“Hey, Layla, you doing okay?”
“I’d be much better if I could see him,” I told him honestly.
He blew out a slow breath and nodded his head. “Yeah, okay. Listen, he lost a lot of blood, so he’s really pale, and he has a lot of tubes and wires. I just want you to be prepared to see him like that, because I wasn’t.”
I couldn’t stop the tears, but I squared my shoulders as best I could and nodded resolutely. “I’ll be okay. Please, let me see him.”
The screen changed, and my breath was stolen from me once again. Bronze was right; he was pale, far more so than I expected. He had a tube down his throat helping him breathe, as well as numerous other tubes and wires coming from underneath his blankets.
“Will you move me closer to his head?”
When only his face filled the screen, I began pouring my heart out, and I didn’t care that everyone in my room, as well as his, could hear me. “Copper, baby, I need you to keep fighting. I’m okay, and Annabelle’s okay. She had the babies, and Leigh says they’re doing good, too. Your family and your club are here waiting for you to come back to us. I’m waiting for you to come back to me. I love you, Copper, and I need you by my side. I can’t do this without you. I don’t want to. I love you so much.”
When Bronze started to move the phone, I asked, “Can I stay with him like this until I fall asleep again?”
“Of course, Layla. I’ll leave the phone right where it is.”
“Is that okay, Leigh?”
“Absolutely. Jonah, will you run down to the gift shop and see if they have a charger for my phone?”
“Sure thing, Mom. Be right back.”
And that’s how I spent the next three days of my hospital stay. When they finally removed my chest tube, I was on my feet and headed to the ICU before the doctor even left the room.
“Mrs. Black, I understand you’re anxious to see your husband, but if you’ll give us just a few minutes, I’ll have one of the nurses bring a wheelchair to take you upstairs,” the doctor offered.
I gestured over my shoulder with my thumb at Batta and Judge. “Can one of them carry me?”
The room erupted in laughter as my nurse pushed a wheelchair into my room. “There’s no need for that. I knew you wouldn’t wait long and have had this baby parked outside your room since my shift started this morning.” She patted the seat, “Hop in, and I’ll take you upstairs.”
She wheeled me to a set of elevators that opened up inside the ICU. “These elevators are for patients only. Since you’re technically still a patient, I thought it would be easier to take this route and bypass the waiting room filled with your friends and family members.”
“Thank you. I do want to see them, but I want to see him first.”
“That’s what I thought. Real quick, you’re still my patient, and I’m responsible for you. I have no problem with you staying up here with your husband as long as you promise to stay in this wheelchair and call me if you need anything.”
“I promise,” I told her, and I meant it. I wouldn’t do anything to risk being taken away from Copper’s side.
She left after she wheeled me into his room and parked me as close to his side as she could get me. I reached forward and took his hand in mine. “I’m here,” I whispered.
And that’s where I stayed until he woke up.
34
Five days had passed since Copper was shot, and he still hadn’t woken up. The breathing tube had been removed, and everything looked good on paper; but, his eyes hadn’t so much as twitched since I’d been by his side, and that worried me more than anything.
Did I hold enough pressure on his wound? Should I have tried to breathe for him before the paramedics arrived? Would chest compressions have helped him? Every moment I was awake, I replayed the events of that day over and over trying to figure out what I could have done differently.
With my head resting on his hand, I started to drift off to sleep while I imagined his fingers sifting through my hair.
“Your thinking is making me tired.”
My head shot up so fast I damn near knocked myself out of the chair. “Copper!” I shrieked and started pressing every button I could get my fingers on.
He closed his eyes, and I lost it. “No! Nononononono! Stay awake. Please, please, please,” I wailed.
His eyes shot open again, but before I could breathe a sigh of relief, two nurses came running into his room.