A New Beginning

Chapter 9

Shiloh –

"DDDDi... ahhhhh!" That was it. That was the moment that anything I had left inside of me shattered completly and I fell to the floor on my knees and just cried in anguish for the loss of my soul mate. I feel Dr. Yuri come down with me when he says, "No, no, no, no, Shiloh I am so sorry. He's not dead. We managed to revive him. Oh lord I am so sorry you didn't let me finish."

I can feel my grandmother come up behind me as she rubs both of her hands up and down my back. "Sweetheart please, come sit back down and please try to remain as calm as you can. I know it is hard but I do not want to have to worry about your health as well." The doctor helps me up and back into the chair and then goes to his phone and requests for his assistant to bring in something for us to drink.

I put my head in the palm of my hands and just bend down into my lap and just keep on falling apart. I need to see him. I just need to see him so badly and the doctor seems to pick up on this as he says, "I need to explain his injuries before I let you see him." I look back up at him just as a nurse comes in with a tray of bottles of water and what looks like a little tiny cup.

"First, I need you to take a mild sedative. Shiloh I need you to stay as calm as you can. I know this is a lot I am asking from you but there are some decisions that need to be made and you are the only one authorized to make them.  This will help."

I look to my grandmother who nods her head in acceptance so I take the cup from the nurse and swallow the tiny pill down with a bottle of water. We take a few minutes, I guess, just to let me settle down and let the sedative take hold but I know that nothing will truly calm me until I lay my eyes on Orion.

"Dr. Yuri, you said that there are some decisions I need to make in regards to Orion's care." "Yes but first I need to go over his injuries and the treatment we administered so far." At this point, Gran takes her seat and brings it right next to mine. She sits down and takes my face in her hands and says, "Whatever we have to deal with, we will do it together. Let's just get him well okay!" 

I nuzzle the side of my face into her palm in an effort to get some comfort from her.  My amazing grandmother, who knows that even though this man has broken something inside me, takes me in hand to reassure me that she will be there no matter what. 

"Okay, let's start with the more basic injuries. For obvious reasons, almost eighty percent of Orion's body is covered in either cuts of varying degrees and bruises. He received these just from being jostled around inside of the car upon impact and then the fall."

I try to imagine the sheer physical perfection that is Orion. Every inch of him is covered in muscle and not a single blemish on his perfectly smooth tan skin. Now I can't even imagine what his body looks like. Even though the tears start to slowly fall again, I do remain calm so I can only surmise that this pill is starting to work its magic.

"Let's move on to the more severe injuries Orion has sustained. Both of his legs are broken as well as his right arm. They are all clean breaks so I am confident those will heal with little to no issues in the future for him."

I am starting to breath heavy again as I try to picture my husband in a set of casts all looking very painful and uncomfortable. My Gran has her arm around my shoulders and is doing everything in her power to keep me calm.  She must have felt me begin to shake.

Dr. Yuri, who had been pacing in front of me, sits back down in front of me to deliver the rest of Orion's prognosis and this just cannot be good. "Orion also has four broken ribs on the right side of his body and they are also clean breaks but with all of this, that is not what brought him to my unit."

I whisper out my question not really wanting to know what could possibly be much worse than what Orion has already gone through. "Why is he here?" I ask.  "Orion suffered a severe head injury. What I'm going to say next will be disturbing for you but please try to endure okay?" I nod my head slowly in affirmation.

The doctor sighs deeply and says, "Orion went through the front windshield of the car and a decent size chuck of the glass became embedded into the left side of his head. Emergency surgery had to be performed in order to remove it but there may be some damage to his brain. The skull was reconstructed but we had to shave his head entirely. He has about two hundred stitches starting at the top of his left eyebrow wrapping around his head to end on his right ear."

At this point I have closed my eyes because I just can't imagine him like this. All I see in front of me is a curtain of tears. I can hear Gran crying as well. I do my best to carry on regardless of my impending meltdown as I need to know what else could be wrong with my husband.

I give the doctor a look that says just keep going. "Until he wakes up, we have no clue what kind of damage his head and brain may have permanently endured. Right now he is on a coma with no definitive time frame of how long he will be like this. The only thing I can tell you is that the best thing for him right now is being in this coma. The body has a tendency to heal faster when it is at rest."

"Dr. Yuri it seems like a lot was done very quickly to my husband in the short few hours since he arrived." "Hours? No Shiloh, your husband has been here for almost a week!"