Chapter 3
The drive didn't seem to go fast enough for Reba even if she made it in a 2 hours and 59 minutes. She pulled into the emergency room parking lot of Dallas County Hospital. She parked in the first spot she saw and almost forgot to put the car in park as she jumped out of the vehicle and ran towards the entrance. She barreled through the door, almost knocking a nurse out of the way as she walked up to the front desk.
"Brock Hart!" she breathlessly blurted out to the desk attendant.
"Ma'am?"
"Brock Hart, I am his wife. I was told he was here."
The receptionist held up one finger and typed a few keys on the keyboard in front of her. "Yes, car accident victim, room 203. Down the hall to your right."
Reba muttered a thank you as she buzzed through the double doors and took off down the hall. She found his room, no problem, and she was about to walk in when someone in a lab coat walked out. "I'm sorry." He said with a smile as he almost bumped into her. "Are you here to see Mr. Hart?"
Reba nodded. "Yes, I am his wife."
"Well, I'm the doctor who worked on Mr. Hart."
"How is he?" Reba really didn't care for pleasantries. She just wanted to see her husband.
"He will make a full recovery."
"Good." Reba tried to move around the doctor to go into the room but the doctor stopped her.
"However, there are some things you should know."
Reba tensed up immediately. "I thought you said he will make a full recovery?"
"He will. He will, don't worry but there will be some complications. He came in with some minor internal bleeding we were able to correct…"
"Oh god." Reba's eyes filled with tears.
"He's okay Mrs. Hart. We fixed that. He has a broken leg and an almost shattered shoulder. He will need some therapy for the shoulder but we were able to repair that as well. He has some stitches in his cheek and a lot of miner cuts and bruises but he is going to be just fine. He will have to stay here for a couple of weeks. We want to make sure those internal bleeding bruises heel and he doesn't have complication with that but I am positive he will be just fine." Reba's shoulders sagged heavily in relief. "He will need around the clock care once he is home."
"Can I see him?"
"Yes, you can but just remember his appearance may startle you a bit. He isn't awake yet either. We have him heavily sedated for the next few days."
Reba nodded and the doctor stepped aside to allow Reba access to the room. She opened the door slowly, immediately the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor reached her ears. She slowly walked around the green curtain of privacy and gasp at the sight of her love.
A few minor cuts and bruises were an understatement. Brock had them all over his face, hands, and the one arm she could see; the other was in a cast and held against his body in a sling. He had one eye that looked to be busted, stitched, and swollen shut. His left leg was also in a cast all the way to his hip and held high in a slinger connected to the hospital ceiling. His other leg was tucked under the blanket but she was sure if she could see it, it too would have several cuts and bruises.
She knew she couldn't wake him with up with the amount of drugs they were pumping into his system; still Reba approached his bed slowly and as quietly as she possibly could. "Oh honey." She choked down her sobs and she gently rested her hand on his free right arm. She knew the doctor said he would make a full recovery but that didn't mean she was any less worried about him.
She heard a throat clear behind her and she turned to see the doctor had followed her in. "How did this happen? You said car accident?"
The doctor nodded as he stepped closer to the end of the bed. "Yes, according to the police a drunk driver ran a red light and hit the driver side of the vehicle. Your husband was driving and so his left side is pretty banged up. The car was totaled."
Reba let a relief of tears fall down her face, she was so grateful he was alive. "We have personal items you might want, they came in with the police."
"Okay." Reba was quiet. She agreed but didn't really pay attention to what the doctor was saying. She pulled the chair that was against the wall closer to his bed and sat down, never letting her hand up from where it rested on his arm. The doctor nodded and left them alone together.
Reba moved her hand to grasp his. It felt so rough and cold, not at all like the soft steady hands that would always reach for her, these weren't the hands that would love on her body. Why did he have to go to another stupid convention? How much more could one talk about teeth?
She heard a small painful groan and her eyes snapped up to his. She could see his heard trying to move and his swollen lips trying to part as another groan, louder this time, escaped them. Reba looked to the bedside and pushed the button for the nurse several times. She stood up to look over Brock and saw one bright blue eye staring at her. "Don't worry honey…" She said stroking his arm. "The nurse will be here in any second to give you more painkillers."
He groaned again, trying to move this time. "Please don't move honey."
