Chapter 28 #2
“I was so afraid. I don’t know what I would do without you or without Lou.
I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner. One day soon, when we’re not in a hospital, I’m gonna ask you to marry me.
I’m gonna ask if I can be that little girl’s daddy.
I already am in all the ways that matter, but if she’ll have me, I want to adopt her.
If I had my way, neither of you would leave my sight again.
I know that’s a lot, but I just need you to know how I feel.
Need you to understand why I’m such a mess, and what I need to not be. ”
Sophie gave a watery laugh at that, and I smiled.
“So to save your sanity, I have to marry you, and you want to adopt Lou. Is that all?”
“No. That’s everything.” I wanted to be embarrassed, but the emotion in my brother’s voice stopped that.
I stepped away, giving the couple privacy—just in time, it appeared, as Mom came rushing around the corner. Racing up to her, I put a finger to my lips to shush her.
Sophie was feeling smothered enough with both Linc and my mom hovering over her. She was an amazing woman—tougher than anyone I had known.
Max had attacked and assaulted her. She fought back hard, and managed to protect herself long enough for Linc to come. She was bruised and scared, but nothing was majorly injured.
“They’re having a moment. Give ’em some space. Walt’s in with Max now. Why don’t we grab some coffee for everyone from the cafeteria? By the time we get back, there should be some updates.” Mom frowned, looking worriedly at the door that led to Sophie’s hospital room.
With a gentle arm around her shoulder, I guided her down the hall toward the elevators.
Once down in the cafeteria, we wound up with two trays full of various foods and several coffees. As I was stuffing the fourth cup into a travel tray, I overheard two nurses speaking at a table behind me.
“Fucking pervert. Was caught attacking his ex, and when he came in, he still had a hard-on. Men are repulsive.” I paused. Could they be talking about…?
“Did you hear that? They have to be talking about Max. Hurry up. We gotta grab the table next to them,” Mom commanded as she ran off, tray in hand.
Once at the table, she made a big deal of waving me over to the empty seat next to her.
Keeping my head down, I moved a bit closer to where the two women were chatting in loud voices.
“Well, that’s why he’s still in the hospital.”
“The hard-on?” the other nurse asked, half joking, only to sober up.
“Wait. Seriously? I’ve heard about that happening, but I’ve never seen it!” she asked, scandalized. Mom’s eyes met mine, and I just shook my head in confusion.
“His heart monitor went off before I came down here. When I ran in, he had ripped off all his wires and was yelling at his wife, accusing her of drugging him.”
“How much did she give him?”
“We’re not sure. She thought it was Spanish fly or some stupid shit. The tox screen shows a mix of ketamine and sildenafil. He’s in full priapism now. I think he’s had an erection for almost six hours. They’re waiting for the cops to finish up before they drain it.”
The sip of coffee I had taken went down the wrong pipe at that news. A sputtering cough erupted from me as my mother watched me in horror for interrupting. The nurses looked at me, concerned, and I tried to wave them off.
“He’s fine. Just heard you talking about that …
man’s issue, and got a little sensitive.
Hey, can I ask you a question? Not about that patient, but about the…
priapism? Is that what it’s called? I just love those medical shows.
” Ma smooth-talked the nurses with ease, both of them relaxing as they focused on her and not my hacking form.
“What did you want to know?” the older of the nurses asked, smiling kindly at Mom.
“So, if I were to give my husband too many of those blue pills, and he got… that problem, how do you fix it?” She blinked innocently, but I could feel a wave of nausea rising in my chest.
“It depends a lot on timing. After six hours, you’d have to manually aspirate the area with a syringe,” the nurse said.
“Basically, you’d withdraw the blood from…
Well, you know, to relieve the pressure.
How long it takes depends on how long the blood’s been stuck in there—whether it’s still oxygenated or if it’s started to clot.
The longer it goes on, the more tricky it gets. ”
“Really? So for hours, just needle after needle stuck in there?” Her voice was too excited, almost morbidly curious. The nurses exchanged a quick, uncomfortable glance before nodding.
“And is it painful?” Mom asked, feigning sympathy, but clearly intrigued.
“They numb it, but it’s still really uncomfortable.
The procedure has to be done carefully to avoid messing up the tissue.
It’s delicate. It’s not just about getting rid of the…
situation. It’s about avoiding permanent damage,” the nurse explained, all calm and clinical.
“It’s an exhausting process, though. Most patients find it pretty humiliating and stressful.
” Mom just nodded, like they were talking about the weather or something.
“Absolutely fascinating! Well, thank you both for all the work that you do. It’s truly incredible what you see here on a regular basis. So thank you very much.” Mom shook each of the women's hands before turning to me.
“Come on, Mason. Let’s go check on your sister. Have a good night, ladies!” She waved before grabbing the coffees and speed walking to the elevator.
“Does that mean…”
“Yup.” She said with a smile, an evil glint in her eye.
“And are we telling Linc and Sophie?” I asked. The look of outrage on my mother’s face didn’t really answer anything for me.
“Of course! Give them some solace to know he’s getting punished where it counts.” I smothered a laugh. Mom loved gossip, and this was pretty karmic. I’d let the judge take point on this.