Child Without a Voice.

Chapter Eight

"Bring her on through, Doctor Hopkins. I'll take a look at her, see if I can get a good idea on the extent of her injuries."

Zachary then opened up the door to one of the available emergency rooms, to allow Sadie to be pushed through. Once inside the room, Zachary closed the door again behind them. From what was more or less a simple enough, quiet day in surgery; to the first serious emergency in the past week. Doctor Claudio and the others could tell this was going to be a difficult one, to say the least. Even more so, with a young child involved in such tragic circumstances. Time was of the essence, as the four doctors began to piece together young Sadie's overall condition. Though all could tell, it didn't look at all promising, by a long shot.

The evidently alarmed expressions on the faces of the doctors, only became more fearful upon realizing the true extent of the little girl's injuries. Her name was not yet known to them, as her father was simply in too much of a panic to think at all, when he'd first brought her in. She still hadn't woken either, which could only serve to further worry the doctors. None of them could say for sure what her initial reaction would be, upon first discovering where she currently was. With a young child at such risk, the chances of her pulling through this were little to none. But the doctors were more than determined, to put in their best efforts. For her sake, if nothing else. They couldn't lose her now; not at such a young age, with so much still ahead of her...

Back in the emergency room where Sadie was being treated, all was not going quite so smoothly as the doctors had originally first hoped. The young girl was losing blood at an alarming rate, and yet more visible bruises, scars and other injuries had been found on her rapidly weakening body. Doctor Claudio's mind was racing a mile a minute, as he mapped out the major internal organs; as well as the key arteries, responsible for blood supply. In spite of all the odds currently being against him; Zachary still had hope that he would be able to save little Sadie, using whatever credible means necessary. If the heart had failed her, he was prepared to restart it. If there had been a shut down in the brain, he felt he could surely get the oxygen flowing to it again. There were two other doctors also assisting with the difficult surgery, increasingly worried looks on the faces of them both.

"There has to be more we can do, we just have to keep trying! We can't lose her!"

Looking down at the young girl still sleeping; all who were currently present in that ominous room, wanted nothing more than to believe, that she was going to be able to pull through this utter tragedy.

"We need to get these wounds closed up, as soon as possible."

Spoke one of the female doctors, as she gave Doctor Claudio a quick glance. By this point, some parts of the young girl's clothes had been cut away. A slightly off-white tray was already to hand, which held an array of varying sized needles and surgical thread. Not one of the two female doctors dared look up, as they performed their work; for fear of becoming distracted. The only thing to light the dim, darkened room, where the bright, white lights that shone down onto little Sadie's fragile-looking body. Things were now surely looking bleak for her at this point, to say the very least.

The following few hours ticked on by so slowly for poor Damian; back within the stone cold, grey, foreboding confines of the hospital waiting room. To him, none of this seemed at all real. None of what was taking place, seemed to be fully or even partially registering with him. It was almost as if his very mind, wasn't wanting to think about what had taken place tonight. To think of it as some sort of horrific, malicious nightmare was just so much easier for him at this point. He had never been one to truly believe that this sort of thing could ever happen, to someone like him though. It just didn't seem logical, nor fair for one so young and full of promise, as Sadie. She had her whole life ahead of her, years of wonderful, life-changing accomplishments. Ones that would no doubt have made her father, one of the proudest people alive. But none of that was in his own tired, aging hands anymore. Nothing he could do or say in this moment, would have any baring on what would become of his daughter. Her very life, hung in the balance... All that could happen for her now, was the doctors doing their absolute best to give her life again. Anything they could do, they were trying; in the hopes that it could make even the slightest difference to her current state.

Damian's scarlet, bloodshot eyes struggled helplessly against the increasing urge to fall asleep. He had to know whether his daughter was going to make it, he just had to. With little to no information, being provided to him by the doctors, poor Damian was truly at a loss as to just what to think. All sorts of erratic, unhinged thoughts were playing on repeat, in his mind; making him imagine the worst. He had been trying his best to simply ground himself, but so far, to no avail. No matter what he tried, Damian simply couldn't shake the overpowering, ominous feeling that this whole, harrowing situation was far from being over. All he could do, however, was sit and wait for the inevitable news, whether good or bad, to be delivered. To him, this was almost the hardest part. Crystal clear visions of the moment Sadie was knocked down, kept replaying in his head, over and over. He just couldn't shake the overbearing feeling of dread, that consumed his entire being.

It was then, that he finally heard the all too familiar sound of a squeaking door, opening up. All was quiet for a few agonizing, heart-stopping moments. Damian dared not make a move, besides lifting his head slightly; to acknowledge that he had seen the doctor appear, in the doorway. A blank, yet somehow also solemn look, had made itself apparent on Doctor Claudio's weary-looking face. For a couple of minutes or so, the man didn't speak a word and nor did Damian. The two of them simply stared at one another; Zachary standing and Damian sitting on a hard, plastic chair of dark grey. One of many, which adorned the ominous waiting room of the hospital. Eventually, after what seemed like an age, Doctor Claudio silently closed the emergency room door behind himself, and slowly started to make his way over to where Damian sat. Damian counted each step the doctor took towards him, each one feeling like it was leading to almost certain doom. His heartbeat was racing hard, a million thoughts running through his mind at once.. Damian struggled to keep his composure – as he almost didn't want to hear, whatever it was that Doctor Claudio was about to reveal to him. Yet at the same time, the pain of not knowing anything, was almost too much for Damian to bear...