Until I Met You

32: Until I Met You

Chapter 32

My heart beat, which had spiked when the doctor walked into the waiting room, started to slow down to a regular pace as I let out the breath I was holding.

I realized that sometime over the last couple of seconds that my eyes had somehow slipped to the floor in relief before I refocused my gaze on the doctor. Seeing his lips moving, I shook my head quickly to snap myself out of the daze I had slipped into.

“Sorry,” I said apologetically, “What were you saying?”

The doctor, who looked seemingly unimpressed that I had interrupted him, shook his head in what looked like annoyance before starting his explanation over.

“It seems as though the car crash didn’t cause monumental or lasting damage on your mother’s body. The angle at which your mother’s arm was broken cause a bit of swelling to the surrounding muscles and ligaments, but when she in surgery we were able to reduce the swelling and re-break her bone in a position at which it could heal.” he explained, looking down at his notes once more before continuing. “The seatbelt seemed to have had a little more impact than we predicted, as we found a small amount of internal bleeding while she was under, but it was taken care of quickly and efficiently.”

“Finally, the fact that her legs were presumably squished by the impact of the other car was troubling, but we did all we could and it looks promising. She had little mobility of her legs when we examined her and on account of the small procedure we performed, the feeling and muscle control will come back to her slowly over the next couple of days.”

My face must have looked like I had just seen a ghost, but I think I had the excuse behind me. This old balding guy in front of me, who was a stranger to me up until the last five minutes of my life, was telling me that my mom had pretty much been damaged in her car accident, but he was trying to play it off as nothing to worry about in his monotone and uninterested voice.

I tried to stammer out a response; however, the doctor must have recognized my reaction and opened his mouth once more.

“Don’t worry about anything Miss. Hartley. As I said, your mother is going to be just fine.” he said. “She’ll probably be under the influence of the anesthetic we gave her for another hour or so, but after that she should wake up with little to no problems.”

“Can I go see her now then?” I asked as I got antsy. The double doors to the holding rooms were standing in my peripheral vision, and my hands started to fidget as my legs itched to move towards them.

Clicking his pen as he slipped it into his coat pocket, he shook his head, making my heart instantly deflate with disappointment. “She’s being moved to a more stable floor at the moment, but in about ten minutes you should be able to gain access to the room; room 218.”

Nodding in understanding, I uttered a quiet thank you towards the doctor before he retreated back through the doors he had come through, leaving me alone in the waiting room.

At least what I thought was alone…

A hand suddenly appeared on my shoulder, making me jump in shock as I turned around, only to see Olivia and Evan standing there with small and encouraging smiles on their faces.