Moving On (Rolling Thunder #7) - P.J. Fiala Page 0,43
also wanted to make sure Chase was alright.
"I have to go see him."
"Of course. He'd do the same for you."
"Thanks, Linda."
She ended the call and checked her messages once again. Nothing from Chase. Walking from the breakroom, she found Jan watering some of the seedlings.
"Good morning, Jan. My boy...boyfriend was in an accident and is in the hospital. I'm sorry to ask for some time off, but would you mind if I took a couple of hours to make sure he's alright?"
Jan's face crinkled in worry. "Oh honey, of course not. You go and make certain he's okay. And if you can't make it back today, just please call us and let us know, okay?"
"Thank you, Jan." Tears sprung to her eyes and she blinked rapidly to keep them from spilling down her cheeks.
"Go on now and drive carefully."
The drive to the hospital was a bit of a blur. Her mind was on Chase and how he was doing and why he hadn't responded to her. Was he in such bad shape that he couldn't even answer? Did he have to have surgery?
When she'd catch herself thinking that way, she tried to push them away and replace them with positive thoughts.
"Please be alright." She said it over and over.
Pulling to the front entrance of the hospital a valet came out to take her keys in order to park her car. She was given a number to return to the valet to retrieve her car and walked to the front desk.
"Hi. I'm looking for Chase Matthews' room."
The kindly lady behind the desk smiled. "Let me see here."
Her fingers fumbled over the keyboard and LuAnn struggled for patience.
"Ah, here he is. Room 442."
"Thank you."
Making her way to the elevators she fidgeted as she waited for an elevator to arrive. A family, laughing and giggling about a new baby, stepped out. She entered as soon as the last person got off and pushed the button for the fourth floor.
The damnable elevator stopped at each floor and her stomach felt heavier with each stop of the car.
Finally reaching the fourth floor she read the sign across from the elevator doors showing the direction for room 442. Walking down the hall she tried not looking in patients’ rooms but curiosity turned her head anyway. Mostly, she wondered how serious these patients’ health was so she could steel herself for what she might see when she got to Chase's room.
At the end of the hall, she saw room 442, stopped and took a deep breath. As she reached for the door handle, the door opened from inside and she jumped back. There she stood face to face with Jeremiah Sheppard.
28
Chase lay his head back onto his pillow. The nurse had given him something a while ago to ease the throbbing, but his head still hurt. Though the pounding in his head had dimmed, it was still there. His mouth had a metallic taste, and he was tired but felt fidgety and uneasy.
Raised voices from the hallway caught his attention though he couldn't make out what was being said or who it was. Then a third voice entered the argument and soon there was silence.
A nurse walked into his room. "Do you want anything to eat? I can get you a jello. You haven’t eaten anything aside from crackers and applesauce."
His throat felt dry as the desert and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. "Water would be good. Nothing else."
He closed his eyes as he waited on her to pour his water. The constant beeping from his heart monitor was an annoyance.
"When will they take me off this monitor? I can't stand the beeping."
The nurse clucked her tongue. "Likely today. We just needed to monitor you for a few hours to make sure you didn't go into shock."
"Shock." He mumbled.
The nurse handed him a plastic cup with cool water in it. The coolness on his fingers felt good. He lifted his head slowly, so he didn't aggravate his headache and put the cup to his lips. The cool water felt refreshing to the point that it almost burned as it slid down his throat. He could follow the path of the water all the way to his stomach.
"Not too much now, it can hurt you more than you think. Just sips at this point, please."
Pulling the cup away he reached over to set it on his tray table and noticed that his hand trembled slightly.