Chapter Two: The Call
John wasn't sure which he preferred. Torrie muttering some sort of vodoo curse under her breath whenever she walked past, or the way she'd give him sympathetic looks that branded him as a failure for not being able to convince Alex to stay with him. He'd thought about her non-stop since she'd left him that night to go back to Randy, wondering what she was doing, if she was thinking of him, or what would happen when she got home. People still came up to him and asked why he hadn't been there, when they already had their own theories fully formed. Yesterday Kurt had shown him pictures he'd taken at the wedding. Alex and Randy at the alter, Alex and Torrie, Alex and Randy's first dance. John had made an excuse not to see the rest. The locker room door opened and Eddie walked in, he scanned the room and when he saw John, motioned for him to go outside. Frowning, he went and there was Torrie, looking at him the same way she had for two weeks.
"Look, Torrie. If you're about to start a lecture about me going off to win her back, don't. We've talked about this and.....what?"
Torrie was crying. "John, she's been in an accident."
For the second time in two days, Randy was pushed aside into a waiting area while a heard of doctors took Alex away from him. Getting her transfered from Paris back home had taken lots of phone calls and even more money. He didn't care, as long as she was home that was all that mattered. He couldn't sit down even though he was exhausted, not until he was back by her side. The doctor at the French hospital had taken a long time to explain everything. Something about her face and head. It hadn't prepared him for when he saw her. Her face was swollen and bruised, she'd broken bones that would need reconstructive surgey to fix. She was in a coma,that he'd expected. Cynthia, he'd forgotten all about her. She'd be there soon and Randy would have to explain it all over again, then show her the state her daughter was in. If only he'd gone with her, but he hadn't thought there was anything wrong with Alex exploring Paris by herself. Now look what had happened. She could still die. The French doctors hadn't been able to establish if there was brain damage, they'd just sewed her up and moved her on. Didn't they understand that it was his wife lying there? Or did they simply not care about the stupid American women who'd gotten herself hit by a car? Randy sat down, if he didn't his legs where going to give way. He leaned his head back on the seat and looked up at the bright florescent light above him. He'd have to call his parents and tell them they where home. Randy hadn't even reailsed his eyes where closing until the waiting room door opened and a nurse came in.
"Mr. Orton." she said meekly, almost as if she was scared to speak at a normal volume incase it upset him. "You can see your wife now."
He got up and followed her out the room, down the hall and into a room in intensive care where he was left alone. Randy couldn't bare to look at her smashed face. He stared past her. If she died, what would he do?
What would he do if she died? This he hadn't been prepared for. Alex was suppose to come home, safe and sound. John was suppose to see her and find out what was going on between them. She wasn't suppose to get hit by a car and ended up in hospital. Randy had called Cynthia and Cynthia had called Torrie, only giving her the basic details. She'd been out alone and the driver was in hospital for shock. There hadn't been any news of exactly how bad Alex was, but John could guess. It was late, and even though he had returned to the hotel room hours ago, all he'd done is lie in the dark. Horrible images of what she might look like filtered through his mind. She could be paralysed, scarred, she could die. That was the main thought, the one John couldn't shake no matter how many times he told himself that medical sciene could do so many things these days If they could cure people of cancer they could save Alex Orton's life. They had to. Not having her was one thing. Having to live without her was something else. He had to see her, just incase.