off and be fully released in the next two weeks, but they didn’t want me to re-injure it by manhandling Joey. His broken arm was healing well, and he’d likely have his cast removed at the same time, but he said we’d need a nurse to travel with us so we had extra hands.

“Won’t the three of us suffice for that?” Diamond asked, Joe and Mickey nodded in agreement.

“As long as you’re willing to sit through his PT sessions and follow all medical orders then I think we could make that work,” he informed us.

“I’m in,” Diamond said, arms crossed over his chest.

Mickey raised his hand like he was in class. “Me too.”

“It’s my boy, ain’t no way I’m not helping,” Joe added.

“You know he’s not going anywhere without me. I’ll do whatever it takes,” I told them. With those final words, Dr. Stone told us he’d put a PT program together with Claire which would start in the morning after they did another CAT scan. His hopes were to have Joey mobile enough he could be transferred to the clinic he recommended back home.

Everyone but me headed out saying they would be here in the morning to begin working with Joey and the PT team. I wanted to be nearby in case Joey woke up. He could still come to confused, and I didn’t want to risk him freaking out when he didn’t see anything or anyone familiar nearby.

When he started to rouse, near dinner time, I stroked his hand in mine, “I’m right here, baby.”

“Ugh, my head,” he moaned with his eyes closed.

“Lay still, let me call the nurse,” I pressed the call button on the bedside remote and waited for her to appear.

“Everything okay?” she asked, removing the stethoscope from around her neck and placed it in her ears before listening to Joey’s chest.

“My head hurts,” he moaned again.

“Dinner is on its way. Let’s get some food in you before I give you any more pain meds. Will that work, hon?” she asked him.

“I guess it will have to.”

Those words told me he must have been hurting, it’s wasn’t like Joey to snap at anyone. He was the most laid back soul I knew.

They brought in a tray and placed it on the mobile table in front of him. The nurse helped me get him adjusted so he could try to eat. This would be the first solid food he’d had in four weeks having received it all intravenously until now.

“Who the fuck shaved my head?” he yelled at the nurse.

“Sorry,” I apologized to her, she shook her head and walked out.

“Calm down, babe, they had to. You had staples holding your skull together. They had no choice,” I told him, taking the lid off his dinner and trying to decipher what they were attempting to serve him.

“But you loved my hair,” he whined.

“I love you more. I don’t care if you’re purple with green polka dots running around singing Barney songs as long as you’re by my side. Hair or no hair makes no difference to me.” I leaned over, kissing the top of his head at the start of his scar. The peach fuzz tickled my lips.

Finally, he smiled. “Oh you sweet talker you.” He looked at his plate, groaning, “What the fuck is this shit?” Everything looked like it had been put through the blender. There was no way to visually pick what out what he was about to eat. He pushed it away. “How long have I been in here?”

“Four weeks.” I plopped down in the chair, grabbing my phone to text Diamond to bring us some burgers. “I’ve got the guys bringing real food.”

“I’ve been out of it for four weeks? I missed Rob’s funeral, didn’t I?”

I filled him in on that and how supportive the Maiden guys had been. I told him as much as I knew about the accident itself as well as the injuries everyone had sustained. By the end, he was in tears.

“Looks like we have matching arms,” he joked.

“Kinda, mine is a broken collar bone and yours is an actual broken arm. In two more weeks we should both be out of these things and hopefully headed home.”

Twenty minutes later, Diamond walked in with a bag of food and two drinks. He stayed for a couple of minutes before leaving, making sure Joey had everything he needed. By the time he walked out, we’d inhaled the food he brought. The nurse came back in, adjusted Joey’s meds and gave us the evil eye for the food we had in hand. Before he dozed off, he patted the bed beside him and told me to crawl in. I was beat, this whole scene had me so emotionally drained I could hardly hold my eyes open. Once I was tucked in beside him, it was lights out for both of us.

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