by J. R. Tate
They got to the airport early and the flight down to Austin seemed to take forever. It still baffled her at the fact that they had to connect in Dallas. Their layover was only thirty minutes, but she still found that the time was creeping by slowly.
Neither she nor Betty talked too much to each other. She was lost in thought on how critical Mikey was. They didn’t get many details at all, not even any information on whether or not his injuries were life threatening. The dehydration was a serious matter, but could be an easy fix.
She rested her head on the window of the plane and stared at the ground below. The flight was short and she could tell that they were close just from the view of the fires below. And to think, Mikey was trapped down inside that. When she was down here before, she noticed it, but this time, seeing the fires like that was like a punch to her stomach. The fact that Mikey endured it head-on sent a chill down her spine.
“I called a cab when were on the ground in Dallas,” Betty said. “There should be one waiting for us at pick up. Good thing we didn’t check bags. I don’t want to wait around any longer than we have to.”
“Good idea in calling the cab.” Eva was amazed she was able to pack as lightly as she had, filling up one small suitcase that was tiny enough to qualify as carry on luggage. She was certain she had forgotten stuff, but it didn’t matter. She’d be at the hospital most of the time.
The plane landed and they exited. Eva tried not to walk too fast to leave Betty behind, but was surprised to see the older woman keep up a good pace with her. They were oblivious to everyone around them. Their minds were set on Mikey and getting to the hospital. Everything else didn’t matter.
There was a cab right on the curb, as Betty had planned. They shoved their suitcases in the trunk and got in.
Without skipping a beat, Betty said, “Get us to Brackenridge UMC.”
The traffic was pretty light since it was earlier in the morning, and the drive didn’t take too long. They got out of the cab and took their luggage in, not even taking the time to stop at a hotel first. The hospital was good sized and Eva had no idea on where to even begin. She stopped at the first information desk she came across.
“Can I help you?” The lady cupped her hand over the phone receiver.
“I need to find out where Michael McGinnis is at. All we’ve been told is ICU and that’s it.” For some reason she was growing frantic again, and she had to take a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. It felt like it had been years since she had seen him. He was in this very building, and she had to get to him.
The lady looked him up on her computer and gave them directions on how to get to the ICU area. Eva felt as if she were sprinting and she looked back to check on Betty, who was right along side her every step of the way. She couldn’t read her face to see if she was as worried or hyped up as she was. She looked hopeful and Eva found that inspiring.
It was almost as if things were in slow motion as they reached the ICU waiting area. Several men were standing around, but she didn’t recognize anyone. A few had bunker gear on and others wore navy blue shirts that showed what fire company they belonged to. Her eyes scanned the room in hopes of finding someone to talk to. She recognized one of the men in the back corner, but couldn’t put a name with his face.
“You’re with Manor Fire Department, right?” She pointed toward him, causing the room to go silent. She felt awkward with all eyes turning to her, but she knew that they all probably had an idea of who she was.
The man pushed himself off of the wall and walked toward her. “Yes ma’am. I’m Lieutenant Harlan. I think we met the other day when you and McGinnis stopped by for that firehouse visit. Eva, right?” He extended his hand for her to shake, and she obliged the gesture.
“Yes, I’m Eva Crisante. This is Betty McGinnis, Mikey’s mother.”
Lieutenant Harlan took his baseball cap off and shook her hand as well. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. McGinnis. I’m glad you two could make the trip down here again.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Betty replied. “What’s the news on my son?”
The Lieutenant took a sip of coffee. “The doctors haven’t really been in much, but one did come talk to us about an hour ago. He’s got a concussion and they were concerned because he hasn’t been conscious. But my other man who was trapped with him has said that he was alert and coherent after getting the injury, so they have pretty much ruled out any kind of brain damage. He’s also got a punctured lung. They had to put a chest tube in and he’s also got a wound on his left side. It damaged his spleen. The last we have heard is that he was up in surgery to get the spleen removed. He’s also really dehydrated.”
Eva pulled her hair back away from her face. “Have you seen him?”
Harlan shook his head no. “They brought him in through the ER on an ambulance and took him back before I even got here. They haven’t let anyone back yet.”
“Who was with him when they got lost?” She wanted to talk to the other man. For some reason, it was imperative that she get as many details as she could. This was the wait she hated. It was almost a requirement that hospitals make the waiting party sit out in the waiting room for tremendous amounts of time.
“Jack Lawton. He’s sitting over there where I was when you came in.” He pointed her in the direction. Betty followed and they both sat across from him. His attention was down in a newspaper. It looked like he hadn’t even had time to clean himself up from being out in the fires. He was still in his turnouts and black soot was spread across his face.
“Are you Jack Lawton?” Eva asked, pulling him away from what he was reading.
Looking up, he nodded. “Yes ma’am, I am. You are Eva, right?”
“Yeah. You were with Mikey through all of this?”
“Yes ma’am, I was,” he said. His twang was thick and Eva tried not to cringe at being called ma’am. It was a sign of respect. “He has fought through this whole ordeal. I’m sorry it has gotten as bad as it has.”
