Page 91 of Love Me Steadfast
“She’s on floor three. General surgery. There’s a family waiting area just inside the entrance,” Earl says, handing us each a visitor badge.
“Thank you,” I say over my shoulder.
Inside the elevator, William peels off the first guest badge and presses it to my shirt, then adds the other one to his. There are blackberry stains on his cheek and arm, but his lips are pale, as if I sucked the berry juice right off of them. Like some kind of vampire.
Shame burns my cheeks, and I turn away. God, I’m so stupid. How could I be so reckless? Soindulgent. Because of me, Morgan’s been hurt.
This is my fault. My fault. My fault.
The elevator doors slide open, and I follow the signs to the surgery waiting area. When I burst inside, Dad and Theo are on the far side of the room. Theo’s making two cups of coffee at a self-serve station and Dad is pacing, talking into his cell phone.
Theo’s serious eyes lock with mine. I dive into his arms. To my relief, he hugs me tight.
“What’s happening?” My voice is muffled inside his embrace.
He rubs my back. I feel William’s presence behind me, but I’m too freaked out to worry about what look Theo might be giving him. “One of her lungs collapsed. They think the bleeding is from her spleen. Minor concussion, but no spinal cord damage, thank god.”
His tense words rattle my bones like little earthquakes. “Is she going to be okay?”
Before he can answer, Dad pulls me into his arms. “I’m so sorry,Dad,” I say into his dress shirt. He smells faintly of soap, with that familiar hint of the club embedded in the cotton.
“Not your fault, pumpkin.”
The endearment brings hot tears to my eyes. “If I would have been home on time.”
He rubs my back. “We still don’t know what happened.” Even through his soft tone, I taste the undercurrent of anger. At me? And fear. It’s no secret he worries. What if Morgan doesn’t make it?No, don’t think like that.
Behind us, William and Theo are silent. Anxiety chews through my insides as I push back from Dad.
They’re not looking at each other. William’s fists are tight at his sides and Theo is stirring his coffee, his jaw tense.
“Thanks for being here, Will,” Dad says, offering his hand.
“Of course,” William replies as they shake. “Can I do anything for you guys? Zach texted me. He and Sofie are ready to help, too.”
“Thanks,” Dad says just as a woman in blue scrubs and a white coat slips into the room.
I wakein the chair next to Morgan’s bed and squint at the clock on her monitor. It’s just after four a.m.. My arm must have fallen asleep because it tingles something painful when I shift to sitting.
Dad wanted William to take me home, but I refused, even though it’s unlikely Mo will wake up until tomorrow. Dad left at two to close up the club, then returned and is currently slumped in the recliner chair on the other side of Morgan, his whiskered face slack in sleep, a blanket thrown over his shoulders. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to William or Theo. I should feel uneasy about that look between them, but I’m too trapped in my own thoughts.
The doctors assured us that Mo’s going to make a full recovery. They were able to fix the tear in her spleen, and inflate her lung. She’ll have a chest tube for a few days. After that, she’ll be able to go home. She opened her eyes a few times as they moved her into this room,but she was too groggy for conversation. I held her hand for a while, but she didn’t stir. Just looking at her hurts. The tubes and wires and the faded gown they dressed her in and the bleached white blankets look so foreign, like the ingredients to a nightmare I can’t wake up from.
The doctors also said Morgan had alcohol in her system as well as a drug called Ativan. I looked it up. It’s some kind of anti-anxiety medication, available only by prescription, which Mo doesn’t have. Dad’s face went stony. It was like watching the weight of the world crash down on his shoulders. Where did Mo get this drug? Didn’t she know how dangerous it is mixed with whatever she and Tony drank?
Tony got off with only two broken fingers, though he’s in trouble with the police. He’s a Finn River dropout but I don’t remember him. Apparently, he used to be on the football team. Before he quit school and became a loser who drives while intoxicated.
He could have killed my sister.
A nurse comes in and does something with the chest tube. Morgan’s face flinches like she’s hurting, but she doesn’t wake up. Then the nurse leaves, and the cold, dark room is quiet again.
I must doze off because a hand on my shoulder wakes me. It’s William, pulling up my blanket.
“Hey,” he says, his indigo eyes bloodshot from exhaustion and worry. He’s showered and changed and smells so good and fresh compared to this hospital room that I want to dive into his arms and stay there.
“Hi,” I manage. Dad’s recliner is empty and there’s light spilling into the room from beneath the window shade.
“How’s she doing?” he asks, perching on the corner of Mo’s bed.
