by Beth Ehemann
I went over and bent down next to Piper across from Kacie. I knew Kacie was almost finished with nursing school so the panic on her face was making me panic too.
She quickly looked around. “Can someone run and get a towel? Fast!”
The small crowd that had gathered looked from person to person while I reached back and pulled my t-shirt off. “Use this.”
She balled it up and put it on Piper’s head wound which looked really bad. My heart broke at the pool of blood under her little head.
“Hold that firm against her head,” she ordered me.
Once I put my hand on the shirt, she opened each of Piper’s eyes, one at a time and cringed.
“What?” I asked.
“Her pupils, they’re different sizes.”
I shook my head. “What does that mean?”
“It’s a sign of a brain injury.”
My mind raced in a thousand different directions at the sound of that. Brain injury, what did that mean? It sounded horrendous. Kacie’s face was contorted into such despair as she looked down at her daughter, constantly checking for a pulse. It nearly killed me.
The paramedics rushed around the side of the house and down to the lake with a stretcher. After examining Piper quickly, they rolled her off the ground just enough to slip the wooden backboard underneath. After they strapped her securely onto the stretcher, they whisked her and Kacie off.
“Wait!” Sophia called out in a panic.
“Here, I’ll take her. Go.” I reached out and took Lucy out of Sophia’s arms and she turned and sprinted up the hill.
One police officer was talking to Fred and other witnesses while another officer was putting handcuffs on the guy I assumed was driving the WaveRunner. I glared at him while I momentarily debated whether or not it would be worth the arrest to go over and rip his arms from his body. Just as I’d decided it would be worth any time I would get, Lucy laid her head on my shoulder and sniffled.
“Hey, you okay?” I asked, desperately trying to crane my neck so I could see her face.
She didn’t reply, she just cried softly. I hugged her as tight as I could without hurting her. In that moment, I would do anything, and I mean anything in my power to take away her pain. I would do anything to take away Kacie’s pain, and I would sell my soul to the devil himself to trade places with Piper.
Holy shit, did this all just really happen? I felt like I was watching a bad movie.
“You okay?” Shae came up and rubbed my shoulder, her eyes were red-rimmed and she was sniffing too.
“Yes. No. I don’t know. Right now all I’m worried about are these girls, all three of them.” I smiled at her and walked away from the crowd, the police and the bloodstained grass. I sat on a stump and rocked Lucy back and forth. She was shaking like a leaf in my arms.
“Honey, it’s okay. Piper’s gonna be just fine. Okay?” I prayed I wasn’t lying to her, but I didn’t know what else to say.
“Her head was bleeding a lot,” she said softly.
I held her tiny head in my hands, tight against my chest and rocked back and forth. “I know it was, baby, I know.”
I wasn’t a dad—I wasn’t anywhere near close to being a dad—but in that moment, my heart hurt so bad I wanted to crawl out of my skin. And if I felt this way, I couldn’t imagine how Kacie was feeling.
“Hey, I’m gonna head to the hospital, you wanna go?” Fred asked as he walked up to us.
I stood up, still not setting Lucy down. “Yeah.”
Lucy’s head popped up and she looked at me with fear in her eyes. “Can I stay with you?”
“Of course,” I said as I tucked her hair behind her ears. “How about we all ride together, after we both put some clothes on?”
She mumbled in agreement and laid her head back on my shoulder.
“You should come, too.” I turned to Shae who nodded through tears.
When we got to the hospital, Fred went up to the desk and inquired about Piper’s condition.
“Are you all family?” I heard her ask.
Fred looked back at each of us. “Uh. Yes.”
“I’ll call a nurse to take you to where you can wait for them.” She smiled politely.
Before Fred walked back to us, a big white door swung open and a nurse called out, “Piper Jensen.” We all got up and somberly followed her around a couple corners and into a waiting room where Sophia was sitting. As soon as she saw us, she jumped up, ran straight toward me and took Lucy out of my arms. Her lips quivered, as she tried not to breakdown in front of her.
