Broken

Awake

The doctor walked into the waiting room at that minute and asked for the family of Mia Kaines. “That’s us, my name is Matt, and this is Jay. Please, is she going to be OK and is the baby OK?”

“Boys, I am not going to lie; it doesn’t look good. She is stable, but she is stable. She has multiple broken ribs on both sides, she has deep cuts all over her body, serious head trauma, and her right leg is broken in 2 different places. She has internal bleeding and as of right now the baby’s heartbeat is strong, but she is having mild contractions. We will have to do surgery for her leg, but I need her stronger for that. She is in a coma right now, which is for the best because she can’t heal if she is dealing with the amount of pain she is going to be in, and it will give her brain time to rest.”

“In your opinion, will she recover? Will the baby be OK,” asked Jay. His heart was pounding, and all that information was hard to digest.

If she survives the night and the swelling in her brain doesn’t get any worse, then she should be ok, but you must understand she has a long road ahead of her and if infection sets in then it will be very bad for her. Unfortunately, with the baby there is no telling. It will all depend on how her body does during the healing and the amount of trauma the fetus has suffered. It’s too early to say with the baby.”

“Ok, Doctor. Can we see her now?”

“Yes, you can go in and see her. You should know that she doesn’t look good right now. Her face is bruised, and her cheek bone is broken. Her eyelid is cut and swollen from when she went through the glass. However, she is young and healthy, so we just need to let her heal and keep her safe. I hate to pry, but is the guy that did this behind bars? I see this isn’t her first visit.”

“Yes, her ex-boyfriend is behind bars now. He will not be able to get near her again.” Jay explained to the doctor.

“He cannot be allowed near her again; she will not survive another attack like this again. If you need anything from us let us know, for now there is a security guard outside her door.”

“We understand and thank you for arranging for the security guard. We will arrange for extra security for her as soon as we go see her.” The doctor nodded and left. Jay and Matt walked to her room in quiet. When they walked into the room, they gasped and stopped dead in their tracks. Surely this was the wrong room. Mia was lying there broken and bruised and fragile. This wasn’t their Mia, the Mia that they knew was so full of life and happiness. This Mia was broken and beaten. She didn’t even look like herself.

“Jay, I should have been there! I wasn’t there, she was supposed to be gone by the time that asshole came home. I’m sorry I should have been there,” Matt spoke quietly.

“Dude, this isn’t your fault, you cannot blame yourself. It isn’t your fault you were stuck in traffic because of an accident, and he got home early. This is all his fault. No one else hit her or almost killed her, not you. John is the one that almost killed her, he is the one that beat her, not you. You cannot blame yourself; I won’t allow it.”

“Still, I should have been there.”

Jay sat down next to Mia and took her hand. He might lose her. He almost lost her. Why had he allowed this to happen again? He should have dragged her out of there, away from John. He should have fought for her. He has loved her for so long, he can’t lose her now that he is so close to finally having her. “She is moving in with me. I’m not letting her out of my sight ever again. We will hire a security guard for her on top of what we already have. She will have her own personal guard. My house is bigger than your one-room apartment. There will be more room for her and the baby. We can keep her safer, and I’m not letting her out of my sight ever again. There is even room for you if you want to stay until she is healthy again.”

“I agree with you, but you know she isn’t going to accept help easily.”

“Well, she doesn’t have a choice anymore. We tried to do it her way and this is what happened, and now it's our way. I will also call and get a guard outside her hospital room door. I don’t want any one in here but us and the doctors.”

“OK, but I will make calls for you. Can you stay here until I get back?”

“Matt, I’m not leaving her side until she wakes up, and I know she is going to be ok. You go do what needs to be done, but I am not leaving.”

“Thanks bud, I'll bring you back some food and coffee. I’ll arrange everything. I’ll be back soon.”

“Matt, you know how I feel about her. No one is getting near her unless they go through me first, and I’m not going anywhere ever again.” Matt left to get everything taken care of. He knew Mia was in good hands and he totally trusted Jay.

When Matt left the room, Jay lay his head next to Mia on the bed and cried. The tears kept falling, and the thoughts kept coming. He couldn’t turn his brain off. Mia had always been his, but he felt like he wasn’t worthy of her, so he settled for the title of brother’s best friend status. He struggled with keeping her at arm’s length, especially when she got with that moron.

She was so important to him; he should never have waited so long. Jay felt so stupid. “I promise you, baby. I will protect you and that baby with everything that I have and everything that I am. I’m never letting you out of my sight again, but you must wake up. Please just wake up!” Jay laid his head down on her bed and cried all the anguish and fear that he felt came out in those tears.

