The Ford Brothers Series Box Set, page 74
“Can you tell me what happened?” I ask the caller.
“Plane crash. He’s the pilot. He was pinned under the instrument panel. It collapsed on him. He’s got a head injury, too, but I can’t tell how significant it is. He’s unconscious. His belly is bloated and with his dropping pressure, I can only guess that he’s got some internal bleeding.”
“Okay, yes, we have room for him. I’ll get our OR specialist here ASAP.” I look at Gia and she nods, knowing that we have to ready ourselves for the arrival of the patient. I cover the phone. “He’s coming in by helicopter. Ten minutes.” I whisper to Gia, who nods her understanding, and will summon the team to prepare for the delivery of the patient. I don’t give myself time to freak out. My nurse’s hat is on. Any trepidation or fear I have over Garrett’s well-being is stifled. This is my time to shine. This is my passion. I’ll do everything I can to help him. And more.
The doctor is on site, thankfully, so he’s already in the OR, readying his team for Garrett. I let him know that there’s most likely internal bleeding, and that he’ll need a CT scan to determine the extent of the head injury. We hear the chopper land on the roof, and I wait for him to come off the elevator. When I see the gurney and the ambulatory team, I scurry over. Garrett’s got an IV tube in his arm, an oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose, a cervical collar around his neck, and he’s laying on a stiff board to prevent back trauma. His once white uniform is greyed and damp, and he’s missing a shoe. The buttons on his shirt have been undone, and his chest and belly are exposed. A once rigid abdomen is bloated and swollen; definitely bleeding internally. Faint bruises are showing across his tummy and rib cage.
“He opened his eyes for a second when I shone the light in them, but then he was out again.” One of the ambulatory staff reports.
Dr. Richard, the OR specialist, takes one look at him and directs the gurney to the operating room. “We’ll have to open him up.” He addresses me. “He’ll most definitely need a transfusion if his pressure keeps dropping. Locate blood and be ready to administer it once I locate the source and stop the bleeding.”
“Got it.” I nod, immediately getting ready to dial the extension for the lab downstairs. I also call radiology, to have them bring up the CT scan machine. When the blood arrives, Gia and I start getting the room ready. We haven’t heard his status yet, but we’ll be ready once he’s out of surgery. Then I see him, Garrett’s younger brother Colton, and a beautiful brunette come flying out of the elevator.
Gia approaches them. “Can I help you?”
“I’m Garrett Ford’s brother, Colton. He just arrived here. He was in a plane crash. He was the pilot.” He stammers. “Where is he?”
“He’s just in surgery, sir. You can take a seat over there.” Gia motions to the bank of chairs outside the pod, in the waiting area.
“Can you tell me how he’s doing?” Colton practically begs.
“We haven’t been given a status yet, sir. I’ll let the doctor know that you’re here.”
“Thank you.”
The brunette takes Colton’s arm and gives it a squeeze, directing him to the chairs in the waiting room. She sits beside him and he parts his knees, rests his elbows on his knees, and rakes his hands through his hair, keeping his face down. The brunette rubs his back, looking around. We make eye contact and I look away quickly.
This is when my heart decides to flip-flop in my chest. What if Garrett doesn’t make it? What if he does make it and he’s never the same again? There is no way to tell the extent of his injuries. For all we know he’s broken his back or his neck, or worse. He could bleed to death. I feel helpless and blind, because the OR is on a different floor, so it’s not like when someone flatlines on this floor and staff fly to the room to help the patient. I have no way of seeing or telling what is going on…unless I go there.
“Gia, do you mind if I go check the patient’s status?”
“Sure, it’s quiet here. I’ll page you if the sky opens.” She jokes. I give her a smile and scurry to the elevator door, keeping my head down, so Colton doesn’t recognize me. Luckily, his head is still down, planted in his hands, so he doesn’t even see me walk by. As the elevator door opens, I press the button for the surgical floor, and notice how fast my heart is beating. I’m not sure if I can handle it if Garrett doesn’t make it. Or if they’ve discovered some horrible, irreversible injury. I’m praying inside my head as the elevator moves downward, and when it dings its arrival, I all but jog to the operating room.
