Chapter 11
—Reed—
I arrived at the hospital as soon as the doors opened the next morning and rushed upstairs to the ICU. I’d barely made it two steps into Kasey’s room before my heart dropped.
She lay on her back, arms straight at her sides, eyes closed and incubated just as I’d left her last night.
The nurse at her side immediately turned and gave me a compassionate look. “No change from last night. Vitals have remained stable overnight, though no signs of waking at this stage. All continuing to go well, we’ll start decreasing the sedative dose later today.”
“Okay,” I croaked through the tightness in my throat. The sliver of hope I’d held onto obliterated. I really thought she’d be awake this morning.
I moved to Kasey’s free side while the nurse checked her IV line, and I picked up her warm, relaxed hand.
“Hey, darlin’. I’m here now. I missed you like crazy last night.” I smoothed away a non-existent strand of hair off her forehead, using any excuse to touch her. “You’re beautiful, Kase.”
Even though there was no physical response, I held onto faith that she could hear me. That my voice would guide her to the surface. I was programmed to serve and protect, especially my own, and it killed me that I couldn’t reach in and rescue her from her entrapment.
Tears stung my already gritty eyes. I sniffed them away and tried to clear my throat like I was coughing, not choked up, and I was thankful that the nurse let my reaction slide by without comment.
“When will she show signs of waking?” I asked grittily.
The nurse’s reply gutted me further. “Unfortunately, there’s no timeline for this, so I can’t really give you an answer I’m afraid.”
“What are the indications?”
She spoke as she worked. “At this early stage, there aren’t many. You might experience some random movements or twitching. These are often simply the body’s reflexes, not necessarily early signs of waking, but that’s not to say it’s not a positive step toward waking. More definite signs are responses to sound and touch, though these can be mild or delayed. It’s helpful to keep talking to her too. As she rouses, she will hear you.”
Hope re-bloomed in my chest. We were down, but we sure as fuck weren’t out.
I leaned in and kissed Kasey’s forehead. “Hear that, babe? This is normal. It’s terrifying the fuck out of me, but I know you’re in there. I won’t ever give up on you. On you or our daughter.” I smiled. “Yeah, darlin’. We have a baby. Took me by surprise too.”
As that reality sank in again, I fell silent. I kept Kase’s fingers threaded with mine as I pulled up a chair and made myself comfortable. I was in it for the long haul but under no illusion of just how hard today would be. I’d been a father for less than twenty-four hours but already felt the agony of not being able to be in two places.
It would be easier, I hoped, when Kasey’s parents arrived. They were flying up first thing this morning, and until they arrived, I planned to sit with Kase, alone with the torrent of questions that constantly plagued me.
Of all of them, there was a thought I simply couldn’t shake: if Kase knew she was pregnant, then surely her parents knew too. But then, why had they so readily come up here instead of pushing for Kasey and the baby to be transferred to Denver?
Maybe they didn’t know after all.
~
I only had to wait an hour before I got my answer. It came in a burst of tears before words had even been formed by Georgia—Kasey’s mom.
“We had no idea,” she cried immediately after I gently broke the news to them. “How could she have kept that from us?”
I bit back unruly emotion as I looked between her and Arty—Kasey’s Dad.
“We think she didn’t know. I sure didn’t, and neither did Simone. If Kase knew she was pregnant, surely she would have told us, right?”
Arty nodded with his brows pulled low in thought. “Okay. I say right now we focus on our big girl in this precise moment, then find our granddaughter in the next.”
Georgia palmed her cheeks dry and nodded. “Yes. I really need to see her.”
Handing them over to the nurse in charge, I let them have their time with their daughter and made my way upstairs to visit mine.