Love isn't always enough A Jordan Knight/ Joey McIntyre fanfic

Chapter 74: I'm here

The plane landed, Joey and the guys grabbed their bags, threw them in the trunk and told the driver Mass General. Joe looked exhausted; he had bags under his eyes, his eyes were puffy from crying, and he had a five o'clock shadow.

The only thing he knew was he had to get to his wife, he had to see her, touch her, to know she was here. 

When they arrived at the hospital, they were taken to a back entrance, and there was security waiting on them. They took them through the hospital to the waiting room where their family was. 

Some members had gone home, but most remained. They looked at the guys as they walked in, and Joe looked at everyone.

"Where is she? How is she? Where is her doctor?" 

"Joe, she is in the trauma ICU; the doctors were told you had landed and were on your way. They will be here to speak to you. She is alive, but she sustained a lot of injuries. They operated on her brain to allow it to swell; they have left it open. The doctor said once the swelling goes down, they will take her back in and close it."

"What do you mean they left her brain open?"

"Exactly that she is laid on her side with a wound pack, and the side of her skull was removed to allow the brain to swell, and once the swelling goes down, they will replace the part they removed and close it."  

Just then, a team of doctors entered the room, "Mr. McIntyre," Joey stood up.

"I am her husband, Joseph McIntyre; how is my wife?"

"I am Dr. White, I worked on your wife yesterday when she was admitted into the hospital. This is Dr. Bryson he is her neurologist; he operated on your wife yesterday, this is Dr. Adams, and he is the orthopedic surgeon that will operate on your wife's broken bones, and this is Dr. Sliger; he is a general surgeon; he operated on your wife yesterday as well to remove her spleen."

"Okay, nice to meet you all, but once again, how is my wife?"

"She is alive, but she has not regained consciousness since the accident; she suffered trauma to her brain, and we had to open her skull to remove a portion to allow her brain to swell, and then once the swelling goes down, we will replace that portion and close her skull. We aren't sure as of now as to the severity of her injuries until she wakes up. With her skull being open, we are currently keeping her sedated to ensure she doesn't wake up until we have closed her skull."

"How long will that take?"

"We aren't sure as of right now. She suffered a traumatic brain injury; it could be four days, it could be a week, and it could be a month. We are trying to let the brain heal, and then we will take her off of the sedation to see if she wakes up."

"So, you are saying she may never wake up?"

"I'm saying we don't know the extent of the injury until we stop the sedation. As of an hour ago, her brain was still swelling."

Joe looked at his family and friends and then at Jordan, "What are we going to do if she doesn't wake up, Jordan?" 

"Stephanie is a strong, resilient woman, she is going to make it through this. She has to make it through this for her kids. She just needs time to let her body heal, you have all of us who will be with you to help you and her through this."

"When your wife was admitted into the hospital, she was critical. We started assessing her injuries, and since we spoke to her mother yesterday, we have a full list." Dr. White stated.

"She had six broken ribs, her leg was broken in three places, her collar bone was broken, her arm was fractured, and she also fractured her neck. We are going to repair her leg with a metal plate and screws when she is able to be operated on, probably later this week; her collar bone has been reset, we put a cast on her arm, and we have wrapped her abdomen for her broken ribs. I placed a brace on her neck to keep it still for the fracture," Dr. Adams stated.