“Sure.” He says quietly.
Molly drops into the seat next to me. I’m not sure I can handle her fragile state. “Harry?” I ask, my voice hoarse.
She nods. “I called him. He’s on his way.” She sniffs. “He flies in tonight.”
“Good, that’s…that’s good.” She reaches out and winds her fingers through mine. I let her hold my hand, though it brings me no comfort.
After an hour a nurse comes and tells us that Lilly’s being taken for surgery, they won’t say what for because we’re not family. Fuck, I hate hospitals. I hate all this shit.
So I wait anxiously. I wait to find out whether the love of my life, my heart, will live or die.
“Hey.” Hugo sits quietly with me. “You know she’ll pull through this. It’s Lilly. That girl fights like no-one I know. It would take a god damn force of nature to keep her down.” I say nothing. God, why is this taking so long?
A few hours later, I’ve sent Hugo home with Molly. George waits with me, casting nervous glances my way. I check my watch. It’s been six hours since she went into surgery.
“Where is she?!” I look up into the furious eyes of Lilly’s brother. He’s towering over me, his body tense, his eyes filled with angry tears.
George jumps up, stepping on front of him. “She’s in surgery.” He says quietly.
“What happened?” His voice breaks, fear and devastation over taking him. I can’t talk to him. I can’t face him right now. My own fear is tearing me apart. George takes Harry to sit by the window. They talk quietly. I ignore them. I don’t even say hello to Harry.
It’s hours later when an older man in a white coat steps into the waiting room. “Mr. Parker?” Harry leaps out of his chair. I follow him.
“I’m her brother.” He says.
The guy nods. “I’m Dr. Davies. I operated on Lilly.” He clears his throat. “Your sister suffered some very serious injuries.” His face is serious and drawn. “She lost a lot of blood, and went into cardiac arrest. We managed to resuscitate her, and give her a blood transfusion before stabilising her for surgery.” She died. Lilly died. My heart clenches hard, stealing my breath as tears sting my eyes. Fuck. I fight it, determined to hear everything the doctor has to say. She may have died, but she came back. “The left hand side of her body has sustained several injuries, I suspect that this was where the impact came from. She has broken her wrist, her collar bone and some ribs. She’s also suffered a minor fracture to her skull, and has swelling on her brain. Her left femur is fractured, and her ankle was shattered. Our orthopaedic surgeon was able to pin it together, but she will need several more surgeries on it. We haven’t done too much with the other breaks, because honestly, these are the least of her problems right now.” Is he fucking serious? “The swelling on her brain is a concern. There’s no telling what kind of damage has occurred. For now, we just have to sedate her, and allow her body to heal. We’ll know more in a week or two. She also suffered a punctured lung from one of her broken ribs, and some internal bleeding. I operated to repair her damaged organs, but we’ll know how effective that’s been in the next forty eight hours. She’s in Intensive Care, we’re keeping her in a coma for now.” Lilly’s in a coma. She’s not dead though. At this stage, I can only be grateful for that.
“When can I see her?” Harry asks in a barely audible voice.
The doctor smiles sympathetically. “You can see her now, but not for long. I’ll show you the way.” We follow behind him. I don’t know what to expect, so when he leads us to Lilly’s room, my knee’s almost give out.
Harry turns around and walks back out. “I need a minute.” He gasps. George goes with him. I don’t blame them. Lilly is hooked up to so many tubes. She has IV’s in both arms, her head is bandaged, and her leg and arm are both in a cast. She looks like a broken doll.
I take a seat in the chair next to the bed. My chest hurts. I touch her fingers, avoiding the IV in her hand. I can’t help the tears that run freely down my face. This should never have happened to her.
“I’m sorry, Lilly.” I whisper to her still form. My only response is the steady beeping and whirring of the machinery which is breathing for her. “Hang in there for me, sugar.” I squeeze her fingers. I guess some small part of me thinks it will be like a film, you know where the person miraculously wakes up against all odds. This is reality though, and she doesn’t.
Harry comes back in, his eyes bloodshot from crying. George lingers in the doorway.