Page 48 of Eye of Her Storm

They trailed her through a pristine, overly bright hallway and to a room that wasn’t too deep inside the building. In the room, the place where the bed should be was empty, and Tai felt the loss like a kick in the gut. They were too late. They were too late…

The woman gestured to a pair of chairs near the window, silently suggesting they sit. “My name is Becca, and I’m the nurse in charge of your…wife’s…care. She went into surgery a little over an hour ago.”

The confirmation was like a punch in the gut. When he glanced at Seth, he’d blanched, seeming equally stricken.

“Gentlemen,” Becca said firmly. “Dr. Collins is the best in his field. The best. She’s in very good hands. Have a seat, and I’ll tell you what’s going on in there and what to expect afterward. Right now, they haven’t started the procedure—”

“Can we see her?” Seth asked.

“No. She’s under, but it will be another forty-five minutes or so before they start the removal. They’re still working with the positioning system. Once they get started, it will be a long surgery. So when it gets lengthy, don’t start thinking something went wrong. That’s unlikely. Dr. Collins is highly skilled and extremely cautious. We will wake her in recovery and ask her to follow some simple commands, and by the time we bring her back here, which will be several hours after the surgery’s complete, she should be talking.”

“Really?” Seth gasped. They’d both expected she wouldn’t be responsive for days.

“Really. She may have some cognitive or motor difficulties, but Dr. Collins has therapists already set up to visit during the several days River will be here. Don’t freak out or panic if she’s got some issues. The brain’s a tricky animal, and if you freak out, she’ll freak out and we don’t want that. We’re already walking some sketchy ground here with your marriage.” She made finger quotes when she said marriage. “Don’t make me regret it.”

Tai grinned, still worried but feeling unbelievable relief at the nurse’s words. “I promise; you won’t.”

She nodded, obviously accepting his assertion. With that, she left them alone. Tai sank into one of the chairs, prepared for a long wait. Seth sat, too. Reaching over, Tai took his hand.

“She’ll be okay,” he whispered. God, he hoped so.

“You know what this could mean?” Seth asked.

Tai looked over at him. “What?”

“Maybe, we won’t lose her. We’ll get our lifetime with her.”

He squeezed Seth’s hand. “Our forever.”

* * * *

“She’s a bit woozy, and we have a very tired girl here,” River heard.

“But she’s doing all right?” came the reply.

“She’s doing great.”

At the voices, River struggled to open her eyes. She knew that voice. Wasn’t that…? “Tai?” she whispered.

“Right here, baby. You’re doing so great.”

She felt his fingers around hers. “I’m sorry,” she rasped.

“Shh…we’ll talk about that later. Just rest.”

“How did…” She felt herself drifting on a cloud of fatigue. At the back of her mind, she felt thankful she’d come through. She could see, but her vision was blurry. And she knew Tai. Was he her imagination? Where was Seth?

“The surgery went great,” Seth said to her other side, answering her unspoken questions and taking her other hand. There he was. “The doctor came in to talk to us. He got it all. It looks like you’ll be okay.”

“All,” she sighed, smiling. The pull of sleep tugged her. “Love you,” she whispered before surrendering.

* * * *

“You are a very lucky lady,” she heard sometime later.

She opened her eyes, seeing Becca, arranging her bed. “They got it all.”

“They did. And you’ve had two very handsome men camped out at your side since you got back to your room.”

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