home.”
“She won’t be leaving today. He’ll want to watch for blood infections,” the nurse said.
“I’ll be fine. I want to go home and sleep in my own bed,” Erin said, now turning her attention to the nurse. “You can just pull this thing out and then I can be on my way.”
“I don’t see that happening, but ultimately that’s up to the doctor,” the nurse said. At least Erin’s anger was now focused on the nurse and not Brackish. He could be happy for small miracles.
“Are we ready to go?” Dr. Bowers asked as he stepped back into the room. “We need to get her into the OR now. I want to get this out of you,” he said, first talking to the nurse and then to Erin.
“Yes, we’re ready.”
Brackish moved to Erin’s bedside and grabbed her hand, squeezing her fingers. “I’ll be waiting in the lobby for you to finish. I’m not going anywhere,” he told her. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes filled with tears. Brackish felt helpless when they wheeled Erin away, out of the room and toward the OR.
The next two hours were hell on Brackish’s life. He wore a hole in the floor as he paced back and forth waiting and waiting to get some good news about Erin. He knew it hadn’t looked like much of an injury, but he was also aware that the slightest thing could cause unexpected results.
Brackish didn’t take a full breath until he saw Dr. Bowers walk through the OR doors and look across the people until their eyes met. He was wearing a smile. It was all over and it was fine. Brackish waited for the doctor to tell him how it had gone.
Brackish met the doctor halfway. “You can take a deep breath,” Dr. Bowers said as Brackish stood before him with his lips clamped together. “The surgery went really well. She did lose a lot of blood, but we replaced it. Her leg is going to be sore for a couple of weeks, but she can put some weight on it starting tomorrow if she uses a crutch. If she’s careful there won’t be any infections. You did everything right and got her here quickly. Great job.”
“I haven’t been that scared in a while. Thank you for what you did,” Brackish said.
“There’s no thanks needed, I’m just doing my job. There’s nothing I like more than a satisfactory ending,” Dr. Bowers said. “She’s one lucky woman, a few millimeters to the left and she would’ve severed her femoral artery. I’m glad that didn’t happen as she could’ve lost her leg in the least, but that didn’t happen so don’t get that panicked look in your eyes again.”
Brackish let out a chuckle. “I might need to chill a bit,” he admitted, and held out his hand. “My mother taught me manners, so thank you again,” Brackish finished. The doctor laughed and shook his hand.
“You have a good mom. Now, I don’t want her leaving tonight, but you’re more than welcome to stay with her. That might make her more comfortable,” Dr. Bowers told him.
“That’s a good idea,” Brackish said, in no way telling him that would be the last thing she’d want at the moment.
“Follow me then,” Bowers said and walked with him to the nurse’s station. Dr. Bowers spoke to the nurse and then left.
The nurse turned to him. “We’ll have her room ready in just a few minutes and get her moved. She’ll be on the sixth floor in room six thirty-two. You can go get something to eat or drink if you’d like. The cafeteria is on the second floor.”
By the time Brackish made it up to her room, she was tucked in, her IVs dripping, and the monitors beeping. All of her stats were good, and she was sound asleep. It was only nine in the evening, but he was exhausted. He moved over to the built-in couch, grabbed a thin blanket and curled up. He quickly fell asleep.
Brackish had a rude awakening as a pillow slammed into his face. He quickly sat up, his body tense and on alert as he looked around the room. Where was he? What was happening? His eyes locked in on Erin, and it all came back to him. It was dark outside, and his internal clock told him it was somewhere right before dawn.
“What are you doing here?” Erin asked.
Brackish was fully awake now. “I didn’t want to leave,” he said.
She sighed as she looked