Silver Opportunity

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sometime during the night, I had fallen asleep next to Leo, his hand still in mine. I was shaken awake by Hannah, who came bearing coffee and breakfast. I stretched and looked down at Leo. He still hadn't moved. It was a bit disheartening until I remembered he was in a medically induced coma.

I took the iced coffee from Hannah as she went to wake Molly up, who was on the other side of him. I peeked in the breakfast bag and pulled out a muffin. In the whirlwind of yesterday's events, I hadn't eaten dinner and was starving.

"Kendall wants me to bring you two back to the farm," Hannah explained as the three of us ate. "I know you guys want to stay here, but you need to sleep, and you need to do something that will keep your mind occupied. She'll stay here with him."

Neither Molly nor I had the energy or drive to argue. We just nodded and continued eating.

After the two of us said good-bye to Leo, we headed out to Hannah's truck and went home. We were both exhausted, so we headed to my room and fell promptly asleep.

-

I woke up at noon, but Molly was still out like a light. I decided to get up and go see Titan. As I walked to the barn, a million thoughts were running through my head. But as soon as I was with T, the thoughts stopped. It was just him and I.

I didn't even bother tacking him up. I tied his lead rope to his halter as makeshift reins and hopped on bareback. At first, I just walked him around the property, but once we got to the cross country field, I let him go. We galloped across the field, letting our emotions loose.

I trusted T to not buck, to just run and run and run. I didn't cry, I didn't think. I just rode.

I don't know how long T and I galloped around. But by the end, we were both drenched in sweat and panting heavily. I had to cool him out for a long time before hosing him down. After I squeegeed him, my phone began to ring.

"Hello?" I asked, picking T's lead rope up and leading him outside.

"Emily," a voice on the other side gasped. "It's Kendall, the twin's mom."

I instantly perked up. "Yes, hi Kendall," I began, walking a bit faster. "What's going on?"

"They were able to get him an MRI," she explained, pausing before she continued. "It's not looking great."

"What does that mean?"

By this point, Titan was rolling in his pasture, and I just stood by the fence watching him.

"There's a lot of damage, bad damage, to his occipital lobe. We don't know exactly how it'll affect him yet, as he's not conscious yet, but Doctor Kelley's expecting some vision issues."

I took a minute to process the information. Leo's hurt, really hurt. I know he'll never be the same again, but the only thing I can do is support him.

"So what's next?" I asked, making my way back to the house.

"He's going to be woken up tonight, please come if you'd like," she explained. "Then we'll know the extent of the damage and the doctors will be able to put us on the right road to recovery."

"I'll be there, and I'll bring Molly," I said instantly. "What time should we be there?"

-

"So, he'll begin slowly regaining consciousness, but please keep your voices low and no lights or electronics," the nurse explained as she messed with some of the equipment attached to Leo. Kendall, Molly, Hannah, and I were all sitting in silence around him in his pitch black room. They were taking every precaution to make sure he was as comfortable as possible - no loud noises, no lights, sunglasses on as extra protection.

Before long, Leo was regaining consciousness. We were alerted by a slight change in his heart and respiratory rates, and a soft moan escaped his lips.

Molly and I were holding hands, waiting for what would happen next.

"Leo?" Kendall asked softly. Leo replied incoherently. "Hey bud, it's Mom. Molly, Emily, and Hannah are here."

"What happened?" he mumbled, barely moving.

"Leo, you were in an accident," Molly explained after a moment. "Vegas stumbled and you hit your head, bad."

He reached his hand out towards me and Molly, feeling around the bed until he found my hand.

"Hi," I squeaked, choking back my emotions. "It's me."

He turned his head slightly, looking for me. "Em? Where?"

"I'm right here with you," I said as I squeezed his hand.

"Mom? Molly?" he dropped my hand, feeling around more. "Where are you? I can't see you."

He was starting to get frantic, but I could tell he was also in pain.

"Leo, calm down, we're here," Kendall said, taking his other hand. Hannah slipped out of the room to get a nurse for help.

"I can't see you, I can't see," he was freaking out at this point. Finally, a nurse rushed in and was able to give him a mild sedative to calm him.

Doctor Kelly came in soon after and was able to explain the entire situation to him. "Now, you appear to have some extensive vision limitations at the moment. What we don't know is if it'll fully clear up, or clear up at all."

"So I'll be blind," he slurred. "Forever."

"Permanent blindness is not out of the picture, but it's also not guaranteed. All we can do is wait and se- Wait and find out."

Kendall shot Dr. Kelly the dirtiest look ever after almost unintentionally making a comment about vision, so he cleared his throat and excused himself before he could do any more damage.

"Can I be alone?" is all Leo asked.