“What are they operating on?” Hankasked.
“Broken arm. Cracked pelvis. Broken ribs. The orthopedic surgeon will be out to give you an update soon. She got damn lucky one of her ribs didn’t puncture a lung. What the hell happenedtoher?”
“Her boyfriend,” Hank said through clenchedteeth.
“I can’t understand why these women don’t just walk away.” The nurse sighed heavily. “I know a lot of them have no one else, but there are women’s shelters, domestic violenceprograms.”
“My guess is that they’ve been too beat down psychologically and don’t know how to leave the life they know,”Hanksaid.
“I guess. All I know is that the day a man hits me is the day I leave. No second chances. No man should ever hit a woman,” thenursesaid.
“Agreed,”Hanksaid.
“The OR waiting room’s just down the hall. Can I get you two anything? Have you eaten?” sheasked.
“Nothing since a quick breakfast,”Carolsaid.
“I’ll bring you some sandwiches. We have a bunch in the fridge for patients, but I’ve given them to family too. You can’t get caught up in all the damn rules all the time. These administrators… anyway, I’llbeback.”
Hank held Carol’s hand as they moved toward the waiting room. The small room contained several couches, a table with multiple chairs, and a huge flat screen TV. He chose the couch farthest from the TV and sat. He pulled Carol into his lap and held hertightly.
“I can’t stand not knowing what’s going on in there,”Carolsaid.
“I know. Trust me, if I could bust into that OR to get an update, Iwould.”
“Sorry about the husband thing. That lady at the front desk had such a bitchy vibe. I didn’t want her to find an excuse to keepyouout.”
“I don’t mind,” he said. “I kind of liked the soundofit.”
“You did?” She leaned back and lookedathim.
“I did.” More than he wanted to admit right now, especially in a hospital waiting room. Now wasn’t the time or the place to tell her how he really felt. There would be time for that later, he was sureofit.
Minutes turned into hours. Hank picked at the crumbs in the now-empty sandwich wrappers. He could have eaten another three, but didn’t want to bother the nurse. She’d already been generousenough.
The door opened and a doctor wearing a long white coat enteredtheroom.
“Are you Victoria Fuller’s family?” heasked.
“Yes.” Carol sat up and brushed her hair out ofhereyes.
“She’s suffering from several different injuries. We set her arm and wrapped her ribs. Her pelvis had several hairline fractures. We removed a few shattered bone fragments laparoscopically, but fortunately, she didn’t need more invasive surgery. That said, the injury to her pelvis is going to take a long timetoheal.”
“Will she be okay?” Carolasked.
“She will. It will take time though,” thedoctorsaid.
For the first time in hours, Hank relaxed slightly. The news wasn’t good, but it could have been a lotworse.
“She has a concussion and will need to stay in the hospital for several days, but she’llrecover.”
“Thank you so much.” Carol jumped up to give the doctor a hug. He patted her backawkwardly.
“There’s another matter I need to discuss with you,” the doctor said when Carol finallyreleasedhim.
“What?” Hankasked.
“Your mom is a drug addict,” thedoctorsaid.
