Page 5 of Malicious Pacts

“Where is he?” I asked. “He’s okay, isn’t he?”

“You need to leave—now,” the doctor ordered loudly.

The door opened abruptly as he made his way back in. He cleared his throat and forced a smile in my direction before heading to my right side again. He pulled up a rolling stool and sat next to my bed, grabbing hold of my hand.

He looked at Angela. “Thank you…” He squinted as he looked at her name tag across from my bed. “Angela. You new?” She smiled and nodded. “Ah. That explains why I haven’t seen you, not that I can see you now.” He laughed as he looked at me. “I’m just kidding. I’m a little near sighted with letters and numbers.” Turning back to the nurse, he said, “Vitals look okay? I can’t make out the numbers from here.”

Angela nodded again. “BP is 120/72. Heart rate is eighty-five. Oxygen is ninety-nine. Her IV looks good.”

He smiled down at me. “That’s what I get for leaving my glasses out on the desk before coming in here. I can’t see even five feet away. Those numbers are good, by the way. Nothing to worry about.”

He could have told me my skin had turned green and I’d started to grow feathers, and I wouldn’t have known the difference because my mind was only on one thing.

“Where’s Allan Montgomery?”

Doctor Wyatt took a deep breath and steeled himself. “When Pastor Montgomery came in, he was talking and moving around just fine. He gave us all the information he knew about you. Because of how bad you were, you were obviously the focus, especially since he seemed fine. He refused to be checked out until you were in surgery and being seen to.”

My eyes were wide as I stared into the doctor’s. I already knew where this was headed, but I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even move. My body was simply frozen as more tears spilled onto my cheeks. It seemed as though that was all I was capable of.

“Once you went into surgery, I was on my way across the hospital when I heard the call for a Code Blue.” He took another deep breath and squeezed my hand gently. “By the time I got to Pastor Montgomery, he wasn’t breathing. The other emergency physician and several nurses were already running a code. That means they do CPR, use defibrillation paddles, and whatever means are necessary to get a heartbeat. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful. They were unable to revive him. I’m sorry.”

I shook my head as a painful sob took me. “H-how?” My voice came out so whiny and broken. I sounded more defeated in that moment than I thought possible. “How? He was fine! He was stuck under the pew, and when we got him out from under it, he was up and walking around. He helped me find my parents—not that that mattered. They were alreadydead.” I spat the word with such hatred. “He wasfine!Hecan’tbe dead, too! He can’t be!”

More tears came, and I openly cried. It hurt my side like hell with every sob that took me, but I didn’t care. Let the stitches tear open. Let me fuckingdie. I didn’t care. I hadnothingleft.

“We think…” He sighed heavily.

His free hand absentmindedly moved to wipe his brow. He was a good man, and I could tell how hard it was for him to talk about this after knowing what I’d been through, but I didn’t care. I needed answers.

“His abdomen was distended. It was full of blood. That means he suffered internal injuries that weren’t obvious when he came in. Pews are extremely heavy, and if one landed on him in the blast, that would certainly cause a lot of internal damage. Had he allowed us to examine him right away, we might have been able to save him. However, to be honest…” There was a pause as he shook his head.

“You think he still wouldn’t have made it,” I said, finishing his thought.

The doctor nodded. “With that much blood, I think his chances would have been less than ten percent. Again, I’m very sorry for your loss.”

I nodded and pulled my hand back. He let me go, and I covered my face with my hands as the tears seized me.

“We need to do a wound check,” Doctor Wyatt said softly. “But we can give you a few minutes if you need it.”

I nodded again. It seemed to be the only thing I could do. Peeking out from my hands, I watched all of them leave. At that moment, I was struck with the full weight of being undeniably, soul-crushingly alone. I had no one left. No parents. No siblings. I was an only child. My parents were a little older, and their siblings had a ton of health problems and were under some form of care or had died early on. I had no one.

And that terrified me.

Nurse Angela stayed behind, waiting next to my bed as everyone else left. I looked up at her, suddenly panicked. “Please don’t leave!” I said before I even knew what came over me.

“What is it, sweetheart? Can I get you anything?”

My face scrunched up, and my entire body trembled as my arms involuntarily reached out like a toddler asking to be picked up. Undeniable pity and sadness crossed her face as she moved to close the door and blinds before coming to sit in bed with me.

She squeezed herself in on my good side and wrapped her arms around me, placing my head on her chest.

“It’s okay. It’ll all be okay. Just cry if you need to. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Will you get in trouble?” I choked out between sobs.

She shook her head. “Don’t you worry about that. Nursing is a lot more than bandages and IVs. Besides, this is the one night we’re fully staffed with nurses. They won’t even notice I’m gone. You picked a great day!”

A small chuckle escaped me despite the darkness, and she pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

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