A Designed Affair

by Cheryl Barton

  “Can you tell me which hospital she’s being taken too? I want to call her family.”

  “We’re taking them all to Atlanta Medical Center.”

  Mike knew that was the hospital where Loren’s father was chief of surgery and her brother Jake was also a physician.

  “Can you get word to the hospital that this is Loren Knight? Her father is Earl Knight, chief of surgery and her brother Jake is also a doctor there. They should know that she’s coming in as a patient.”

  “Yes sir, we will do that,” the medic replied and made that announcement to the dispatcher.

  Mike thanked him, reached for his phone and dialed Duron. He answered on the second ring and began talking before Mike could get a word in.

  “Hey bro, I was just about to call you. Taija and I want to have you and Loren over for dinner sometime next week if….”

  Mike cut him off.

  “D, man, listen. There’s been an accident. I’m down the street from the office and Loren was hit by a car.”

  “What!!!!” he heard Duron shout.

  “Actually it was Shelly who hit her. She was gunning her car to hit me when Loren screamed for me to watch out. When she did, Shelly turned the car towards Loren and hit her and a group of other people standing on the opposite side of the street.”

  He could hear Duron moving around, probably heading out of the office faster than speedy Gonzales from the cartoons.

  “How bad is she Mike? I’m on my way down right now.”

  “She’s pretty bad. She’s unconscious and I heard the medic say she was critical, but stable. They’re about to transport her to the hospital right now. I also had them alert your dad and brother that they were bringing her in so that they could meet the ambulance. D, I’m going to go with her to the hospital in the ambulance. Take a breath for a second bro. They are taking her where your brother and father work so she will get the best immediate care. I think you need to call your brother Brian and probably get to your mom’s house and pick her up.”

  Duron knew he was right. His father and brother would take care of Loren and Mike would be there with her also. He needed to get to his mother before she heard about it either while watching the news or from someone who may have recognized Loren and called the house.

  “You’re right. She’s at home and Taija is with her. I’m heading there now and I’ll pick them up and meet you at the hospital. Make sure you call me with any updates or if anything changes.”

  “Gotcha bro. I’m not leaving her side. I love her.”

  “I know you do. I’ll see you in a few,” Duron said before hanging up.

  Chapter 19

  Mike paced back and forth in the emergency room waiting for any word on Loren’s condition. As he paced, he noticed her brother, Brian racing down the hallway followed by Taija and Duron who was guiding his mother who looked as if she were on unsteady legs. He knew they were all anxious to hear how Loren was doing.

  “Mike, what’s the latest? Where are my dad and Jake?”

  “They’re still with her in emergency. They haven’t come out yet. Your dad told one of the nurses to let him know when you arrived. I just told her you were here so she’s letting him know.”

  “What the hell happened Mike? You said Shelly hit her on purpose with her car? Why? What was going on?”

  Mike could see the anger brewing up in Duron and he didn’t blame him. This was all his fault. He put Loren in danger by exposing his relationship with Loren to Shelly. He sent Shelly over the edge by declaring his love for Loren. Shelly took that anger and hurt the woman he loved and he would never forgive himself for it. He started to explain when Duron’s mother interjected.

  “Not now boys.”

  She then turned to Duron.

  “You need to calm down. I can see how angry you are and right now is not the time for anything other than praying for your sister and all of the others who were hurt. I don’t want to hear anything else right now besides prayer,” she said sternly.

  Duron and Mike looked from each other to Duron’s mother and nodded their agreement. She was right. Mike would give them the entire story later. Right now, they needed to pray that Loren was alright. They were about to join hands and pray when the emergency door opened and Loren’s father and brother came through followed by two other doctors.

  Mike watched as Mr. Earl, Loren’s dad, went straight for his wife, embracing her and telling her everything was going to be alright. Everyone held their breath, nervous about Loren’s condition. Her brother Jake spoke first.

