“Doctor… Is she…?”
Chapter 24
The door opened with a softclick, and a tall man with salt-and-pepper hair stepped in with his surgical cap hanging from one hand. His scrubs were creased after the long hours and there were faint shadows beneath his eyes that spoke of too many nights without sleep. He looked like he hadn’t sat down in hours.
“Dr. Gupta,” the resident said softly behind him, by way of introduction.
He gave a tired nod. “My name is Arun. I am the thoracic surgeon overseeing Faolan’s care.”
He glanced around at the small group in the room—Zel, Thane, Jac, Callum, and Cormac—each of them drawn and silent, faces like stone.
“We managed to control the bleeding,” he began, his voice calm but clipped, his cutglass accent now softened by years in the NHS. “It was touch and go for a while, but she’s stable for now.”
No one spoke, but the collective shift in posture was unmistakable, like a building just barely standing after an earthquake.
Dr. Gupta continued, his tone shifting into explanation. “She has what’s called a flail chest. When she fell after the bullet wound, she hit a hard surface, likely concrete or the edge of a table. That impact broke three ribs; two of them fractured in multiple places, creating a section of bone that’s essentially detached from the rest of the rib cage.” He paused, noting the pale tension on Cormac’s face.
“That section moves in the opposite direction when she tries to breathe. Inhale, it sinks. Exhale, it bulges. It’s dangerous as it compromises breathing and can worsen underlying lung damage. We’ve stabilized it using ventilation for now. We decided against fixing the surgically—too risky at this stage—but that may change.”
Thane ran a hand over his jaw. “And the bullet?”
Dr. Gupta nodded solemnly. “The bullet punctured the lung on the same side, which caused air to leak into the chest cavity, collapsing the lung. We inserted a chest drain to remove the air and re-expand it. She’s on a ventilator like I said, and we’ve induced a coma to keep her sedated and minimize pain and respiratory stress.”
“What happens next?” Callum asked, his voice rough.
“We watch her very closely,” Dr. Gupta replied. “There are risks, of course—infection or re-accumulation of air. Scarring. Lung function loss. She’ll be in significant pain when she wakes, even with all the measures we’re taking. We are going to keep her on oxygen for a while. She lost a lot of blood rapidly and her heart stopped for a while, so…” He seemed to hesitate. “We don’t know if her brain was starved of oxygen due to that. We will know more when we try to wake her up.”
“And if she doesn’t…” Zel began.
Dr. Gupta looked directly at him. There was compassion in his eyes, dulled only by exhaustion. “She’s fighting. That’s all I can tell you. For now, she’s alive. But this is a fragile truce with her body, and one we can’t afford to take for granted. We will do what we can.”
“Can we….can we see her?” Thane asked hesitantly.
“She is at high risk for infections, so you will need to use protective gear and keep contact to the minimum. However, you can take turns to see her. Wait until tomorrow, alright? Every extra hour is a blessing.”
He gave a slight nod and turned for the door, a man who has had similar conversations with loved ones one too many times.
In the aftermath, no one spoke.
Cormac sat hunched forward in the stiff plastic chair, one hand covering his eyes, the other curled into a fist against his thigh. His shoulders shook with the effort to contain the sobs, but the sound still broke through. Callum sat beside him, a steady hand on his shoulder, supporting him with his quiet presence.
Jac stood off to the side, dazed, like someone had just struck him with a board and left him swaying on his feet. His lips moved, but no sound came. Thane couldn’t speak, couldn’t even breathe properly. The words from the doctor echoed in his head, looping, crashing.
She could die.
He had only just found her.
And she could be gone.
He was cursed.
Zel stood with his arms crossed, face tight. After a long silence, he said quietly, “We’ll take turns staying. She’s not going to be alone.” He turned to Callum. “Does your dad know?”
Callum nodded faintly. “He was on vacation in Indonesia. He’s already flying back.”
Time passed slowly after that. Every second dragged like it was being pulled through wet sand.
Thane hadn’t moved from the corner of the room. He just stared at the linoleum floor, muscles locked.
