Standing Still - Chapter Six

Doctor Stephens leads me and Ray towards the ICU, only two people are allowed to visit Ana at a time. Ray hangs back as we walk to the door and gently I take his arm and lead him inside. We're greeted by all the sounds associated with an ICU unit and I try to reassure Ray that all the noises are normal.

As we approach Ana I see that she's heavily sedated and still receiving blood products through an IV. A ventilator is helping her breathe and various other machines are monitoring her vitals.

I'm concerned by how pale she is and as I reach over to hold her hand it scares me when I feel her cold palm against own. Ray must feel it too because he starts to rub her other hand between his own.

"Why is she so cold?" he asks looking up at the doctor.

"Ana lost a lot of blood in the accident and her body went into shock. It will take time for her body temperature to normalise but we are helping the process by using our warming blankets."

"Can she hear us?" Ray questions.

"It's unlikely Ana's been sedated to help her body recover but you never know for sure."

I look over at the doctor as he picks up Ana's chart to review it and wonder if I could also take a peek. Patting Ana's hand as I lay in back on the bed I walk over to the doctor and ask if I can look at the chart. He seems a bit taken a back by my question but seeing me in my white coat and hospital ID he hands over the chart.

I scan the pages and discover that Ana's heart has stopped beating on numerous occasions. Twice at the scene of the accident and once at the hospital during her surgery.

"We weren't informed that Ana flatlined and more than once," I query.

"What!" Ray exclaims looking away from Ana.

"Mrs Grey's body was in shock, fortunately she was resuscitated swiftly and no permanent damage was sustained."

"Why did no one tell us about this," I ask.

"The surgeon probably thought the information was unnecessary especially given everything your family has already been through."

"Could she stop breathing again?" asks Ray suddenly.

"At the moment her heart rate is steady and her blood pressure is slowly rising. But if she were to have another bleed then it's possible she could have another cardiac arrest."

Ray pales at his words and stumbles slightly so I make him take a seat. He's shaking slightly and one of the ICU nurses goes to fetch him some water. Taking short sips of the water he eventually starts to look a little better but I really think some fresh air might help too. Knowing others are in the waiting room wanting to see Ana I persuade Ray to take a walk with me and reluctantly he follows.

Before we leave with both kiss Ana and I keep my promise to my son by asking Ana to hang on for her husband. Stroking her face I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear then listen as Ray talks softly to his daughter.

Outside her room we both start crying and only Carrick's presence manages to soothe me. Together we help Ray out into the night air then settle on a nearby bench. Poor Ray looks lost as I hold his hand while my other is wrapped tight in my husbands.

We sit for awhile and watch in silence the stars slowly becoming visible in the night sky. I stare up and think of my son, somewhere far up in the darkness and pray he's holding it together.

Taylor's POV

I wake with a jerk as my brain slowly processes where I am, then I scan around for Christian. He's not with me so I stumble to my feet and wonder towards the bedroom. My body's stiff from falling asleep in a chair so I stretch out my arms and twist my neck. Knocking on the door I push it open before I get a reply and find Christian sitting on the floor his back resting against the bed.

"Sir are you okay, I'm so sorry I fell asleep."

He fails to answer so I bend down and look straight into his eyes. His vision clears and finally he jerks his head to show he's present.

"Are you okay," I repeat.

He nods his head half heartedly then continues to stare at a spot on the wall. Looking down at my watch I see that it's almost midnight, with luck in four more hours we'll be home.

"It's almost twelve sir, we're that much closer to home. Have you heard anything new from your mother," I ask, still annoyed with myself that I fell asleep.

"She called around nine to tell me that she's seen Ana twice now and that she's looking a lot better."

"That's great news," I enthuse.

"She stopped breathing," he suddenly mutters.

"What, when?"

"Just after the accident and during the surgery, she just stopped breathing."

"But she starting breathing again. Sir, your wife's a fighter and stronger than us both in her way."

Christian smiles then nods his head as he finally looks directly at me.

Sorry this is such a short chapter but I found this chapter harder to write than the others. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and for those who asked about my other story Missed, I'm hoping to continue with it sometime in the future. But so far I don't plan on working on it anytime soon and after one reviewer pointed out how similar my last chapter was to an earlier one I realised I needed a break from that story as I was starting to repeat myself.