  “Loren is critical. There was major trauma to her body. This is Doctor Draper and Doctor Morgan. They are Loren’s doctors and will be sure that Loren gets the best care. They are about to have her sent down for some tests, x-rays, the whole trauma care rundown so that we can be sure of all of Loren’s injuries. For now she’s stable, but she is very critical. Doctor Morgan will give the update.”

  “Thanks Dr. Knight,” Dr. Morgan said. “She has very obvious leg injuries and we know that her left leg is broken in two places. She also has a fractured left arm. She has some head trauma as well. We’re sending her for scans to determine the extent of the head trauma. As soon as we have test results, we’ll come back out to give you all an update.”

  Jake thanked them both as they headed off to tend to Loren. He once again spoke to the family.

  “Dad and I are going to step back to allow everyone to do the best job for Loren and we’re going to be here with you as family, waiting. Let’s all have a seat. Duron, get mom some water and get her seated. She doesn’t look too steady.”

  Mike watched as Mr. Earl tended to his wife, making sure she was okay. She was near hysterics and they all wanted to keep her calm.

  “Jake, go get your mother something to calm her down,” Mr. Earl said. “I don’t like how upset she is. We need to get her calmed.”

  Jake headed in a sprint to follow his dad’s instructions. Mr. Earl hollered at Jake’s back, “Jake, bring back a blood pressure cuff.”

  Jake nodded his understanding.

  Mike watched from a short distance as Loren’s family catered to her mother. He was also concerned as he saw that she was having a hard time catching her breath, being upset at the news of Loren’s injuries. He looked around at the scene, knowing this was all his fault and he silently prayed that the woman he loved more than anything would be okay.

  Two police officers approached Mike while he was waiting with the family on the status of Loren’s condition.

  “Sir, are you Michael Bailey?”

  Mike, stood, acknowledging their question.

  “Yes I am.”

  “I’m Officer Jackson and this is office McMillan. We were wondering if we could ask you some questions about the accident today. Your name was given to us as a witness to what happened and we were told that we would be able to reach you here at the hospital.”

  “Sure,” Mike replied. “I gave one of the officers on the scene my information so that someone could follow-up later. What can I answer for you?”

  The officers both looked from Mike to Loren’s family who were listening to the conversation. Mike could see that the officers were wondering if they should speak in front of everyone.

  “Should we go someplace private?” one of the officers asked.

  “No it’s fine talking in front of everyone. This is the family of one of the people hit by the car today. They are like family to me.”

  “Fine sir. Can you tell us what you know and what you saw occur today?”

  “I can give you a lot of insight into what happened. I’m going to start with telling you the precursor to the accident. The woman driving the car that hit all those people standing on the corner is a woman I have a history with. Prior to the accident we had a conversation that had gotten pretty heated and she was very upset. She stormed away after our conversation and as I was about to cross the street, Loren, one of the people hurt, called out to me to look out. I looked in the direction that Loren
was pointing and saw Shelly, the driver, gun her car and aim it towards me. I moved back out of the street and as she got closer, she turned her car away from me and towards Loren and just plowed into them.”

  “Thank you for that information sir. You said she, the driver, deliberately drove into the crowd of people standing on the corner?”

  “Yes sir. She never let up on the gas. She did a hard turn to the left and went deliberately into them. It may have been that she was going after Loren. She was upset after just learning that my relationship with Loren was pretty serious and she was very upset about that.”

  “We were able to speak with the driver and she did say she did it on purpose and it was a bad spur of the moment, rash decision and that she was sorry. She didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

  Mike wanted to know what would happen to Shelly. He was upset at what she did, but he didn’t wish her any ill will.

  “Officer, do you know what will happen to the driver?”

  “Once we are able to get information from all of the witnesses, I’m sure some charges will be filed against her.”

  One of the officers dug out a business card and handed it to Mike.

