Page 119 of All In
I forced myself to breathe and pushed off the wall. I strode to the front desk reception where a woman sat typing at a computer.
“Kacey Dawson?” I said, my voice sounding strangled. My goddamn heart was pounding my throat. “She came in a little while ago.”
The nurse pecked lazily at her keyboard as if the fate of the fucking universe wasn’t hanging in the balance.
“Theo.”
I whirled around. Dena was there, her dark eyes bright with fear. I got to her in three long steps, and she rose to meet me, taking my hands in hers.
“She’s in emergency surgery.”
I felt light-headed and cold all over. “What for? Is she all right? Tell me she’s all right.”
Dena shook her head. “I don’t know how she is, but sit down, okay? I need you to sit down.”
I sank into a chair. “What do you think it is?” I said, my eyes fixed on Dena’s, glaring at her hard as if I could will her to say it was nothing, this was only a nightmare and I just needed to wake up.
Not again. God, please, not again. I can’t lose her too. I can’t…
“She was bleeding in the parking lot,” Dena said. “The pain was enough to make her pass out. Theo, I don’t…”
“She was bleeding?” I sat in silence for a moment, trying to process this.
Dena gripped my hand harder. “I don’t know what to say, Theo. I’m sorry. I’m still…kind of in shock.”
I sat back in the seat as if I were being pushed by a huge, heavy weight. It was crushing my chest, crushing the life out of me. Time ticked on and on, with no sign or word from anyone who could tell me what the hell was going on. My parents arrived with Oscar, and I left it to Dena to tell them what she told me. My mother came to sit next to me. She held my hand, but I didn’t hold back. I sat in the chair, staring at nothing.
If something’s happened to her…If I lose her too…
If I lost Kacey, I was going to lay down on the floor and not get up. I was done. Nothing left. I’d finally reconciled losing my brother. I couldn’t survive losing her too.
“Are you here for Kacey Dawson?” a voice asked.
A doctor stood there, his face grim. Here it was. The moment. In another ten seconds this man was going to tell me how the rest of my life was going to be.
Stand up for her,I told myself.Stand up, one last time.
I found my armor. The old suit of mental chain mail. It was like slipping on an old coat. I stood up and pushed forward on leaden legs, my heart thudding a dull, heavy pang in my chest.
“I’m here for her,” I said.
The doctor was young man, early thirties maybe, with sharp blue eyes behind glasses and tanned skin.
A wimp,my tortured brain declared.No way this guy is going to destroy me. I’ve faced down doctors before and their bad news. I can take this guy.
A pathetic bravado but it was all I had to stem the tide of terror ripping through me.
“I’m Dr. Barron. I’m the head of Obstetrics and Gynecology. I was among the surgery team to assist Ms. Dawson.”
“And?” I said. “How is she?”
“She’s doing well. Stable now. She suffered a ruptured fallopian tube due to an ectopic pregnancy. Are you familiar with the term?”
My brain was huggingdoing wellandstableand screaming in relief. I nodded and sucked in a breath, tried to listen over the rush of blood in my ears.
“The embryo never made it to her uterus. It implanted in the left fallopian tube and began to grow. The tube then ruptured, which necessitated surgery to fix the rupture and stop the internal bleeding. She’s not out of the woods quite yet, but her prognosis is promising, and her vital signs are strong. I see nothing to indicate she wouldn’t make a full recovery. We’ll keep her here a few days, at minimum, to ensure there are no further complications.”
The doctor’s face took on a grave expression and he looked at me. “Are you her husband?”
