Shattered Hearts

Chapter Four

The ambulance ride was relatively quick thankfully. Rain's foot tapped anxiously on the floor, her eyes never leaving the white face of her husband who was out cold on the gurney. The paramedic was checking on him, keeping an eye on his pulse and heart rate, as they inserted a cannula into his vein before he looked across at her.

"Try not to worry ma'am. His stats are looking good and we're nearly at the hospital. As soon as we're there he'll be well taken care of."

She managed a small smile but otherwise kept her gaze on Bret, praying silently that he would open his eyes, sit up and say he was fine. By the time they reached the hospital he was semi-conscious, groaning and talking nonsense. The paramedic inserted a tube connected to a painkiller and smiled at Rain reassuringly.

"It's good that he's conscious," he said. She nodded, looking at Bret's dazed expression. His eyes darted round but didn't seem to fix on anything in particular. He seemed confused by his surroundings. She reached across and took his hand.

"It's ok, Bret. We're in an ambulance heading for the hospital. You got hurt in the ring."

He looked at her briefly in an unfocused way but then yanked his hand away, turning his face away from her. Swallowing hard, Rain fought back tears and the paramedic gave her a sympathetic look.

"Concussion can cause confusion, ma'am. The docs will be able to tell us more when we get there. Here, look, we're just pulling into the bay now."

Rain followed as Bret was wheeled through the hospital, searching her pocket for her phone and sighing with relief when she found it. Once Bret was safely in a side ward and with the doctor, she stepped out and called Owen, asking if he could let his parents know what had happened and ask them to keep Eva for her until she was home. She couldn't quite face that conversation with her in laws, though she fully expected at least one of them would arrive at the hospital within an hour. She heard shouting from the ward and flinched, glancing through the door to see Bret half standing with two nurses trying to placate him and then one of them gave him a shot which she assumed to be a sedative as he immediately calmed and lay back down. The doctor came out and wiped a handkerchief over his face.

"Are you Mrs Hart?" he asked.

"Yes sir I am. Is he going to be ok?"

"Mr Hart has suffered a concussion after the blow to the head during his match. We're going to keep him in for observation tonight but then release him into your care tomorrow. His stats are all fine which is a good sign, but he is confused at the moment. We'll see how he goes on when the sedation wears off but we could be looking at post concussion here, which means symptoms may last longer. I could be wrong but that was some blow he took judging by the account from the paramedic team."

"Yes sir it was," she agreed, grimly.

"Now, I want you to go home Mrs Hart. There is nothing you can do for him tonight and he will need you over the next few days or even weeks. Try to get some rest tonight if you can."

"Can I say bye?" she asked. The doctor nodded.

"He's pretty out of it at the moment but by all means." Rain thanked him and then headed into the room. Bret was asleep after the sedation, but he looked more peaceful than he had in the ambulance. Tears pricked her eyes; he looked vulnerable under the sheet in the hospital bed. Leaning down she kissed his cheek tenderly.

"I love you Bret, I love you so much and I am so sorry this has happened. Please be ok sweetheart. Please."

She headed out and her phone rang in her pocket.

"Rain? I'm just down in the waiting room sweetheart." It was Stu. Breathing a sigh of relief, Rain headed down to meet him. She explained that Bret was hopefully going to be ok but was being kept in overnight and was now asleep. Stu nodded grimly. "I'd like to get my hands on that asshole Goldberg."