More Than Just a Memory

Chapter 18

When I woke up, it was freezing cold, and I was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. What is that beeping noise? I went to sit up, but I was hit with a wave of extreme dizziness, which pushed me back against the mattress. I tried turning my head against the pillow, and I realized that I was hooked up to an IV, and the continuous and steady beeping was a heart monitor. My arms were scratched up, and my entire body ached. I tried to remember what I was doing, but I couldn't.

"Mum?"

"Darren?" I saw my son rush over to the bedside. He looked extremely worried; his eyes were bloodshot and there were streaks of dry tears running down his cheeks. He grabbed my hand and held it tightly, and I squeezed back.

"What's the matter, baby?" I asked him.

He sniffled quickly before responding. "You and D-Dad got in a crash. The hospital c-c-called Mrs. Jewel and sh-she drove us here."

Something in his statement struck my memory, and I began to remember what happened. Calum and I had been driving home from Anthony's late at night and a car from the oncoming lane suddenly swerved into ours and hit us nearly headlong. I must have blacked out after that, because I had a large gap of memory space unaccounted for. Wait a second...

"Honey, where's Daddy?" I turned to my son, trying to mask the fear in my voice.

"I don't know, Mrs. Jewel won't tell us," he replied. "Do you want me to go find her?"

"That would be splendiferous." Stay positive. For the kids.

When Darren disappeared, Savannah stepped in behind him to fill his place. Her big brown orbs gazed at me, shining with worry and empathy. I could tell she was racking her brain for the right words to say, but her efforts weren't being met with much success.

"Mum," she squeaked. "You and Daddy are going to be okay. I know it. Don't you worry." She seemed to be saying it more to herself than she was to me, but all the same, my heart practically melted from the sweetness. I wanted to speak up and tell her that I knew that she was right, and that we would all go home soon, but I didn't have the chance before Jewel and Darren came back in the room.

"Darren, you and your sister should go down to the cafeteria and get some breakfast," Jewel said. Darren nodded and took Savannah's hand, leading her out of my hospital room.

"Where is Calum?" I pressed Jewel immediately.

Jewel didn't shy away from confrontation with the truth, but I could tell she didn't want to hit me with the full blow. I began to feel nauseous, and all I wanted was to hear about where my husband was.

"He's in the ICU; when the ambulance arrived at the scene of the crash, you both were unconscious, but Calum had a lot of internal bleeding and one of his lungs had collapsed. The doctors said that you got away with a few cuts and bruises and a concussion, but he took the brunt of the hit."

Yep, I was going to puke. My thoughts started to race, and so did my heart, which caused a nurse to come running in. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Mrs. Hood, I'm going to need you to take some deep breaths with me," the nurse said. She put one hand on my arm and one arm on my shoulder. I tried my best to match my breathing to hers, but it was no use. Calum was somewhere in this forsaken place, barely alive, and I was sitting on this stupid bed, hooked up to all of these stupid wires. All I wanted was to be with him. I wanted him to know that I was there for him, that I wouldn't leave.

Curse all of these freaking wires!

I finally regained control of myself, and when I had collected my thoughts, I looked up at the nurse.

"Ma'am," I asked, making sure to make eye contact with her. "You wouldn't happen to know the state that my husband is in currently, would you?" She nodded, completely understanding what I was trying to ask her. She went over to the clipboard by the wall and Jewel filled in the nurse's abandoned post next to my bedside. I watched with the utmost anxiety as the woman scanned paper after paper. I searched her face carefully to try and read what kind of news I was going to receive, but her poker-face was too strong, which only made my stomach flip even faster. After what seemed like ages, she set the clipboard back down on its little cradle, and walked over to the foot of my bed.

"You're husband underwent emergency pleurodesis surgery when he arrived at the hospital, and he seems to be doing rather well right now," she said. I let out a sigh of relief, even though I had no idea what the hell pseudo-blah-blah was. I still wanted to see him in person, to be in his presence. I cleared my throat and looked at the nurse.

"Can I go and see him?" I asked.

"Well, your symptoms seem to have relaxed and your condition is now stable. Just keep on the medications and you will be fine." She smiled at me and nodded, giving me the greenlight to visit Cal. I first went with Jewel to the cafeteria to pick up the kids, because I thought it would be a good idea to bring them with me so that they could see that Daddy would be alright. The band of us traveled though what seemed like an endless maze of while tile walls until Savannah finally squealed with delight when she stuck her head through a door.

"Mummy, I found him! I found Daddy!" she called out to me.

"That's great, hun!" I lightly pushed Darren into the room in front of me, and when I laid my eyes on my husband, my breath caught in my throat. I shouldn't have brought the kids with me, I thought to myself. He was bruised to say the least. His entire face was black and blue, a clear respirator rested over his mouth, helping him breathe, and large scrapes covered his arms. His chest shuddered with every breath, and there were so many wires and machines crowding around his bedside, it brought tears to my eyes. My hand left Darren's shoulder to cover my mouth, my eyes closed, and my head shook slowly. Pull yourself together for the kids. I opened my eyes and Savannah was tiptoeing up to her father slowly. She gently put her hand on his exposed arm, and when he didn't respond, she turned to look at me. I could see the tears glistening in her eyes and the lump in her throat.

"Is Daddy going to be okay?" Her innocent little voice squeaked out. The truth was that I didn't know. The nurse had told me that he was doing well, but the sight of him was telling me otherwise. The truth was that something inside me told me that he wouldn't be coming back. But I couldn't look at Savannah and Darren and tell them that. So, I replied,

"Of course baby. The doctors are gonna take good care of him."

Savannah nodded, and one tear squeezed itself onto her cheek. Darren stood staring at his father, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. His eyes were wide open and I could read that he could barely stand to look at Calum. I had to send them home; it was too much for them to handle. I stepped out into the hallway for a moment to call Jewel, but after the first ring I heard a shriek come from Calum's room. I dropped my phone on the floor and ran back into the room. Savannah was collapsed on the floor and Darren was huddled over her. I looked at my husband to see what the fuss was about and my stomach churned in fear. The rise and fall of his chest was at an inhuman speed and the beeping coming from his EKG was through the roof. I watched the monitor screen and the spikes were all over the place. All of a sudden, he flatlined. My heart dropped to my feet, and I sprinted into the hallway. "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!" I screamed. I grabbed the nearest nurse and pulled her into Calum's room behind me. She yanked the defibrillator off of the wall and I ushered the kids out into the hallway. I pulled them close to me and the three of us stood in a hug together as I listened to the nurse call, "Clear!" and the thud of Calum's body as it reacted to the electric shocks that attempted to revive him.

He's gone...

***a/n: hey guys! I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in so long, and I hope that I never make you all wait that long for an update again! This book is starting to get a lot of attention and I wanted to thank all of you for getting me there! I didn't really think that this book would be going anywhere, but I guess you all think it's alright.

I hope you all liked this chapter and let me know what you thought by commenting and voting! Stay beautiful and keep rockin. Liv xoxo***