He followed her through the emergency room doors and down one of the vast hallways. The air was heavy with the smell of disinfectant and the noise level seemed deafening to him after the relative peace of the waiting room. When they approached a set of double doors with a sign reading, “Trauma 4,” Julie told him to wait while she went in and cleared his visit. He tried to control the shaking in his limbs as he braced to see what awaited him on the other side of the doors. Julie finally opened a door and motioned him inside. A nurse stood at the head of the bed checking an IV monitor. He was dimly aware of Julie promising her that they would be gone in two minutes. She touched Declan on the arm and told him she would be right outside and that he didn’t have long before they would take her to surgery.
His beautiful Ellie lay in the bed, very pale and still against the white sheets. One side of her face was filled with a long, red angry looking road rash. The sheet hid the rest of her injuries. She looked so peaceful lying there almost as if she were just sleeping and had not been involved in a serious accident. He approached the bed and took her hand gingerly, afraid to do anything to cause her further pain. He had no idea if she could hear him. “Ellie, baby, I’m here.” He used his other hand to gently push the hair back from her face, tenderly stroking her uninjured cheek. “I’m so sorry, baby, so damn sorry.”
When he leaned down to kiss her, he was shocked to see her eyes twitch before opening just the barest slit. Her lips trembled, but no sound emerged from them. He knew his time was almost up. He put his lips against her ear whispering, “I love you, Ellie. Please don’t leave me.” He could have sworn that her finger pressed against his hand for just a brief moment, but he wasn’t sure if he had just imagined it because he wanted so badly to believe that she had heard him.
Julie came back in, her eyes gentle with understanding. “We’ve got to go. They’re coming in for her now. I promise, I’ll let you know everything that’s going on.” He gave Ella one last soft kiss and backed away from her bed just as two nurses came into the room and started preparations to roll the bed down the hall. He followed Julie out feeling like his heart was being ripped from his chest.
What he walked into in the waiting room made him wish that he had stayed in the hallway. Ella’s parents and sister had arrived and, from the looks of things, they had offended everyone there in the short time he was gone. Nick’s face was flushed and Beth was holding onto his arm, speaking quietly in his ear. Gray appeared to be holding Suzy back bodily and even Ava looked like she was seconds from attack mode. Walking up to Mac, he asked, “What the hell’s going on?”
Mac grimaced, “If those are gonna be your in-laws at some point, you should probably go ahead and bail now. No one would blame you. The mother is a real piece of work. She came barging in with the father and girl trailing behind her. Instead of asking how her daughter is doing, she starts attacking Beth and even throws in an insult about God punishing Ella because she’s friends with an unwed mother. Beth took it better than most would but her sister and Nick are about to go ape shit. I hate to throw this on you now, but you probably need to do something quick before this gets worse.”
“Fuck,” Declan muttered under his breath. This kind of drama was the last thing he needed, but he owed it to Ella to take care of this for her. She would be horrified about her mother hurting her best friend. If he could deflect some of the anger onto himself and save a riot, then that’s what he had to do. Stepping forward, he had a strong urge to tuck his tail and run when Ella’s family zeroed in on him. “Mr. and Mrs. Webber. I’m glad you are here.” Shit, he actually got that out with a straight face. “I know you’re worried about Ella. They just took her back to surgery and my friend, Julie,” he looked around, but Julie had apparently taken one look at the situation and decided to bail, “Well, she is a nurse here and she has promised to keep us all updated.”
“Who put you in charge of my daughter’s affairs?” her mother snapped. Waving her hands around to include everyone, “If it weren’t for all of you people, this would have never happened to Ella. She would be safely at home right now instead of in some hospital.”
Ella’s father and sister had been quiet through the exchange up until that point. Her father stepped forward and laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Dot, this is not the place.”
Crystal stepped up beside her father saying, “I agree with Daddy. This isn’t doing Ella any good. We don’t even know what happened.”
Her mother huffed, “I don’t care to know what happened from these people.”
“Dorothy, that’s enough!” Everyone in the room jumped a foot as Ella’s father’s voice reverberated off the walls. “Our daughter has been in an accident and her friends are here to support her. If you cannot control yourself, then please go home. I will not have you embarrass Ella any further with these attacks.”