Night shift - Completed

Chapter 71

Dave's POV

Calum's head was down as we headed for the reception desk. Jack was still with Poppy waiting for any signs and updating us. He had been a massive help without even realising. Just as I was heading towards the receptionist, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me aside, wrapping their arm around me in a hug. It was Jack.

"It's good to see you man." He said happily as he pulled away from me and looked over at Calum who was still admiring the floor. I lowered my voice so Calum couldn't hear as I pressed for more information.

"How is she?" I asked carefully. Jack looked between me and Calum before he shook his head.

"She's not good. Alive but not good. The knife had cut a hole in her stomach, they had to close that up and stitch it up which seemed fine but she crashed again in recovery. They found a small bleed from one of the arteries and it was causing her to shut down. They rushed her back in about an hour ago and I haven't heard anything since. I'm freaking out. I can't do this any more, sitting here all helpless just waiting for them to come and smile or shake their head at me." I closed my eyes as I took a weary breath in and out. Calum slowly sidled up beside us.

"Hey Jack." He said, his voice hoarse and low. It sounded strained as if he was holding back emotion.

"Hi Cal. I hope you're holding up okay, man, I know this sucks but she's a strong lady." Jack tried to offer some words of encouragement as he patted Calum's shoulder. "I hope you don't mind but I really need a coffee. I haven't moved off that chair for hours..." He was quick to speed off, making sure we had no chance of responding. I could sense eyes on us as we stood in the waiting room so I flagged down a nurse and pulled her to one side.

"Sorry to trouble you." I said, flashing my badge at her. "I'm here with Calum Hood, wanting to see his girlfriend Poppy Knight but I've noticed we've been recognised by some people and I was wondering if there was anywhere private we could sit and wait while she is in surgery?" I rambled off. "Obviously it's imperative that this story is kept quiet and the more attention we get, the quicker the story is going to spread." I added for dramatic effect. The nurse quickly spoke to another more senior member of staff who was quick to give us a room. Within a minute we were sat in a private room, the door shut behind us with the blind pulled down.

"Why hasn't anyone updated us yet?" Calum questioned, this time staring out of the window at the outside world, watching everyone else go about their lives whilst we were stuck in here hoping to hear about one of ours. I took a seat on the chair before I answered, cupping my hands in my lap.

"We haven't asked anyone to update us. I just said we were here to see her." I stated obviously, knowing he wouldn't be paying attention to any long winded answers I tried to make.

"You'd think they'd tell you how long you'd be waiting at least. If she's in surgery for another eight hours I think they'd know." Calum snapped as he continued to watch people make their way around without cares in the world- at least not like the ones we were dealing with right now. A knock on the door drew us both out of our thoughts as a tall man made his way into the room.

"Can I help you?" I huffed, blocking his view of Calum.

"Calum Hood?" He questioned, trying to look around me. "I don't know if you remember me. I'm Mr Shine. I worked with Poppy through your broken ankle and aided her when she had been bitten?" He listed off. I turned to Calum who was simply watching this man without expression.

"What of it?" He asked blankly, barely giving him the time of day.

"Well I'm working on her case. I trust you would like an update on how she is doing?" Mr Shine took a step forwards and sat on a chair beside the door. "You should probably sit down before I tell you." I made my way back over to my seat and slumped into it. Calum walked over to the bed and perched on the end.

"You can update me all you want but I won't be happy until I see her." Calum stood his ground. Mr Shine shrugged.

"In all honesty, sir, the ease of that depends on whether you mean conscious or unconscious." Calum tensed and stared to get up off the bed when I held him back, knowing that fighting the doctor wasn't going to make anything better.

"How is she?" I asked the obvious question, hoping to take Calum's mind off the annoyance he had for this doctor.

"She's not in a good way at the moment. The next twenty four hours are critical. The knife wound punctured her stomach which we were able to repair but when she was in recovery, she crashed. It turned out there was an internal bleed. We had to take her back into surgery to repair the artery. We're sure it was also caused by that knife wound. She's lost a lot of blood and hasn't been conscious for hours. It's hard to determine what's going to happen until we monitor her." Mr shine explained clearly, making sure we took every detail in. Calum didn't quite know what to do with himself as he heard the news. He wanted to pace, but he wanted to lay down. He wanted to fight but also wanted peace. He was at war with himself over what happened. 

"When will she be out of surgery?" Calum finally spoke, his eyes on the doctor as if monitoring his every piece of body language. He looked at the clock on the wall and then at his fobwatch.

"Five minutes at maximum. We had started clearing up when I came to see you." Mr Shine smiled as he stood back up. "Please excuse me but I must get back. She'll be coming to this room so just sit tight." He rushed out without a second glance and left the two of us stunned and speechless. Who knew what we were about to see but any moment now Poppy was going to be wheeled in here. We heard the rattling of trolley wheels and both looked towards the doorway. The door swung open, bashing against the wall but then remaining open as the bed was wheeled into the room. My stomach tightened at what I saw. I couldn't even begin to imagine how Calum had been feeling at that moment. Poppy was there, unconscious on the bed with tubes going in and out of most places in her body. The team set up the drips and fluids, set up her automatic blood pressure checks and then left the room. Left us to try and take in the sight before us. She weirdly looked peaceful, like she was just sleeping, yet we all knew that wasn't the case. I made my way over to Calum and threw an arm around his shoulders for comfort as he stared at Poppy.

"Cal?" I pressed but he remained silent.

"She... I... At least..." he couldn't put a sentence together. He looked devastated. His eyes were almost emotionless now, like he'd already shed every tear he could and now he had none left. "Look what he did to her. She didn't deserve this. That hit was aimed at me." He pulled himself away from me as he rubbed his hands over this face and hair in frustration.

"Calum?" I pressed.

"It's not fair. She had the chance to pass on a message but where's mine? Who can I give a message to so that she hears it whilst she is unconscious? Who gets to hear how much I love her and how much she means to me?" He slammed a fist against the wall as he let out a primal cry. "This is killing me, Dave. Every second of every minute. Why did it have to be her?" He collapsed against the wall and slid down to the floor, bringing his knees up to his chest. "I just want her to know that she means everything to me, that my life had been so different since I'd met her, that she saved me. I wanted her to know that I wanted to ask her to marry me... but now I might not get that chance."