Forget Me Not

Chapter Two

There are no words a person feels when someone is hurt. Someone who is loved and cared for. A parent, a partner, a sibling, a friend. The feeling is still the same and there are no words. Your heart seems to disappear or sink. Your stomach turns. It's a sickening feeling. And your head is endlessly thinking. Why? When? Who did this? Why did this happen? How were they feeling? Are they scared? Are they alright???

Arthur took Victoria in his car, not wanting her to get the bus or to handle this alone. Nancy reassured Victoria that Aurora would be fed in the Miller house and if needed, could sleep over in Daisy's twin bed. It was reassurance but did not help the thoughts that stung Victoria's every second. Arthur didn't say anything to comfort her, he was preoccupied with his own thoughts.

Arthur parked the car up quickly and the pair of them dashed into the A&E desk.

"I'm Victoria Carter... I got a call saying my husband Nathan Carter is here. He was in an accident."

"Yes, he's in the surgical wing, second floor." Victoria and Arthur ran to the lifts before the receptionist could say anything else. The lift clunked up to the second floor. There were another desk, another waiting room and corridors leading off to other places. Victoria and Arthur went to the desk which was manned by several nurses.

"My husband Nathan Carter is here, I want to see a doctor."

"You're his wife?" A nurse said, glancing at a woman in dark blue scrubs and a white doctor's coat. The woman had her black hair up in a ponytail and she came over.

"You are Victoria Carter?"

"Yes. Is my husband okay?"

"He's in surgery currently. Take a seat in the waiting room and I'll get the overseeing doctor to come to talk to you."

"Thank you." Victoria was shaking as she and Arthur took a seat.

"Do you want a cup of tea, Vick? You're so pale..." Arthur too was paler than usual underneath his freckles. As Victoria scanned his face, her vision went blurry as her tears fell down her cheeks. Arthur took Victoria's hand tightly within his own.

"Mrs Carter?" Another doctor was there, also in dark blue scrubs. His black hair was partially obscured by a purple surgical cap. He looked quite young to be a doctor.

"You're the doctor?" Arthur asked.

"Yes. I'm Dr Smithson. I'm the neurosurgeon working on your husband."

"What's wrong with him?" Victoria asked in a whisper.

"Mr Carter had several broken ribs on his left side, a dislocated elbow and a severe head injury. Fortunately, no major organs were damaged, and the elbow and ribs are being fixed as we speak. He did lose a lot of blood so he's had to have some transfusions."

"His head injury?" Victoria whispered.

"This was the worst bit, unfortunately. Mr Carter had some swelling. We had to remove some of his skull to deal with this and he'll have to go back to surgery. However, he's been kept under observation."

"My God..." Victoria started to cry again.

"Can we see him?" Arthur asked.

"Of course. Come with me."

They followed the doctor down one of the corridors. This corridor was filled with rooms of patients. They moved past the doors that were closed and open and to rooms that were meant for severely ill patients. It was similar to ICU with glass rooms. Dr Smithson led them into the second room.

The thought of someone you love injured is awful. But seeing the damage is even worse. Nathan's forehead was covered with a thick bandage wrapped around him. He was surrounded by machines with tubes that ran from them to him. A sheet covered his body, hiding him. He was intubated though, a thick tube that was breathing for him and was terrifying to Victoria. His left wrist was bandaged up and his right hand had an IV and a clip on his finger to monitor him. His eyes were closed and the damage on his face was obvious. He had a black eye, bruising and cuts all over his face and a cut lip. His arms were cut as well, stitched up or plastered over.

"God..." Arthur gasped, still with the doctor. Victoria rushed to Nathan's side and clasped his right hand. "Do you have any idea how this happened?"

"I'm afraid not. All we know is he was in a car crash with another person."

"Is the other person okay?" Victoria asked, not taking her eyes off Nathan.

"I'm not able to disclose that information as of yet because his family hasn't arrived yet but he is still in surgery. I'm sure the Police will wish to talk to you. I will come back and look in but if you need anything, please come to get a nurse at the desk to page me." Arthur thanked him and shook the doctor's hand.

Arthur came to sit on the other side of Nathan. He didn't touch him, he just held his own hands together in a clasp. They didn't talk. Victoria would not move from Nathan's side. A nurse checked in often to check Nathan's machines. Victoria held Nathan's hand and kept her eyes on his face.

The Police came in. There were two officers, both male and both similarly middle-aged. The only difference between them was their facial features such as the difference in hair colours and their expressions. One of them (a brunette) looked very sympathetic whereas another (a blond going grey) looked very firm and tried to hold himself as strongly as possible, probably to not allow emotion to get to him and it was this one that Victoria took a liking to. She couldn't stand another person being all sympathetic to her, it would make her cry for sure.

"I'm Officer Jones and this is Officer Harper," The blond said. "We would like to ask some questions about what happened and I'm sure you have questions for us."

"Come in, Officers." Arthur invited, standing up to shake both of their hands. Officer Jones started asking questions. He didn't have a lot. He asked if Nathan was in a rush, did he usually speed, was he prone to getting distracted in the car? Victoria answered honestly to every question. Nathan was a safe driver, especially when he was in the car with other people. There was no reason as to why Nathan would have been speeding or been on his phone. Apart from that voicemail. But it wasn't an emergency... What if Nathan had crashed because he had been listening to the voicemail???

"Okay well, I presume you would like to know what happened, to the best of our knowledge." Arthur nodded in response.

"Of course."

"As far as we are aware, Mr Carter was waiting at a traffic light. When the light was green for his side of cars, he drove but was hit by a speeding car coming from his left side. As a result, all his left side was hit hence the severity of his injuries. We do have witnesses agreeing to Mr Carter being in the right during this crash but we had to ask questions for the record. When Mr Carter wakes up-"

"IF Nathan wakes up..." Victoria whispered, holding Nathan's hand gently.

"Don't think like that, Vicky... He will wake up." Arthur said, softly.

"When Mr Carter wakes up, we will have to ask him questions as well." Officer Jones continued.

"And the other guy? Any news on him?" Arthur asked. Officer Jones and Officer Harper exchanged a glance.

"Is he dead?" Victoria asked.

"No... He's survived. He will pay for what has happened, of course. But he isn't out of the woods yet according to the doctors. His injuries were less so than Mr Carter's but he is still hurt."

"Good," Victoria muttered.

"I please beg of you to not do anything rash. Because of the gentleman's previous history, he will under watch."

"Previous history?" Arthur asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes. Thank you for your time, Mrs Carter." They left and Victoria put a hand on her bump.

"God, give me strength," Arthur muttered, darkly.

"I need to let Nancy know how he's doing." Victoria murmured.

"She can wait for a little while. She'll know no news is good news." Arthur said.

The pair waited but there was no change. None. Victoria fell asleep, her head resting on Nathan's bed. She didn't know how much time had passed when she felt someone moving her. She couldn't panic, she was so tired... Crying, carrying a child, caring for a child exhausted her. She was placed somewhere else and went back to sleep.