Max nods. “That’s not a problem. I remember her from Lia’s background report. I’ll pull the information and contact her. Is there anything else I can do for either of you?” Before I can answer, the sound of a loud slap fills the room. Both of our heads twist around to see an angry Rose and a swiftly retreating Jake. I grit my teeth, not wanting to deal with any drama.
“Yeah, how about seeing what in the hell’s going on with her and handling it.” Without complaint, Max stands and walks toward Rose. He raises his hand in a wave to Carly who is standing outside the hospital doors now on her phone. She looks curious, having obviously witnessed some of the scene through the clear-glass walls.
Unable to sit still any longer, I start to pace again. I see Sam sitting in the narrow hallway with his eyes closed and his head bowed. I think he’s praying, and for the first time in so long, I have the urge to drop to my knees next to him. A life filled with loss and tragedy had long ago turned me away from asking for miracles. Now I wonder if maybe having Lia come so suddenly into my life was indeed some act of divine intervention. If so, it would be a dagger to the heart to have her pulled from me in such a brutal and sudden fashion. Surely, God wouldn’t be that cruel.
As I make another lap, there’s a hand on my arm. Jerking around, I encounter the worried eyes of my aunt. She leads me past Sam until we have relative privacy. “I shouldn’t be talking to you since you aren’t her family,” she says while looking back over her shoulder.
“I’m her fiancé,” I say quietly. She simply looks at me for a long moment without comment.
“Lia is stable and sedated right now. The trauma team is working on her. It’s going to be a while before the extent of her injuries is known. I…”
Before she can finish, I interrupt her. “Why is she sedated? She’s been unconscious except for a brief time. Was she awake?”
She rubs her temple, as if debating her answer. Finally, she says, “She awoke right after she was brought back. She…asked for you, and then in the next instant became almost hysterical trying to move from the gurney. She had to be sedated before…”
That’s all I hear. I’m down the hallway in an instant pounding on the locked double doors of the emergency entrance. “Open the fucking door,” I snap to the startled receptionist gaping at me from the desk nearby. She hurriedly picks up her phone, just as my shoulders are grasped from behind. I shrug the hold off as my aunt steps between the doors and me.
She shakes her head at the receptionist, possibly trying to reassure her I’m not a lunatic, which is exactly what I am right now. Lia is lying somewhere beyond those metal doors, scared and needing me. All rational thought has left my body and I’m focused only on getting to her. “Luc!” she snaps. “Stop this right now! If you keep this up, you’ll be banned from the hospital and you won’t be able to see Lia. If you cannot think of yourself, then think of that girl who is going to need you.”
As her words hit me like arrows, I allow the hands, which are once again on my shoulders to pull me away. As if expecting me to bolt, Sam and Max take up positions on either side and steer me down the hall and into an empty restroom. My frustration boils over as I brace my hands on the porcelain sink before throwing a fist through the mirror above it. Both Sam and Max are utterly still as I pull my hand back and send it through the now-shattered glass. Shards fly all around me as I prepare to do it again. Strangely enough, the pain searing through my knuckles grounds me, helping me to find an outlet for the torment, which is suffocating me.
Max grabs my fist before it can make contact this time. “Enough, Luc. Fucking get it together before they have you locked up.” When I make no effort to fight his hold, he slowly releases me and slumps against a wall. “What in the hell happened to bring this on?”
My aunt walks into the restroom, followed closely by Sam. I hadn’t even noticed him leave. She curses under her breath as she takes in the mess I’ve made. I’m shocked when she holds my hand up, shaking her head at the steady stream of blood staining the white sink scarlet. With little sympathy for my self-inflicted injuries, she takes a bottle out of a plastic caddy that she brought in with her and liberally douses my shredded skin in something akin to liquid fire. As I flinch and try to pull away, she holds me firmly until she’s satisfied the area is clean.