Her Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

floor. “I got a call from the hospital saying there had been an accident, and that my wife was here, and,” he paused to swallow hard, “and that they were bringing her into surgery.” He looked up. “They had been coming out and giving me updates, but I haven’t seen anyone in almost an hour.” He flopped helplessly onto the chair behind him. She took a seat next to him and patted him on the shoulder.
     
    Michael stormed over to the nearby reception station to, she could only assume, try to find out some more information.
     
    “She said she had errands to run,” Linus said, almost to himself. “I knew she’d been sneaking cigarettes, so I assumed she just wanted to drive around for a bit and smoke….” He pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes. His words were coming out slowly, almost painfully. “The officers said they weren’t even going that fast. They weren’t on the highway… But the car hit her head on and… oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” He began to rock back and forth, palms still firm against his face.
     
    “Now you stop that right now,” she said. “The last thing we need is you getting hysterical. We’re all here. We’re going to think positive thoughts. And any minute now a nurse is going to come through that door, and take us into a recovery room to see her. Alright?”
     
    “Alright,” Linus responded after a heavy silence sat between them for what felt like an eternity, not realizing that what she had said was more for her own good than it was for his.
     
    Michael slowly lowered himself into the chair next to his wife. “Well, all they’ll tell me is that she’s still in surgery. They’ll update us when they have something to update us about.”
    And so the waiting began.

 
    Chapter 9
     
    She just couldn’t stop staring at her. She had been standing there for what must have been hours. Michael was off with Linus. She vaguely heard them mumble something about going to get something to eat, or grabbing some coffee or something, and did she want anything? She just shook her head ‘no’ and continued to stand there and stare.
     
    A thick pane of glass separated her from the room that held her precious little angel. No one was allowed in to see her. The doctors told them she just wasn’t strong enough. So here she stood, behind this protective window, watching over her with a furrowed brow. What did she think was going to happen? Would her color suddenly brightened? Would her eyes open? Would she cry out in pain? And if so, would there be anything she could possibly do to comfort her? Would there be anything anyone could do?
     
    Others gathered around, coming and going, looking through the window, talking excitedly amongst themselves. She heard bits and pieces of their conversations, but none of what they said stuck; none of it mattered. All that mattered was that any minute now she was going to wake up, and the doctors would allow her to see her, and everything was going to be fine.
     
    Women, confined to wheelchairs, were pushed down the hallway by their partners; men wandered aimlessly by themselves, a variety of overwhelmed looks plastered across their faces; parents and grandparents, clutching each other’s hand, all shuffled up to the window and looked in. They scanned the rows of tiny humans, pointing and smiling and laughing and crying.
     
    “Which one is yours?” first-time parents asked one another.
     
    “Is this your first grandchild?”
     
    “Oh, she’s so precious!”
     
    “He looks just like his father.”
     
    It seemed as though those gathering were beginning to multiply. She couldn’t drown them out any longer, and their optimism and happiness began to overwhelm her. She remembered Michael wheeling her up to this very same floor, this very same window. They had stared at their little girl, but it wasn’t the same this time. Her eyes had been full of joy, her heart pounding with excitement, and admittedly a bit of nervousness.