~ Next of kin ~
"Hans!" Elsa shouted out when she spotted the redhead dashing down the corridor of the emergency department towards her. She had been sitting in the waiting area for the last hour and it had felt like a lifetime.
"How is she?" Hans asked. Elsa flung her arms around him and clutched him tightly. Hans stood startled at Elsa's actions. He would have never expected that when he would see Elsa again she would be embracing him the way she currently was. Hans stroked her soft platinum hair and kissed her softly on the top of her head. Her hair smelt like a fresh, crisp winter morning. He inhaled deeply and took in her scent.
"Hey, come on, its going to be okay," Hans said still holding her close to him. Elsa pulled away and looked up at him. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She had black streaks down her pink cheeks due to her mascara running. Hans wiped her tears away with his thumb as he stroked her face. She still looked beautiful.
"S...she's bl...eeding... a lot. The Drs are trying their best to stabilise her so they can take her to surgery," Elsa said sobbing uncontrollably. Hans' mouth dried up when he heard what Elsa had told him.
"Shit!" Hans cursed and his shock slowly turned into anger. "Who the fuck stabbed her!" He snarled. A few other people in the waiting area looked in Hans' direction, some even tutted when they heard the obscene language he used in his outburst.
"Shhhhh!" Elsa said grabbing his hand and walking to some empty seats so they could sit down. She clasped his hand tightly as she began to relay the horrific events of the afternoon.
"Rebecca?" Hans said, his stomach twisted when he realised that it could have been the girl that he did a shoot with. The same girl who had tried to seduce him only to have Elsa walk in on them at a totally inappropriate time. "Its all my fault!" Hans groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"How is it your fault?" Elsa said perplexed. "Do you know her? Who is she?" Elsa wanted answers and she wanted them now. "Hans, tell me!" Hans sank back into his chair.
"Errm, do you remember the girl I was with when you came to my studio last?" Has said reaching both his hands out in front of his chest and made a groping action with them. Elsa glared at him she felt her face flush hot as she was overcome with fury.
"That bitch!" Elsa spat out louder then she anticipated. People in the waiting area now looked around at Elsa. " Ooops, sorry!" Elsa croaked out. "But why was she trying to hurt m..." Elsa trailed off when she remembered what Rebecca had said to her. "Shes infatuated with you! A shit crazy stalker!" Elsa muttered to Hans. Green eyes widened when he heard what Elsa had just said.
"Wait, what?" Hans blurted out. He was kind of flattered that he had a stalker but at the same time completely horrified.
Miss Agdardottir? A women in green scrubs asked as she approached the couple.
"Y...yes" Elsa stood up. It was the first time she had seen any hospital staff since arriving to the emergency department. Her heart raced.
"I'm Mrs Cole, consultant trauma surgeon," She said.
"How is she?" Elsa asked.
"Miss Spencer is stable enough now for us to transfer her to the operating theatre. We believe that she has some internal bleeding from her abdomen. We wont know for sure how much damage has been done until we preform the surgery. We have you down as Miss Spencer's next of kin and we will require you to sign her consent form on her behalf for surgery." The surgeon said opening up the consent form and taking a pen from the top pocket.
"M...me?" Elsa said. It felt like an enormous responsibility signing for Maria's surgery. Even though she had grown very fond of Maria, not just as a business partner but as a good friend she still felt like someone else should be signing the form. She looked round at Hans who was staring at both women in shock. "Hans, Maria must have family right?" Elsa asked. Hans would be more knowledgeable about Maria, after all his brother did have a relationship with her.
Hans got up from his seat "I Don't think she does have any family. Both her parents are deceased and she was an only child." He put his hand on Elsa's back to reassure her.
"I will need a signature from you Miss Agdardottir otherwise we will not be able to proceed with the surgery and try and save her life. Miss Spencer is unconscious so she is unable to sign herself," Mrs Cole explained.
"Okay, I will do it," Elsa said looking at Hans who nodded his head in agreement. The surgeon clarified the risks of the surgery to Elsa before handing over the pen to her so she could sign. Elsa hands shook as she signed her name on the form.
"We will be taking Miss Spencer to the operating theatre now. I will come to see you once her surgery is done. In the meantime one of the nurses will take you upstairs to the ICU where Miss Spencer will be transferred to after her surgery." Mrs Cole said. She gave them both a friendly smile before turning on the heels.
"Thank you" Elsa said to Mrs Cole. Tears started welling up in her eyes again and she began to sob into Hans' chest. Hans wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. "Sh...e's g...going to the ICU! That means she's really sick!" Elsa gasped.
Elsa impatiently tapped her fingers on the wooden arm of the chair she was sitting in while she waited in the ICU waiting room. Hans sat next to her. He had been busy texting his brother, Lars about Maria's situation. He felt it was the right thing to inform him. Lars wanted him to call him. "I need to take a leak and make a phone call, do you want a coffee?" Hans said getting up from his chair.
Elsa snapped out of her trance and looked up at him. It had been a long, exhausting day and she needed something stronger to settle her nerves but coffee would suffice. "Yes please," she said. Hans started to call Lars just as he left the room.
"Hey Lars..." Hans said. Elsa heard him mentioned Lars' name and could not hear anymore of the conversation as Hans had started walking away from the waiting room door. Why the hell would he be talking to Lars about what was happening to Maria. He had broken her heart in the past Elsa pondered.
twenty minutes later the door to the waiting room opened again. Hans entered with two large Starbucks cups in a carrier. "I heard the coffee from the hospital vending machines tasted like shit so I went to Starbucks."He handed Elsa a latte and sat back down with his caramel macchiato. As Hans took a large gulp of his coffee he looked up at Elsa to find her bright blue eyes glaring back at him as she sipped on her latte. "Hey whats up? Is your latte?" he asked cautiously.
"Why the hell have you called your brother? I heard you talk to him outside the door. He treated Maria like shit, why would you feel the need to tell him about Maria without her knowing?" Elsa interrogated Hans.
"Woah, Elsa calm down!" Hans said holding his hands up. "Listen to me, Maria has only told you half of the story. Did she ever mention that they were engaged at one point?"
"E...engaged?" Elsa stuttered in disbelief.
"Yep, Maria had been putting pressure on him to propose to her. Even though Lars loved Maria the prospect of getting married was daunting for him. He wasn't thinking straight and ended up banging one of the girls at his showroom a few weeks after he proposed to Maria. As you know Maria caught them at it. In all honesty it was the biggest and stupidest mistake he had made because he was, still is in love with Maria." He paused to take another gulp of his coffee. "So I thought with Maria being in such a critical condition it was only right to inform him. I would have had my ass whooped if I hadn't." Elsa gulped loudly. She felt a pang of guilt for accusing Hans of interfering but he was only acting in Maria's best interests.
"I'm sorry," Elsa croaked.
Maria opened her eyes slowly after her surgery. her vision was blurry and she felt drowsy due to the anaesthetic and Morphine she had been given. "Shes waking up," she heard Elsa say. She felt someone take her hand and she turned to focus on the person holding her hand expecting it to be Elsa. She gasped when the person came into focus. "Lars!"