Belief in Miracles (completed)

Chapter 21: Summer

21 Summer

I held tight to Tom's arm as I watched them work on Sebastian. No one was telling us anything, and I was beside myself with utter fear. Tom stood like a statue in the hallway next to me, the two of us drawing attention from passing nurses and other patients' visiting relatives. His eyes were locked inside the room, his lips moving quick but silent in prayer. He didn't say anything to me, but neither did he move away from my constrictor grip on his elbow.

When the doctor suddenly emerged, I took a step forward, only to leap back as, a second later, Sebastian, bed and all, was wheeled right past us and pushed down the hall by the doctor and two nurses. Standing in a stupefied state of shock, Tom and I watched with wide eyes as we were left completely uninformed for five minutes that felt more like hours. As we were about to follow wherever they'd gone, though, a third nurse approached us.

"Where are they taking him?" I cried out to the woman who was a whole head shorter than me, with fuzzy white hair and a Mrs. Claus smile.

"Come with me, honey." She said, and with a gentle touch to both our arms, led us out of the hallway and down a small corridor to a glass-doored room marked, 'waiting'.

We were the only occupants, and both stood gaping at the woman as she entered and closed the door behind us. Tom was the first to speak, his demeanor slightly better controlled than mine, but still rigid with fear.

"What's going on?"

"He's being transferred to the ICU."

"Why? What happened?" I blurted, and she offered me a sympathetic smile.

"He needs to have his lungs drained so he can breathe again. They're going to connect him to a drainage tube, and once he's stable again, he'll come back. Just be patient."

"But how long?" Tom asked, and the woman shrugged.

"It could be a few hours, or depending on the density of the drainage, maybe overnight."

Tom pursed his lips and turned away to stare out the windows that made up the entire back wall of the room. The view beyond was of the outer Appalachians, and was admittedly beautiful, but I couldn't focus on it. I could barely focus on anything.

"Why would he just suddenly start hacking like that? He seemed fine. Considering." I said, and the nurse shrugged around a little, sympathetic frown.

"It could have been anything, hon. Mr. Crawford's been slowly drowning in his own blood. It could have been the position he was in, or too deep a breath that sloshed it around... anything."

"But... he'll be okay after they drain it. Won't he?"

"With lots of love and prayers, anything is possible." She patted my arm gently, gave Tom and I a sad smile, then stepped out.

I stared at the closed door long after she had left, turning only when I heard the sigh of a chair and saw Tom sitting with his head in his hands. He was completely silent, and I didn't know if that meant he was praying, crying, or if he just needed a minute to gather his thoughts. Maybe all three. Wrapping my arms around myself, I moved to the row of chairs across from him and sat gingerly on the edge.

"He'll be okay." Tom said suddenly, his eyes on the floor. "I have faith."

I nodded slowly as I leaned back and crossed one knee over the other, my attention focused out the window, but looking at nothing in particular. "I love him." I said softly, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Tom look at me.

"Already?"

I nodded. "I think from the first moment I met him."

He huffed, and I turned to see him looking at his hands. "Yeah... Bas has that effect on people." His eyes raised to me again. "You haven't... you know? Course it's none of my business..."