Chapter Twenty-Three
Daniel's POV
I drove around the hospital parking lot three times before I gave up on finding a parking space and just left my car at visitor's entrance to the ER. I knew it would be towed, but I didn't care. The memory of Bobby's panic filled voice had me almost panicked myself.
After I entered through the big double doors, my eyes scanned the faces around me, in search of Bobby. When I didn't spot him, I ran to the ER waiting room and there he was, huddled in a corner, looking like the lost little boy that he had held trapped inside for the past eight years. I knew that a part of Bobby had never recovered the day that his father had abandoned him and his mom had almost been killed. I had regretted everyday for the past four years that I hadn't known Bobby then to help him through that terrifying time. I would help him through this!
Bobby hadn't noticed me walk in, so I ran across the room to him. When I entered his line vision and recognition struck, it was like something inside of him released and a tidal wave of emotions threatened to pour out of him. I grabbed him and wrapped my arms around him in a tight hold. He struggled against my support for a minute before he finally broke and just let go.
I held him while he cried, allowing a few tears of my own to escape before getting a hold on my emotions. I needed to be strong for him.
I could tell the exact moment that he registered his surroundings and realized that he was showing the entire room his weakness, because he just stopped and pulled away...shutting himself off to the world again. I stood and watched him for a minute before I spoke.
"Tell me what happened, son." I realized that I had been calling him son a lot recently and I allowed myself to feel a small amount of pleasure that he had not corrected me either time.
He sniffed like a little boy several times and then looked at me with red-rimmed eyes. "They said that a car just came over into her lane and hit her head on. This was intentional Daniel, and I don't know why. Who would want to hurt mom?" His voice broke a little at the end, and my heart panged.
"Look son, I know this is hard, but you're going to have stay strong and stay positive. You're mom is going to be fine! She will make it through this! Do you understand?"
He looked like he was going to argue. I knew him so well that I knew what he was going to say, but I wouldn't let him. He was going to say that I didn't know anything and that I hadn't seen his mom on a stretcher, fighting for her life. But as I watched him, I saw him greedily latch onto my words and nod his head. He sighed and fell down onto a chair to wait for word on his mom's condition. I sat beside him stared at the waiting room door. This was going to be a long and emotional night.
***
Isobel's POV
I woke up with a scream threatening to burst through my closed lips. I had just had my first nightmare since Tuesday. My heart raced as I looked around my room for Bobby, but he had left already. Looking at the big red 10:00 on my bedside clock, I rolled out of bed and stood unsteadily on my feet and wondered how long I had been asleep.
Something was wrong. I don't know how I knew it, but as I stood there looking around, I just knew that something wasn't right. Bobby!
I grabbed my cell phone and quickly called his phone. When he didn't answer, I waited for his voice mail to kick on and left a message. "Hey Bobby, I don't mean to bother you, but could you call me back when you get this message. I just have this really weird feeling and I need to know that you're okay." I hung up the phone and called him again, but this time, it went straight to voice mail and I hung up.
After pacing back and forth across my room for several more minutes, I tried again.
"Hello?" It wasn't Bobby who answered the phone and my heart stopped.
"Hello? Hel--Who is this?"
"My name is Daniel Jones." said the authoritative voice on the other end. "Look I don't know who this is, but Bobby is unavailable right now. Uhhh--May I ask who's speaking?"
"This is Isobel, his...girlfriend. What's happened?"
"Isobel?" he repeated hesitantly. "I'm sorry I don't---" he paused and I heard him whispering to someone before returning to the phone. "We're at the hospital. It's Sharon, she was in a accident. Bobby says to tell you that if you're up to it, he really needs you here."
I felt sick all of a sudden. I hung up the phone and rushed to the bathroom and threw up into the toilet for the second time tonight. After brushing my teeth, I rushed to the living room and grabbed my dad's keys. I didn't waste time letting him know where I was going, I just hurried out the door and ran to his truck.
***
When I got to the hospital, the fear that had settled over me when I was at the house dissipated. I had to be here for Bobby, the boy who had gone above and beyond for me time and time again. He would need me to be strong for him.
After parking I jogged into the ER doors and searched for the waiting room. I hadn't been inside this part of the hospital since I was three years old and my mom had been diagnosed with cancer. I was too young to even remember anything now. Once I had spotted the doors, I slowed my rushed movements and calmly walked into the room. What I saw almost broke my heart. Bobby was sitting in a chair against the wall on the opposite side of the room, staring off into space with a lost look in his eyes. I could tell that he had been crying because his eyes were red rimmed and still glazed over with tears. When he spotted me, he slowly stood up and crossed to me, gathering me into his weakened arms. I wrapped my arms around him and held on, trying to lend him ANY sort of strength that I might have had left.
Neither of us spoke. After a minute, we broke apart and sat down next to a man that I assumed was Daniel. "Hi, I'm Isobel. I believe we spoke on the phone?"
Daniel seemed to snap out of some sort of trance and then smile at me. "Hi Isobel. It is nice to meet you. Yes I'm Daniel...a very close friend of the family. Thank you for coming. I know how much it means to Bobby that you're here."
I would have responded, but just then, the doors opened, and a doctor still dressed in surgical scrubs entered the room. Everyone in the waiting room sucked in and held their breaths. No one knew who had news.
"Uh...Sharon Slade's family?" he said uncertainly.
All three of us jumped up from our seats, but Daniel and I stood back as Bobby approached the doctor. "Yes! Yes, I'm Robert Slade...her son. Please tell me my mom is okay!!!" Every in the room could sense his panic and urgency.
The doctor grabbed Bobby's shoulder and squeezed. "Son, your mom's gonna be fine. Her injuries were extensive but moderately minor. The injury to her head gave us some concern and we had to go in surgically and stop a bleed. We will need to keep her here for a few days for observation and to monitor her progress, but other than that your mom is going to be fine. She is a very lucky woman."
I allowed tears to escape then as relief settled over me. I rushed to Bobby's side and Daniel rushed to the other side as we enveloped him in a hug from both sides. I could feel his frantic heartbeat through his shirt as I placed my hand over his chest.
"Oh thank God!" He said shakily as his arms wrapped around our necks and he laughed his relief. "Thank GOD!!!!!" he said again.
He looked from Daniel to me several times before his blue eyes locked with mine. "She's gonna be fine." he said, tears sliding down his cheeks. I nodded my head and smiled. "When can we see her?" he asked the doctor once the thought occurred to him.
"Well she's still suffering the after effects of the anesthesia right now in Recovery. In about an hour, she should be up for visitors, but two at a time max! I don't want to overwhelm her!" After we all nodded our agreement, he turned and disappeared behind the door and we all sagged our shoulders in relief.
Bobby's mom was going to be fine!
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