Eva shook her head and closed her eyes to try to fight back the tears. She wondered how much more she could cry before her tear ducts ran dry. “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. You got him out. I can’t say thank you enough for that.”
Jack sat forward in his chair and pulled into a tight hug. “He’s gonna be okay. His whole concern the whole time was getting the child out that we had with us. I’ve never seen someone so tough.” He pulled away from her and hugged Betty as well. “Ma’am, you should be proud of your son.”
“Believe me, I am. Thanks for everything you did for him.”
He held his hand up. “Don’t thank me. I didn’t do a thing.”
Lieutenant Harlan interrupted their small meeting and placed his hand on Eva’s shoulder. “The doctor just came out. He said that the family can go back to see him.”
Eva and Betty stood up, and a nauseous feeling hit Eva blindside. “You guys are his family, too.”
“They’re only letting a few people back at a time. You and Ms. McGinnis go. We’re not taking no for an answer.”
Eva grabbed hold of Betty’s hand and squeezed hard. Everyone stopped to look at them as they went toward the ICU area. The doctor was holding the door open for them, his expression emotionless as they approached.
“I’m Dr. Jansen. I was the ER doctor on duty when they brought Mr. McGinnis in. He’s out of surgery and he’s doing okay, but he’s still not conscious. The spleen has been taken out and we are monitoring everything else. We’ll probably keep him in ICU so we can keep a close watch on everything until he stabilizes.”
“Thank you.” Eva and Betty walked past the crowd and down to bed eight where he was. Pushing the curtain aside, Eva had to brace herself one last time before going in. She had seen him in a situation like this before, and it was happening all too soon again. It had killed her the first time. This time wouldn’t be any easier. She allowed for Betty to go in first.
His hair was a mess and he had oxygen on his nose. His hospital go
wn was disheveled from the nurses coming in to check on things. Eva eyed the monitors around the bed. All of his stats seemed to be okay. Eva went to the opposite side of the bed from Betty and grabbed his hand. His palm was cold and it felt weird not to feel him respond to her touch. There were calluses and cracked areas on his skin. She grabbed some lotion and applied it to each hand, rubbing it in slowly. The subtle gesture got a small response from him. A low murmur escaped from his throat and his eyebrows arched.
“Mikey, it’s me, Eva. Your mom is here too.”
She ran her fingertips over his hairline and down the side of his face. His eyes were still closed, but his breathing changed and his brow creased. A load of stress was raised from her shoulders. At least he was responding to her, even if he wasn’t completely conscious.
“Casey will be here later, Mikey. He’s gotta take care of a few things at the center and then he’s coming.” Betty leaned over the bed and helped rub in the lotion. “You have no idea how happy we are to see you, hon.”
His head moved toward Betty’s voice and again, his eyebrows moved in response to their words. Eva felt a genuine smile part her lips. The paramedic in her wanted to take a look at his wound and see how bad it was, but she resisted. The last thing she wanted to do was infect it.
“Mikey, there’s a lot of guys from the firehouse out in the waiting room. Lots of prayers for you and lots of people caring. You’ve really made an impact on a lot of them.” Eva clasped her fingers between his. He gripped back, and though it was weak, it was noticeable. “Are you feeling okay?”
He slowly nodded his head, but his eyes remained closed.
“I’m gonna go see if anyone wants to come back. I’ll be right back.” She didn’t want to eat up the visiting time. There were many men out there who were only able to be here for a short time. She paused at the curtain before opening it, feeling more reassured by the second. He still had a long road ahead of him, but at least he was out of immediate danger.
***
There was a bright light shining down, feeling like a driving nail right through his head. Squinting, he tried to raise his arm to shield whatever it was above him. Lifting his arm was like having weights dangling from it. It took every ounce of his energy to raise it to his face. His forearm aided in providing shield to the annoying glow.
“Mikey?”
He recognized the voice and peered from underneath his arm, trying to make out who was standing over him. Then again, where was he? Was he still out in the woods? Had he actually died? He had thought that before, only for Lawton to be there. Now what was happening? Everything was so confusing and his memory couldn’t drudge up anything recent that had happened.
“Mikey, it’s me, Eva. I think he’s trying to wake up.”
Who was Eva trying to talk to? He attempted to push his head off of the pillow, but it felt even heavier than his arm did. It was as if he was top heavy, and it instantly fell back into the pillow.
“Can you turn that light off?” His voice echoed and he hoped that the question came out as he anticipated it to. The shine dimmed above him, so it must have been clear enough to understand.
“You’re finally awake.”
It was definitely Eva’s voice. He turned to look at her, and though his vision was fuzzy, he could see her beautiful face leaning next to him. “What?”
“You’re in Austin, in the hospital. Are you feeling okay?”
He felt her hand brush through his hair, sending an immediate relaxation effect through him. He could go back to sleep at that very second, but wanted to find out exactly what was going on. He remembered bits and pieces, as if it were a dream he kept waking up from, but not near enough to piece together and make sense of.
“What is going on?” He closed his eyes.
“What’s the last thing you remember, Mikey?”
