Just a Little Faith (28 page)

****

Entering the emergency room
,
he looked for Michael in the crowd.
Seeing the dark headed man
sitting in a seat
a
long the far wall
, his hands covering his face,
he hurried toward him. “Michael, what do you know?”

Face haggard
,
and eyes dark with worry
, Michael
looked up. “We don't know too much
right now
.
Apparently,
while
driving down Park S
treet
to
com
e to the game
,
a guy ran the red light at the intersection and
T
-boned her on the driver's side. I've called her parents
,
and
they're
going to get on the next flight they can.”

“Call Tori
,
and tell her to get it all arranged for them. The flight, pickup at the airport everything, I'll
take care of it
. I don't want them to worry about anything.
She can call Jim if she needs to
,
and he'll do whatever he can
,
too
.
In
driving over here
,
I also called Scott
Turner
, our head trainer
for
the Cardinals. He is going to se
e what he can find out and
get back to me as soon as he can. We'll get her through this. I know it.”

“She'll be so glad to know
you're
here
,
Seb. She's missed you.”

Sitting down
in the chair beside Michael
, Seb rested his cane against his chest
. “I know. I had some stuff I had to work through
.
I
also
know I didn't handle
things
the right way.
” He hung his head. “
I called her this afternoon
.
W
e were supposed to meet for coffee tonight.”

Suddenly,
the
realization he could lose
Pax
hit Sebastian full force
. Feeling like his heart would burst out of his chest, h
e put his hands over his face
trying
to get control of himself. “I know she's going to be okay. She just has to.”

Michael's arm came around his shoulder for a quick squeeze.
“We'll pray
you're
right
, Seb
.”

Seb waited rather impatiently for a word from the doctor, tapping his cane nervously against the yellow tinged hospital tile
while
Michael paced around the room, giving Tori the instructions from Seb.

Michael slapped his phone shut, and returned to sit beside Seb. “Tori said she'll call as soon as she's got the travel plans all arranged.
Poor kid
.
S
he's beside herself with worry.”

T
he door to the ER
swung
open
.
Scott
Turner
,
the head trainer
walked through.
“Seb. Come on back with me. I've spoken to the nurses
,
and we have a private waiting area
.
”

Thankful
,
he call
ed
Scott
,
Seb knew h
is presence would make getting information easier. The three
men made their way down the hall.
“Apparently
,
she has several broken bones on her left side, which is understandable considering the impact to that side of the car. She has
,
as far as I know
,
a broken clavicle and possible leg fracture. Their main concern is she sustained some type of head injury even though her air bag deployed. From what the paramedics can assess, the force of the impact caused her head to hit the
driver's side
window
,
and it knocked her unconscious. The doctors won't know the full extent of the injury until they can run some tests.”

Sebastian ran his fingers through his hair.
“Is there a chance we could see her?”

“I'll check
with a nurse
and let you know straightaway.” He
turned
around
once they entered the
private
w
a
iting room.

Sitting down in one of the chairs along the wall, Seb released a shaky breath.
“So, it sounds like
t
he
i
r greatest concern is the head injury. Well,
Michael, we
both know she's hard headed enough she should be fine.”
He tried to make light but his mind rebelled against the possibility of
losing
Pax
.

“
You're
right
,
Seb. She'll wake up in no time and will be asking us why we were so worried.”

Michael's cell phone rang. “Tori, is everything taken care of? Good
.
Close up the office and come down. Once you get to the ER, just tell them
you're
with Scott Turner and Sebastian Quinn. They should bring you to where we are.”

Sitting down, he nudged Seb with his knee. “Tori got her folks on the next plan
e
. It will be about three hours or so before they get here
.
Jim's got a driver
to
pick them up when they land.”

“Thanks
,
Michael. Oh man, I need to call
the Richards. They are old friends of Pax's
parents
who live in the area. They need to be here.”

“Tori took care of that too. She said the
y
are on their way and will house the Taylors as long as they need to stay.”

Nodding in response, Seb closed his eyes
,
leaning his head against the wall waiting for Scott's return.

****

In a short while, Scott appeared in the door of the waiting room.
“
The nurse will let me bring one of you back if you'd like.
Pax is
waiting for a CT scan but they haven't come to get her yet.”