  “I’m sure we will want to speak to you again. For now, if you have any questions here is my information. Can we get your phone number and address for the report and in case we have additional questions for you?”

  Mike reached for his wallet to retrieve one of his business cards.

  “My contact information is on the front. I’ll write my home address and home phone number on the back for you.”

  After doing so, the officers thanked Mike for his time and headed off to talk to others in the hospital waiting area who may have been witnesses as well.

  Mike turned back to the family and wondered if they thought badly of him. He was wondering if they were thinking that his womanizing ways had finally come back to haunt him, haunt them all. Looking at them, they didn’t appear to be holding any type of anger or grudge against him. They were their normal, loving selves.

  As they all waited, Duron came up to Mike to check on him.

  “Hey man, you good?” Duron asked.

  “Yeah, I am. Just worried like hell about Loren. I can’t believe all this has happened. Why didn’t I recognize Shelly was unstable before it got to this point?”

  “Mike, man don’t do this to yourself. You can’t take responsibility for what she did. I know you man and I know you were clear with her from the start about the type of relationship you two were going to have and I know you wouldn’t lead her on while seeing Loren as well. There was no way for you to know how she would react. Only Shelly would know that.”

  Mike shook his head, understanding where Duron was coming from.

  “That same love bug that bit you, bit me when it came to your sister. She is unlike any woman I have ever been involved with. She completes me and I never want to imagine life without her. I love her very much. Who would have thought that I would ever be ready to say those words to anyone,” Mike declared.

  Duron knew exactly how Mike felt. He felt the same way every time he looked at his wife. She was his life and he would never stand in the way of Loren and Mike having the kind of happiness that he and Taija shared.

  “Loren is going to be fine Mike. You’ll be able to tell her how much you love her every day.”

  Duron patted Mike on the back to reassure him and went to check on his mother.

  Mike was the first to see Dr. Morgan come through the emergency room doors.

  “Hello everyone. I have a private room where I’d like to speak with the family in, instead of this open space. Follow me please.”

  Mike stood still. He was afraid of the news the doctor would have to share, especially when he carted them off to a private room. This was all his fault and he didn’t feel worthy to join the family. He didn’t know how he would look Loren’s mother in the face again if the doctor came in with very bad news.

  It was Loren’s mother that first noticed that Mike didn’t follow behind them.

  “You all go and walk ahead. I’ll be right along,” Ms. Barbara said while looking over at Mike. Everyone knew the kindness in Ms. Barbara’s heart would not allow her to leave Mike sitting there alone feeling like this was all his fault and feeling like he was no longer a part of the family. To her he was a son and she needed to reassure him as any mother would reassure any of her children.

  She turned from the family and walked over to Mike.

  Mike looked up at Ms. Barbara with unshed tears in his eyes. He could see the worry in her face and was sorry that he was the cause of it. Before she could say anything he needed to apologize.

  “I’m so sorry Ms. Barbara. I never meant for any of this to happen. I didn’t realize how out of control Shelly was. I didn’t pay attention to how unstable she was.”

  “Michael, do you love my Loren?”

  “I love her more than life itself, Ms. Barbara. She is everything in this world to me.”

  “I didn’t know you two were seeing each other, but now that I know, I want you to understand that this was not your fault and you are still just as much a part of this family as you always have been. I know you didn’t cause this. You could not have. You would never do anything to intentionally hurt Loren. I don’t even believe you set out to intentionally hurt that young lady who hit Loren with her car either. Right now all that matters is that you love Loren and right now she needs you with her. Get up from that seat and follow me into this room. Every time they ask for the family, you stand your ground and stay close. I have known for a very long time that Loren loved you. I’m just glad that the day came when the two of you found out how you felt about each other. Don’t push away now thinking you don’t belong. She is going to want to see you when she wakes up. I don’t know all that has been going on between you two, but I know that Loren would want you with us, so come on. Let’s go hear what we need to do to help Loren come through this. I have faith that God is watching over her and I’ll continue to pray for covering and I want you to do the same thing and I want you to do it while standing with this family; your family. I don’t want you taking the blame for this or feeling down about it. You stay strong because Loren is going to need you.”

