Chapter 63
954 Words
Annie gasped.
“OK,” Jax said, his own voice sounding very far away to his ears. “So how do you deal with the swelling?”
“Drugs,” Sam said. “Drugs will sometimes reduce the swelling, which then relieves the pressure on the RAS.”
“What do you mean ‘sometimes’?” Annie said. “Drugs don’t always work?”
“No, Annie.” Mac’s voice was gentle. “They don’t always work… it depends how badly her brain has been damaged by the beating. The more damage inflicted, the worse the swelling, and the harder it is to control. And from what I saw when I checked her eyes, Sarah’s brain has been pretty badly damaged.”
“I – I still don’t understand,” Annie repeated. “Are you telling me that she’s not going to wake up? That she’s going to die?”
“I’m telling you that the swelling is bad,” Sam Innis said. “And that Sarah won’t be able to wake up until it goes down. I’m not able to say anything more right now. We need to watch her for the next twelve hours, and see if she’s reacting well to the drugs.” His brown eyes were kind behind his glasses. “We’ll know more tomorrow.”
“But… but…” Annie stuttered. “I can’t… I don’t…”
“Hey.” Mac put his arm around her shoulders, and she found herself leaning into his warmth and solidity. “Look, we’ll go get you something hot to drink, and I’ll sit with you and explain it all again. You’ll ask me whatever you want, and I’ll answer what I can. OK?”
She stared up at him. “You’re the one who’s a doctor?”
“Yep.” Mac grinned. “Doctor Shane MacIntyre, at your service.”
She took in his long blond hair, his muscles, his tattoos. “What kind of doctor are you?”
“Oh, Doctor MacIntyre is one of the best consulting neurologists in the country,” Sam Innis said. “Believe me, ma’am, if you have any questions about how the brain works, this is the man to ask.”
Annie was thunderstruck. “A neurologist?”
“I know, right?” Jax produced a grin of his own at the look on her face. “He’s as brainy as hell – and yes, that was an intentional pun.”
Annie managed a small laugh. “Good Lord, boys… you’re all just full of surprises, aren’t you?”
“We try to be,” Mac said. “Now, let’s get you sitting down and we can talk. Yes?”
“Yes.” She sighed. “Thank you, Doctor MacIntyre.”
“Mac.”
“Mac.”
“Mac!” Noah echoed.
“Yeah, man,” Mac said. “How you doing?”
“King’s smart,” Noah told them.
“Is he?” Annie said.
“Yeah. He remembers numbers. Lots of numbers.”
King shrugged. “Baseball’s my thing, Noah.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
Annie walked over to Noah now, really looked at him. “How you doing, honey?”
“Sarah’s hurt,” he said. “Hurt bad. There was blood.”
“I know,” she said. “But they’re taking good care of her.”
“She'll make me breakfast?”
“No, sweet boy.” Annie gave him a shaky smile. “Sarah won’t be able to get your breakfast tomorrow. Maybe Helen can do that, OK?”
“Or one of us,” King said quietly.
Annie gaped at him, and Noah made an excited sound.
“King can make my breakfast!”
“Oh. Oh, no,” Annie protested. “No, I can’t ask…”
“You don’t have to ask,” King said. “I’ll take care of it, and you stay here with Sarah.”
“But… but you don’t know what to do.”
“Noah can tell me.” King turned to the other man. “Can’t you?”
“I can!” Noah’s face was alight with enthusiasm. “I know what to do! I know the right cups and cereal and juice and everything!”
“So, there we go,” King said. “I’ll get Noah home and stay overnight, with your permission, Annie. I can get things rolling tomorrow, and since it’s Saturday, I have no commitments. We’ll figure this out, line up some help for you and Noah this week, wait to see how Sarah responds to the drugs.” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “You’ve got enough to deal with right now, so let us take some of the worries from you. OK?”
Stunned, Annie stared at him, at all three of them. The fact that she’d called these men low-lifes who frequented a shithole dive bar came back to her now, and she felt deeply, bitterly ashamed of herself. Unable to utter a single word, she just nodded.
“Alright, then.” King stretched. “Come on, Noah. Pack up your stuff, we’re going home.”
“With you?”
“Yep. With me.” He turned to Jax. “I’ll need to take your truck, man.”
Jax tossed him the keys. “All yours.”
“No motorcycle?” Noah asked, clearly disappointed.
“Not this time,” King told him.
“Next time?”
“That’s up to your Mom,” King said. “But we’re not going to bother her about that right now, OK?”
“OK,” Noah agreed. “We’ll bother her later.”
Everyone managed to smile at that. Even Annie and Jax.
- Writer
