Resolution (Saviour #2)(44)

He looks up at her and it suddenly hits me how bad he looks, he has bags under his eyes at least three days stubble on his chin and his skin is a terrible shade of grey, no hint of his sexy sun tan.

“I would love a coffee, thank you.”

She starts for the door after telling me my blood pressure is a little high.

“But then mine would be too if I was squeezing him between my legs” She declares as she leaves the room.

He pulls me to him again, I can barely breathe but I don’t want him to let me go, because I have a really horrible feeling in my belly, “What happened Gabe, will you please just tell me?”

“Charlie had a heart attack.”

“What? When?” Shit, poor Charlie.

“Out on the water, he was on the back of the Jet Ski with Jackie and he had a heart attack.”

“What? Well what…”

He breaks into a sob, “He’s dead Lauren, my Dad’s dead.”

I lean away from him, needing to see his face so that I can try and make sense of what he’s saying. He pushes the heel of his hands into his eyes and then looks right at me.

“He had a heart attack on the back of the Jet Ski and collapsed forward onto Jackie, she lost control and she smashed into you and Ava, you have been out cold for three days with a severe concussion and…and Ava is in an induced coma and Charlie’s dead and you wouldn’t wake up and I’ve been so f*cking scared.”

He is struggling to get his breath as he sobs so hard, I want to be strong for him but I am useless and crying almost as much as he is. My head is spinning and I know that I need to stop panicking and try to think straight but I just can’t, I have so many questions, so many thoughts running through my brain and I can’t seem to put them into any kind of order, I can’t seem to process what he’s telling me and form words to make a sentence, not one that makes any sense. I move my mouth, but I can’t make anything come out and I can’t seem to get enough air into my lungs.

“Breathe Lauren, deep breaths, breathe.”

Now it’s him trying to calm me. He holds me against him and I get my breathing rhythm to match his; as my breathing calms so do my thoughts.

“Gabe where’s Ava, can I see her, what have they said? Oh Gabe I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

I climb off of him.

“Where is Ava Gabe? I want to see her.”

I slide off the bed but everything spins as my feet touch the floor. I lean back and try to steady myself.

“Get into bed Lauren, you shouldn’t be up, the doctor needs to see you, shit, I shouldn’t have told you yet, I should have waited.”

He climbs off the bed and lifts me back onto it, I can’t believe he’s acting like this, why is he here, why isn’t he with Ava?

“Gabe, we need to go to her, we shouldn’t be here, we need to be with Ava.”

“Get back into bed Lauren, just for once do as your f*cking told and get back into bed. Ava’s not here, she’s at the Royal Children’s, you’re in the Alfred, I’ve been coming back and forth between the two, Nina is with Ava right now, that’s why I’m here, your nurse called and said you had woken up hysterical and that they had given you a light sedative, I rushed back here before you woke up again, I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke before.”

He’s pulled a chair up to my bed while he was speaking and is now sitting beside me, holding my hand. He looks concerned and exhausted and I feel terrible for keeping him from his daughter’s sick bed.

“You shouldn’t be here Gabe, go, go and be with your daughter, I’m fine.”

“I’ll go as soon as the doctors been, Ryder’s on his way back and I’ve spoken to your Mum on the phone.”

He kisses my hand.

“Ryder’s been here, is he okay?”

“Lauren, he’s fine, you’re the one we’ve all been worrying about, will you please stop worrying about everyone else.”

“Have you been eating?”

“What? No, yes, hospital food.”

He stands and kisses my forehead, then my hand, then sits down again, he’s lost, he hates not being in control, not being able to put things right, this must be killing him; and Ava, shit, his baby girl, and on top of that, he’s lost his Dad, it’s all too much, what must he be going through? He squeezes my hand in both of his and kisses it again as a lone tear roles down his cheek, I lean forward and brush it away as the door opens and a doctor walks in, we both look up.

“Lauren, George Anderson, glad to see you’re back with us,” He puts out his hand and I shake it.

He has an entourage, what I assume are a couple of students and Andrea and another nurse.

“Mr Wilde, I did as you asked and spoke to Doctor Tan at The Royal Children’s, the swelling on Ava’s brain is coming down, they are thinking of starting to bring her round in the next couple of days.”

Our eyes are locked on each other’s and we both start to cry, he leans forward and buries his face in my lap, all I can do is run my fingers through his hair and try to sooth him.

“Your blood pressure is giving us a little cause for concern Lauren, but considering the circumstances it’s hardly surprising. I want to get you down for another MRI scan just to be sure we haven’t missed anything, a couple of days of complete bed rest and as little stress as possible and if it’s come down, we can think about letting you home by the end of the week.”