Chapter 384 – Nathan Sees Colleen
Nathan got to the hospital and inquired about Colleen. Once he had shown his id, he was let onto the floor where she was being treated. First thing that Nathan noticed was the officer sitting by Colleen's room. Nathan stopped outside of the glass doors to Colleen's room. He just looked at his sister and was overwhelmed with emotions. He could see a bright blue cast on her leg and a green one on her arm. There were various tubes and wires all over the place, Colleen's head was wrapped with gauze and even from a distance Nathan could tell she had lots of bruises, including on her face and neck. It appeared that Colleen was sleeping so Nathan debated going in to sit or not, that was when her voice broke through his thoughts.
"Are you going to come and sit or just stare at me all day." Colleen said.
Nathan could hear the strain in her voice and he was concerned. Nathan slowly walked into the room and took a seat on the chair by the bed. He was able to see more clearly the bruises on her face and neck.
"Oh Collie." Nathan said. "I am so sorry I was here to protect you."
"Nothing to be sorry about." Colleen said. "It isn't your job to protect me."
Nathan could hear the tiredness in her voice and was concerned.
"He will never hurt you again." Nathan said.
"I want to believe you." Colleen said. "But I don't know."
"Once they find him." Nathan said. "He is facing a litany of charges and I will not stop until I see him behind bars or in a grave."
"Don't be stupid." Colleen said.
Again, Nathan heard the tiredness in her voice and it was more than physical. Nathan wondered if she had given up.
"So how long are they going to keep you here?" Nathan asked.
"I don't know. Why?" Colleen said.
"Well." Nathan said. "I would like to know what I can tell Allie. I also want to know how long I have to get your new apartment ready."
"I told you." Colleen said. "I don't want a new apartment."
"This is not negotiable." Nathan said. "You are getting a two bedroom apartment in a secure building where I will be close by to help you. The arrangements have already been made and I am working on getting it furnished for you and Allie."
"You don't have that kind of money laying around." Colleen said.
"Don't worry about the money." Nathan said. "It is being taken care of."
"I don't want charity." Colleen said.
"It is not charity when it is family." Nathan said. "So deal with it."
Colleen huffed, but she knew that she wouldn't win when Nathan used that tone. Nathan saw Colleen close her eyes and knew that she needed her rest.
"You rest now." Nathan said.
Nathan stood, kissed Colleen's forehead and looked at her a bit closer. She really looked much sicker than she had let on. He felt bad that she was suffering because of Dylan.
"I am going to leave." Nathan said. "I literally came right from the airport. I need some food and to go to my apartment. Then I need to check on Allie. I will talk to you later."
"Fine." Colleen said, closing her eyes again.
"E ba ta (I love you.)." Nathan said, leaning in to kiss her forehead again.
"E ba ta (I love you.)." Colleen said, her voice strained and barely above a whisper.
Nathan made sure Colleen was covered and then left the room. Once in the hallway, he let out a harsh breath. He stopped at the nurse's station to get some more information, the nurse just looked at Nathan for a moment. Once she again verified his information and she could see that she was allowed to release information, she took a deep breath.
"Your sister is listed as critical, day to day." The nurse said.
"What does that mean?" Nathan asked. "She was awake and talking to me."
"It means that without interventions, she wouldn't be here and can still go south." The nurse said. "While she is mostly awake, she doesn't know what year it is or what really happened. She is on pressors to maintain her blood pressure. She is still requiring blood because her spleen is still leaking and the doctors don't want to risk major abdominal surgery with her being unstable. We are monitoring her intracranial pressure after removing a subdural hematoma. There is still some swelling on her brain and she has been in and out of consciousness. When she is awake she is normally a bit agitated because she wants her baby. When I asked her who, she just kept saying her baby. We learned she has a daughter and when we asked if that was who she meant, she would say no, my baby and touch her stomach. Upon further examination we learned that your sister had been pregnant and lost the baby. She hasn't fully grasped that yet. A D was done to remove the dead fetus. Your sister is going to be in the hospital for months if she survives. It is still questionable if that will happen."
