Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
When Lucy returned, having failed to find a place to buy a cup of coffee, Joan was gone, and the man behind the front desk beckoned her over.
“You can go see Mr. Malby now,” he said. “I just need to get you all signed in. Can I have your name and a look at your ID?”
Lucy took out her wallet and handed over her driver’s license. The man tapped the clipboard on the desk between them for her to sign. As she did, he made a copy of her ID and jotted down the directions to Brendan’s room.
“He’s on the third floor. You’ll take the elevators up and turn left.” He wrote down the room number and added that she would be entering the psych ward, so he told her to be prepared.
“The psych ward?” She gawked. “What are you talking about? Why is Brendan in the psych ward? I was told he was in some kind of accident.”
The man squinted at the computer screen. “He was, but he was transferred up to the psych ward an hour ago. I’m not at liberty to tell you anything else.”
“Why not? I thought spouses were allowed to have that kind of information?”
He frowned. “It’s not that you’re not allowed to have it.
You’re listed as his emergency contact, and it says here that you’re permitted to access any of his medical information.
I’m just not a medical provider, so I shouldn’t discuss anything in the charts with anyone except to inform them where they need to go. ”
“Oh.” She took a deep breath. “Is there anything I need to know?” Scenes of chaos and horror flashed through her mind, all borrowed from movies she could only assume were outdated and offensive portrayals of a psych ward. It was probably quite different from that.
“Just don’t go into any rooms that aren’t Brendan’s,” he said. “It’s very important that our patients feel that their privacy is being protected.”
“Right. Of course.”
He smiled encouragingly, and then she walked over to the elevators, her chest tight with anxiety.
Her hands were so sweaty that her fingers slipped slightly when she pressed the button for the third floor.
No one else rode in the elevator with her, so she was alone in the silent, moving box.
Her heart pounded, and the blood rushed through her body so fiercely that it felt like she was nearly drowning.
When the elevator spat her out on the third floor, she was met with the hurried sounds of an emergency.
Men and women in scrubs and white coats rushed past her down the hall toward a room filled with beeps and screams. Lucy held her breath and double-checked the directions to make sure she wasn’t supposed to turn that way.
But no, thankfully, Brendan’s room was in the opposite direction.
She forced herself to take a few deep breaths so she wouldn’t faint and become another distraction for these poor doctors, then turned left. Down the hall, she double-checked the numbers on the doors several times before reaching Brendan’s.
What was she about to walk into? Why had Brendan been moved up to this floor? Had he suffered a brain injury in this accident? Would he ever remember who she was?
These questions spun in her mind, and they were so overwhelming that she almost turned around to sit in the waiting room a little longer.
Then she caught a glimpse of Brendan’s smiling face through the small window in the door.
He was talking to a nurse, laughing and looking generally okay.
Surely, he wasn’t okay because why would he be in the hospital if he was?
But seeing the smile helped reassure her.
He was still well enough to laugh, which felt like a good sign.
Squaring her shoulders, Lucy forced herself to do the adult thing and opened the door. She stepped inside and wasn’t noticed by either Brendan or the nurse immediately.
“Look, I know what this must seem like,” he was saying. “Being in this ward of all places, but I’m telling you, it’s all just a big misunderstanding. I’m not crazy.”
“We don’t use that word here.”
“Right, right, but you know what I mean. I’m not supposed to be here. You probably hear that from most of the patients on this floor, but for me it’s the truth.”
The nurse smiled. “I’m just here to check your vitals, Mr. Malby.”
“Oh, I know. You’re at work. I don’t want to distract you. But that’s why I was about to ask you what you were doing after work,” he said, winking at her. “When does your shift end?”
Lucy cleared her throat, causing both of them to glance in her direction.
Brendan’s eyes widened. “Lucy! Oh my God, you came!” He threw off the blankets and tried to get out of bed, but the nurse pushed him back down, warning that he would rip out his IV if he wasn’t careful.
“Yeah, don’t do that,” Lucy said, rushing to his bedside. “There’s no need.”
The nurse tucked in his blankets, checked a few more things on one of the machines in the room, and left.
Once they were alone, Lucy looked around the room.
She wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for, but she thought it might be a bit rude to simply ask Brendan outright why he was in the psych ward.
There were no clues in the room, so she was left with only one choice.
She took his hand and gently squeezed it. “What happened?”
He stared at their hands. “I wasn’t sure you were going to come.”
“I guess I’m still listed as your emergency contact,” she said.
“Yeah, I didn’t know who else to put on there. I think they called my mom, too, but she’s out of town, so she won’t be able to get here anytime soon.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “I’m so glad to see you.”
Lucy felt awkward, and she knew her face was turning red. She gently took her hand back but continued to smile. “Brendan, what are you doing here?”
“Here, as in the hospital, or here, as in the third floor?”
“Both. Either.” She shrugged. “Can you just start from the beginning?”
He laughed softly and nodded. “Yeah, okay. Pull up a chair.” He pointed to the small rolling stool in the corner.
When she brought it over and sat down beside his bed, he took a long sip from a cup of orange juice on the table to his right, then started his story.
“I was out with the guys last night, and things got a little out of hand.”
“Joan told me the first part.”
Brendan’s face fell. “Joan?”
“Yeah, she was in the waiting room when I arrived. She mentioned that Dane was dropped off a few hours ago to have his stomach pumped.”
He swore and briefly covered his eyes with his hand. “I was supposed to keep Dane from going overboard, but then I ended up here, so there was no one to help him.”
“The other guys couldn’t help him?”
He just shook his head.
“All right, whatever,” Lucy said, brushing it off. “Forget about the other guys for a second. Just tell me why you’re in a hospital bed right now. What do you mean by ‘things got out of hand’?”
