“Oh.” Liz said almost fainting.
“Are you alright ma’am?” The doctor asked concerned.
“I am fine. What are you waiting for take her to surgery and save my best friend.” Liz said mad that they had not already just taken her to surgery even without consent.
“Please sign this form.” Dr. Valandra handed her a clipboard with a form attached to it.
Liz signed the form and watched as the dr. yelled for his staff to take her to surgery immediately. She was still in shock when they were escorted back to the waiting room.
“Miss McAdams” A nurse called to her.
“Yes?” Liz managed to force out.
“You and the others can wait upstairs in the lounge. Take the elevators up to the third floor, take a left and then a right. The door is clearly marked surgery waiting area. I will be sure to send up anyone who asks for her.” The nurse said smiling toward them.
“Thank you.” Liz said as the group headed upstairs. When they arrived in the lounge they all sank into the couches and chairs that were in the room. There was a flat screen tv on the wall that was set to play the news. Within minutes, of them sitting there in silence, The boys showed up. Max,Tj, Dillon, and Jeffrey walked into the room with gloomy looks.
“Hey, what happened?” Max asked Liz.
“She was running. George cheated on her, when we woke up this morning she was gone. We were going to look for her when the hospital called telling us she was in an accident. We do not know anything except that she has a broken leg and a punctured lung.” Liz finished in tears.
“Is she going to be ok?” Jeffrey asked.
“We don’t know yet.” Kylee said.
The group went back to waiting in silence. Max and Dillon were standing against the wall, too shaken to sit down. There was an obvious nervousness in the room, Like the feeling you get when you know something is wrong but you cannot put your finger on it. They sat like statues, watching the news, and staring off into space for what seemed like hours.
“Where is my baby girl!” Blair burst into the room. No one even looked at her right away.
“She is in surgery Blair.” Liz said finally standing up and walking over to her.
“What happened?” Blair was still as hysterical as she had been when Liz told her.
“She has a broken leg and a punctured lung. We don’t know anything else right now.”
“Why did you know before I did?” Blair said turning angry.
“I am her power of attorney. I always have been.” Liz said in what she hoped was a calming voice.
“Oh.” Blair said sitting down in the last available chair. They waited for 5 hours before Dr. Valandra came into the room. It was the most grueling time that any of them had ever endured. Liz was panicked when she saw him enter the room.
“How is she?” Liz asked the dr.
“She is going to be fine. Everything has been repaired. She is stable but she seems to be in an unconscious state. It is not a coma, she can wake up at any time. We just do not know how long that will be. She is in recovery now, in the next couple of hours she will be moved into her own room and then you can see her.”
“Thank god.” Blair said as she took a deep breath.
“Thank you doctor.” Liz said.
“I suggest you all go home and rest. It is going to be a long couple of days. We will be watching her closely until she wakes up.” He said, then he left the room.
“Guys, you go home. I will call you if there are any changes.” Liz said to the group.
“Ok.” They all said staggeringly.
“Kylee, can you go do what we talked about before I called Blair? He needs to know, even if they are fighting right now.” Liz said with a sigh.
“I can do that.” Kylee answered.
“Bye Liz.” Max, Charlee, Blair, Jeffrey, and Pepper said as they left.
“Tell him everything you know. She is going to need him now more than ever.” Liz said.
“Ok, call me the second we can see her.” Kylee said as her and Dillon walked out leaving Tj and Liz to wait.
Kylee filled Dillon in on what Liz had asked her to do. After hearing about what George had done to Sam, Dillon had wanted to hunt him down and kill him for what he had done. Kylee calmed him down on the way to The Ameslee. When they arrived, Kylee had a panic attack.
“What is wrong?” Dillon asked.
“I will be fine. I just can’t believe I have to do this.” Kylee answered.
“We don’t have to. We can call him instead.” Dillon answered coming up with the most rational thing he could think of to ease her mind.
“No. We didn’t call him before because we thought, even though he is a vile pig, that he deserved to hear it face to face.” Kylee said as she got out of the car. They were greeted by Roger when they walked in.
“Can I help you Mrs. Edwards?” Roger said obviously trying to delay her.
“I need to talk to George. It is an emergency.” Kylee said urgently.
“What is the emergency?” Roger asked.
“Dillon, can you please tell him? I am going to tell George before he hears it on the news.”
“Sure.” Dillon started to talk to Roger as Kylee walked solemnly toward George’s office. She paused before she knocked on the door to catch her breath.
“May I help you?” The secretary answered the door.
“I need to see Mr. Ames now.” Kylee said sternly as the tears that she had been holding in started to come out.
“I am sorry, He is not available.” She said starting to shut the door in Kylee’s face.
“I don’t think so.” Kylee put her foot in the doorway and pushed it back open with all her force.
“I am calling security.” She yelled.
“What is going on here?” George said as he appeared having heard the commotion.
“We need to talk. It is important.” Kylee said directly to him.
