Chapter 25 #2
I can’t help but glance back over at him on the phone, his jaw is tight, but still as handsome as always.
A doctor steps into the waiting room. I shoot to my feet, heart leaping out of my chest, but then I watch as he crosses the room and stops in front of another family.
Not me, and my heart drops.
I sit again, slower this time, sinking into the hard plastic chair like it’s the only thing holding me upright, because I can feel myself breaking any second now.
I bounce my leg up and down, unable to stop. The anxiety is driving me crazy.
Then I feel Hayden's hand. Warm. Steady. Heavy. He presses it lightly to my thigh. It’s not a grab, not a force, just a quiet weight that tells me to stop. To breathe, to remind me I’m not alone.
My leg stills. My heart, too, just a little.
I don’t know how to look at him, fuck I don’t know if I’m allowed to. But I glance his way, anyway, catching the moment he pulls an envelope from his jacket. Not the kind of envelope that holds birthday cards or bills. This one is matte black, sleek.
I watch as Hayden opens it, and his shoulders stiffen, his back straightens. Every line of his face sharpens into something dark.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
His eyes stay locked on whatever’s inside. “Yeah.” A lie.
I almost ask again, not sure whether to push the subject, but the door swings open behind the reception desk, and a man in scrubs steps out, scanning the waiting room.
My breath catches, this is me, I can feel it. Hayden stands slowly beside me as I do, and the doctor looks straight at me, and the bad feeling I’ve been having all night hits me again.
“Olivia Banks?” I nod quickly, throat tightening as I wait for him to start telling me. “Can you come with me?”
I nod, but I can’t move, my feet won’t move. They only ever want to talk in private if it’s bad news.
I feel Hayden’s hand on my lower back, and I’m still too scared to follow the doctor. “I’m right here.” Hayden whispers, and I look up at the ceiling closing my eyes as I get ready for whatever is about to happen.
I walk, and feel Hayden following me, I swear this corridor didn’t look this long when I was sitting out there, but every footstep I take it feels like the corridor is stretching out a mile.
The doctor leads us into a small room, and he closes the door behind me, and I turn to face him.
His eyes land on me softly, almost with a kindness to them, and I already hate it. Because I know that look, I’ve seen doctors give me that look when it was bad news about my mom’s health.
“Ms. Banks,” he says, folding his hands in front of him. “I want to thank you for being patient. I know it’s been a long wait, but I wanted to make sure I had the most accurate update possible before speaking with you.”
I nod, because I can’t get my voice to work, my throat feels like it’s clamped shut.
The doctor clears his throat gently. “Your father sustained several injuries. A fractured femur, multiple fractured ribs, and a head injury. He’s currently not stable, but we're continuing to monitor him for signs of anything which might come. He has internal bleeding, but as of right now, he’s awake but not one hundred percent aware of what's happening.
It’s the way the doctor pauses, how his face subtly shifts from clinical to carefully empathetic.
“Your mother…” he starts, and I brace myself. “She was already in a weakened state due to the ongoing cancer treatments, and unfortunately, the trauma from the accident exacerbated her condition.”
I feel my body starting to shake, and I’m wiping the tears away.
“She suffered a deep laceration to her abdomen, which caused significant blood loss. With her hemoglobin levels already critically low from chemotherapy, this has put a considerable strain on her body. Her left arm is fractured, and she also sustained a head injury we’re monitoring for cerebral swelling.
She’s in critical condition,” he says gently.
“We’ve placed her in a germ-controlled ICU to prevent infection.
At this time, I’m afraid we can’t allow any visitors, not even family. ”
I blink. Staring through the doctor like I didn’t understand him, as the words are still in the air, I’m not sure what to say or do at the moment.
“I want to be honest with you,” he says. “It’s touch and go right now. Her vitals are unstable. This is very much a waiting game, and I don’t want to give you false hope. She’s fighting, but her body is tired.”
A scream is building in my chest. not a loud one, not the kind you hear, but the kind that shreds you from the inside out. I feel it burning in my chest, and at the moment it feels like the world is swallowing me.
I move toward him, grabbing the sleeve of his coat like he might fall if I don’t hold on. My fingers clutch at him, desperate.
“No,” I breathe out. “You don’t understand.
” The words are tumbling out faster now, and I can’t stop them.
“I lost everything for her. Do you get that? I lost fuck…I lost everything for my mom. My best friend. My future. The man I loved more than I ever thought was humanly possible. I lost it all for her.” The doctor opens his mouth, but I keep going, sobbing now.
“She can’t leave me. She can’t. I gave everything up just to keep her alive. I destroyed my life to save hers.”
Hayden shifts behind me, and I feel his presence like static in the air, but I don’t turn.
“And my dad…” I breathe, voice cracking on the edges. “You tell him, you tell him he doesn’t get to leave me either. Not after the fucking hell I’ve been through. I can’t do this alone. I won’t.”
The doctor nods quietly, letting me hold his coat sleeve like it’s an anchor.
“I understand,” he says gently. “I truly do. And we’re doing everything we can. But I won’t lie to you, Olivia. Your mother is in the fight of her life.”
I can’t cry anymore, I’m just shaking, breathing too fast, feeling like my body might split down the middle. I let go of him and step back, pressing my hand to my mouth as if that’ll stop the sobs. I’m strong.
“I’ll take you to your father now,” the doctor says. “He’s been asking for you.”
I nod and turn slightly, and it’s the first time I actually see Hayden still leaning against the wall, jaw clenched, fists in his pockets, and even with everything inside me breaking, I feel one single thing clearly.
He didn’t walk away.
He stayed.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to understand how that’s possible, but I know I need to see my dad.
Because I won’t lose both of them.