I’m not allowed inside the OR, but one of the nurses is outside, and I query her. “How is the patient doing?”
“Wicked blood loss. They found the source and sutured it. Now we just have to pray they don’t find another one. CT scan is clear, but he’s comatose. Not sure if it’s from shock or blood loss or both. He’ll need a transfusion; might need it before they finish stitching him up. The doctor might call for it in another minute or so. His pressure is dangerously low.”
The phone starts to ring, and the nurse lifts a finger, indicating for me to hold on a moment. “Yes. Okay.” She says and hangs up.
“That’s the call for the transfusion. His pressure is too low, he’s going to flatline.” She says, dialling
the extension for the lab. She gives the order for how many units of blood they need and hangs up.
“Not looking good.” She shrugs.
Suddenly I feel like I might throw up.
Garrett might not make it.
I nod and walk out of there as fast as I can, so she can’t see my reaction.
As I get back on the elevator and press the ICU floor number, I begin praying inside my head again.
When the elevator door opens, I run face-to-face into the other three Ford brothers.
Chapter 35
Garrett
The light shines in my eyes like when an oncoming driver in the opposite lane has his high beams on, and you’re dog-tired, and the stark white burns your retinas out for about ten seconds. For a split second, I see the faint outline of two guys hovering over me, murmuring shit that I can’t understand, to each other. Words like ‘pressure’, ‘EKG’, ‘LBP’ and ‘BPM’ are exchanged, and I wonder where the hell I am. It’s loud in here, like we’re at some kind of rave, but I don’t hear music, just some voice from a walkie-talkie or a radio coming in and out. A rhythmic blip-blip, like someone’s shooting a round from an automatic weapon at us, and I wonder if maybe I’m back in Afghanistan.
My gut hurts like hell, and these bastards keep pawing at it. I’m freezing cold, like I’ve been plunged into the goddamn dunk tank again. As much as I try to talk I can’t; I think my lips are frozen, and the same with my body for that matter; I’m cemented onto something. They’ve got me belted on something, that’s for sure. When they place some sort of cone over my nose and mouth, I fade out.
What feels like ten seconds later, I hear sounds like I’m in a restaurant. Like clanging and tapping, but nobody is talking. I don’t know where I am and I still can’t move or speak, and when I try to, it makes me so exhausted that I drift off again. This time, when I come to, I can hear voices in the background. They sound far away, like someone’s talking in another room. My gut feels better but it’s numb in some places, and I hear rhythmic beeping. I try to open my mouth, but I can’t. I try to open my eyes, but I can’t. Come to think of it, I can’t move at all. Am I dead? Is this what happens when you die? You have no body, but you can still hear things? But why can’t I see anything? God sure has a sense of humor.
Then I hear whispers and I feel people touching my arms and parts of my leg. I can’t really tell what they’re saying. I want to tell them to speak up, but my mouth doesn’t work. Maybe someone’s placed some kind of cruel spell on me. I drift out again, and when I awake, I hear a familiar voice beside me.
“Jesus, Garrett. Man, you gotta pull out of this. We’ve got so much more living to do, you and I.” It’s Colton’s voice. And I listen carefully. I’ve never heard this soft tone in his voice before. “This is sure one hell of a way to put off my wedding. I know you don’t really support it, but this is just unfair.” His voice cracks and he pauses.
My God, what the hell is he talking about? I never said I didn’t support him getting married. I was just in shock. Hell, he can marry a dozen women for all I care, if it makes him happy.
“He’s strong, baby. I know he’ll pull out of it.” A female voice; I’m guessing Julia’s, says.
“Do you mind giving me a few minutes with him, sweetie?” Colton asks Julia.
“Sure. Take as much time as you need. I’ll just be outside.” Her voice is warm and soothing. Like a mother trying to calm a child. I can see why Colton is drawn to her. I hear a little smacking noise, which I assume is a kiss. Wow. They must really love each other.