"I didn't know." Nathan said. "I have been gone and just got back a little bit ago. I talked to her twice and she didn't say anything."
"I don't think she was aware enough to communicate what happened." The nurse said. "I don't want you to lose hope, but you need to know that she is very sick."
"Thank you." Nathan said. "I will be back tomorrow. Call me if there is a change."
The nurse nodded and Nathan left the unit shaking his head. He hadn't realized how bad things were. He felt bad about not coming right back when he learned , but then in the same token, he would never have met Kayla.
"Kayla." Nathan gasped.
Nathan found a spot to sit down. He pulled out his phone and sent Kayla a text. He let her know he was just leaving his sister and heading to his apartment to get settled and he would call later. Once he had texted Kayla, Nathan sent two more texts and stood to leave. He needed some air and to think.
… … … …
After Jack had checked on the horses, he spoke to Katie to see how she was doing and saw Opal playing in the office.
"Hi Opal." Jack said.
"Jack" Opal said, getting up and giving him a hug. "I didn't think that you were coming back until Thanksgiving."
"Plans changed." Jack said. "I am just here until Sunday morning. Then I have to go to the city."
"Nathan with you?" Opal asked.
"No, sorry." Jack said. "It was just Elizabeth and I. Frank is back as well, but he is staying."
"Oh." Opal said.
"How about you come up to the house tomorrow around lunch." Jack said. "We have something for you."
"You didn't have to do that." Katie said.
"But we did." Jack said.
"I will send a text before she comes up." Katie said.
"Sounds good." Jack said. "I just wanted to see the horses for a minute."
"They are fine." Katie said. "Getting spoiled by Carlo and Opal."
"Figured." Jack said. "Katie, I might be sending you a pony to quarantine and vet here before sending it on to the city. Same place where Bubbles and Squeak went."
"When?" Katie asked.
"Not sure on the timeline." Jack said. "I still need to make the deal."
"Just let me know." Katie said. "And by pony, you mean just smaller horses."
"Yes." Jack said. "It will be for a child. Well there might actually be two of them, but I will let you know."
"Okay." Katie said. "Let us know."
"I will let you get back to work." Jack said. "I just wanted to let you know."
"Thank you." Katie said.
Jack gave Opal one more hug and then headed back up to the house. If Nathan was going to be serious about Kayla, then Cassie would need a pony as well. He hadn't planned on buying multiple ponies, but he figured that all, he could resell them. Jack took his time heading to the house. He stopped and looked out at a few of the horses in one of the pastures. He was going to miss having his horses when he went back to school. There was a part of him that wanted to ship Bandit down to the city if he was going to be participating in the finale, but then he wasn't sure how much time he was going to have to ride. He was going to give it two weeks and see. He had another horse he could ride and he had a great bond with Bandit, so he wasn't worried about not riding for a few months.
When Jack finally got back to the house, he greeted his grandmother, grabbed his laptop and took a seat at the table. Elizabeth, Frank and Father Mark were already seated at the table working on various things. Jack opened his laptop and started searching for ponies for sale. There were several that he liked but Jack thought that they were overpriced for a pleasure horse. As Jack clicked through the different ads, Father Mark caught sight of what Jack was doing and scooted closer.
"What are you looking at now?" Father Mark teased.
"A pony or two." Jack said.
"Why?" Father Mark asked. "Don't we have enough big horses around here?"
"I was thinking of a trail horse for a child." Jack said.
"A specific child?" Father Mark asked.
"Yes, Allie." Jack said. "And maybe one more. Opal is great with the horses, but maybe Katie would feel better if she had a pony to ride."
"Okay." Father Mark said.
"Nathan was a little freaked out seeing Allie on Bubbles." Frank said. "Jack suggested getting her a pony. Nathan wasn't thrilled with that idea as he felt it was too much, but later admitted that he would feel more comfortable with her on a smaller horse since she is only going to be four."
"That makes a lot of sense." Gran said, coming over. "All you kids started on a pony and then moved up when you were seven or eight."
