Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
No, I need Ben.
“I don’t want to sit.”
He nods and clasps his hands in front of him. “Ben came in with a fever of one hundred four and a severe infection in his leg that spread rapidly. He has sepsis and we’re monitoring the damage it’s done to his kidneys. Right now, it’s touch and go. He’s in a medically induced coma at the moment. We’re hoping to avoid surgery due to his compromised immune system.”
“I don’t understand. I’ve read about sepsis, and we’ve been careful. How did he get an infection in his leg? The last infection came from his port.”
“Ben presented with a very deep gash on his calf. Did he recently cut himself on something?”
I shake my head. “No. We spend most of our time together unless he’s getting chemo. He never said anything to me.”
“The wound should’ve been cleaned immediately, and treatment sought, especially with his compromised immune system.”
I nod. “He never said anything,” I say quietly. “What’s the . . .” I swallow hard. I’ve done all the readings. I know this is bad. “His uh . . .” I can’t bring myself to ask.
“It’s too early to say. He’s on an aggressive regimen of antibiotics but we’re battling his other medical conditions at the same time. It’s my hope we’ve caught it before it’s too late.”
It’s not the cancer trying to kill him this time.
“Can I see him?”
“Yes, come with me.”
I follow him into the intensive care unit and to Ben’s room. I pause outside his room. I can see him in bed, lying there. In a way, he’s being kept alive by the machines. They watch his heart rate, his oxygen levels, his blood pressure, and they pump drugs into his system.
“Jesus,” I whisper.
The doctor tells me to sanitize my hands before I go in and I do. He goes over the visiting rules, and I nod, knowing them by heart. I’ve been here before, but he doesn’t need to know this. I sit down and reach for Ben’s hand. It’s warm, like it was earlier this morning.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” I ask him as tears stream down my face. I know full well he’s never going to answer me regardless of being in a coma or not. He’d do everything he can to save face with me, to appear stronger than he is.
“I don’t know what’s going on inside of your body, but I need you to fight, Ben. I need you to do what you can to get rid of it because I need you. I need you to be by my side for the rest of my life.”
“Ms. James?”
I look up at the nurse standing in the doorway and wipe my tears. She doesn’t wait for me to answer or acknowledge her.
“There are people in the waiting room,” she says as she looks at the piece of paper in her hand. “I’m to tell you, ‘your family is here, princess’.”
My dad is here.
I get up, kiss Ben on the forehead and tell him I’ll be right back. I follow the nurse out of the room and down the hall to the door. She tells me to press the call button when I’m ready to come back in.
As soon as I step outside of the door, my dad has me in his arms. “Daddy,” I mutter into the crook of his neck. “He’s so sick.”
“It’s okay, princess. I’m here now.” He steps back and looks at me. “You just be strong for Ben; we’ll be strong for you.”
“When did you get here?”
“About two hours ago. We wrapped up the tour and Plum is back in LA. I came right here.”
“Where’s Mom?”
“At home with Oliver. She doesn’t want to leave him with Grandpa unless Oliver’s napping.”
I completely understand.
Peyton joins us, and we hug for a moment before Dad puts his arm around me and walks us into the waiting room. The Westburys are there, with the exception of Noah. I thank Paige for taking care of everything at the studio and tell Liam she definitely needs a raise.
Mack steps forward and shows me his phone. It’s more pictures of the puppy. “Where did you get these?”
“I was at the store when Ben collapsed,” he says. “I had just gotten there and heard the clerk yell for someone to call 9-1-1. I called not knowing it was Ben until I peeked around the corner. I stayed with him until they took him, and I gave the medic your phone number to call.”
The declined calls.
“Anyway, the clerk said Ben was buying this little guy, so I took some pictures for you, and I told her you or someone would be back to finalize the transaction. So, he’s kind of on hold until the end of the day.”
I need this dog. I don’t know how I’ll take care of it if Ben isn’t around, but he wants this puppy and so do I. I hand Peyton my credit card and ask her to go back to the store with Mack to get the dog and all the accessories it needs. It’s a rash decision, but I don’t care right now. That little puppy made Ben’s eyes sparkle and I’m going to do what I can to make sure the sparkle returns.