Love’s Suicide(89)
Author: Jennifer Foor

At first, I had no idea how I’d gotten to the hospital. I remembered being in the pool with B and Brooks.

Then it hit me. The moments played out in my mind, all rushing back at the same time. Danica came in with B in her arms. Walt followed behind her. I could tell that she’d been crying. It was impossible to smile, or even say much, so I accepted her hand when she reached to touch mine. “You had us so worried.”

B was freaking out as she tried to get to me. “B.” My throat felt like I’d eaten sand. “Drink.”

Walt ran out the door and came back in a few seconds later with a nurse. She asked the family to stand back while she checked out my vitals. “I’ll have the doctor come in and examine her and then I’ll be able to get her something to drink. Hang tight, Mrs. Parsons. The doctor’s coming.”

My eyes must have popped out of the back of my head. She’d said my married name. Danica was still fighting with B to stay calm, while I tried to think of reason to explain why I’d lied to their faces.

I could feel tears falling down my face as I silently cried to myself, knowing that I’d let them down again.

The doctor came in, checking my sight, asking me questions, poking at my body, and finally ordering that the nurses get me more comfortable. I was relieved when he did the examination of my feet and I was able to feel both of them as well as my legs. The last thing I remembered was losing feeling in them.

What made me feel even better was when the nurse came in with a cup of ice water and stuck the straw in my mouth. Immediately the dry pain went away, and I opened my mouth and was able to speak. “Thank you.”

“How are you feeling? Do you have any pain in your neck?” The nurse removed the soft collar that was apparently keeping me from moving my head.

“It’s stiff.”

“Good. The x-rays didn’t show any damage.” She started moving the bed to recline my body and when she got to a certain point it became excruciating.

“Ouch! It hurts.”

She took my legs and put a pillow under my knees. “This should help. How’s that feel?”

I noticed the immediate relief. “It’s better.”

“You dislocated your hip and injured the muscles around it. It’s been reset, but the pain is going to last for a while.” She handed me the wand that was hooked to my bed. “This controls the television and a button to call for a nurse. If you need anything or experience any pain at all, just hit it and we’ll be right in.”

As she walked out, I noticed that Danica and Branch had stepped outside of the door. As happy as I was to see their faces, I noticed that B was gone. When I tried to sit up it hurt too much, so I sank down in the bed. Then of course, I had to think of what to say to them. There was only one thing on my mind. “Where’s Brooks?”

“Walt just went to get him. They gave him something to calm him down and it put him to sleep.”

“What happened to him?”

Danica came up to the bed and touched my hand. “I’m not going to ask you anything right now about it, but once you’re out of here I’m going to expect answers. As for Brooks, well let’s just say that when he found out you were gone he thought you were hiding again. He went inside without asking me if I’d seen you.”

“By the time he did ask, that man had already taken you from the house. Brooks hopped in his truck and went after you. He arrived at the scene of the accident before we could catch up. You can imagine how it was for him, seeing the vehicle and the shape it was in. They’d already taken you by ambulance and were still working on your husband.”

I cringed when I heard her call Bobby my husband.

“Brooks rode in the ambulance with Bobby. He’d come to and was threatening you when they were loading him inside of it. The paramedic heard everything, thank the Lord, but it didn’t make what Brooks did okay. Apparently he went at him in transport several times, while Bobby continued threatening you and even B. The paramedic had to keep coming between them.”

“I’ve never seen my son act violently, albeit no one had ever threatened his family before. Once they arrived at the hospital, they subdued Brooks and took Bobby to a room.”

“We arrived a few minutes later when Brooks and the paramedic were telling their story to the police officer doing the report. Luckily, Bobby’s blood alcohol level was well over the limit and you’d been abducted. Taking that into account, and the fact that Brooks is an active duty officer, they weren’t going to look into it any further.”

“I don’t understand why he’d need medicine.”

“Katy, Brooks had a panic attack. He was having chest pains and felt like he couldn’t breathe, just like you used to have. They gave him something to calm down and it made him tired. He’s been in the waiting room sleeping for the past four hours.”

“Is he okay?”

Branch came walking up to the bed. “He will be when he sees that you’re alright.”

“That doctor didn’t even say what was wrong. Why were you so upset earlier?”

“They were worried about swelling on the brain. Apparently if you don’t wake up after a certain amount of time, it’s more likely that you’d have swelling. They told Mom that your head looks clear, aside from having this syndrome that makes you pick the wrong men and run away from your family.”

I rolled my eyes and Branch started laughing. “Very funny.”

He lifted my hand and kissed it. “You had us all scared. Just so you know, we could have taken him down. You didn’t have to leave the house. One scream and we would have kicked his ass.”

I saw Danica standing there and felt so ashamed. “I didn’t want anyone to know about him. I just wanted to forget about him myself.”

“We know what he did to you, Katy. Brooks told us everything. We know that man hit you.”

I started crying, feeling like I was the stupidest person on the planet. “I know you won’t understand, but he used to be my friend. He helped me when I thought I was all alone. He knew how I felt about Brooks and said it didn’t matter, but when I couldn’t love him, he changed.”

Danica came up beside Branch. “Katy, we’ll talk about it later. Right now we need you to recover. Your body is all beaten up and you’re going to be in a lot of pain.”

I saw Branch start backing up away from the bed and I knew he was there before I even saw him. Danica stopped talking and smiled as she backed up as well. Then I saw him, holding B with one arm as they approached the bed. “There she is, bug. Just like you said. Tell Mama hi.”