“Get him out of here,” she croaked.
“I got him.” Kennedy looked up and saw Matt, the same look of dread on his face.
She watched his retreating back, as Riley cried trying to put up a fight. Kennedy sat there, staring at the crumpled mess as they tried to free Ryan. She sat there, her mind blank of anything except terror for her husband, and soon she was engulfed by darkness.
Chapter Fourteen
“Wake up, Ken.”
Kennedy groaned as she was shaken awake. “What?” she croaked.
“You need to wake up.”
Kennedy slowly opened her eyes but quickly closed them again as the bright lights sent shards of pain through her skull. “What’s going on?”
“You’re at the hospital.” It was Matt talking.
“Hospital. Riley!” Kennedy sat up too quickly and had to fight the vertigo and nausea that claimed her.
“Riley is fine. Ryan is in surgery.”
“Surgery?” Kennedy cried out as the night’s events rushed back, an overload assault to her mind. “He’s not dead?”
“No.”
She opened her eyes and scrutinized Matt’s face, trying to find any sign of deceit but found none. “What about Senior?”
“He’s in surgery too.”
“I need to see him.”
Kennedy slid out of bed, ignoring Matt who was holding up the stilettos from the night before. She didn’t care about shoes. She stormed out of the room only to get to the hallway and not know which direction she should take.
“Left,” Matt supplied helpfully, and took the lead. As they reached Ryan’s room, a tall man in a white lab coat was just exiting the doorway.
“Doctor, that’s my husband. How is he?”
He took in her hospital gown skeptically and looked to Matt, who nodded.
“You’re Mrs. Carville?”
“Yes,” she said, frustrated and shoved her hospital bracelet under the man’s nose. “What’s wrong with my husband? She peered around him to get a glimpse of Ryan’s body. Some metal sling contraption was hoisting his left leg in the air. “What happened to his leg?”
“He broke it, Mrs. Carville. But it was a clean break of the femur. He’ll be in a cast for about six weeks.”
“Good thing it’s the post-season,” Matt muttered.
Kennedy leveled a menacing glare at him that had him retreating. “Doctor, I remember, last night he said he couldn’t feel his arms or legs.”
“That was due to the shock from the impact. He has a broken leg and collarbone, and he lost a lot of blood, which we already replaced with transfusions. But the more serious concern is that he could have head trauma. He’s unconscious right now.”
“He’s in a coma?” Kennedy’s voice trembled.
“Yes. Right now, we have to wait and hope he wakes up.”
“Hope? Is there nothing else you can do for him?”
“No, I’m sorry.”
• • •
“You should eat something,” Rebecca said.
“No, Mother, I’m fine.” Kennedy watched the rise and fall of Ryan’s chest. It had become her new obsession. She and Riley had finally gotten a change of clothes. She never wanted to see the once-beautiful, now-ruined dress ever again, never wanted to remember that fear and hopelessness she felt when Ryan was trapped in that car. Matt had visited a couple of times, splitting his time between Ryan and Senior’s room. The Rebels had also visited, leaving flowers and fruit baskets behind. She was sick of staring at them, so she gave them away to other patients on the floor.
Now she just watched as Riley slept on top of his father’s chest. Anyone who tried to get him off had to endure screaming and crying. Soon enough the nurses had learned to work around him.
“It’s not healthy for Riley to be here,” Rebecca insisted.
“It’s RJ.” Kennedy barely recognized her voice anymore. They had been there for almost two days now. The transplant couldn’t take place, not with Ryan hurt, unconscious and unable to sign the consent forms. She had been fixated on saving her son, never dreaming anything could happen to Ryan. She had instructed the doctor to put Riley back on the donor list. Unfortunately, he would have to wait until they could find a new match, or until his sister or brother was born. She was getting tired thinking about it. She needed Ryan to wake up and help her deal with it. Kennedy hadn’t realized how much she needed him until that moment. She hadn’t spoken to anyone besides the doctors and Elizabeth, and she was angry at her mother. If only Rebecca hadn’t started that fight with Elizabeth. She would have seen the rig and Ryan wouldn’t have had to push her out of its way, and be hit instead. “His father is here, and he won’t leave him.”