Give Me Hope by Zoey Derrick Read Free Book Online

 
    “The nurse came in about three minutes ago, said Dr. Alston was on her way.”
    “Finally.”
    I sit back and pull my ankle up onto my knee. I put my head back against the wall behind me and close my eyes.  
    And instead of seeing the black of my eyelids, my vision shifts…

Sixteen
    The image is white but three-dimensional, almost like a room. Yes, now I can make out a couch and table in front of me, but they too are as white as the walls and the floor. I can see something in the distance – not white, but dressed in white – coming closer to me. My heart rate speeds up, not in fear but in anticipation. Whatever is coming toward me is something I want, something I need. But what?  
    I watch as the figure draws closer. I feel myself growing restless with excitement. It seems to be taking forever, and I want to walk toward the figure, but I can’t. I’m frozen in place.  
    The figure draws nearer still, and finally I’m beginning to make out who is walking toward me. The bright red, curly, flowing hair belongs to Vivienne.  
    “Mikah.” It’s not the voice I was expecting, not Vivienne’s voice. “Mikah.” It’s Red. I feel his arm nudge mine. My eyes fly open. “Dr. Alston’s coming.”
    “What?” Shit. I rub my eyes, hoping to dispel the image, but as soon as my eyes close again, I see her. She hasn’t moved.  
    I open my eyes again to the drab carpet of the waiting room, blink a few times and stand up. “How long was I out?” I ask Red.  
    “About three minutes.”
    “Well shit. I feel like I was out for hours.” That is an understatement. Red just laughs.  
    “Nah, you’re alright,” he says.  
    I turn my head to look out the door. Dr. Alston is standing at the nurse’s desk. It looks as though she’s signing something. I start walking toward the door, but she holds her palm up toward me, gesturing for me to stop, then quickly puts up one finger.  
    Gah! Doesn’t she know this is killing me?

Seventeen
    I start to pace: toward Red, back toward the door, and back toward Red again. Come on, damn it. This is killing—
    “Mikah.”  
    My head snaps up and I turn around to face the tall, leggy blond. Dr. Alston. Under different circumstances I might have found her attractive. In fact, at some point I probably did. But that was before I met Vivienne.
    “What’s taken so long?” I ask her sharply. Too sharply. “Sorry.”
    “It’s alright, I know you’re anxious.” I nod. “It’s taken so long because we needed to do a post-op CAT scan. I wanted to have those results before I came to talk to you.”
    “And those are what, exactly?”  
    “I’ll get there. First, she is out of surgery. The next twenty-four hours are critical, so we have her in a medically induced coma.”  
    I feel my eyes flare. I’m instantly worried about what happened earlier. I take quick stock of my body, but nothing has changed.  
    “We were able to repair her shattered rib and her lung, but she has some significant swelling in her brain and we weren’t able to do anything to relieve the pressure. However, the post-op CAT scan showed some improvement since the first one we did. Which is a good sign. Keeping her sedated will mean better chances for a faster recovery. We will do another scan tomorrow morning to see how the swelling is doing. If it has gone down some more, we may be able to gauge how much longer we’ll need to keep her in a coma until the swelling is gone completely.”  
    I’m forcing each breath in and out of my body as she is telling me this, trying desperately to soak it all in. “Can I see her?” I ask shakily.  
    “Yes.”  
    I start to move toward the door.  
    “I’m not done.”  
    I stop and turn back to her.  
    “She is being moved to a private room upstairs. A cot is being brought in. I’m assuming you will refuse to leave her until she’s awake?” I nod. “Okay, so let them get her moved and settled.”
    “What about the baby?” I say, breathless.