Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“So she’s okay?” Sophia asks.
“She’s stable. We’ll keep her in a medically induced coma to give her time for the swelling to go down while her brain heals. We’ll monitor her closely, and once the scans come back clean, we’ll decrease the medication to slowly wake her up.”
“And what about side effects?” Easton asks.
“Unfortunately, we won’t know until she wakes up. I won’t scare you with all of the possibilities, and I suggest you don’t google them as it won’t do you any good. Once she’s awake, we’ll reassess and take it one step at a time. But for right now, she’s doing okay. The bleeding has stopped, and she’s stable. All very good signs, especially for the hit she took.”
“What about the driver?” Sophia asks. He’s been with the family for years, so it makes sense she would ask.
“I can’t give out any information to non-family,” the doctor says, but the way he frowns tells me it’s not good. “His family has been contacted and should be here shortly.”
“When can we see her?” Bailey asks.
“I’ll have a nurse come and get you once she’s been situated.”
“We would like a private room,” Easton says. “I don’t care about the expense. Whatever it takes to make sure she has the best medical treatment and is comfortable.”
“She’ll get that here,” Dr. Babki assures him. “If you have any questions, I’ll be on for another few hours. I’ll find out who’ll be treating her once I leave and let you know.”
“Thank you,” Sophia says, shaking his hand.
The moment he leaves, the girls all fall into a fit of cries, and their significant others hold them. I watch, wishing I could hold Kendall, wondering if I would’ve pulled her into my arms and made love to her one more time… if I would’ve insisted that we eat the cinnamon rolls she baked… if this never would’ve happened.
While we wait for the nurse to let us know Kendall is ready for visitors, a pair of police officers come in and introduce themselves, telling Easton and Sophia that they were two of the officers on the scene and called the ambulance.
“What happened?” Easton asks.
“A convenience store robbery gone wrong,” one of the officers explains. “He was armed and when the owner refused to give up the money, he shot him. The panic button was pressed, and the perpetrator took off. It turned into a car chase, which took them into the city. Not wanting to lose him, the officers followed him until the helicopter could take over, but by the time it arrived, the man was in the thick of traffic. Tire tracks indicate he tried to slam on his brakes, telling us he must not have been expecting the traffic to be at a standstill, but it was too late. He hit the driver-side of the vehicle your daughter was in, but luckily, she was sitting on the opposite side in the back seat, so she didn’t take the brunt of the impact.”
“We want to press charges,” Kyle says, finally speaking up like the lawyer he is.
“He didn’t survive,” the officer says. “And, off the record, neither did her driver. We’re waiting for the family to arrive to tell them. A few others were injured when the vehicle rolled, but nothing serious.”
Everyone goes silent at that, realizing the weight of the officer’s words. Out of the three most affected, two of them died. Kendall could’ve died. But she lived. We could’ve been having an entirely different conversation with the doctor and police officers, but somehow, an angel was looking down on Kendall, and she survived.
“Mrs. Blackwood,” a female nurse says. “Your daughter can have a visitor now.”
Sophia and Easton glance at Kyle, unsure who should go first, telling me they either have no idea that Kendall has broken the engagement off, or she never made it to tell Kyle. Either way, I have to keep my mouth shut. The only important thing right now is concentrating on Kendall's healing. Everything else can wait.
“You should go,” Kyle says. “You’re her mom. Please… umm, give her a kiss for me.” I could be wrong, and maybe it’s just me overthinking shit, but he sounds off. The words make sense, but his tone is weird, almost as if it’s riddled with guilt. Could she have been coming from seeing him when she was in the accident? Did something happen from the time she left my place to when she was hit? At this point, it doesn’t really matter, but it also doesn’t stop me from wondering what the hell happened.
Sophia nods, then kisses her husband quickly and follows the nurse out.
“Should we tell Gage?” Braxton asks, breaking the silence after a few minutes.
“No,” Easton says. “The last thing he needs is unnecessary stress or to feel like he should be here. He’s where he needs to be.” He glances around the room. “I appreciate everyone coming, but as the doctor mentioned, Kendall won’t be awake for some time, so if you want to go home and get some rest, I can text everyone and keep you updated.” He walks over to Layla, who’s rocking her sleeping baby girl, and tears fill his eyes. “Life is so damn precious,” he murmurs, bending slightly and kissing her forehead.