“By all means, come in.” He said motioning for her to step into his office “Oh, and Nadine do not call security.”
“What can I do for you?” He said as he walked into his office and closed the door behind him.
“You should sit down.” Kylee said her face clearly showing the agony she felt.
“Ok.” He said sitting down. “What is going on?”
“Sam has been in a car accident.” Kyle started slowly and quietly. “She has a punctured lung and a broken leg. She just got out of surgery a little while ago.”
“When?” He asked, his face white with agony.
“This morning. We thought that we should tell you in person.”
“ I see. Where is Liz?”
“At Mercy, in the lounge on the third floor waiting to see her.” Kylee tried not to cry.
“Thank you for telling me. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to see her.” He grabbed his coat and headed for the door.
Kylee followed him out of the hotel. When they got into the car again, Kyle broke down in Dillon’s arms. They went home to get some sleep before they headed back to the hospital. George, on the other hand, got into his limo. After hearing the news, Roger had called up the Limo knowing that George would need it. They headed for the hospital as fast as the driver could get them there.
Still numb about what he had been told, George got out of the car and headed into the hospital. He did not even stop at the nurses’ station. Instead, he went right to the elevator and walked around the third floor until he found the lounge. He walked in not saying a word.
“George.” Liz started “I know you guys are having your issues. I also know that you love her more than anyone could imagine.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I could have been here the whole time.” He said in a sad but angry tone.
“I panicked. I was just worried about getting here.” She said.
“I would have wanted to know.” He said.
“I am sorry.”
“Do we know which room she is in yet?” He asked.
&nb
sp; “No, not yet.”
“I am going to find out.” He said turning on his heels to walk out the door, almost running into the nurse that was about to walk in.
“Miss McAdams, Samantha is in room 309. You can see her now.”
“Thank you. Actually, You go first George.” Liz said with a sympathetic smile on her face.
“Thanks.” He said trying to sound as appreciative as he could.
George walked the three doors down to where room 309 was located. He paused before he entered the room, stopping to say a short prayer to himself. Tears instantly came to his eyes as he entered the hospital room. He walked slowly over to the bed. George had never been one to show his emotions, but seeing her like this made him lose every sense of restraint he had.
Sam was still hooked up to the ventilator. She lay there breathing in even time. She looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to her. George sat in the chair next to her being careful not to touch any of the tubes. He took her hand, and bowed his head down. He cried for a solid twenty minutes before he could collect himself. He was staring at her with a blank expression when Liz came into the room. Liz had the same reaction that George had, crying when she walked into the room.
“Please call me if she wakes up. Here is my cell phone number. I am going out of town for a while.” George said handing Liz his business card.
“Where are you going? Surely you can cancel considering the circumstances.” Liz said to him in disbelief.
“I am sorry.” George walked out of the room leaving Liz baffled.
.
CHAPTER 12: WAITING GAME
Everyone that had come in to see Sam had broken down in tears, except for Blair. Blair came into room 309 screaming at everyone. Liz had tried to calm her but nothing was working. Eventually the nurses had come to try to help. After twenty minutes of trying to calm her down, the nurses called security to escort her out. Liz was ashamed of Blair for Sam that her mother couldn’t even come see her in this condition because she couldn’t control herself.
Liz had not left the hospital since first getting there yesterday morning. Max had taken on all of Sams responsibilities at the store as well as his own. Charlee had done the same for the bookstore. They both managed to come before and after work though. Liz was amazed that everyone was helping out so much. Kylee had taken on most of Sams classes but spent the night there alongside Liz. Jeffrey and Pepper had managed to come see her once since she had been placed in this room. George was the only one who had not made an effort. Liz was angry at him even more now, even Will had stopped by after seeing what happened on the news last night.
“Do you think she will wake up soon?” Kylee asked when it was just the two of them.
“I hope so.” Liz said.
“Let’s go eat.” Kylee suggested.
“I cant. I have not left her side since I got in this room, I won’t now.”
“You need to eat too.” Kylee urged “They will call us if she wakes up.”
“I suppose you are right.” Liz said agreeing to go get something to eat. “I am just going to let them know that we are going downstairs.” She said as she walked out to the nurses’ station. When she came back into the room, she grabbed her purse, and they headed down to the cafeteria.
“Why do you think George would just up and leave?” Liz asked Kylee as they got their food and sat down.
“I don’t know. Maybe it was just too much for him to handle. You have to figure they both are runners when it comes to problems between them.” Kylee answered taking a bite of her macaroni salad.
“This is true. Do you think she will remember what we told her?” Liz asked.
“Even if she doesn’t we have to tell her. I won’t keep something like that from her.”
“Your right. We can’t keep that from her.”
“This entire situation is surreal.”
“What do you mean?” Liz asked her a mouth full of food.
“I mean, did you ever think Sam would be the one in the hospital? She is like our hypothetical mother. She rarely messes up like that. She is also always a good driver.”
“I get it now. You are right.”
