“If you press that green button there, they will.”
I did so, the double doors slowly opening.
“Just around this corner, we’re stopping at the room on the right,” he explained.
“Okay, thanks.”
In a few strides we were there, and I gave one last gentle squeeze of Dan’s arm before he was ushered away. A moment later, the orderly returned.
“It shouldn’t take long. I’ll be back in a few so I can take him back to the ER.”
“Thanks.”
And then he was gone, and I was blissfully alone in the corridor.
My back thumped against the stark-white wall, and I scooted down it till my backside met the floor. Tension worked its way along my body, seeming to touch every limb, every nerve ending on its journey.
My head fell forwards between my bent knees, and I focussed on breathing.
Between the rush of adrenalin travelling through the floodwater, the mindfuck of memories and emotions Nick had dragged to the surface, and my absolute fear for the man I loved, I was drained. Spent.
And then there was Craig.
A new wave of worry seeped into me.
Perhaps he’d just hit his wall. I expected everyone in the emergency services, regardless of role or position, was running on fumes. Yet here I was, wallowing in my own misfortune and anxiety.
I fought my reprimand aside, more than aware it was pointless and didn’t serve any purpose.
I reminded myself again to breathe, right along me telling myself it was okay to react and have emotions.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled steadily before exhaling on five, needing to recentre myself. It meant I could then step up and make sure I was there for Dan, and of course, my brother too.
“We doing all right here?”
The voice took me by surprise. I jerked my head up to see the still smiling orderly.
“Yeah. Is he done?”
For a few beats, his focus remained on me before he glanced away, his attention moving to a set of lights I hadn’t noticed. “Looks like it. I’ll just double-check.”
I stayed sitting on the floor, not ready to move until I knew Dan was ready. The double doors opening had me quickly standing, however.
On the bed, still and pale, Dan was only a shadow of the man I’d spent Sunday with. My heart stuttered in concern. While I knew concussions could be serious and knocked people about, I was sure they were super common and didn’t usually require MRIs. Nor did they make people look like they were anaemic.
Or perhaps I didn’t know shit and was reading too much into everything.
After dotting a gentle kiss on Dan’s forehead, I returned to the room and simply waited, and waited some more.
Dan slept, with someone checking on him every now and then. The whole time I barely dragged my attention away from his sleeping form.
The sound of his heartbeat became my companion. There were no flashing alarms, no shrill bells, just strong and steady, like how it sounded when I pressed my ear against his chest.
Craig popped in once, bringing me a coffee, before retreating to Nick, but other than that, we remained alone. Me with my thoughts and Dan’s reassuring heartbeat.
