Page 61 of Maybe, Probably
“Ms. Beckett is just over here in this room. She’s currently stable, but we have her hooked up to some IV fluids just to keep her hydrated. Once the IV is complete, we can move forward with discharging her.”
“What do you mean discharging her? She’s not going to stay overnight to be monitored? What if it gets worse?” Both my hands are in fists as I try to calm the panic that has reappeared in a matter of seconds. How can they just send her home? What if things get worse, and she’s not at the hospital to get immediate attention?
“Now, this won’t happen for some time yet. The neurologist still needs to give her at least two more checks before she gets the okay to go home. She came in slightly confused, but she appears to be more lucid now.”
“What if she gets worse when you send her home?” I ask.
“I can assure you she has gone through all the neurological tests to ensure that nothing more serious is at play. She went for a CT when she arrived, which showed no signs of brain bleeds, swelling or fractures. All her symptoms point to a concussion—and a mild one at that. We can discuss the care that she will need at home during discharge.”
I flex my hands a couple more times, taking another deep breath. “I need to see her.” I won’t believe anything this doctor says until my eyes are on her myself. I walk past the doctor and make my way to her door.
“Mr. Hawthorne, she’s resting. She needs to rest, both physically and mentally, to allow her brain to heal.”
I take that moment to collect myself before I enter her space. When I have a little bit more control over my emotions, I walk through the door. The lights over her bed are off, but the bathroom light is on, softly illuminating the room.
There in the bed is Harper, with her eyes closed. She has an IV hooked up to her arm, and the bag is about half empty. She’s wearing one of those ugly looking hospital gowns that are usually itchy. Her hair is a tossed mess, splayed in many different directions on her pillow. There’s a soft furrow on her brow as she tries to rest. Next to her hospital bed, there’s a chair that I quickly make my way to so I can sit next to her.
I find myself hesitant to take her hand in mine because I don’t want to wake her up if she’s resting. The incessant need to touch her overrules my rational thoughts though, and I find myself lacing my fingers with hers.
She rustles a bit, turning her face toward me. A soft grumble leaves her lips, before her eyes open slowly. I see the moment her eyes come into focus and land on me. The moment they do, a small smile traces over her lips.
“Hey, you.”
Chapter Thirty
Harper
Well,beinghospitalizedwasn’ton my bingo card for this trip, but here we are.
I don’t entirely remember what happened, but I remember something running out in front of me. I remember trying to swerve so I could avoid it. Then, I remember tumbling before everything went black. I don’t remember the ski patrol coming to me and assessing me before taking me to the hospital.
Everything became a bit more clear as I got set up in the hospital room and the neurologist came to check me out. After a bit of time, I was told that I had a mild concussion, and could benefit from some fluids before they would give me the okay to go home.
Once they set me up with the IV, I decided to rest my eyes for a couple minutes while I waited. It wasn’t long after that that I felt something grabbing my hand. When I opened my eyes and looked over to the side of my hospital bed, I saw the concerned look on Xavier’s face.
He refuses to let go of my hand while we wait to be discharged. I try to get Xavier to video call Evie so that she can see that I’m alright, but he refuses to do that. He told me I’m not supposed to be around screens with a mild concussion, and that my brain needs to rest. I try to eye roll at his behavior, but it just hurts my head, and I do my best to negotiate at least a phone call. He reluctantly agreed.
I’m discharged shortly after that, with a checklist of what my recovery is going to look like. The doctor tells me that a mild concussion should take anywhere from a week to two weeks to heal. I’m told to keep an eyeout for worsening symptoms, and Xavier is very resistant to me going home at first.
“What if her symptoms worsen? Wouldn’t it just be safer to keep her here for an additional twenty four hours to ensure it’s just a concussion?” The doctor sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. This is probably not the first time he has dealt with Xavier like this tonight.
“Like I have told you before Mr. Hawthorne. She is stable. She shows no signs of worsening symptoms, nor has she shown any indications that there is something more dire going on. As long as there is someone there monitoring her, she is perfectly able to go home and rest. At home.”
Now, here I am, sitting in our bed at the ski lodge. Xavier has been in and out of the room getting everything I could possibly need to rest. He’s taken away all of my electronics, despite my best efforts to get him to leave them. I almost got away with it too, until he came into the room and caught me trying to read something on my phone.
He’s very neurotic and bossy.
Winnie is laying on the bed with his head on my lap as I look out the window across the room. I tried going to sleep for a bit, but my head is throbbing a bit. I asked Xavier for something for the pain, and he ran out of the room to retrieve it all.
There’s a light knock on the door, before my best friend comes bursting through the room.
“I thought you could use some bestie time. I had to sneak past your bodyguard to get in here.” She looks behind her, like she’s expecting him to barge through the door and kick her out at any second. “He’s a little…much.”
I give her a tired smile that turns into a huge yawn. “Yeah, he’s been hovering but if this is something that will make him feel better then, I’ll let him do it.”
Evie plops down on her back at the end of the bed, resting her hands on her stomach. Turning to face me, her green eyes bore into me. “You really scared the shit out of me today.” There’s a slight tremble in her voice when she says it.
“I’m sorry Evie. I really didn’t mean to scare anyone. I was learning so much about skiing from Xavier, and truly having a good time with him. I felt confident to try something more. Maybe, I should have waited.” I begin chewing on my thumb nail. I remember the concerned and haunted look on Xavier's face when I woke up.