Colton draws in a deep breath. “You remember when we were kids….and mom left…and Wade was just a little tyke? When we tried to pull that splinter out of his finger and he couldn’t sit still?” he pauses. “And then when we finally got it out of him, you asked him why he was so restless? And you asked him if he had ants in his pants?” he chuckles, “and then as he walked away, he pulled his pants out and looked down them, checking for ants?”
Inwardly I’m laughing. It was a lot of fun bringing up Wade after mom left.
Colton continues. “Wade can’t even come in here. He’s too afraid. It reminds him too much of dad. Dalton’s having a hard time, too. I seem to be the only one who can stomach it. I suppose part of that is because I was in Afghanistan when dad died. I missed all the hospital hooplah.”
I feel him squeeze my arm, and I’m guessing his forehead is on my arm, too. I want to reach over and pat his head, but I can’t. Nothing in me is working and it’s so fucking frustrating. The second I get mad enough and try to move, I drift off again. It pisses me off to no end. Maybe I should just chill out and rest. Maybe that’s the message the Lord is sending me.
All is silent for a long time, and when I’m coherent, I feel something moving on my arm. “Baby, you need to sleep. Come on, let’s go to the hotel for a few hours. You’re not much good to Garrett sleeping on his arm, sweetie.” I hear Julia say in a hushed voice.
His head lifts from my arm, and I feel him brush something off my face, tucking it into my hair. “I’ll be back later, big brother. Enough of this sleeping, you lazy bum.” He chuckles, and I hear Julia chuckle, too. When they leave, I hear someone in my room. My arm is raised, and something is pulled off and then replaced. Buttons are being pushed around me, and then I sense warmth above my head. The smell. That smell. It’s familiar. It’s perfume. Dear God…it’s Nora’s perfume. Please tell me it’s a popular perfume and lots of women wear it…oh, shit…I’m in the hospital where Nora works…fuck! Maybe it isn’t her.
“How are his red cell counts?” a female voice, not Nora’s, calls from behind.
The answer must be in the form of a gesture, because the woman in the room with me doesn’t verbally answer. Shit! Is it her? Do I need to wake the fuck up and get the hell out of here? Come on, eyes…let’s open…now! Shit. Nothing.
No idea how much time has passed, but I feel a presence in the room. Someone takes my hand. It’s not a guy, thank God. The hand is too small and isn’t all sweaty and gross like when we were at my Uncle’s wedding and had to all stand in a circle on the dance floor and hold hands…I got Wade’s…yuck! No, this hand is small and warm with teeny, tidy fingernails, and no rings. She’s kind of massaging my fingers, removing something from my index finger and then clipping it back on.
“That’s the oxygen sensor.” She says, and I immediately recognize Nora’s voice. She’s not whispering, but her voice is low, like we’re in a library. “It measures how much oxygen you’re getting, so I know whether or not to put the mask back on you. You must have hated that.”
I did, but my mouth doesn’t work, so I can’t say so.
“You’ve got enough blood now, so we took one of the tubes out of you.” She pauses. “There’s still an IV tube there, giving you fluids and an antibiotic, so you don’t get an infection. The doctor says you’re healing well and there hasn’t been any sign of more internal bleeding.” She clears her throat and hovers over me, checking something else. “You’re doing very well, Garrett. But until those eyes open, you have to stay here.”
Yeah, no shit. I’m as thrilled about it as you are, I’m sure. Don’t worry, I’ll be out of here just as soon as I can open my fucking mouth and tell you where to go.
“There were no casualties on the plane, Garrett. You saved everyone’s life. Everyone made it thanks to you. The police chief said that if you hadn’t stayed on the steering wheel until you landed, the plane would have landed face-first, and you wouldn’t be here. Who knows how many others would have died. Because the plane landed on its side, it saved everybody. You’re a hero, Garrett.”
No, I’m not. I’m just a good pilot who paid attention during class and kicked ass during crash simulations. I’m assuming that ass-crack Leon survived, too. Great. The one thing I didn’t pray for.