“How is she?” Fred asked.
“I don’t know anything yet, I’ve been sitting here. Kacie went back with them. They tried to tell her it was best that she stay out here but she dug her heels in and refused to budge.”
That’s my girl.
“I’m gonna run and grab something to drink, anyone want anything?” Shae asked.
We all shook our heads as she smiled and left the room. Within five minutes of us sitting and getting comfortable, Lucy was sound asleep on Sophia’s lap.
“Poor kid.” Fred looked down at her sympathetically. “I don’t know how she can sleep with all this going on.”
“I think she’s so wiped out from all the trauma, she needs this rest.”
“So…” I hesitated, but needed to know. “What happened?”
“It all happened so fast, Brody. Earlier Kacie yelled at the guy for coming in too close—that was right after you got here. I went down there to tell her you were here, she came back in and within just a few minutes, he’d circled around again and tried to cut the turn and missed. Slid right into her. At first I thought it hit both of them…” Her voice cracked, tears streaming down her face. “But then Lucy stood up and started crying. I ran into the water and Piper was floating; the water around her was dark red. I screamed and that girl on the deck, your friend, must have told you guys because within seconds, Kacie was flying down the hill.”
“That’s my sister, Shae,” I said, not wanting Sophia to think I was shallow enough to bring another woman there.
“Oh, okay.” She sniffed. “Anyway, Kacie came running, Fred came running and then everything started moving so fast.”
The doors leading to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit swung open and Kacie walked through them, her face as white as I’d ever seen it. Her t-shirt was splattered with the blood of her daughter and she was barefoot. I didn’t even realize she’d left with no shoes on, I wish I’d thought to grab some for her.
She walked a straight path right into my arms, crashing hard against my chest as her knees buckled.
“Kacie, talk to me, what’s going on?” I rushed out as Fred stood and came next to me to help balance her.
She didn’t talk, she just sobbed, scrunching my t-shirt in her fist as she buried her face and wailed. My heart dropped.
Why is she not saying anything? Jesus, please say something.
I didn’t know what to do so I just stood there and let her cry on me, gently rubbing her back and kissing the top of her head.
“Honey, what’s going on?” Sophia begged in a loud whisper, trying not to wake Lucy. “Please … talk to us.”
Kacie pulled back as Fred handed her a box of tissues. “Thanks,” she muttered quietly. “Um, I don’t really know yet. They closed her head … it took 23 staples. She’s going in for a CT scan now so they can see how severe the swelling in her brain is.”
“Was she conscious?” Fred asked.
Kacie shook her head. “They gave her medicine to keep her asleep for now.”
“Oh my God,” Sophia cried as she covered her face with her free hand.
Fred rushed over and put his arm around her, tears falling from his face.
“How are you? Can I get you anything?” I asked, desperate for her to need me.
“I’m … awful, I’m overwhelmed, I’m freaking out. I just want her to be okay.” Her voice trailed off as the tears came back.
“She will be.” I pulled
her against me. “She’s got a strong mama who taught her to fight like hell, she’ll be okay.” My words only made her cry harder.
“I need to sit,” she said after a few more minutes of tears. She limped exhaustedly over to the chair next to her mom, leaning over and kissing Lucy’s cheek. “How has she been?”
“She was pretty upset, not talking much, just crying.” Sophia smiled at me. “She’s actually been with Brody almost the whole time.”
Kacie looked at me and smiled, exhaustion covering her face.
“Kacie Jensen?” a nurse said from the doorway.
“Yes.” Kacie stood up and leaned against me.
“She’s out of CT, you can sit with her again if you’d like.”
“Okay, thank you.” Kacie hugged her mom, kissed Fred’s cheek and walked by me. Before she got all the way to the doors, she turned and rushed back to me, rose up on her tippy toes and kissed my lips. It wasn’t a sexual kiss by any means; she just pressed her warm lips against mine and sighed, seemingly happy that I was there.