The nurse walked in just in time with a needle. "Is he waking up?"
"Yes."
"We are trying to keep up with him but sometimes his will just seems stronger than the painkillers." Reba felt a slight squeeze to her hand and smiled as she squeezed gently back. "It's okay honey. The nice nurse is going to make you feel all better.
His dried lips parted slightly. "R…re…b…a"
She just wanted to burst into tears when she heard him call her name. It may have been raspy and anything short above a whisper but it was so important that he recognized her. His eyes immediately dozed the moment the nurse pushed medicine through his IV.
"So you're Reba." The nurse said with a smile as she straightened out.
"Yes."
"He has said your name every time he wakes up. This guy for sure loves you."
The nurse smiled once more before she turned and left the room again. Reba's heart was so broken. She wanted so badly to talk to him right now. She sat back down in the chair and she still never let go of his hand. Rough or not, she needed to feel him right now. She scooted even closer to his side and rested her head on the mattress, pressing his palm to her cheek. Laying her head down like that made Reba realize the adrenaline she had been running on and felt herself overwhelmed with complete exhaustion. She soon fell asleep.
{
She had woken up a couple of hours later in the same positon with tension in her neck. She groaned and tried to work out the pain but it only seemed to make it worse. Soon after she awoke her cell phone began ringing. She had forgotten to shut it off. She picked it out of her purse and glanced at the name. It was Cheyenne.
She had forgot to call the kids. For the first time since she arrived Reba let go of Brock's hand. She had to step out into the hall to make her phone call. It rang once and Cheyenne picked up.
"Mom?!" Cheyenne answered in a frantic tone.
"Cheyenne…how are you guys doing?"
"How are we doing? How is dad? What happened?"
"His car was struck by a drunk driver. He's banged up pretty bad but he's going to be okay. They said he could go home in a couple of weeks."
"Weeks?!"
"Yes, weeks. He had some internal bleeding when he got here. He also has a broken leg, a shattered shoulder, and a few stitches. He's going to need therapy for the shoulder but the doctor said he will make a full recovery."
Cheyenne breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. When can we see him?"
"They have him sedated for the next few days so probably not until he starts to wake up."
"Are you going to stay there?"
"Yes, I'm going to stay until they kick me out and then I will probably get a hotel room here. Have Van take care of the business for me for now."
"Sure Mom. Is there anything else we can do?"
Reba thought about it for a moment and then thought about Brock's practice. "Yeah, actually do your dad a favor and go to the practice. Call everyone that has an appointment within the next two months and refer them over to Eugene. Just tell them we have to close for now due to illness. Your dad is not going to be working for a while."
"Of course Mom. I can do that." They both sat in silence for a moment before Cheyenne broke it. "Are you sure you don't need anyone up there with you right now?"
"No honey. I'm fine. Just take care of your brother and sister for me."
"Van and I are at your house right now Mom. We are going to stay here until you come back and then we can figure out a new plan."
"Sounds good. Give Elizabeth my love."
"I will…and make sure you eat."
Cheyenne knew under great stress her Mom would tend to skip a few meals, not that she was anorexic or anything or even doing it on purpose. It's just her mom would stress herself out so much to the point of feeling physically sick to her stomach.
Reba rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about me. I will be just fine."
Cheyenne knew better than to press the issue. That would just stress her out even more and cause more damage.
"Please let us know if you want someone up there with you. Van could be there within a couple of hours."
"I will let you know. For now just take care of each other and the house for me."
"I will. I know he can't hear it but tell Daddy I love him."
Reba smiled. "Don't worry. I will. Bye bye honey."
Reba hung up the phone, happy that was over. Now she wanted some quiet and to sit with Brock. She walked back into his room. There was no change of course. He was still knocked out. She sat back down by his bed side and immediately took his hand again.
"Cheyenne says to tell you she loves you. I was just telling the kids about you. They will come up in a few days, when you are awake." She knew he couldn't hear her in the drugged induced sleep he was in but she liked to pretend he did. "I love you so much honey." Reba said as another set of tears followed.
Reba stayed by Brock's side all day long until the nurse came in and told her visiting hours were over. She was in luck that there was a holiday Inn across the street with a free room. Brock wasn't in too serious condition for them to let her stay in the room with him. She would go back up bright and early tomorrow.
