get some rest; however, she is a very stubborn woman.”
Light laughter fills this room, all of us giving each other knowing looks. That’s my wife, I want to say, but I don’t. The doctor begins to talk again and I turn my attention back to him. The sooner he’s finished, the quicker I can see her.
“I’m not quite sure how to say this next part so I’m just going to say it. I don’t know the entire story, only what I have been told by the paramedics who brought her in here and from Clove herself. However...”
His demeanor changes entirely. He’s struggling with what he has to say. I, on the other hand, know exactly what is bothering him.
“She doesn’t know I’m alive, does she?”
The doctor looks at me with a mixture of relief and consternation.
“No, Mr. Calloway. I’m afraid she doesn’t.”
I close my eyes in pain.
“Why don’t we go into my office, and we can talk about what comes next?” he says kindly.
Everyone makes excuses to leave. Bill states that he is going to go see Clove. Zack, my mother, and Krista go to check on Journey, and Martinez goes home for some much-needed rest. I follow the doctor down the hall to his office. He sits behind his desk and indicates a chair across from him for me to sit as well. His next words throw me for a loop.
“It’s impossible to know at this point the kind of difficulty your wife is going to have with trying to cope with this trauma. She’s perfectly healthy,” he reassures me, seeing my worried look. “It’s her state of mind I’m concerned about.”
“What are you trying to say? That my wife isn’t herself? I’m not a doctor here, so help me out a little bit.”
“She needs to feel safe, to be in an environment where good memories surround her. She needs support. Now with that being said, she’s obviously one hell of a fighter. Who knows, she may come out of this fine, but she may come out angry, and blame herself. I’m just advising you to take it slow with her. Don’t push her to talk about what she has been through. Let her do it on her own.”
His advice stings like a son of a bitch. I drop my head, holding back the tears that want to spill out. Will my wife ever be the same again? Will she pull away from me? I refuse to believe it. We belong together, and I will do everything I can to make her feel safe, happy, and to let her know how very much I love her.
I clear my throat, pressing the palms of my hands to my eyes. I have an overpowering urge to take her in my arms and smell her just to know she’s real. To just fucking look at her.
“I don’t mean to sound callous or disrespectful, but please, can this be discussed later? I haven’t seen my wife in over a year; I need to see her with my own eyes to know this is really her.”
He pulls open a drawer at the side of his desk, handing me a card. I clutch it in the palm of my hand as I stand up.
“Here’s a number to a colleague of mine, a psychiatrist. She’s wonderful. I’m going to prep her on everything you have shared with me. She’ll be in to talk to Clove as soon as she can.”
Chapter Fourteen
Clove
The doctor wanted me to rest before I talked to anyone. I feel slightly groggy from the mild sedative I was given to calm me down. They had practically had to pry Journey from my arms. Even though they guaranteed me she would be all right, I still kicked and screamed, lashed out and clawed all of them.
I only relented when I heard Krista’s soothing voice in my ear telling me everything was going to be fine and that she would not let Journey out of her sight. I handed her over to Krista and I haven’t seen her since. I don’t know what the hell is going on with my daughter. I want her. She needs me.
“Clove?”
A familiar voice pierces the fog I am in. I bring my head around to test my own sight to see if it’s really him. His handsome face steps into view.
“Dad!”
“Oh, my baby.”
He sits on the bed and his arms come around me, and oh, God! He smells like my dad. I burst into tears, and he cries right