Page 133 of 2204 Hunter Lane
“Did the nurse discuss cerebral edema?”
“Yeah, yes.” I responded.
His finger traced along a sheet of paper as he continued to speak. “Well, Hunter endured blunt force trauma from hitting his head on impact. Luckily we didn’t have to perform a decompressive craniectomy… removing part of his skull, in other words. But we drained the fluid that caused the swelling in his brain and he is currently undergoing oxygen therapy.”
I couldn’t even find the words. I didn’t have any. I mean, I had to. There was so much to say. But –
“One more thing. There was an injury to his left leg that ruptured his nerves. This can happen when a leg is bent in a certain way for a long period of time, but the muscles were strained and his joints need reparation. We need to monitor him, just as a precaution for the after-effects of surgery and for physio.”
Marley’s soft sobs sounded beside me as she wrapped her arms around her middle and let her head hang low. Payton made it to her side as I stood frozen, clenching my fist.
My boy endured that. My boy went through all that fucking pain because I sent him to the goddamn grocery store. Anger filled my veins but I kept it at bay. I could blame myself later. Right now, I needed to know he was in good hands.
“You keep close watch of him, Doc. You hear me?”
He flipped the loose papers back into place and nodded. “He’s very lucky. Some people aren’t.”
And as he walked away, that final statement rang through.
Some people aren’t.
My wife.
Had she not been lucky? Did life really hate her that much that they were unable to spare her life?
Shake it off, Dex. You can’t change the past. Hunter’s here now. He’s going to be fine. Just in rough shape. But he’s breathing.
Before the doc could get any further, I chased after him in a hurry. “Wait – hold on.”
“Yes, Mr. Lane?”
I sucked in a breath, and broke my walls. “Thank you. Thank you for saving my son.”
The crease in his forehead softened as he released a breath. “Mr. Lane, I have treated hundreds of patients in my day. Many of which give up the second they’re wheeled in to my hospital. But your son, he had a will to live. Maybe the strongest I’d ever seen.”
A glossy sheen covered my vision as I choked out, “you mean that?”
His smile said it all. “Hunter chose life.”
Chapter Fifty
Marley
Ivisited Hunter every day for three months until he could finally manage without one of those walker things.
He was allowed to come home at the end of the first month, but I didn’t want to spend all of my time smothering him with all my pent up affection. No matter how much he wanted it, I needed to make sure I wasn’t disturbing any healing processes that were necessary.
About two weeks after Hunter had been admitted to the hospital, the sheriff informed Dex about what really happened that day. Turns out a drunk man had been tailing Hunter for a few miles, pushing up on his truck.
I broke down when I heard that. Knowing Hunter wasn’t the one to have caused this because of reckless driving, but reacted to the man who provoked it… I was a mess. I wanted to track him down and spew fire onto his hands and feet. The fingers that gripped the steering wheel that turned him off the road… the foot that pressed on the gas to torment him.
But then I realized, harbouring hate in my heart for someone who was just a shattered shell, someone who was already being dealt with by law enforcement – well, that wasn’t my place and I only cared about one thing.
Hunter.
When the doctor told us he was going to be okay, I think I stopped breathing for a second. My world fell apart when I found out there was a chance I could’ve lost him. But I didn’t.
He was alive.