Her questions were annoying him. He was so tired that he didn’t even want to waste any strength on thinking. Searching, he tried so hard to dredge up anything he could. “I don’t know. The fire…” He groaned. Why was his side hurting so bad? He tried to move to adjust his body in a more comfortable position, but it made things worse. He couldn’t even lift his body up enough to get it to do what he wanted. Giving up, he closed his eyes and noticed the oxygen on his nose. What was that for? He went to pull it off, but a hand blocked his attempt.
“Don’t take that off, Mikey. You need that. Are you in pain?”
He nodded and wanted to scream out. Instead, he opened his eyes again. The sight of Eva and his mother had a calming effect. It finally hit him that he was in a hospital and away from the fire. His memory was still sketchy in what had happened, but he remembered enough to know that he had gotten out. Eva stepped out of the room for a second and was followed back in by a nurse with a syringe in her hand. She inserted it into a port in his IV.
“I’m gonna give you another dose of morphine, Michael. You’re going a little longer between doses now, and that’s good. How is your pain level right now?” The nurse pushed in the medicine and it was an instant effect to how he was feeling. It felt euphoric and drowsiness settled in. It was so comfortable, and he felt his body settling in as all of his worries faded to the back of his mind. “On a scale from one to ten, how was your pain before I gave you the meds?” She leaned over him and grasped a clipboard, ready to write.
He felt drunk and let out a small laugh, feeling embarrassed when the nurse’s reaction was less than amused. “It was uhh, probably a six.”
She jotted down the note. “You need to eat the food they bring. You haven’t been eating enough.” She left them alone again as she ducked under the curtain.
He could fall right back to sleep with no problem, but he wanted to stay awake and talk to Eva and his mother. There was so much he wanted to know. He could compare what he was feeling to drunken nights where he had blacked out and didn’t remember how he had gotten home. There was a huge gap in his brain where he couldn’t remember a thing, regardless of how hard he had tried.
“Can you tell me what happened?” He asked, looking at his mom and to Eva.
Eva grabbed his hand. A small smile parted her lips. He could tell she had been crying from how swollen and red her eyes were. He felt so guilty for putting her through this again. Once was enough, and it was like déjà vu with her standing over him in a hospital bed. He told himself he had to be more careful. This was all becoming too familiar.
“How about you tell us what the last thing was that you remember?”
He grasped her hand and thought hard about the last few days. It was like a dream where after he woke up, all he could remember were a few things, but not enough to place it all together. He couldn’t place what was reality and what he had dreamed up.
“I remember getting trapped. Our radios wouldn’t work. We came across a kid. Then I got hurt and the fire started moving up on us fast. I told Lawton to take Trevor out and leave me there. That’s the last thing I really remember.” He licked his lips and tasted the nasty lip moisturizer they had used. Reaching for the cup of water on the bedside table, he groaned, but declined any help from his mom as he sucked on the straw, savoring the ice-cold liquid. “How are Trevor and Lawton? They’re okay, right?”
Eva nodded. “Lawton is in the waiting room. He’s come in a few times since you’ve been here. I need to go tell him you’re awake. Trevor is fine, too. They kept him in overnight for observation, but he just had some smoke inhalation and he was dehydrated. He got to go home.”
Michael let out a deep sigh, well aware of the chest tube in his side. He was no medical expert, but could tell that he had some lung issues going on. “Thank God for that. How long have I been in here?”
“They brought you in a couple of days ago,” his mother replied, taking the empty cup from him. “Do you want more water?”
“No thanks.” He was so tired again. He wanted to stay awake and talk. He had slept enough. It had been a couple of days and he didn’t remember a bit of it.
“How did you get hurt, Mikey?” Eva still had hold of his hand and he could smell the sweet scent of her perfume that he had missed so much. He lifted their hands and kissed the back of hers, running his lips down her skin. “Do you remember how it happened?”
“Why are you so concerned with what I remember, Eva?” A floating sensation overtook him and his limbs felt heavy. Responding to her questions became harder, and it sounded like mumbles to him, almost like he wasn’t speaking English. He was losing the battle with his exhaustion. Maybe next time he would decline the morphine, just so he could stay conscious for more than fifteen minutes at a time.
“Not many people have talked about it. I was just wondering.”
Michael scoffed. He wasn’t sure why he was finding this so amusing. “Ask Law…” He trailed off, certain that he had completely answered her. His body had defeated his mind. It was time to get more sleep.
Chapter Twenty-One
Michael woke up to the TV on. He couldn’t make out what was on the screen, but he did take note to the fact that he was in a much more private room than the last time he had been awake. Looking to his side, he saw Eva engrossed on whatever the show was. He tried to stay still. Watching her, he couldn’t help but admire the woman he had fallen in love with. What was she thinking? Any normal person would have fled from him after everything they had gone through, and most importantly, what he had put her through. She had been an innocent bystander in everything, from Casey and his drugs, Viper, and now this. How would he ever pay her back for everything?
Her elbow was on the edge of the bed and she rested her head in her hand as she watched. There were a few times that she smirked at the show, and other times she was so engrossed in what was going on that he couldn’t help but find it amusing.
