Page 176 of Hutch
“Thank you both for helping her. No matter how this turns out, thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, Mr. Hutchinson. Let’s go in, shall we?” He opens the glass door and moves aside so we can enter.
My brain stutters at what it’s seeing. They warned me, but hearing about her condition and seeing it, it’s entirely two very different things. My legs give out and I fall, my knees hitting theconcrete floor hard. There’s pain, but I ignore it as I take in my beautiful scrappy girl. She’s covered in bandages and what I can see of her is a big swollen purplish black mess. Her eyes are so swollen, I can’t even find the eyelashes.
“Her jaw was broken as well,” Dr. Sturgis says. “We wired it shut and her cheekbone on the right side is fractured. Her being in an induced coma will keep her still and allow that to heal as well.”
She has so many injuries, they’re still listing them. What she suffered…dear God, what my baby suffered. And she wouldn’t have been able to fight back to even try to defend herself. More tears leak out of my eyes.
“Is she going to be okay?” I whisper as Collin pulls me up.
“We’re going to take it hour by hour right now.”
Why won’t they just lie and tell me she’ll be fine? I need those words like I need air to breathe.
A male nurse carries in another chair and sets it on the other side of the bed, the side next to the window.
“Does it have to be this hot in here?” Collin asks. “She hates the heat. Says it makes her sick to her stomach.”
“We can definitely turn the heat down,” the nurse agrees. “It will be better to keep her comfortable to have it a little cold in here. And the cold fights off germs.” He goes over to the thermostat and adjusts it. The air doesn’t come on, so he probably just turned the heat down.
Collin pushes me down into the chair on this side of the bed. He leans down and kisses her forehead. “We’re here, Red. Me and Hutch are here and we’re not going to leave you, my sister from another mother. I promise we’ll both be right here until you open your eyes and they say you’re through the worst of it.”
I take her hand, noticing the other one has her fingers taped together. “What’s wrong with her hand?”
“The orthopedic surgeon wants to let her get a little stronger before he operates on her hand. The bones in her hands are broken from her fingers down. It looks like they were bent backwards until they snapped. There was a shoe print on her hand. I assume whoever did this to her stomped on her hand until he shattered the bones.”
“Joseph Ayers did this. He was caught red handed trying to get rid of the body.” Collin’s tone is flat. “No one from his family gets anywhere near my sister, do you understand?”
“Of course. The only people allowed to see her are immediate family.”
Collin snorts. “Tell that to the cops back home. Ayers’ uncle is the sheriff, and he intimidated my sister into not pressing charges the first time he beat her after she broke up with him.”
“What?” Dr. Sturgis asks, startled.
Collin whips out his phone and shows them the photos. “They pressured her not to ruin his chances at a career and this is what he goes and does when she files a restraining order to keep him away from her.” His voice rises in anger with each word. “I don’t want him, his family, or his attorney’s even on this fucking floor.”
“I promise, Mr. Canton, we’ll keep her safe.”
“It’s Mendoza. Collin Mendoza.”
“I thought you were adopted?”
He shrugs it off. “I kept my family name. It meant a lot to my parents back in Mexico, so I did. We need to put security on the room.”
That I agree with.
“I’ll ask Barry about it. Not sure how much it’ll cost, but it’ll be worth it to make sure no one gets near her. Can our friends see her during visiting hours? They’re like family.”
“Yes, but only two at a time. If you or Mr. Hutchinson are in here, only one other can come in.”
“We can do that,” Collin agrees, and both the doctors leave.
I sit there, quiet as a tomb, holding her hand and just so thankful she’s breathing and that her heart is beating. The bruises and broken bones can heal. Her head will heal. She just has to keep breathing so her body can do its work and heal.
“I’ll be right here, baby, until you open those beautiful green eyes. I’m not going anywhere.” The Raptors can fire me. I’m not leaving this room until she wakes up.
With that resolution, I settle back into the chair, her hand in mine, and my eyes watching the monitors with Collin across from me.
