Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
I knew she hadn’t wanted to.
But I also knew her aversion to going to the hospital stemmed from her desire not to be there alone, and not because she thought she didn’t need to go.
A while ago, for her first hospital visit with me when she’d fallen and broken her arm, she’d told me her fear of being alone in a hospital with no visitors. At the time, I’d thought that maybe it was just her being a little extra—because Morrigan was known to be that way—but now I realized it was truly a fear of hers.
But, why wouldn’t it be? She’d spent the last few years completely alone with no one to be here when she needed them.
I know that I hadn’t been there.
“Vitals look good except for her heart rate,” the medic said. “That’s really high.”
“It stays high,” I found myself saying. “That’s part of POTS. Her body overreacts. Sends her heart rate skyrocketing well past when it should’ve calmed down. But it’ll get there.”
“It will,” Morrigan croaked.
She sounded bloody awful.
“Oh, Mama,” I said. “You don’t sound good.”
“I need to get milk to the store,” she croaked.
I pulled out my phone and texted KD, telling him what I needed. I also asked him to make sure that my bike was moved to the store for when I took her there later. Then I thought better of it and asked him to look for her car as well. I hadn’t seen it, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t there.
“Did you get a new car?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. Just parked in the dark spot.”
She really did sound bad.
“Don’t speak,” the medic said. “You might have some damage to your throat area, and until we can rule out anything, let’s not exacerbate it.”
Morrigan nodded her head.
Then winced and closed her eyes.
“There anything that you can give her?” I asked.
“Until I know how what she has can be affected by drugs, I don’t feel comfortable giving her anything,” he admitted. “We’re almost there, and then the doctors can give her something for pain.”
Fuck.
Well, it made complete sense. I wouldn’t want to give her anything that might kill her either.
“Okay,” I grumbled.
But then we were there.
The ambulance turned, then started to back up to the bay.
All the while, Morrigan lay rigid on the gurney.
I caught her hand in mine, and she didn’t squeeze it back.
Yeah, she was definitely mad at me.
“Do you want me to call anyone?” I asked. “Your friend Folsom?”
“Folsom is busy,” she croaked.
So that was a no.
Got it.
I got out when the doors opened, but kept pace with the two medics as they transferred care to the nurses and doctors that looked bored as hell until we walked in the doors.
Things happened fast after that. X-rays were taken, an MRI was done, blood was drawn, and pain meds were administered. It was only after she was back in her room, an IV dripping into her arm, that I said, “I wouldn’t have brought you here had you not scared the crap out of me.”
She shrugged, back to not speaking.
The doctor had reiterated her need to remain mute until he could get a look at everything.
Which thankfully, he did early thanks to the utter deadness inside the hospital.
“Everything looks really good, considering,” the doc said as he walked into the room unannounced. “Other than swelling which will go down in a few days, I think you’re good to go. However, her memory loss does concern me that she has a concussion.”
She couldn’t remember anything that happened after she pulled up to get gas. Not why she’d gone in the store. How she’d ended up on the side of the building, and not the trauma itself.
“It’s normal for her to have some cognitive problems after a trauma such as what she sustained,” the doctor said. “Her memory of the incident may or may not come back. Only time will tell.”
I nodded, my face going soft when I caught Morrigan looking at me.
“She’ll need to stay with someone tonight so we can follow concussion protocol,” the doctor continued. “Or we can keep her overnight.”
Morr started to wave her hands in the air as if that was completely unacceptable, her eyes serious.
“You can speak, but I think it might still be good to give your vocal cords some time,” he said as he handed her a pen and a piece of paper. “Here, write on this.”
She did, then flipped it around for us all to see. “I don’t have a concussion.”
My lips quirked. “You hit the ground pretty hard according to KD. With your head. That’s why you have that cut on your hairline. You banged it on the ground.”
She clenched the board, frustrated.
I could tell she didn’t want to be left here.
“I’ll watch over her,” I suggested, feeling Wake get more and more angry behind me.