“What can we do to make her transition back to reality easier?” Kylee asked.
“I don’t think anything will make it easier.” Liz answered.
“Well we need to think of something. She is going to be severely depressed.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Wouldn’t you be if the person you finally got back into your life was caught cheating on you by your best friends, then you couldn’t walk or even get out of bed because of the accident?” Kyle said enthusiastically.
“I would be. You are right about one thing though. We need to make this as easy as possible.”
The pair finished their conversation and headed back upstairs. There was still no change in Sam’s condition. Kylee left to go back to work promising to be back as soon as she could, leaving Liz alone. Liz turned the Tv on and watched silently until she fell asleep on the couch. She was awakened by the lab tech that had come to do blood work again. Sam had to have blood work done every 3 hours for a number of things. Mainly they wanted to make sure that Sam wasn’t getting any infections.
Liz and Kylee talked about what they could do for her off and on over the next week. They asked everyone else their ideas when they would trickle in. Pepper and Jeffrey only stopped by one time throughout the week. They were both busy trying to keep Sams investments up and running. Jeffrey had made sure that everything was going smoothly at the store, while Pepper took care of Sam’s house and fielded her messages. Pepper had suggested hiring a maid, but Liz thought that it would come off more as a problem then actually being helpful. Max, Dillon, and Tj stopped by every day to check up on Sam and make sure that Liz did not get burned out or too tired.
Sam did not regain consciousness for an entire week. When she woke up she did not move a muscle or open her eyes. Sam was very confused. She could not remember what had happened, or where she was. The one thing she did remember was the one thing she wished that she had forgotten, George had been cheating on her. She could not bring herself to think about that right now. Sam had to focus on figuring out what had happened, where she was, why she was in pain, what was in her throat, and why she could not move her leg. She tried to open her eyes, but the light was too bright.
“She is awake!” Sam heard Kylee say to whoever was in the room.
“It is about time.” Liz said. She touched Sams hand and Sam shuttered.
Sam’s eyes flickered open at Liz’s touch. She tried to talk but realized she couldn’t. Sam started to freak out. Her automatic instinct was to throw her hands up to her mouth and try to remove he foreign object from her mouth. Kylee managed to stop her before she could reach the tubes. Liz ran to get a nurse while Kylee started to explain what was going on. Feeling helpless, Sam started to cry.
“Don’t cry Sam.” Kylee said softly. “You are on a ventilator. You had a bad car accident.”
Sam just stared at Kylee. A nurse rushed into the room to check on Sam. After a thorough exam, the nurse took out the ventilator. Sam coughed when the tube was pulled out of her throat. Sam sat in silence for the first hour, coughing the whole time. After she ate her lunch and drank a few liters of water she decided to find out what happened.
“Liz,” Sam started still hoarse “What happened?”
“Can you guys leave us alone for a second?” Liz said to Kylee, Max, Dillon, and Tj.
“Sure” Kylee said.
“Thanks.” Liz said as they left the room. She turned back to Sam and started “ First, I need to know what you remember.”
“The last thing I remember is finding out about George.”
“Ok. Well you apparently decided to run again. You got into a car accident a few miles out of town. You punctured a lung and broke your leg. You were in surgery for almost 6 hours and you have been unconscious for a week.” Liz said trying to break the news lightly
but fast because she didn’t want to drag it out.
“OH!” Sam said shocked. “How did you find me?”
“I am your power of attorney remember? Plus, I would always find you.”
“I forgot about that. I do remember the running though.” Sam said calming back down.
“Why were you trying to run?” Liz asked sincerely.
“I felt trapped in my house, and in my life.” Sam said taking a deep breath.
“You could have at least left a note to let me know where you were going.” Liz said.
“I didn’t know where I was going. I need a favor.” Sam said giving Liz a look that said Liz would not like what she was about to say.
“What do you need?”
“I need to see him.”
“Why?” Liz asked more pissed than puzzled.
“I have something to say. I need to do it in person.”
“Ok.” Liz agreed.
“Will you have a nurse call him and tell him it is urgent he come here but nothing else. Not even that I am awake.”
“I can do that for you.” Liz said walking out of the room.
Sam waited for Liz to come back patiently. When Liz came back she just nodded at Sam. Sam was about to ask her if he was coming when the others walked into the room behind her. She knew then that Liz’s nod had meant he was on his way. Sam nodded back at Liz so that she would know that Sam understood what she had meant.
“How are you feeling kid?” Tj asked her with a smile.
“Like I have been hit by a car.” Sam said trying to joke about her situation.
“I would hope so.” Tj said all too seriously.
“I was trying to lighten the mood.” Sam replied skeptically.
“Well, we are all just glad that you are ok.” Dillon smiled at her.
“Thank you Dillon. Max, how is my store?” Sam asked diverting her attention to Max who had barely walked into the doorway.
“You almost died and you want to know about the store?” Max said distraught.
Finally Getting Love Right Page 14
