I tried to think hard, but nothing came to me so I shrugged my shoulders.
“It’ll come back to you,” Kane murmured.
I nodded my head and tried to sit up a little, but I yelped when pain shot up through my leg. I pulled the blankets off my lower half and stared down at the royal blue cast that covered my mid-thigh down to my ankle of my right leg.
What the hell?
Kane gripped my hand. “Your knee and shin bone were broken. You’ll have to wear the cast for eight weeks until the damage repairs itself.”
I blinked.
What the fuck happened to me?
I examined the rest of my body for any other signs of injury, and my eyes zeroed in on the white bandage that was wrapped around my left arm from my elbow to my wrist. I stared at it then looked up at Kane.
He frowned. “Second degree burns. You’ll need a skin graft.”
Fucking. Hell.
I checked out the rest of my body but saw nothing else, so I looked at Kane.
“You have a black eye, and a swollen jaw, but that’s it. Everything else is okay.”
I slowly nodded my head.
“Are you in pain?”
Surprisingly no.
It hurt when I tried to talk, but other than that I was okay.
I shook my head.
“Good,” Kane said. “Pain meds and some fluids are in the IV drip. They’ve had you on it since you came in last night. You’ve been here for sixteen hours now.”
I’ve been here for sixteen hours?
“Are you okay?” Kane asked me.
I instantly shook my head.
I didn’t know what happened to me, or why I was so busted up. It made me feel like a stranger in my own body. I didn’t like it.
I looked down to my hands and stared hard at them. I tried so hard to think about what happened to me. I could remember going to school for detention. I had one kid to look after. One kid. My classroom. On our own.
One second things were misty and dark, and the next images flooded my mind.
Philip.
Fire.
Smoke.
Caleb.
My baby.
I widened my eyes to the point of pain. “Baby,” I rasped then fell into a fit of coughing.
“Easy, darling,” Kane soothed and got me some water to drink. “Small sips, swallowing will hurt.”
I whimpered in pain when I swallowed the little bit of water I had in my mouth. It felt like lava was sliding down my throat.
“There you go,” he murmured and continued to rub his hand up and down my good arm.
I blinked my eyes and lifted my arms, though it was difficult because my body felt so tired. I pressed my hands on my stomach and was relieved to feel it was still huge and hard.
I looked at Kane, my eyes wild.
“He is okay, he is still in there.”
The relief that flooded me almost caused me to throw up.
I began to cry and it upset Kane.
“Babydoll,” he breathed. “You’re both okay, I swear.”
I shook my head.
“The baby is okay. The doctors don’t know if there was any damage because of the smoke inhalation, but as far as they can tell, everything looks okay.”
My tears were fast and furious then.
What if the baby had brain damage because of the smoke cutting off my oxygen?
All sorts of horrors flooded my mind, and terror filled me completely. I couldn’t hear Kane speak. I realised why, it’s because I was wailing.
“Baby!” Kane pleaded. “He is okay, I promise, he is okay.”
“What if... brain... damage?”
“Don’t think like that,” Kane hissed. “You think positive thoughts. He is okay!”
I reached up and gripped my throat when the pain struck it.
I closed my mouth as hot tears spilled from my eyes and onto my cheeks. The pain... God, the pain. I had never felt anything like it in my entire life. It was like someone was slowly running a saw over my throat.
“I’ll get the nurse,” Kane said and jumped up off the bed. He ran out into the hall and called for help. “She’s awake and in pain. Please, hurry.”
I blinked my eyes a couple of times, and when I focused, two nurses were next to me.
“Aideen, can you hear me clearly?” the first nurse asked. “Don’t reply verbally, just nod for yes, and shake your head for no. Do you understand?”
I nodded my head.
“Good. Is your hearing okay? Does it sound like you’re in a tunnel?”
I shook my head. My hearing was fine.
“What about your chest, does it hurt when you breathe?”
I tested it out and took a deep breath, which only resulted in coughing. I quickly pointed to my throat, which was the only pain I could feel.