Chapter 37

Jeff sat in the window seal of the hospitals waiting room, staring off into space. Things had fallen apart in the last few hours and he wasn't sure if they would ever get back together. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. His hands were shaky and was a little cold, but it was over ninety degrees outside. Waiting was always the worst part of anything, especially in this case.

Please God let her be alright...please I beg of you he prayed over and over as he leaned his head back against the wall. It had been two hours since he and Mariachi brought her into the small town hospital. Two hours, was not a good sign.

"You seem to have grown quit attached to her," Mariachi said from his seat across the room. They were the only ones there.

Jeff never turned his gaze from the window. "You could say that," he admitted softly. "She's given me another purpose to live."

"But not your only?" Mariachi asked.

Jeff shook his head, "Of course not...but she is my main reason."

"She's very brave," Mariachi complimented. "Has she always been that way?"

Jeff gave a very small grin, "She hated me at the beginning I think. I was constantly getting on her nerves."

"She seemed to get over that quick," Mariachi offered with a sad smile.

"If there's one thing I've learned about her it's she's gonna do what she wants to do and nothing else," Jeff told him. "That's why I think she'll be fine...she's strong...stronger than me."

Mariachi nodded, "You're pretty strong yourself...you survived something most wouldn't."

"I like to think I didn't survive it...I'm not the person I used to be," Jeff clarified.

"People change...it's how we survive. If we did not change, we would only doom ourselves and others," Mariachi said wisely.

"That sounds like something Mija would say," Jeff said off handedly.

"She must be a wise woman," Mariachi bragged lightly.

Jeff didn't respond just sat in the comfortable blackness he witness everyday for the last five years. He had tried to call Mija once Lynn had been taken in to surgery but she wasn't answering the phone. It was not a good sign any way it was looked at. He was drawn from his thoughts when he heard unfamiliar footsteps.

"Sands," Mariachi said getting his attention as the doctor approached.

"Excuse me, are you the two gentlemen that brought the young lady in?" the doctor asked before going into any details.

"Yes," Jeff slid off the window seal and took a few steps towards him. "Is she alright?"

The doctor sighed, "We were able to stop the bleeding and repair the damage, but..."

"But what?" Jeff insisted getting frightened.

The doctor looked between Jeff and Mariachi, "She has lost a large amount of blood and we do not have the resources or the donors to give to her. The next few hours will determine if she will pull through. She has lapsed into a coma from the blood loss. All we can do for her now is pray and wait."

"What blood type is she?" Jeff asked hoping she was A negative.

The doctor sighed with regret, "I do not know sir, she hasn't been conscience since she was brought in and she certainly isn't in any condition to speak."

"What about hospital records?" Jeff suggested.

"As I said sir, we do not have the resources. We checked her pockets and things but no license could be found to see if she had a blood type listed. We do not have a computer system to connect with other hospitals and with her being a foreigner..." the doctor was at a loss. "I am sorry sir but we usually don't get anyone other than the towns people with serious injuries like these. We know them personally and have all their records on physical file but your friend...I'm sorry. There is nothing further that we can do, other than make her comfortable."

"Is she well enough to be transported?" Jeff asked hopefully.

The doctor shook his head, "No, with the blood loss she could go into cardiac failure or have a stroke."

Jeff clenched his jaw and ran his hands through his hair as he turned away from the doctor and Mariachi. A coma...it could be years before she wakes he thought sadly. "When do you think she'll be strong enough to be moved?" he asked with his back to the doctor.

"If she can make it the next few hours...she might be able to be moved, but I will have assess her condition at that point and time," the doctor offered. "If you'll excuse me I have other patients to attend to, my name is Doctor Marcus if you need anything further." With that he turned and left the two men standing with themselves.

"She doesn't deserve this," Jeff said mainly to himself. "You wouldn't happen to be a universal donor would you?" he asked turning towards Mariachi.

"If I was I would've offered by now," Mariachi felt like slapping him for such a stupid question, but he couldn't blame him for asking anyway. If he had had a chance to save Carolina as he does with Lynn now, he would have jumped at the opportunity. He felt sorry for Jeff, because he knew what he was going through. "What are you going to do?"

Jeff shrugged, "I don't know...wait I guess. There's nothing more I can do is there?"

Mariachi nodded, "I guess not."

"I'm gonna...go for a walk," Jeff motioned down the hall and started down it.

Mariachi watched him go with a sad expression. He knew all to well what he was going through. The pain of watching a loved one slip through your fingers was excruciating. He couldn't imagine what Sands was going through if he felt pained as well.

He turned and walked down the hall towards Lynn's room and stepped inside to see her lying on her back in a white bed. She was frightfully pale and very still, like she was dead. He walked closer until he was next to the bed and picked up her ice cold hand. He couldn't stop himself from checking her pulse she looked so deathly. He felt a pulse and placed her hand back on the bed and sat in the chair against the wall at the foot of her bed. He made himself comfortable as he stared at her still form. For almost half an hour he just stared.

"You must come through this Lynn...you must come back..." he whispered closing his eyes.

Outside the hospital Jeff sagged against the wall letting all his sorrow, sadness and fear fall down his face in tiny rivers of moisture.