Page 43 of Right Place, Right Time (Second Chances)
Chapter Twenty
Jay
I probably broke at least ten traffic laws rushing to the hospital to be with Kate. Quite honestly, her call scared the shit out of me. Kate’s a passionate person. She speaks with liveliness and emotion, no matter the subject. So when she’d called to say she was at the hospital with Casey and that it didn’t look good—all in a robotic, monotone voice—I panicked. I freaked the fuck out. What the hell had happened?
I knew a little about Casey’s condition, but not much. Kate didn’t feel right disclosing too much of her roommate’s personal business. I couldn’t blame her for that. I hadn’t realized that whatever was up with her had the potential to land her in the hospital, though.
I spot Kate almost immediately as I enter the emergency room. She’s sitting in the waiting area, stiff and stoic, staring into space. It’s not until I’m directly in front of her that she registers my presence. I crouch down in front of her and place my hands on her knees. She makes eye contact, but it’s like she’s not even there. Her brown eyes are flat…empty.
“I did CPR. She almost died in the ambulance. I called her mother. She’s flying out. I don’t know where Decker is. He wasn’t at the apartment.”
I have no idea what to say. I’m not even sure how to process what she’s just told me. She had to perform CPR on Casey? I can’t imagine what that must have been like. And Casey almost died? Holy shit. I can’t think of a single thing to say that might make this situation even an ounce better for her.
And she still has that tone…lifeless and dull. It’s as though she’s reading from a script, like how I imagine a harried emergency room doctor would inform the fiftieth family of the night of their loved one’s condition. That’s sonotthe Kate I know. She’s not this shell of a person before me.
I sit down beside her without saying anything and take her hand in mine. She lets me, and I take some selfish comfort in that. At least I know she’s still in there somewhere. And so we wait. We wait, we wait, and we wait. Eventually the doctor comes out to speak with us—well, to speak with Kate as she is listed in Casey’s medical records as her next of kin since Casey’s parents are so far away.
The doctor says a lot of things I don’t understand, but Kate seems to understand with perfect clarity. I do pick up on some key words. Casey’s condition is stable, but she’s still unconscious. He tells us we can go see her as soon as they settle her into a room.
About an hour later, we’re taken to Casey’s room by a nurse. She asks us to notify someone at the nurses’ station when Casey wakes up. They seem optimistic that she will wake up soon. That’s a good thing. As soon as the nurse exits the room, Kate looks at her roommate and promptly…finally…bursts into tears. I take her in my arms and hold her while she weeps, eventually moving us to an armchair in the corner of the small room. Kate cries herself to sleep right there in my lap.
***
“Did you see that?” Kate asks me about thirty minutes later. Turns out, all my girl needed was a quick power nap. She’d slept for about twenty minutes and woke up a different person. She’s still sad, but there’s a little more light in her eyes. She’d needed that cry and the nap.
“See what?” I ask.
“She just moved her foot,” Kate says, pointing to Casey’s leg.
“Oh yeah?”
“There it went again! And her fingers just twitched.” Kate hops off my lap and steps towards the bed. “I think she’s starting to wake up.”
I get up, taking a minute to stretch, then stand beside Kate. “Should I get the nurse?”
“Let’s wait a minute.”
Casey’s eyes flutter a little, then her right eye opens for a moment. She quickly closes it.
“Casey?” Kate says, walking around to the side of the bed to take Casey’s hand. “If you can hear me, squeeze my hand.” Kate smiles, so Casey must have responded. “She’s responsive.”
“I’ll go get the doctor,” I tell Kate. I step over and give her a kiss on her temple, but her eyes don’t leave her roommate. I quietly let myself out of the room and make my way down to the nurses’ station, which, of course, is empty. It takes me several minutes to find someone who can page Casey’s doctor.
