Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“You’ve just flown in from India?” Natalie asked.
I refused to acknowledge her. Two could play these games. There was literally no world where she didn’t know that answer. Dash, my only objective. The sterile-looking room with white walls and all the beeping and whooshing of the equipment messed with my senses. The chill in the air did too. I went straight to the head of the hospital bed. My love was pale, with a pretty significant beard forming. His usually meticulous styled blond hair had slightly darkening roots, and was dirty. He’d lose his mind if he knew what he looked like. Other than those obvious truths, his face was gaunt, and he’d lost significant weight. His body had deteriorated quickly.
“How’s he gettin’ his nutrition?” I asked whoever followed me in. My hand went to Dash’s head, caressing gently. If I received an answer, I didn’t hear it. “I’m here, Dash,” I said quietly, bending to be closer to his ear. “I got here as soon as I could. What happened to you, baby?”
“Did you hear me?” Carter asked, finally garnering my attention. “He has a feeding tube.”
I gathered Dash’s hand in mine, heartbroken that his remained limp. “Dashing, you’ve got to get better for me. I can’t do this without you.”
As I spoke, Dash’s long eyelashes flittered. My heart tripped, and I leaned in, getting closer to his face.
“Please wake up. I need you to wake up,” I pleaded, my palm traveled to his nape, cupping him gently.
“They’ve slowly begun to remove the sedative. They explained he’d have reflex twitching, but that’s the first time I’ve seen his eyelashes move. I think they’ll consider it a good sign,” Carter said from the end of the bed. “I’ve been moving his arms and legs like the physical therapy team showed me, but he’s been fully unresponsive.” Carter said. Then he sighed deeply, a heavy burden escaped his lips. “Dash is like a son to me. I love him dearly. I’ll step out to give you privacy.”
My gaze was fixed on Dash’s face. My thumb caressed the top of his hand. Screw the consequences, I tugged my mask down past my lips and reverently kissed his cheek, right along the edge of the beard, lingering in the feel of his soft skin.
A tear fell from my eye onto his sunken cheek. “Please don’t leave me, Dash. I’m sorry for being so me all the time. Our argument was stupid. You don’t need counselin’, I do. I was wrong. Please don’t leave me. You have to be here with me.”
I so rarely cried that when a second tear dropped to his face, it took me by surprise. I couldn’t leave him, and leaned further in to rest my cheek against his. I memorized everything about the warm touch and feel. My breath hitched as I took his hand in mine, and placed the mask securely back on, the gentlest of touches had his finger lifting against my palm.
The hope his touch gave was staggering.
“Fight for me and our family. We need you.”
“Beau, the physician’s here. They need to talk to you,” Carter said.
“I’m not leavin’ this hospital until you leave with me,” I said to Dash, knowing in my heart that he could hear me. “You can’t see that I look rough as hell, but you’d love it. Carter has a room here, because why wouldn’t he? I have to go there and shower. I’ll be back here as soon as I can.”
I swept a hand over his head again and leaned in to kiss his cheek before putting the mask back in place. The image of his frail body was all I could see inside my mind as I forced myself to leave his side.
I pushed through the door to three sets of eyes staring at me. The nurse spoke first. “You can discard all the items in this bin.” She pointed toward a red container by the door. I did. Not seeing me wearing too much more of that in my future. If I could crawl into bed with him, I would. A well of tears filled my eyes again, and I used my sleeve to wipe them away. My hand followed, scrubbing over my face. This was so much to take in.
“Dr. Wells, this is Beau, Dash’s husband,” Carter said.
“I don’t understand what’s happenin’,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I’m Dr. Wells and I’m a pulmonologist brought in by Mr. Carter to attend to your spouse. Your husband arrived in respiratory distress that required us to sedate him and put him on a ventilator because his lungs were exhausted. This helped him breathe without exertion. Our scans and X-rays show an uncharacteristic pattern and we’ve not been able to isolate the organism as of yet. We’re treating with a number of broad-spectrum antibiotics. We have expedited specimens to the CDC for further testing so we can identify and treat appropriately. Until then, we’ll keep him comfortable. We’re trying to back off on some of the sedation to see if he starts breathing on his own. Then we’ll wean him off the ventilator. We’re feeding him through a nasogastric tube. At this time, we’re in a watch and wait situation. I’m working with the rest of the team, including an infectious disease specialist, and we’re doing everything we can at this time,” Dr. Wells said.