Ice and Fire
Chapter 11 part 1
KARMA POV
Alex and I met in college. He was majoring in business and I was majoring in music. We were complete opposites. Every time we hung out I felt comfortable. I felt safe. With Amy is different. Sure I feel comfortable and safe but I also feel like if I let go, I will stop breathing and life as I know it, will cease to exist. She makes every cell in my body rage with energy. It's a different feeling that I've never felt before with anyone.
I'm not saying that I regret meeting Alex. He's such a great guy. Any girl will be lucky to have him and I got a beautiful little girl out of our marriage. We just never really passed the platonic stage. We treated each other like friends. There was no real spark.
Today my little girl left for school and I was so happy yet sad. Was this what parents felt every time their child does a new experience without them? I felt a knot at the bottom of my stomach and it wouldn't go away.
"Karma what are you thinking about?" Shane came in my office interrupting my thoughts. "Just Rachel. Today was her first day of school," I throw him a shy smile. He smiles and comes around my desk demanding me to get up. I give in. He gives me a big bear hug and swings us from side to side. "It's going to be fine. You're going to have to let her grow up, you know that, right?" He whispers in my ear. "I do but still. Let me be sad about my baby leaving me." I whispered back. Our hug was interrupted by my cellphone ringing. I pick it up. "Hel..," I didn't get to finish answering. "Karma Ashcroft?" "Yes." "This is Dr. Miller from the children's hospital. I'm going to need you to get down here right away." "Why? What's wrong?" I started to worry. "I will explain everything when you get here. In how long can you get here?" "Uhh…fifteen or twenty minutes," I reply in a shaky voice. "Alright. See you soon." My eyes start to water. I don't want to think the worst. This was Amy's hospital. Was she in trouble? What if Rachel was in the hospital? I couldn't think like that. I quickly explained to Shane what the conversation on the phone was about. I grabbed my keys and ran out the door.
AMY POV
I ran. I felt weak. My knees tried to give out but I ran. I ran towards the commotion. I see nurses wheel in children in stretched out beds. I grip her chart as I ran down to the ICU. Spotting her room, I slow down. "Relax," I said to myself. I took in big breaths as I walked into her room. The auburn hair girl is connected to IV's and a heart monitor. She has blood running down her head and nose. There are nurses trying to clean her up. I walked up to her slowly. Her eyes were closed but her chest was rising normally. I relaxed.
"Her mom has been contacted, she'll be here in a few minutes. She still doesn't know what's going on," a nurse said to me. I nod. "Let me know when she gets here," I said trying not to think about Karma's reaction to this.
"What's the status," I said trying to figure out how this happened. "There was a semi truck who lost control of the wheel and crashed to the side of the school bus. Causing the bus to tilt over on its side making the students lose their place in their seats inside the bus hitting the windows and the ceiling. This one in particular," an intern spoke up while pointing at Rachel, "has a swollen brain. We are trying our hardest to release the stress but we might need to operate. The impact to her head may have caused some inner bleeding and she has a broken arm." I ordered to get a CT scan done to see if we have internal bleeding. I go to the other children and none of them have it as bad as Rachel. I spoke to the other doctors. They agreed that Rachel may need surgery to stop the swelling in her brain.
A couple of minutes go by and a nurse comes to get me informing me that Rachel's mom has arrived. I go to the waiting room and spot her. I see her talking to Dr. Miller. A steady flow of tears were coming down the side of her cheeks. She kept nodding and looking down at the ground. I could tell she was trying to keep it together. To not lose it in front of everyone here. I slowly try to walk up to her but she spots me coming. Seeing how broken she is right now makes my heart ache. She stops listening to Dr. Miller and runs up to me. She laces her hands around me and her head is in the crook of my neck. She's now sobbing quietly. She's slowly breaking. She starts to kneel down and I follow her to the floor still hugging her. With one hand I rub up and down her back and the other I hold her head. "Amy…Amy..she's going to be okay, right? Please tell me she's going to be okay…" "I can't promise anything but I will try my best." Dr. Miller gives me a distinct look asking if everything is okay with one look and I just nod and he walks away. "Let's go to my office," I said looking down at her. She doesn't look up. She simply nods.
We walk into my office and she sits down. I make my way around my desk and inhale a deep breath. "Listen, Karma, right now I know it's hard. Right now she's unconscious but we have her monitored as we speak. We are now just waiting for her scans to come back and we'll determine what we need to do. We will try everything we can okay?" I said putting my hands on my desk. She instantly leaned forward and grabbed by hands. I looked in her eyes. "She may need brain surgery." She gave me a look of terror. "Amy, this is so hard. She's my daughter. My life. I can't function without her. Please Amy don't let her leave me," and with that she started crying again. I got up and hugged her. Tighter then ever before. "It's going to be okay. I'll be in the OR with her. We are good at what we do," I said trying to sooth her.
Suddenly there's a knock on the door. " , I got the results. You'll need to see these right away." I took the laptop from him and stared intently at the screen. My eyes widen. We need to operate right away but I couldn't say it out loud. I needed Karma to not know like this. "Do you want to go see her?" She nodded and I guided her out. I gave the laptop back to the intern and inform him to prep an OR for immediate surgery.
We go in an I order the nurses to step outside. Karma walks up to the bed and holds Rachel's hand. "Sweetie, it's going to be okay. Please don't leave me," she whispered between sobs. I stood next to her. "Karma, we will need to operate right away, okay?" She looks up at me with red eyes and I can't help but break inside but right now, karma is not my girlfriend. She's my patients mother.
All of the sudden, the heart monitor flat lined. There's a loud beeping coming from the machines. I acted quickly and pressed the button in the room. "Code blue! Code blue!" I yelled. Karma was now panicking. Some nurses rushed in. "Charge the paddles to one hundred!" I yelled and I still could hear karma crying. "Someone,get her out of here, now!" I didn't want her to see this. An intern took her out. "Clear!" The nurse yelled. "Clear!" I yelled back and pressed the paddles to Rachel's chest. Nothing.
A/N: holy titis guys! What do you think it's going to happen? I don't even know! Sorry about the cliffhanger. I will make sure to make it up to you guys. Lol thanks for reading!