"I remember my pony." Father Mark said.
"What was your pony called?" Elizabeth asked.
"It was a cute little Appaloosa that he called Spot." Gran said. "James had specifically gotten that horse for him and we were sad when it passed."
"How long did you have it?" Elizabeth asked.
"James got it for him as a seven year old when Father Mark was three." Gran said. "Spot passed when he was about sixteen."
"Sounds about right." Father Mark said. "I had Case by that point."
"Neat." Elizabeth said. "I am sure that Jack will be arranging for ponies as soon as he learns that we are expecting."
"Probably." Father Mark teased.
Father Mark and Jack looked at horses until they narrowed it down to two quarter horses ponies. Father Mark wasn't sure if Jack was going to get both, but figured he would. Jack sent inquiries about both horses. Once they had chosen the horses, they moved over to the piano, playing and bantering back and forth until the Averys and Caitlin arrived. Then it was helping to get things ready for supper.
… … … …
Nathan left the hospital and sat outside for a moment. He was overwhelmed with knowing that he could lose his sister. He said a quick prayer before taking a deep breath and heading out. He had things that he needed to get and wanted to get to the apartment to settle in. Nathan stopped and got some wood so he could make both Cassie and Allie's birth presents. He was going to carve cows and horses for Cassie. Nathan was planning to carve some ducks and rabbits for Allie to add to her collection of animals. Allie already had cows, horses and a dog. After getting the wood, Nathan stopped for some food. He got stuff for later and something to eat at the moment. Once he had everything he headed back to the apartment. Nathan was glad for the cart that he could use to take everything. He got everything loaded and headed up in the elevator. Nathan stood outside the door and took a deep breath before thumbing the lock.
"Afternoon." Nathan said, as he came in and saw Doug and Lee sitting watching TV.
"Welcome back." Doug said.
"How is your sister?" Lee asked.
"Thank you." Nathan said. "And Colleen is holding her own for now."
"That is great." Lee said. "You have the big bedroom at the end of the hallway on the left."
"Thank you." Nathan said. "I need to get unpacked and do some laundry."
"Laundry is the double doors on the same side as your bedroom door in the hallway." Lee said.
"Thank you." Nathan said.
"Do you want anything or need anything?" Doug asked.
"I am good right now." Nathan said. "I just need to process things and start to get sorted. It has been a long week."
"Let us know." Doug said. "We are here just watching TV. We were planning to order pizza for supper in about an hour. We will come check with you."
"Thank you." Nathan said. "I did pick up a few things, but that might work."
"I will come talk to you before we order." Lee said.
"Thank you." Nathan said.
Nathan put his food in the kitchen, made a large glass of ice water and took his stuff to his room. He unloaded the cart and took it back to the hallway. Once he had done that, Nathan worked on gathering his laundry and realized that he had at least two loads, so started one and set about unpacking things in his room. As he looked around, he realized he was in the master suite. He felt bad because he knew that Doug or Lee deserved it more, but let him have it when plans changed.
After about twenty minutes of unpacking, Nathan sat on his bed and let out a huge sigh. He was tired and frustrated. He was worried about his sister and niece. He was also thinking about Kayla. She didn't know that he had money, well had money now. Nathan had earned more over the summer with Jack than he had in the previous six months and that didn't even include the other benefits, this was cash in the bank. Nathan wasn't sure how to talk to Kayla about the money. He knew that she had an idea of who Jack was, but Nathan wasn't sure how much was public about Jack's wealth. He was worried about her feeling out of place. He wanted Doug and Lee to like Kayla, but he wasn't even sure how to talk about her at the moment. His head was spinning again with everything going on.
As Nathan sat there, his phone beeped and he saw it was a text from Trish. She was letting him know that she had no problem keeping Allie that night and they would touch base in the morning. Nathan sent a text back thanking Trish and said he would talk in the morning. As much as Nathan wanted to see Allie, he needed to take the night to settle in. Nathan took another deep breath and went back to unpacking.
… … … …