She would probably would be up anyway. If she had trouble sleeping when he was just away, now he was hurt, even if the doctor said he would be just fine she knew she was going to toss and turn all night long.
{
The next few days were rough on Reba. She rarely got any sleep and as Cheyenne predicted she wasn't eating all that well; a power bar here and there from the vending machine and coffee is what she was living on. She watched the nurses keeping Brock under. When the meals would come around the attendant would leave a tray for her, even though Brock couldn't eat it, hoping she would because even the staff noticed her lack of eating.
It was the day they were to stop Brock's sedation and allow him to wake up when Reba realized she had been wearing the same clothes for three days. She had called Cheyenne to have her bring up a change of clothes for herself.
She was waiting on her daughter and son-in-law right now. Kyra was still keeping an eye on Jake and Elizabeth. Jake finally knew about his dad but they are still keeping it from Elizabeth. They figured they would let the young ones see him when he was a bit less swollen.
Reba was sitting by Brock's bedside once again that midmorning when there was a small knock on the door. She turned to see it open and Van and Cheyenne walked in. Cheyenne took one look at her dad and with being pregnant she burst in tears. "He's okay honey, really. He's gotten a lot better. A lot of the swelling has gone down."
Cheyenne sniffled and walked over by her mom's chair. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and squeezed Reba tightly. "How are you doing Mom?"
"I'm fine. The nurses check in every once in a while but nothing has changed. Your father woke up once but then they were able to keep him asleep. They are going to stop the morphine tonight and just give him small dose of mild painkillers to keep the pain away and it will make him asleep but it won't knock him out."
Cheyenne nodded and glanced down at the cup of coffee that was in Reba's hand. "When was the last time you ate?"
Reba shrugged. "Lunch yesterday I had a power bar."
"Okay we are going to go down to the cafeteria and have something to eat."
Reba shook her head. "I need to be here."
"You said they weren't stopping the morphine until tonight. He's not going to wake up. Van can stay with Dad and call us for any reason." Reba was dead set on not going anywhere but her daughter had a firm tug on her arm. "I promise Van will call us."
Cheyenne held out some hope to get her mother out of the chair and her heart sored when Reba stood up. "If anything happens, anything at all, you call me immediately."
Van nodded and would do anything for Mrs. H if it meant that she would go eat a proper meal. She looked sick and very pale.
Cheyenne pulled her mother downstairs before she could change her mind. "What do you feel like eating?"
"I don't care."
"Well, it looks like they have some soup and sandwiches." Reba nodded. "Two cheddar broccoli soups and two turkeys on wheat please." The attendant behind the counter nodded and got their food in no time.
They balanced their trays to the cashier before deciding to sit in a small booth in the corner. Cheyenne dug into her food as soon as they sat down. She noticed her mother however was just moving her soup around and picking at the bread of her sandwich.
"Okay Mom…" Cheyenne set her spoon down and crossed her arms. "I understand Dad is hurt and you're worried but he is fine. He will recover but you seem to not believe it yourself. You even said up there he looks better now. Dad wouldn't want you stressing out and not eating. He would be very angry actually and you know it, now eat."
Reba knew Brock would be very angry. She picked up her spoon and slowly began to eat her soup. She at least needed to stay healthy for Brock while he was here and for when he returned home. Reba hadn't realized how hungry she was until she started eating her soup. She ate every last bite including her sandwich and washing it all down with a small carton of milk that Cheyenne had made her get.
Reba felt better and was so thankful her daughter for looking out for her. They quickly headed back to Brock's room. They arrived to find Van with his head back, snoring up a storm.
"Van…" No movement. "Van!"
He shot up and turning to his wife and mother-in-law. "All good?" he asked with a yawn.
Reba just smiled, shaking her head, and nodded. Reba was about to sit back down when a knock at the door interrupted them and in walked the doctor. "Mrs. Hart., do you have a moment?"
"It's okay. They can hear." she said motioning to her daughter and son-in-law.
"I was actually just inquiring about Ms. Booker."
Reba was confused. "I'm sorry, Ms. Booker?"
"Yes, Ms. Barbara Jean Booker. The passenger in the vehicle that your husband was driving."
A/N: DUN DUN DUN! I hope you enjoyed this nice long chapter! I have more written, just a matter of typing, lol. Reviews are love!
