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seconds, they’d wheeled him away.
    “Josh has signed a release allowing us to share his information with you. The CT scan shows significant damage to his spleen. We can sometimes achieve healing through bed rest, but this looks like a Grade III injury. Given his lab values and escalating heart rate, this bleed is just too big for that.”
    The woman’s words seemed to be coming from far, far away. Tessa blinked and tried to focus. “So you’ll have to take it out? Isn’t that bad?”
    “A total splenectomy would place him at much higher risk for infections, so we’ll first go for a more conservative approach and try to repair it. Our orthopedist needs to surgically repair the tibia and fibula fractures. Your friend is actually a very lucky guy, from what I hear about that accident scene.”
    She tipped her head toward the X-rays mounted on a lighted screen, and even from a distance, Tessa could see multiple fractures just above Josh’s ankle.
    “Just sit tight,” Dr. West continued. “He has a good chance of coming through all of this without any permanent repercussions. Do you have any questions?”
    “Just a good chance?” Tessa asked, feeling faint. “Only that?”
    “There’s always risk with sustained blood loss. He’s shocky, so it’s urgent that we get that internal bleeding stopped, STAT.” The surgeon glanced at the clock on the wall. “They’re getting him prepped, and I need to get up there. The nurses will keep you informed.”
    “Th-thanks.”
    “By the way, the secretary has tried calling his family members out East, but she hasn’t had any luck so far. You’ll be here after surgery is over?”
    Tessa nodded.
    “It’ll probably take a couple hours, depending on what we find, and then he’ll be in recovery for at least an hour.” Dr. West gave her a sympathetic smile. “If you want to run home and change your clothes or get something to eat, you’ll have time. The nurses can loan you some scrubs.”
    Clothes? Tessa looked back at her, feeling a flash of confusion.
    “From what I hear, you saved his life, you know. You can be very proud of that.” She rested a gentle hand on Tessa’s shoulder. “I know this has been a stressful night.”
    After the doctor hurried out of the room, Tessa glanced at herself in the mirror over the sink in the corner and drew in a sharp breath.
    Under the harsh lighting, her blood-stained shirt and jeans were an all-too vivid reminder of her frantic efforts to stem the flow of blood from Josh’s leg.
    The emergency vehicles had arrived twenty minutes after she’d found him semiconscious, his jeans and shirt soaked in blood, and his makeshift bandages doing little to stop the bleeding.
    Somehow, she’d completely blanked out on her own appearance until now.
    Feeling as if she were moving through a dream where the earth had just tilted sideways, she shivered and reached for the back of a chair, her hands clammy.
    It had been a long time since she’d regularly talked to God. Given her faltering faith and anger at Him, maybe He didn’t even want to hear from her now.
    He probably wouldn’t bother to help, because He sure hadn’t years ago when she’d needed him most.
    But seeing those orderlies wheel Josh away filled her with the most overwhelming fear she’d ever felt in her life since…
    Shoving those memories away, she gripped the back of the chair tighter and choked back the tears clogging her throat.
    Dear God—please, please help him. Not for my sake, but for his. Please…

     
    Josh shifted his weight awkwardly, hampered by the heavy cast on his left leg and IV line taped to his arm. The last two days had passed in a medication-induced blur of drowsiness, interspersed with visits by nurses who prodded and poked and took his temperature every hour, and lab techs who seemed to take special pleasure in drawing endless vials of blood.
    This morning, he’d agreed to nothing stronger than Tylenol, wanting to keep his mind clear. Now, with