“Well, you know how these things go. I was feeling a little sorry for myself after our conversation, and the guys wanted to try to cheer me up. Meanwhile, Dane needed to blow off some steam as well. We ended up drinking too much and barhopping, and the next thing I know, I got hit by a taxi and was rushed here.”
“Wait…what?” She gasped and shook her head. “What do you mean you were ‘clipped by a taxi’? You were hit by a car?”
“Not really. It was a glancing blow.” He lifted one side of his hospital gown to show her his bruised ribs.
“The mirror got me more than anything, and I was fine, but the person who called 9-1-1 told the EMTs she thought I had walked into traffic on purpose. Combine that with the statements some of the guys gave to the police after the ambulance took me away, and the story that got around was about a man who was very sad about his divorce and maybe wanted to hurt himself.” He gestured to himself with a smirk.
“They threw me into the loony bin the second I was fixed up.”
Lucy clicked her tongue. “I don’t think you should call it the loony bin. That’s not very kind.”
“Sorry. You’re right. I’m just trying to find the humor in all of this.
You have to admit it’s kind of funny. I don’t belong here, but they want to keep me for one more night just to make sure.
” He ran a hand through his messy hair. “Now I have to figure out what to tell my mom. She’s going to freak out when she finds out this is where they put me. ”
Lucy frowned and pushed off the stool, moving several steps away from the bed. “So, let me get this straight, you weren’t seriously injured?”
“Not really.”
“And you swear you weren’t trying to hurt yourself.”
He snorted. “Lucy, you know I’m not the type.”
“Okay, but then… What am I doing here?”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
She laughed harshly. “I mean, why did I get a call in the middle of the night that made it seem like you were dying? Why did you have them call me in the first place?”
“Who else could I call?” he said. “Like I told you, my mom is out of town, and nobody else cares enough about me to come see if I’m okay.”
“Yeah, but you are okay!” She gawked at him, utterly confused.
“Or at least you’re okay enough. You could wait for your mom to come, or—I don’t know!
” She threw her hands up and let them fall heavily at her sides.
“But there was no reason for me to jump in the car and drive three hours in the dark. That much I know for sure.”
Brendan’s face contorted. “Ouch.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but I think you should’ve waited until you could call me yourself to tell me what happened. Instead, you let some random nurse or administrative worker call me, which made me think you were in danger.”
“Would you have come if you knew that I wasn’t actually on death’s door?”
She stared at him. “Are you saying that you had someone call me and purposefully mislead me?”
“No, no.” He shook his head. “I didn’t control what they told you. When they first brought me in, I was completely out of it, and apparently, they asked if I wanted them to call my emergency contact. I don’t know exactly what I said, but I knew you were in my files, and I wanted to see you.”
She folded her arms. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Do you have any idea how scared I was? The last three hours have been some of the most stressful hours of my life!”
“I’m sorry I worried you,” he said in a tone that made her wonder if he even knew the meaning of the word. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I didn’t consider how all of this would affect you, and that’s completely unfair.”
She scoffed. “Yeah, it is.”
“But don’t you see—” He tried to reach for her, but she didn’t move any closer to the bed. “The fact that you were this upset, that you jumped in your car and drove here without a second thought, shows that you still feel something for me.”
“Brendan.” She clicked her tongue. “Of course I still feel something for you. We were together for a long time, and I loved you more than anything, but that doesn’t mean we should get back together.
” She sighed. “I was upset because I thought you were dying. If I’d known you were just drunk and a little bruised, you’re right, I never would’ve driven all the way to the City.
But this”—she gestured to him and the hospital room more generally—“isn’t my job, B.
I’m sorry you didn’t feel you could call your friends, but that’s not my problem.
It sounds like you need to make better friends. ”
He laughed sadly. “Well, yeah. I already knew that.” He stared down at his hands. “I’m just not ready to let you go, Lucy. I can’t shake the feeling that we made a huge mistake when we broke up.”
She stifled a cackle and instead gave him a knowing smile. “You realize I heard you flirting with the nurse when I came into the room five minutes ago, right?”
His face flushed. “That was nothing.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but either way, it makes it pretty hard for me to take everything you’re saying to me right now seriously.”
A heavy silence settled over them. Brendan’s eyes welled with tears, and Lucy looked away to hold back her own.
“Let’s set the nurse aside for a moment,” he said.
“Pretend I haven’t been dating around and acting like a complete idiot.
If I had spent this whole year staying home, working on myself, and trying to become a better man, would you take me back then? ”
She inhaled sharply. “I-I don’t know what you’re asking. That’s not what happened, so what’s the point in even pretending?”
“I want to know if there’s a chance. If I were to get my act together, would it make any difference? Or is it too little, too late?”
She took a beat. Then she stepped up to the bed and took Brendan’s hand in hers again. She knew she had to be honest, no matter how badly it would hurt. “It’s too little, too late,” she said, and a few tears fell from her eyes. “I’m sorry, Brendan, but I’ve moved on, and I hope the same for you.”
“Yeah, I had a feeling you were going to say that.” He looked up at her.
“I’m sorry, Lucy. I shouldn’t have called you.
” Unlike the first one, this apology sounded genuine.
Even though they still needed to figure out what was going on with their missing divorce papers, this felt like a moment of closure.
It was a far better note on which to leave things than their previous conversation.
Suddenly, the door burst open and in rushed Brendan’s mom.
“Oh, my baby!” She ran to Brendan’s side and took his other hand. “I’m here, honey. I’m here. I took the first plane home, and I’m here now.” She kissed his forehead, then smiled at Lucy. “Everything’s going to be okay. Your two favorite women are here now. Your mom and your loving wife.”