When Sophie finally checked her notifications from the day when she sat down in the car, she choked on her water she was drinking.
It was a text message from Ro saying, 'Hey. Keefe's finally awake.'
When she made sure she didn't drown herself on her water bottle, she started the car. She ignored the speed limit and just hoped she wouldn't get pulled over.
For once in her life, her wish worked out.
By the time she got to cardiology, she was panting out of breath from running all the way there. Still, she paused when she got to the door.
She pushed through her nerves and opened the door. She sucked in a breath.
Ro looked up at her and gave a wry smile. She glanced back down to Keefe. His eyes were open now, staring blank at the wall.
Sophie sat down beside the bed and took his hand.
"Hey Keefe," she whispered. "How do you feel?"
He never looked away from the spot on the wall. She glanced nervously at Ro.
"He's alright," She assured her. "He's just... not really himself, right now."
Oh, Sophie could imagine. But that didn't explain why he wasn't acknowledging anything around him.
She brushed his hair back from his forehead. That seemed to get his attention. His eyes lazily found hers. He stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes.
After a few seconds, he let out a groan and rolled toward Sophie on his side. Ro leaned forward and rubbed his back.
"The nurse should be back soon," she told him. "He'll have you some pain meds."
"Has he said anything since waking up," Sophie asked.
"A little," Ro told her. "He asked where he was and what happened. Repeated my name a few times. Other than that, he's been silent."
The door opened, and Elwin came through the door, wheeling in a sonogram machine. He went to the IV pole and placed a new bag on it. While he was getting set up, Keefe seemed to calm down and roll back onto his back.
Sophie moved out of the way and joined Ro on the other side of the bed. Elwin helped Keefe pull down his hospital gown for the Echo.
Elwin took the doppler and squeezed the gel on it before taking it to Keefe's chest. Sophie looked at the monitor when an image popped up on the screen.
The heartbeat sounded strange. She couldn't quite point out what it was about it, but she was afraid of the implications of it.
"Is his heart supposed to sound like that?" She finally had to ask.
"Oh, that's just a murmur," Elwin informed. "It's when blood tries to go back out when a valve closes. It's usually harmless." He turned to Ro. "I'm going to assume that he's had that for a while."
"He has," she confirmed.
After a few more minutes, Ro shifted and turned to Sophie. She glanced out the door. Sophie took the hint and followed her outside.
"Ok," Ro sighed. "Don't tell Keefe this yet, but I need to talk to you about something."
"Ok," she said slowly. "What is it?"
Ro leaned against the door. "Well... they already did a catheter when he first got here to temporarily help with his blood flow, but... it's not going to be a permanent solution. His artery is really weak, and it was collapsing in on itself, causing the blockage. They're going to have to do a bypass on him."
It took her a minute to realize what that meant. "They're... going to have surgery on him?"
She nodded. "They want to also try and replace his valve while he's opened up so he doesn't need another one just for that in like, two years. But... I know he's probably not going to take it very well. I just figured I should let you know what's going on. "
"Thank you," Sophie told her. "I'll keep quiet. Do you know when they're planning it for?"
"They're shooting for the end of this week. Probably this Thursday or Friday. They're trying to get it done quickly so the artery doesn't have a chance to close itself off again. The stint will only be able to do so much."
She nodded. "Tell me when, please. I want to be there."
"Of course." Ro wrapped an arm around Sophie and gave her a squeeze. She glanced toward the door. "We should probably head back inside."
Sophie nodded her agreement.
YOU ARE READING
Broken Heart/Broken Mind
Random(Human AU) Sophie and Keefe met in the children's hospital when they were little. Because of how long they were confined to the four walls of the hospital, they became very close during their stay. As the years pass, they wind up being in the same c...