Later on, when Matt returned to the hospital, the doctor came in again to tell Matt and Jay the latest scan results. The doctor was frank with them, “I’m not going to lie, her condition is critical at best. We need to keep her sedated so that the swelling in her brain can start to heal. She isn’t strong enough to survive surgery right now. When she is, she will need surgery on her leg. If the swelling in her brain doesn’t go down in the next 24 hours, we will have to relieve the pressure. The baby is still doing well, but she needs to heal, so her body can handle this pregnancy. “

“OK, what can we do to help? We will always have security outside and absolutely no one gets into this room, except medical personnel and us.”

“Right now, all we can do is wait. Keep talking to her. I will make sure that my staff knows about the security and to always have their hospital ID on them.”

After the doctor left, Matt and Jay exchanged worried looks, “Thanks for being here with me Jay. I don’t know what I would do without you here.”

“Man, I wouldn’t be anywhere else. You know you guys are my family. I love you both very much! I will protect her with everything I have in me, like I should have when I first found out he was hitting her, and she said she could handle it. I will finally keep her safe and I blame myself for just now being strong enough to do it.”

“Jay, man…we both tried to get her out of there, but she is so stubborn. She thought she could handle it. She thought she was the reason for the abuse and refused to leave.”

They sat down on either side of her holding her hands, willing her to be OK. The nurses came in every hour and checked her vitals. Eventually, Matt dozed off, but Jay couldn’t and wouldn’t take his eyes off Mia. He couldn’t stop looking at the bruises that were starting to become purple and the cuts all over her body. His gut clenched and he gripped her hand tighter. When Matt woke up, he went down to the cafeteria to get coffee.

Jay continued holding Mia’s hand and suddenly there was a slight pressure on his hand. “Mia, Mia, baby are you awake? Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me.” He felt the pressure again and ran to get the nurse.

The nurses ran into the room and Jay was pushed aside while they examined her. By this time, she was fully awake. When Matt got back to the room and saw all the commotion, he asked Jay what was happening. “Umm, Jay, what’s happening, is she OK?”

“Yeah man, she is OK, I mean I think she is. She squeezed my hand and by the time I got back with the nurses she was just waking up. They aren’t getting near her, so I don’t know anything yet other than that.”

The doctor walked into the room and asked for an update. The nurses told him she was awake and responsive but barely. The doctor did an examination and turned toward the boys.

“Is she ok? Is my sister OK? Is Mia OK?” They both asked at the same time.

“Mia is awake and the swelling on her brain seems to have gone down. The baby’s heartbeat is still strong, but she has started bleeding. She is by no means out of the woods yet, but the fact that she is awake and responsive is a huge step. We do have her hooked up to a baby monitor, so we can keep an eye on the baby. Ultrasound is coming up to do an ultrasound just to check everything over and make sure the bleeding is due to the abuse and not the baby. We will know more once the ultrasound is here.”

“OK, can we go back in now,” Matt asked?

“Yes, but don’t upset her and do your best to keep her calm. I will come back in when the ultrasound gets up here.”

When the doctor walked away, Jay spoke up. “Matt, you go in, I’ll be right in. I need a minute, so I don’t want to upset her.”

“OK, take your time. I’ll go sit with her until you come in. You haven’t left her side for even a minute. You deserve a minute at least.”

By the time he walked back in, Mia was asleep. He took a moment to just look at her. She was so beautiful. That’s when he heard the constant beat of the baby’s heart. “Holy s**t, is that the baby’s heartbeat? It is so fast. Is that normal?”

“Yeah, I would assume so, the Doc said it sounded strong. I just wish the ultrasound tech would get here. I hate this waiting. Are you OK? I couldn’t keep her awake long enough, she is so exhausted. I’m sorry, man, I tried.”

“That is OK, she needs her rest. That heartbeat is something else though, huh? It brings tears to my eyes. I didn’t realize I would feel this protective over a baby that isn’t even mine.”

“Yeah, but you love her, and it is part of her. You want to protect her and that baby because of how you care for her.”

“That makes sense. When you put it that way, it makes sense. Did the doctor say when the ultrasound tech was coming? Did I miss that? I kind of zoned out after he said she was bleeding. Man, I am so scared.”

“No, but I imagine it should be soon because the doctor is on the floor, and he wants it done before he leaves,” answered Matt.

“I want to stay for that, is that OK?” asked Jay.

“Yeah man, of course, that is your girl and your baby now. You aren’t going anywhere.”