Losing Him (Mitchell Family #8)(36)

Conner put his arm on my shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I hope she’s okay. Unlike my family, I knew I was toying with her emotions. I didn’t have many morals back then. Amy changed me, so I know anything is possible.”

I smiled. “Thanks for everything, man.”

“Let the girls know that you need a ride. Whenever you’re ready. One of us can come and get you.”

“I appreciate that. My sister doesn’t live too far from here. I can call her to give me a ride. She doesn’t care for Heather, but I’m sure she’d help me if I asked her.”

We said our goodbyes quickly since I needed to get inside and find Heather. If I had to fight with the nurses and doctors I was going to do it. Nothing was going to stop me from seeing her.

Chapter 19


Heather


I woke up to beeping, but I didn’t know where I was. I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn’t move. My eyes were open, but I couldn’t see anything. My hands wiggled around feeling fabric from where I was clearly laying down.

Was I in the hospital?

I couldn’t remember anything from the time that Jessie left with Jacob. Nothing made sense.

I tried to speak, albeit nothing came out. It was all too confusing and as the beeping began to get faster, I found it hard to take breaths. The room was getting blurry and I could hear someone talking to me. I wiggled my hand and blackness took over.

No matter how hard I tried to keep my eyes open, I couldn’t do it. As if I had no control over my body, nothing would work. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t speak.

I opened my eyes, not knowing how long they’d been closed, and saw people standing over me. They were talking loud and touching me, even though I couldn’t feel it. Everything was blurry and I heard machines and beeping in the background.

In the midst of the chaos that was going on around me, all I could think of was Jacob and Jessie. I needed to know where they were and if they were okay. I wanted to know how I’d gotten in this situation.

What if something happened to them?

Were they okay?

Did I try to hurt myself?

Where was I and how did I get here?

Questions filled my mind, but I had no answers.

I closed my eyes and focused on the voices, hoping that one would be of someone I recognized. I focused and heard not a single familiar voice.

I had to know what was going on, except my voice wouldn’t cooperate. Even my mouth wouldn’t open when I tried to scream. Nothing made sense.

The next time I opened my eyes, the bright light and crowds of people were gone. I was moving through a machine and could hear the clicking of the device. I didn’t remember being lifted onto the platform, or how I even got where I was.

Something had happened to me and I couldn’t remember it. I felt dizzy again, but fought to stay conscious. I needed answers. I wanted to know what was happening.

Halfway through the machine my body started to seize. I could feel it shaking, but couldn’t respond fast enough. My eyes rolled back in my head and blackness took over again. This time I didn’t fight it. I let myself go.

If I was dying, than I wanted to go quickly. I didn’t want to have to think about all that I was leaving behind. I didn’t want to worry about Jessie or imagine never seeing my son again. I didn’t want to think about never being able to kiss him goodnight. I didn’t want to think about the last words that I’d said to Jessie, or how he felt as he drove away.

I just wanted to fade into nothingness.

Chapter 20


Jessie


Once I had located the part of the hospital where Heather was being held, I ran like a bat out of Hell to try to find her. When I came off the elevator, I was met with double security doors. I rang the bell and waiting for someone to let me in. While I stood there I noticed the label on the door.

Critical Care Unit.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as the doors opened to a long hallway. I followed it until I came to a nurse’s station. I didn’t have time to ask anything because I saw Amy approaching me. “I’m so glad you got here,” she said.

“What’s going on? Where is she? I need to see her. What are the doctors saying about her condition?” I was frantically looking for answers and was afraid about what I would be hearing.

Amy led me to a waiting room and we sat down. “I guess Conner told you that she was in an accident?”

I nodded.

“She drove out into traffic. The tractor trailer hit her on the driver’s side, sending her body to the passenger side. We were right there and couldn’t do anything to help her. She was pinned in the car.” Amy played with her hands as she continued to speak. “When the ambulance got there, they had to use the jaws of life to cut her out of the car. They ended up flying her here, instead of driving.”

I ran my hands through my hair and couldn’t look at her. “How bad is it?”

“They wouldn’t talk to us about her condition, but Van knew a lady that told us some. I don’t know about the extent, but she has a head injury. Her neck and arm are broken and she dislocated her hip. The nurse told her that the alcohol could have helped her from feeling the amount of pain that she should have been in.”

“So you haven’t been able to see her?”

“No.”

I stood up went to find someone to let me in to see Heather and felt someone grabbing my arm. A doctor had walked in and sat down across from where we were. I just stood there waiting to hear bad news.