“Thank you,” she said softly against my mouth before she disappeared through the doors. I didn’t exactly know what for, but she was so welcome.
Shae came back a few minutes later with water bottles and juice boxes for everyone and the waiting began.
After an hour or so of torture, the door swung open again, startling all of us as the nurse ushered another group in. My mouth fell open when I saw my parents.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked incredulously, hugging them both at the same time.
“Shae called and told us what happened. We felt helpless, we didn’t know what to do.” My mom had tears in her eyes. “So we got in the car and came.”
“Thanks,” I sighed. “I don’t know what to do either.”
I felt bad that they had driven all this way, especially since I hadn’t exactly been honest with my mom and told her about what was going on, or not going on, between Kacie and me. A little hand wrapped around my fingers and I looked down at Lucy standing next to me. “Hey,” I said, squatting down to her level. “You okay?”
She nodded and held her arms up. I scooped her up in my arms and faced my mom. “Lucy, this is my mom and dad. Can you say hi?”
“Hi,” Lucy said quietly, laying her head on my shoulder.
“Hi Lucy, it’s so nice to meet you.” My mom’s voice shook, clearly overwhelmed.
Lucy peeked at her and smiled, then she cupped her hands around my ear and whispered. “Brody, I’m hungry.”
“You are? Okay, want me to go get you something?”
She nodded and squirmed to get down.
I finished introductions with my parents and Fred and Sophia, waited patiently as Sophia and my mom hugged and cried together, and then excused myself to go find something for Lucy to munch on.
“Brody? Hang on.” My mom peeked her head out of the waiting room. I stopped so she could catch up, hooking her arm through mine.
“So there aren’t any updates?”
“Not since the last time Kacie came out. Apparently Piper got a CT scan to check on her brain, but that was the last we heard.”
“What about the guy on the WaveRunner? Did they catch him?”
“Yeah, they took him away. I was so pumped right after it happened that had he even thought about running, I think I would’ve swam after that fucking WaveRunner and caught him myself.” I looked down at her, smiling apologetically. “Sorry.”
She let out a quick laugh. “It’s okay. After the day you’ve had, I would say the f-bomb is in order. So … how are you?”
I sighed. “Pretty shitty. There is absolutely nothing I can do to make this situation better. I feel so helpless.”
“Welcome to parenthood.” She smiled up at me, the crow’s feet around her eyes looking more predominant today.
“I’m not a parent, Mom. I feel bad for Kacie.”
“Seriously? Here, sit a minute.” She walked over into a private seating area off to the side and sat down, motioning for me to follow her.
“I know you and Kacie have only been seeing each other a couple months, and you aren’t the girls’ biological father, but you love them like a parent. This is it, this is being a parent.” She laid her hands on mine, her gentle eyes searching my face. “It’s precious agony, Brody.”
The culmination of the last couple weeks of strain between Kacie and me, what happened to Piper and my mom’s words all joined together and made my emotions boil at the surface. She sensed it and opened her arms, pulling me in and squeezing me tight while I lost my mind and silently sobbed into her shoulder for a few minutes. When I came up for air, she rubbed my cheek with the back of her hand. “You feel better?”
“Kinda. Thanks, Mom, but I’ll feel much better once Piper is out of the woods and home.”
She squeezed my hand. “Say a little prayer, she’ll get there.”
“Let’s go get Lucy something to eat, everyone else too. Looks like it’s gonna be a long night,” I said as we stood and walked toward the cafeteria. A gift shop off to my right caught my eye. “Hang on, I want to run in and see if they have flip flops.”
“Flip flops?” She looked at me, confused.
I laughed. “I’ll explain later.”
Piper’s body looked tiny and fragile lying so still in that big hospital bed. Her head was wrapped in white gauze to keep her wound sterile, an oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth and her little arm had an IV sticking out of it. Purple bruises were already forming on the right side of her face, sprinkled with a few scrapes. It gutted me to see her like that; I wished more than anything it had been me in that lake instead of her.
Someone knocked softly on the door.