“I wish I knew if you were in any pain. I’d give you something. That’s one thing about coma patients…they can’t tell you if they hurt.” I feel her stroke my face with her hand. If I were awake, I’d slap it away. Fine. It feels kind of nice. She combs her fingers through my hair. It reminds me of when my mother used to do that when I got sick or when I couldn’t sleep as a child. Being the oldest, I got to know my mother a little bit better than the rest of the clan.
“You’re probably not at all thrilled that I’m here, but I’m here, nonetheless. Not many patients make it out of this ICU alive, but you will. You’re very strong. Anyone with lesser health wouldn’t have survived losing that much blood. You’re going to have a great scar to show off when the sutures heal. The doctor had to open you up from your sternum to your pelvic bone to find the source of the bleeding. It’s going to look like a really cool permanent zipper.” She chuckles.
Great. Another war wound. Maybe I’ll get a couple of tattoos like Colton. At least I know I’m alive though. I was starting to wonder.
“If you would just wake up, I could even wrestle a steak for you. I know people.” She sniffs. “I could talk Colton into bringing one of his specialty barbecued steaks.” Nora pauses, and I hear someone enter the room.
“Wasn’t your shift over like an hour ago?” a female voice says.
“Yeah. It’s okay.”
“Aren’t you dead tired? Weren’t you on a double?”
“Yeah. I’m not tired though. I seem to have turned into the Energizer Bunny since Missy went to college.”
The other woman giggles. “Trying to bribe patients with steak won’t work. I’ve tried.”
“Well, it was worth a shot.” Nora sighs. “The human body is such an enigma. One patient can die from shock and another patient lives when they should have died, only to fall into a deep coma.”
“Just keep talking to him. They say they can hear us. It’s spotty at times, but always let them know that you’re here.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing.” I feel her patting my arm.
“You know this one?”
“Can you keep a secret?”
“How long have we known each other.” The other woman says as if it’s a stupid question.
“About three years ago he and I were together…for about nine months. Then something terrible happened that should never have happened, and we broke up.”
“Did he cheat on you or vice versa?”
“No, nothing like that. It was a complete misunderstanding. And it’s something I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”
I hear gadgets being adjusted and little beeps here and there. “Well, I’ve got time. Tell me what happened.”
God, I don’t want to hear this again. Lalalalala. Shit, that only works if you can actually speak. Great. Now this is really torture.
“You know Missy’s had a lot of problems.”
“She sure has. God bless her for how far she’s come.”
“Thanks. Yeah. Well, this was back when she wasn’t well… at all. Her dad was still alive, too. David told Missy that if she got Garrett out of the picture, that he and I would get back together.”
“So how did she pull that off?” another beep sounds over my head.
“She told me that Garrett molested her.”
The woman gasps. “You’re shitting me! She didn’t! Good Lord, that’s…terrible.”
“I know. But it wasn’t taken lightly, Karen. Missy attempted suicide that same day.”
“Jesus, Nora. How awful. Were you two serious?”
“He proposed to me the night she attempted suicide; the same night she lied. Of course, he had no idea.”
“My goodness. He must have been wrecked.”
“It was horrible. It was a no-win situation no matter which way you sliced it.”
“I can see how that would put your back up against the wall though. I mean, if I found out someone hurt or even tried to hurt my Kristina, he wouldn’t have a knee to stand on to propose to me. I’d kill him.”
Nora doesn’t respond. I hear her sigh. “I couldn’t hurt him physically. And I sure didn’t mean to cause the damage that I did. No more than Missy. Now that I look back at how messed up she was then, compared to now, I don’t think she really knew what she was doing.”
“Honey, they all know exactly what they’re doing. Don’t be a fool. If it didn’t make sense, then maybe she wasn’t aware, but it was the perfect plan between her and her dad. Nora, that David was evil. And she was a fool for going ahead with that. Teenagers are selfish and manipulative, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get their way. David dangled a carrot in front of her and she took it.”
“But that doesn’t explain why she tried to kill herself three times after that.” I can tell Nora is getting irritated.
“Guilt, Nora. She knew what she did was wrong.”
“So why not tell me instead of trying to kill herself?”
