Mysterious

Chapter 46

"I'm not mad..." she said quietly gasping for breath. "But you need to get up...you're really..really..hurting...." she continued.

"Oh! Oh! I'm sorry, baby doll." He lifted his head up off of her chest.

"Where does it hurt?" he asked her.

"Everywhere." she let out a small cry.

"I would change places with you in a heartbeat Arissa. I don't want you to ever feel this way." he told her touching her hair.

"I wouldn't wish this on any person in the world." she told him. "It's the worst thing ever." she explained to him.

A nurse came in the room after knocking on the side of the door. "Mrs. Hernandez, we need to check your vitals."

"Oh. Okay." she said looking at the nurse.

"How are you feeling? Terrible still?" she asked.

"I hurt everywhere..." she told the nurse as the nurse put a blood pressure cuff on her arm.

"The doctor is going to come in to see you in a few minutes. He will tell you all about what needs to be done to get you out of here..." the nurse said in a sooth tone. "But first..take some Tylenol." the nurse handed her a cup of three pills and a bottle of water.

"Ouch." she said swallowing the pills.

"Hmm..." the nurse said.

"What? What's wrong?" Bruno asked touching her.

"Her ribs are just a bit more sensitive than we anticipated." she answered turning around to walk out the door.

"Brun...." he heard her gasp.

"She's not breathing!" Bruno yelled taking her hand jumping up from his chair. "She's not breathing!"

The nurse called for assistance as Bruno stood right next to her.

"We need to intubate her..." the first nurse, who was named Wendy told Bruno.

Another nurse took Bruno by the arm leading him out of the room. "But...but...is she going to be okay? I...Arissa...I..." Bruno was led out of the room in total shock.

"That was all for her?" He heard Phil ask him.

"She was okay...she was talking...she was...oh my..oh my god...she has to be okay...I need her!" he cried.

Phil took Bruno's hand leading him to a packed waiting room. Aside from his sisters and parents, there were countless more people in the same situation as he was. His mother ran over to him hugging him. She was followed by the rest of his family. They held on to him tightly while he cried for Arissa.

"Bruno, she's going to be okay. She's going to get through this. She is a fighter." Presley told him.

"I...I...." he had regained his ability to speak after he found her in the hospital, but after watching them put things down her throat he was speechless. But he was thinking 2 million miles a second. I can't lose her. She can't do this. It's all my fault. She wouldn't have been there. She wasn't feeling good this morning. I told her not to go to work today. I would have made her soup. I want to be there instead of her. Why can't it be me? Why did this happen? This isn't the way its supposed to be. I want Arissa back. I need...

"Brunito?" his mom asked him as he looked around the room at similar groups.

"Mom...I can't do this without her. I need her. I won't be able to...live...without her in my life..." he said feeling the tears coming again. The deep brown in his eyes had been replaced with bright red.

Nearly an hour later Arissa's doctor, Dr. Miller, came out to speak to them.

"Mr. Hernandez...she's stable. You can go visit her on the third floor. But, she will need to stay in the ICU for the next few days...she has broken her ribs in several places causing the pieces of her ribs to be separated from her chest. "

"Will she be okay?" Eric stood behind Bruno asking questions his brother couldn't get out.

"She will be if she can get through the next 48 hours." Dr. Miller told them.