Secrets

Chapter 4

“Why won’t anyone tell me what’s going on! My husband was brought in by ambulance an hour ago. He fell off the barn roof,” Diana rattled off frantically. Danny was now rubbing his eyes, still fussing.

The plump, dark-haired nurse behind the emergency room glass rustled through some papers and then said, “Excuse me, and I’ll see if I can find out something for you.”

Diana had been there an hour and had been told to wait. Apparently, a gunshot victim had been brought in and his friends had shown up, which brought extra security to the waiting area, where she’d been told to wait during the chaos by a security guard, an orderly, and another nurse.

“Diana!” Andy Friessen, Jed’s cousin, called out to her. He strode toward her, weaving through the crowded waiting area. He was tall, dark haired, wearing blue jeans and a dark navy shirt, with Laura, his young blond bride, wearing a peach sundress, behind him. By the time he reached her, the nurse had returned with a young doctor in blue scrubs. Danny picked that moment to let out a howl and pushed at Diana’s chest to try to get down.

“Danny, please, baby…”

“Diana, give him to me.” Laura held out her slender arms, and Danny slid happily into them. She patted his back and rocked him in place.

“Your husband was the one brought in who fell from a roof?” The doctor had a medium build and had ruffled brown hair that was in desperate need of a haircut.

“Diana, what happened? Jed fell from where?” Andy interrupted.

Diana darted a glance between Andy and the doctor, feeling flustered, like a lost young woman unsure of whom to give her attention to. She jammed her hands in her long red hair, which was loose and falling from the ponytail she’d fastened this morning, and looked from one man to the other. “He fell from the barn roof. He just stepped onto the ladder and it tilted sideways. I couldn’t do anything, I could only watch as he reached out and tried to grab the edge of the beam, but he couldn’t get a hold of it, and he fell backwards, and… and he hit the ground so hard I swear it shook, and… I heard this echo. I hurried…. How is my husband?” Diana couldn’t seem to form a sensible word, let alone a sentence that made any sense.

Both men watched her, and she didn’t miss their concern. The doctor pressed his hand on Diana’s shoulder, then glanced at Andy and then at Laura, who stood behind Andy, swaying side to side with Danny in her arms. The doctor gestured with his head, then guided Diana over to the side of the waiting room, away from all the people milling around. Andy and Laura followed. The nurse slipped away.

“Where is my husband?” Diana shouted. Andy reached out and rested his hand on her other shoulder. The doctor stepped back and glanced around, appearing irritated. Diana was shaking.

“Your husband has a skull fracture and two cracked vertebrae, and there is pressure on the spinal cord. Right this moment, your husband is being readied to be transported to Harborview, which is a level-one trauma center.”

Diana blinked and then stuttered: “I don’t understand. I want to see my husband.”

The doctor glanced up at Andy and back to Diana. “Your husband is unconscious. We ran a CT, and there’s significant brain trauma. He also punctured a lung in the fall. As soon as he’s stable, he’ll be airlifted.”

“I want to see my husband,” she demanded again.

The doctor shook his head. “I’m sorry. We need to get your husband ready—”

Andy cut him off quite abruptly. “Look, that’s my cousin in there, and we need to see him. His wife needs to see him.”

Just then, shouting and a scuffle started behind them as two hotheaded teens started shoving each other and uttering threats. Danny was crying again.

“Doctor, we need you back here,” a nurse shouted, and the doctor started to turn away before saying to Andy, “Come on, I’ll take you to him. But you have to stay out of the way.”

haveAndy pulled Laura behind him and put his hand on Diana’s back as they all followed the doctor down the corridor to a trauma room.

Andy turned to Laura and said, “Wait right here. Don’t let Danny see.”

She nodded. “Take Diana in. I’ll try and calm him down, but he needs to not be here.”

Diana pushed open the door, Andy right behind her. An intern and a nurse in scrubs were beside the bed. A monitor was hooked up, and Jed had a tube down his throat and was hooked up to a ventilator. His eyes were closed, and his face was pale. An icy cold numbness replaced all the warmth in Diana’s body, and her hand trembled as she touched her mouth. “Jed?”