  Mike got up and followed her into the room to hear the latest on Loren’s condition.

  Dr. Morgan began just as they entered the room.

  “Let me first say that Loren is going to be fine. We did a CT scan and could see that Loren has some swelling around the brain that we can treat with medication, so no surgery will be needed for that. We will continue to watch that. Most of the damage to her head is surface cuts and lacerations and those are being taken care of now. Due to the swelling, Loren has not woken up yet and that’s a good thing. We’re going to leave her as critical, but stable to be sure she is watched non-stop around the clock. Our biggest concern is reducing the swelling around her brain and again we are on top of that. We have set the leg and her arm in casts and we’re keeping them elevated to help with the blood flow. I’m going to let Dr. Draper give you an update on the baby.”

  Together, everyone in the room except the doctors said, “Baby?”

  “What baby?” Duron said.

  The doctors looked at the family and realized no one knew that Loren was pregnant.

  “I’m sorry. I thought you all knew that Loren was pregnant.”

  All eyes turned to Mike who stood with a look of shock on his face, speechless. He wasn’t quite sure he heard the doctor correctly and needed to be sure.

  “I’m sorry, did you say Loren is pregnant?” he asked. He noticed all eyes in the room were still on him.

  “Yes, Loren is about four weeks along, very early in the pregnancy,” Dr. Draper confirmed. “It’s why Dr. Morgan called me in to assist. With trauma cases, before we do any work on them or administer any medication, we like to be sure of any pregnancy and since Loren was unconscious, we quickly did a blood test and determined she was indeed pregnan
t so that we could plan our strategy for saving not only Loren, but the baby as well. We are pretty confident the baby is fine so please don’t worry.”

  Everyone continued to stare at Mike who wanted to assure them that he didn’t know. He spoke to the entire family, but looked at Ms. Barbara when he spoke.

  “I had no idea Loren was pregnant. She didn’t say anything to me.”

  Everyone looked around the room to see if anyone appeared to have known. They all then looked at Taija who also confirmed that Loren did not tell her either.

  Dr. Draper broke the silent stares.

  “It’s very possible Loren didn’t know yet. Either way, yes she’s pregnant and the baby is fine. I will be keeping a close eye on the baby and have listed the restrictions on medication in her chart so that nothing is administered that could harm the baby.”

  Dr. Morgan continued with an additional update.

  “The biggest impact Loren took from the accident was to her leg, arm and the head injury was a result of the fall she took after being hit. From what I’m told there were two other people who took the brunt of the hit from the car and who sustained more serious injuries and a lot of what Loren could have taken was blocked by her being more behind those two people. Everyone from the accident will be fine. There were lots of broken bones, but thank goodness there was no loss of life.”

  Everyone was relieved to hear that and they were especially elated to hear that Loren would be okay.

  “Once the swelling on Loren’s brain has reduced, she should wake up and we can do a better job of assessing any type of brain damage. We don’t believe there is any significant damage, but of course we want to be absolutely sure. We will cross that road when we get to it. Right now, we will continue to monitor her progress. You can go in to see her in a few minutes; no more than two people at a time.”

  Everyone listened as the doctor continued with more instructions, especially on what they should be prepared to see.

  “Be ready for what you see when you walk into the room. There is a lot of bruising, especially on her face. That will go down. We are doing everything for Loren and if you have any questions at any time, please don’t hesitate to have one of the nurses page me. I will continue to give you updates and I have assured both Dr. Knight’s that I will closely monitor Loren’s progress to keep you all updated around the clock. I would say that Loren could wake up at any time and we don’t see any prolonged damage to her not waking up. It’s just a matter of time and if I can do anything else for any of you, please let me know.”