“Can I come in?” my mom whispered as she peeked her head in the room.
“Yeah, come on in,” I said, relieved she was here. “She’s still out.”
My mom gasped and froze when she walked through the door and saw Piper. “Oh my God,” was all she muttered, her eyes watering as she pulled her hands up over her mouth.
“She’s okay, Mom.” I smiled reassuringly.
“It’s hard to see her like that.” Her voice was shaky.
“I know.”
She walked over and pulled up the other chair next to me, not taking her eyes off Piper. “What did the doctors say?”
“They did the CT scan. She has a bad concussion, plus the gash on her head.” I sighed, thinking about how yesterday at this time we were hula hooping in the backyard without a care in the world. Crazy how fast life can change. “The doctor said he doesn’t think she got hit head on, that maybe she was under the water when it happened.”
Mom’s head whipped around to face me. “What do you mean?”
“He thinks she happened to go under the water seconds before she was hit, the bruising on her shoulder is even worse. Had she been all the way above water, it could have been … really bad.”
Mom looked back at Piper and closed her eyes. Her lips moved but no sound came out; I knew she was praying.
“Anyway, they are definitely keeping her overnight, maybe for a couple nights. It all depends on the swelling in her brain. They’ll do another scan tomorrow.”
“Will there be any permanent damage?” she asked hesitantly.
“They don’t think so, but we won’t know for sure until she’s awake. The doctor thinks she’ll be just fine in a few weeks.”
She reached over and put her hand on mine, squeezing it. “Thank God.”
Indeed.
“How is Lucy?” I asked.
“She’s okay.” Mom smiled at me and tried her best to sound normal. “Brody got her a grilled cheese sandwich and some apple juice. Honestly, she’s loving all the attention out there. Everyone is falling all over her.”
“Who’s everyone?”
“Oh … Fred, Shae, Brody and his parents.”
“Brody’s parents?”
“Yep, they got here a little while ago, and they’re wonderful. I’m not s
urprised by that though, Brody is pretty wonderful too.” She smiled at me.
“Yeah, he is.” I sighed. Blaire’s voice rang loud in my head, reminding me that he’ll never actually be mine.
What was I thinking kissing him in the waiting room? Clearly my emotions are clouding my judgment.
Another knock on the door.
“Come in,” I called out.
The door slowly opened and a petite woman in her mid-fifties stood in the doorway, wringing her hands. I knew exactly who she was by her expressive eyes. Mom and I stood up as I reached down and smoothed out my t-shirt, suddenly panicked. I didn’t want to meet her like this. I had on sweats, a blood stained t-shirt, ugly hospital booties with rubber bottoms, and no makeup. I’m sure my face looked red and puffy, like the Kool-Aid man, from crying all day.
“You must be Kacie.” Emotion overcame her as she fought back tears. “I’m JoAnn Murphy.” She unexpectedly pulled me into a hug, which felt amazing. I gladly returned the embrace.
“It’s so nice to meet you. Brody has talked about you so much, I feel like I already know you.”
“I’m gonna step out so you guys can chat for a bit.” Mom smiled as she stood up and quickly made her way to the door.
“Here, sit down.” I turned and sat on the couch while she pulled up the chair across from me. “I’m sorry about how I look. Probably not a very good first impression.”
Reaching out, she grabbed my hand in her own. “Kacie, you have been through more today than I’ve been through in twenty-seven years of being a parent. Trust me, I’m not judging your appearance.”
I liked her a lot. She was warm and friendly and immediately felt like a friend. “I feel bad that we’re meeting like this at all. I assumed our first meeting would be over lunch or dinner.” She paused for a minute and looked over at Piper. She swallowed, taking it all in. “How’s she doing?”
“Okay, they still have her sedated. Trying to let her brain heal a little before they bring her out.”
“Being a mom is tough, isn’t it?”
“Very.”
“There’s a saying … I don’t remember it exactly, but something about how having kids is like allowing your heart to walk around outside of your body. It’s so true.” She shook her head in amazement.
