To Have It All(88)

“The hell we will, not when he’s about to die,” Helen snapped, her eyes fiery. “That’s my brother, and if this is it, I’m not leaving.”

Just then, Dr. Malcom whizzed in with two nurses shoving past Helen. “Blood pressure?” he muttered as he used his stethoscope to listen to Liam’s heart. One nurse gently took my arm and led me around the bed like I was a child.

“Ninety-eight over sixty-two,” one of the nurses called.

Kym turned to the three of us and extended her arms out, gently herding us toward the door. “We need you to leave the room, please,” she spoke gently.

My entire body felt like it was coiled tightly like twisted wire. “What’s happening?” I asked, fear lodged in my throat.

Kym flattened her mouth, a look of uncertainty on her face. “His heart rate and blood pressure are rising.”

Helen and I cut our gazes to one another, our brows furrowed. “He’s going to make it?” David asked, his tone riddled with every bit of shock I was feeling.

“We don’t know that,” Kym quickly answered, “We need to run some tests.”

Finally fed up, she sternly said, “Please. Leave. I promise we will update you as soon as we know more.”

I wanted to zip past her and throw myself on Liam, tell him to come back, to fight, but I knew if the impossible could happen, if he could come back, we needed to let the doctor and nurses work on him.

Without a word to Helen, I hauled ass out of the room and back down to the first floor. This time, the double doors were shut and wouldn’t open when I pulled on them. Frantic, I rushed to the nurse’s station. “Max Porter,” I yelled at the woman behind the desk. “I need to know, is he alive?”

“Ma’am, calm down,” she instructed me as she held a hand up.

“Don’t tell me to calm down, goddammit,” I growled as I grabbed her wrist, demanding her attention. “Is he alive?”

“Let go,” she shouted.

“Tell me!” I shouted back.

“He’s stabilized,” someone yelled, jerking my focus. It was a nurse I vaguely recognized as one of the people that had dragged me off of Max’s body. “He’s still not in the safe zone, but he has stabilized.”

Releasing the nurse’s hand, my chest convulsed once, then twice, then wouldn’t stop as I laughed and cried, my body melting to the floor as I slid down the desk into an emotional heap.

It was too good to be true.

I closed my eyes as I let my head drop.

Then I whispered, “Thank you, Max.”



Three hours went by, and no one could tell us anything. Even though I felt I knew everything would be okay, that Liam would wake up, I still held my breath. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I also didn’t tell Helen about Pearl. It wasn’t the right time, especially with David around. Helen gave David and me a brief introduction. She introduced me as Liam’s girlfriend and something about that, even amidst the awfulness of the day, made me feel good. I was honored to be known as his, no matter what happened. Each of us paced the waiting room, Helen and I taking turns harassing the nurses at the nursing station for information, but each visit proved fruitless.

I had thought losing all hope was the worst feeling in the world, but I was wrong. Losing it, then having it return with the even the slightest possibility it would just be ripped from you again was worse. The agony of waiting was suffocating, making me want to climb the walls.

David was so much like Liam, the man trying to be strong for us ladies. I knew Liam would be so proud of him. He brought us drinks, and magazines, and made sure his mother ate, telling her she needed to think of his little brother or sister.

Finally, after hours had passed, Dr. Malcom emerged asking us to sit with him. Taking our seats, Helen and I held hands as David rubbed her back and we waited on bated breath for the news of Liam.

“I’ve been a neurologist for seventeen years,” he told us as he removed his glasses and took a handkerchief from his pocket, wiping at the lens. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” he admitted, defeat thick in his tone.

My heart about burst in my chest. This was good news. It had to be.

“It’s still early,” he went on, “but when Liam’s vitals started to rise, we ordered another scan.”

“And?” Helen asked.

“The fluid on his brain has decreased significantly. We ran another round of EEG’s, and two out of the three showed activity.”

“He’s waking up?” I gasped.

Dr. Malcom held a hand up, stopping me. “We can’t say just yet, but he appears to be stabilizing. Even if he does wake up, we still don’t know the extent of brain damage. If he does regain consciousness, he will have a very long road ahead of him.” Standing, he stared down at us intently. “There is no medical explanation for this. The man should be dead,” he reiterated. “This is a miracle, plain and simple.”

Helen and I burst into tears as we squealed and hopped to our feet, hugging. The elation that surged through me could have sent a rocket to the moon.

The impossible happened.

A miracle.

Liam was alive.





After two days, Max regained consciousness but was immediately moved to the psych ward for evaluation. He refused to see me. He’d been lucky. With the amount of pills and alcohol he’d taken, he should’ve been a goner. There was so much I wanted to ask him; where did he go? Did he know he wasn’t in his body anymore? Why did he try to kill himself? But those questions would have to wait. I was glad he was okay. Despite our differences, I’d never wished him dead.