Michael nudged Sebastian. “Go. She would want you there more than anyone.”

With a murmur of thanks, Seb limped behind
Scott to the trauma room.

Sebastian
swallowed hard.
Pax
lay
motionless attached to several machines.
O
n the side of her face
,
a garish green and purple
bruise
had begun
to appear
.
Her
left
arm was bound
in a brace wrapped
to her chest
.
H
er leg encased
in
a
soft cast
.
Her normally vibrant brown hair hung limp on the pillow, the stark white sheets the same color as her skin
.

Seb
jumped at the sound of Scott's voice. “I'll leave you here
,
and try to find out more information.”

Nodding to
Scott
,
Seb
hobbled over to the bed pull
ing over the rolling stool from the wall
so he could sit beside the bed
. Careful to
avoid her injuries, Seb
grasped
her right hand into both of his
,
and bowed
his head. He wanted to be strong, but the feeling of terror overwhelmed him
.
Taking a simple breath required more effort than usual as his heart clutched in fear. Leaning over
farther
, he rested his forehead on their joined hands, tears silently
streaming
down his cheeks.

Jerking upright from t
he curtain
being
thrown back, Seb climbed
off the stool and limped to the far side of the room to get out of the way
of the technicians and a male nurse who entered the room
.

“Mr. Quinn, we're going to be taking her down the hall to have a scan run to try and check for other injuries. It will take a few minutes
,
so
you're
welcome to wait here if you like or go back down the hall to the waiting room. Scott or one of us will find you when we bring her back.”

“Thank you
.
And t
hank you for taking care of her.”

His eyes softened.
“It's our pleasure
,
Mr.
Quinn
. We're going to get her fixed up.”

Seb
's
eyes followed the team as they transferred Pax to the new bed
.
H
e limped to the edge of the curtain to watch as they engineered her bed toward the end of the hall through a double set of doors marked “No Visitors Beyond This Point.”

H
e leaned on the cane and slowly limped back to the waiting area
. Seeing a petite
redheaded
figure crouched in one of the chairs, he smiled
.
“Tori.”

She
jumped up.
“Seb! How is she? She's going to be okay
,
right?”

Holding out his arm, he braced himself for the impact of Tori rushing into his arms. Patting her on the back, he rested his cheek on
her
head.

“They've taken her back
for
a test to make sure she's not hurt anywhere else. We just need a little faith, okay?”

Wiping her tears with the back of her hand, Tori nodded. “You're right
,
Seb. She's going to be okay. I'm sure of it.”

“That's my girl.”

The minutes seemed like hours
while
they waited for Pax to return
to the trauma room
.
A
nurse popped her head in the waiting area
. “You can come back now.”

Making their way down the hall, they entered the room a few seconds before
Scott
re
appeared with
an older man dressed in blue scrubs
.

“Seb, this is Dr. Kohler. He's the
neurologist assigned to
Pax's case. Dr. Kohler this is Sebastian
Quinn, Pax's boyfriend,
Michael Stratford, Pax's boss
and Tori, her co-worker
.
Pax's
parents are on a flight and won't be here for a few hours
,
so please share your news with them.”

“
Well
, we
'
ve checked the results from the CT scan
,
and we don't see any swelling in the cranial cavity
,
and we can't see any signs of an intracranial bleed anywhere. It is our hope over the next few hours Pax will regain consciousness
.
If
,
over the next
twenty-four
hours, she does not, we'll run another CT scan and see if there has been any change in her condition
.
To be on the safe side, we're going to put her up in ICU
for that period
w
h
ere she will be monitored constantly.”

Ignoring the questions posed between Michael, Tori and the doctor, Seb returned to the stool at Pax's side
. His heart pounded in his chest as he smoothed his hand down her cheek desperate for a reaction. “Pax. I know you can hear me
,
sweetie. Open those beautiful eyes for me. Please.”

The
nurse tucked her blanket around her sides. “Mr. Quinn, I need to take her now.”

Refusing to move from her side, the nurse urged him again. “We're going to take good care of her.”

He pressed his lips to her forehead and slipped his hands out
from hers, immediately
miss
ing
the warmth of her touch.

“I love you
,
Pax. Come back to me.”