The nurse looked up and said with a warning, “Don’t touch him. You can stand there and talk to him.” Diana moved beside the bed. Tubes extended from Jed’s arm. A bag hung beside the bed, and there was blood in it. He was in a neck collar, and he had dried blood from the side of his mouth, and his eyes were closed, just as before, as if he were asleep. But it was different, because she didn’t think Jed slept much, and certainly not deeply. Every time she moved at night, he moved with her, whispered to her. Responded to her. She wanted him to open his eyes to reach for her and pull her into his arms and tell her it would be okay.

The door pushed open and the doctor said, “The chopper’s here. We’re moving him now.”

Andy pulled Diana to the side as Jed was wheeled from the room. The same average-looking doctor put up his hand to stop them from following. “He’s being flown to Harborview.” The doctor stared up at Andy. “I can’t let either of you go with him. The chopper’s full, and we’ll have him there in thirty minutes. You’ll have to drive.”

The doctor walked away, and Diana watched as her husband was wheeled onto the elevator and the doors slid closed. Her gut felt as though someone had sliced it open with a butcher knife. She couldn’t bear to be without him.

Andy grabbed Diana’s shoulder and turned her. Laura clutched a whimpering Danny, who was reaching for Diana. She knew he was terrified—hell, she was terrified.

“Diana, I’ll drive you. Laura, take Danny home with you.” Andy led both women through the emergency doors, into the parking lot. “Diana, where’s your car?”

She stopped and turned in a circle in the crowded parking lot, blinking as she stared at the rows of cars and then tapped her forehead with her hand. “I can’t remember where I parked.”

Andy jogged past the rows and then shouted from two rows over, “Over here.” Diana reached for Danny, who was still crying. His eyes were red and his nose was running. This wasn’t good for him at all.

“Come on, Diana. Andy will get you there. It’ll be okay,” Laura said to Diana as both women hurried two rows over to Andy, where Diana’s SUV was parked halfway down the row at a ridiculous angle, close to a black Mercedes, in a way that would make it difficult to get out.

“Where are your keys?” Andy took Danny from Diana, and she stuck her hand in her pocket and yanked out the keys. He quickly grabbed them, passing Danny, with his little pudgy hands waving frantically, back to Laura.

“I’m going to back it out. Laura, you and Diana stand out of the way.” Andy crawled in the passenger side.

Laura grabbed her arm. “Diana, step back.” She pulled her to the other side of a red pickup, and Andy carefully backed out her silver SUV and then left it running as he slid out.

Diana hurried to the back door and grabbed the diaper bag, passing it to Laura. “Are you okay with Danny?”

Laura was just twenty, and a very pretty young lady, but it was then, in a passing glance, that Diana noticed certain recent changes. Laura’s once-long blond hair was now cut into a short bob, which emphasized her round, innocent face.

“Diana, I’ll take him back home with me,” she whispered as she took the diaper bag and hooked it over her other shoulder. “You go with Andy.”

Andy strode closer to Laura, and Diana didn’t miss the stilted awkwardness between the two of them, although maybe it was just her.

“Laura, take Diana’s SUV. Diana, we’re not moving the baby seat. I’ll take you in my truck. Laura, tell Jules to help you. I’ll call you later to make sure Danny’s okay,” Andy dictated to Laura, and again Diana noticed a tension between them. Andy took Danny from Laura as she stood awkwardly behind him while he buckled him in back. And then he grabbed Diana’s hand as he led Laura to the driver’s side. “Are you okay to drive?”

“I’m fine. I can do this. Just take Diana and call me later.”

Andy hesitated a second and leaned down to kiss Laura. Even Diana realized there was no passion in that kiss. Geez, to her it seemed to have been done more out of duty. Laura blushed as she slid under the wheel and closed the door, and then she drove away. Andy still held Diana by the hand. “Let’s go.” He pulled her with him over one row, to where his large, dark blue truck was parked. He held the passenger door open and helped her in, went to his side and slid under the wheel. Diana’s hand shook while she tried to fasten the seatbelt.

Andy moved her hand with a swipe of his and buckled her belt for her, and then he backed out and pulled to the exit behind Laura. Laura had turned left, heading toward the highway that would lead out to Andy’s family’s estate, where Andy and Laura still lived. Andy didn’t give Laura a second glance as he turned the other way.

A chopper was lifting from the rooftop. Diane pressed her hand to the glass and watched as it lifted into the sky, the blades vibrating sharply through the air, pounding in rhythm with Diana’s heart. She watched as it headed west toward Seattle. She couldn’t look away, staring until it was just a speck in the distance. And Andy drove on with her in silence.