I choked on my water. “What. No!” I struggled to get out. “That’s my future brother-in-law. I’m engaged to his brother!”
Summer rolled her eyes. “Whatever, you’re crazy. If I wasn’t just getting out of a relationship, I would have taken my shot. You think he’s down for some rebound sex?” She wagged her brows, causing me to frown at her.
“I’m sure he’s not. That’s not why he stayed in town anyway.”
She shrugged. “Can’t blame me for trying.”
Small droplets fell on my face, causing me to look up.
“Shit,” I muttered.
“I hoped we beat the rain!” Summer hopped up.
The two of us stood and gathered our things quickly. I needed to grab something to eat before I headed to the hospital.
____
When I made it to the hospital, neither of Rome’s parents were there. According to the nurses they hadn’t been there all day, which was great for me. The two of them made it hard for everyone around them when they were here. They were always throwing demands at hospital staff and micromanaging the care plans the doctor put in place, not to mention they never included me in anything. I was sure the doctors and nurses were able to breathe better when they weren’t around.
Unfortunately, I was informed Rome had spiked a fever last night and the doctors had to administer medication for the infection that had sprung.
“Ah, Ms. Moon, it’s nice to see you,” Dr. Brown said when he stepped into the room. He paused and looked around. His eyes focused on the bathroom.
I snickered. “It’s just me here.”
He cleared his throat and his shoulders visibly relaxed. “I don’t know what you mean.” He stepped closer to the bed. I grinned but didn’t call him out. Dr. Brown was the head doctor on Rome’s case. He was the head of neurological surgery and the Thorntons did an extensive background check on him to make sure he was “qualified enough” to be over their son’s care.
“Have you spoken to the Thorntons today?” he asked, walking to the monitors in the room and checking them.
I shook my head. “No. Is something wrong?”
He paused, and just as he was about to answer, the door opened and a nurse walked in. “Dr. Brown, the scans are back.” She walked to the doctor and handed him the tablet.
He read them and his brows furrowed. “This wasn’t expected.”
Panic shot through me and I stood up, releasing the grip on Rome’s hand. “What’s wrong?”
“We need to prepare Mr. Thornton for surgery. Call down to tell them to get a room prepared,” Dr. Brown commanded. “Page for Dr. Robinson to come in here as well.”
My heart slammed against my chest and knots built in my stomach. “Wait… surgery, what’s wrong?”
“We need to do an emergency removal of Mr. Thornton’s spleen.”
“His spleen!” My eyes widened.
He nodded. “It has become enlarged and is more than likely the cause of his fever. Dr. Robinson, the surgeon who will be performing the task, will be here shortly to explain more.”
My head was spinning, not expecting Rome to need more surgery. I thought the whole point of the coma was for his body to heal, but it seemed like he was in worse condition than he had been the whole time he’s been in a coma.
There was a knock on the door and another middle-aged, brown-skinned man walked in. “This is Dr. Robinson. Dr. Robinson, this is Mr. Thornton’s fiancée, Ms. Moon.”
“Please call me Nakyra. Can you explain exactly what’s going on?” I asked, nibbling on my bottom lip.
The doctor went over the scans and explained the next steps. Since Marisol and Deacon weren’t here and forms needed to be signed I went ahead and signed them. I was anxious, not knowing what to expect following this operation. Hopefully it would stop the sicknesses Rome continued to have and he would wake up. I knew it would still be a long road to go even if he didwake up right now. There was no telling what damage had been done to his mental state or spine. I was praying for the best.
____
While Rome was in surgery I decided to finish up my final couple of pages of my children’s book. He had been under for going on two hours now. I went to the vending machine on this floor, grabbed chips and a water, came back into his room, turned my aids off, and got lost in my illustrations. It was the only thing I could do to ease my mind. I had been texting Creed to keep him updated. His responses had been slow, but I made sure he still knew about his brother since I was sure his parents weren’t telling him anything.
