Page 43 of Linc
The doors open and we walk into a stark white area with nurses crowded around a desk writing or on the phone.
“Excuse me, we were told to ask about Everly Bryant up here.”Olivia takes over again.
The nurse checks our badges before typing something on the computer.
“Ms.Bryant is still in surgery, but I’ll notify them that family has arrived.”
“Thank you.”
“Follow me and I’ll lead you to the family waiting room, so they’ll know where to give updates.”
We walk down another long hallway and into a room with plastic chairs that line the wall.A few sofas are placed in the center facing in different directions lined up with the televisions on the wall.
“I’ve got to make a few phone calls but—” Olivia says after I find a seat, but the door opens and a man comes in wearing scrubs and a colored hair cap.
“Mr.Bryant, I’m Julian, one of the nurses helping with your wife.”He shakes my hand, and I don’t correct him.“Sir, your wife suffered a great amount of trauma to her left upper and lower arm along with her wrist, hand and fingers.Dr.Brewer has had to go in and put a metal plate in on her forearm along with some screws to stabilize the bone—”
“What about her head?”
“She’s stable and has been cleared by the neurologist for surgery but we’ll know more about her head injury once she’s in recovery and awake.”Oh God, that bitch hurt her so bad!“Her arm is broken in several places along with some fractures, but Dr.Brewer is working to set those bones.She’ll be in a bit of discomfort for a while but that is to be expected given the trauma she’s been through.”
“But she’s going to make it?”
For the first time since I was eleven years old, I feel out of control and that the world is trying to take everything from me again.In the short amount of time that Everly has come into my life, I feel like I have something to lose again.My heart drops to my stomach at the realization, and I can’t help but return to that small boy who cried for days as he was carted away and taken to a strange place that was unfamiliar.
“We have every indication that she’ll pull through, yes.”He nods and my heart finally starts to beat steady again.“We also have a plastic surgeon working on her to stitch up the areas that were damaged when she sustained blows to the face from the object that broke the skin.He is working to make sure that minimal scarring is present once the healing is done.”
“Thank you,” I manage to squeeze out; my voice sounds so far away.
“Also, Everly’s father, Tommy, has been notified and should be here shortly.He is listed as the next of kin, and not a husband, in her charts.You’ll need to get with Mrs.Bryant about changing that once she is awake so that you are contacted first,” Julian informs me.
He leaves shortly after and tells us that he’ll be in later with another update, if the doctor thinks it might take longer than what was predicted.Knowing it might be a while, Olivia and I take a seat on the sofa, and process everything that has happened in the last hour or so.
My phone buzzes and I see Alex calling from the office.Great, what else could happen to me today.
“Mr.Thorne, I’ve had four calls from the police station and seven calls from Ms.Blaire Hutchins, all calling in reference to Linley Lewis.I’ve told them all that you’d been called out of the office on an emergency, but I’m not sure how you’d like me to proceed.The news outlets are starting to inquire now that a story has hit the gossip line.”
Shit, this is such a mess.Linley is a client we represent and have for over the last year, but how can I when she’s the one who put my angel in the hospital?
“I have let the police station know that we no longer represent Linley Lewis and have given a few colleagues messages if they’d like to represent her,” Olivia tells Alex after she stole my phone from my hands.“Thanks Alex and as far as Ms.Hutchins is concerned, send her to Levi and he’ll take her messages.”
Olivia hangs up, handing me my phone back and then starts typing away on her phone once again.
“We no longer represent Linley?”I asked.
“Yes, as of,” Olivia turns her wrist over and checks her watch.“Fifty-two minutes ago.”She must see the bewilderment on my face as she continues.“As soon as my source told me that Everly was the victim, I started the process of finding her other representation.I had Kimberly draw up a formal termination document, signed it, emailed it and had her send a copy to Linley’s house through the post office and then a copy over to HR.”
“Huh,” When in the hell did she have time to do all this when I’m just now getting up to speed on everything that’s happened?
“Lincoln, I did what you would’ve done for me if I was in this situation.I’ve seen the way you are since meeting Everly and there wasn’t a moment of hesitation when I found out she’d been the one hurt.It did cross my mind to send your father her contact information but I wasn’t sure if that would make it even messier.”
“You’re right, how would it have looked if my father was representing a woman who put his future daughter-in-law in the hospital.”Something warms my heart a little talking about making Everly a permanent fixture in my family, but I shake those thoughts wanting to focus on right this moment.“This is an all-around conflict of interest nightmare.”
We sit there forever, waiting for someone to come in and give an update, as my phone blows up with news alerts from the media.
JEALOUS LOVER?
~LA Media~
