Page 111 of As Long As You'll Have Me
We’ve been sitting for a couple hours waiting for any kind of news. When Willow walks down the hallway to meet us, we all stand to listen to her.
“He’s going to be okay,” she says, not looking at any of us. Her eyes are locked on the floor but I can hear it in her voice. The breakdown she’s holding back. She takes a moment and pulls the headband off her head and quickly twists her wild curls back into place. She takes a deep breath and finally looks at us.
“He has to have surgery on his right leg to repair the damage from his third-degree burns. His left sustained second-degree burns so they’re bad but don’t require as much intensive care. They’re going to keep him in the ICU since they had to intubate him due to the extensive smoke inhalation. His lungs aren’t strong enough right now to be operated on so they have to give him time so he can regain his strength—” Her voice quakes as she explains before completely cracking. Ivy steps forward and pulls her into an embrace. Safely in her arms, Willow breaks down and starts to cry.
“Such a strong girl,” Ivy whispers in her ear, only causing her to cry harder. The older woman holds her like the mother she lost and lovingly pats her wild curls down. “He’s going to be okay. We’reallgoing to be okay.”
When Miles steps forward and then Coop, the four of the embrace and hold each other close. I use my thumb to wipe my eyes as I stand far enough to give them their space.Miles looks towards me and reaches for my hand. When they interlock, he squeezes mine three times and I return the favor. As he pulls away from his family and steps towards me, he pulls me into a hug. And whispers into my hair.
“Thank you for being here, doc. It means the world to me.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d be than here. Nowhere.” He leans in and presses a kiss to my cheek.
“Family for Carter Jensen,” a new voice calls out. Miles and his family turn to look at the doctor standing a few feet away holding a clipboard.
“This is his family, Doctor Roberts,” Willow says, pointing at Ivy and Miles before crossing her arms and moving to stand next to Cooper.
Ivy takes Willow’s hand into hers. “We’re all a family here.” She and Willow pass a somber look between them before looking back at the doctor.
“Carter is stable now and his heart sounds strong. We did have to intubate him to help his lungs recover from the smoke he inhaled, but it shouldn’t be for more than a few days. When his lungs become stable, he’ll have surgery to help with repairing the damage his leg sustained. He’s going to need some pretty intense rehabilitation and skin grafts and may want to consider plastics down the line for cosmetic purposes, but he’s going to be okay.”
A collective sigh releases around the room. I hug Miles close to my body as it sets in how this could have been him. What if he had been the one to have gotten trapped? What if he hadn’t been able to get Carter out in time? A million ‘what if’s’ swirl around in my mind as I listen to the doctor talk.
“If you give us another thirty minutes, you should beable to go up to his room. Only one person at a time and you’ll have to wear a gown, mask, and gloves when you visit with him. A nurse can show you how to do that.”
“Don’t worry, we have our own in-house nurse right here,” Coop says proudly, resting a hand on his sister’s shoulders.
The doctor sighs, almost embarrassed. “That’s right, I’m sorry, Willow, it’s been a long night. Of course you can show your family how to go into the room but please, only one person at a time.”
“Of course.” She nods at the doctor and we all watch him walk down the hallway again.
“You all can head back to the station. Let the chief know that Carter is going to be alright and that I’ll call him with more details when the sun is finally up,” Miles instructs the couple of firemen from his company who have been waiting with us.
“Y’all need anything?” one of them asks, standing from his chair.
“No, we’ll be okay. Thank you, Trev.” The two men shake hands and then pull one another into an embrace, slapping the other on the back while they do. Pulling away, Trev looks at the rest of us with a kind smile before turning to face the other people with him. After they wave, they head down the hallway heading for the exit.
“I guess we wait a little longer,” Ivy says, her voice tired but strong. She sinks herself into a chair and tips her head back so it’s resting on the wall behind her. Coop settles into the chair beside her and rests a supportive hand on her knee.
“I’m going to go check in with my team and make sure they don’t need me for anything. I’ll page the charge nurse on the burn unit and ask her to let me know when Carter isready for visitors. I’ll text you when you all can come up,” Willow says, glancing between Miles, Ivy, and Cooper. Her eyes linger on Miles for a beat longer and I wonder if she’s thinking about what she said to him when we first arrived. An awkward tension grows between them until she turns on her heels and heads for the elevators.
Miles moves to take the seat on the other side of Ivy when I reach for his hand to stop him. When he looks at me, his lips pull back in the corners and I can see the exhaustion settling in behind his eyes. Part of me worries that his nightmares will flare again now that this has happened. If they do, I’ll be there to support him through them just like I did before.
“I’m going to go make a phone call,” I say softly. Looking at Ivy, I can tell she’s half asleep and Cooper isn’t far behind her. It’s almost four in the morning at this point and it’s looking like no one will get any more sleep tonight.
“Everything okay?” he asks, eyebrows pressed together.
I smile up at him and press up on my toes to give him a reassuring kiss. “Everything is fine, promise. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay, we’ll be here.” He gives my hand a little shake before dropping it.
I walk down the hallway and turn the corner, trying to find a quiet, private spot to talk on the phone. Once I find it, I slip my phone out and hit send. It rings a few times before the groggy voice of my father comes through on the other end of it.
“Hanna? Is everything okay?” His voice is steeped with concern which makes sense seeing as how I don’t think I’ve ever called him at four in the morning in my life.
“Uhh, it will be, with time. I’m okay, Miles is okay, but—” I swallow hard and bite down on my lip. The adrenalineof the night is starting to wear off and all of the emotions from tonight’s events are starting to hit me like the king tides hit downtown Charleston, flooding my body with wave after wave of raw emotion.
“There was an accident,” I start to explain. “Miles’s brother, Carter, is in the hospital.”
