Don't Walk Away
Chapter
Three
Chloe rushed into the waiting room with Nancy trailing behind her. She had kept
her eyes shut for the entire ride to the hospital, praying silently that Brady
would be okay. Shawn and Belle were sitting together, with Shawn's arms wrapped
tightly around Belle for support. She lifted her head when she saw Chloe come
in, and her face was pale and streaked with tears.
Belle stood and Chloe embraced her tightly. "What happened, Belle? What's
going on?"
Chloe let go of her and Belle grabbed Chloe's hand tightly. As she spoke, more
tears began to fall down her cheeks. "Brady was walking to his car after
work and somebody hit him in the parking garage. A security guard found him
there and called 911."
"Is he okay?"
Belle shook her head solemnly. "I don't think so, Chloe. He wasn't
breathing when they brought him in. It's pretty bad."
Chloe felt like she couldn't move. Her entire body was numb and she shook her
head in denial. Belle held on to her as they sat down in the chairs. Nancy sat
on the other side of her daughter and tried to rub her arm comfortingly.
She felt the tears forming behind her eyes, but none of them would spill. She
was in too much shock to feel emotions.
"You said that a guard found him. So... It was a hit and run?"
Belle nodded slowly and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She was
having a hard time holding herself together so Shawn answered for her.
"Whoever did this must have left right away. There's a security camera in
the garage, and my dad is taking care of the investigation. Believe me, they
will find the person who did this."
Chloe nodded as he spoke, but only half of her was listening. The other half was
lost, floating in a dark sea of fear and anger. The group remained silent for a
moment, none of them able to find enough words to assess the situation.
Nancy broke the silence with a question. "Have you kids seen Craig since
you've been here?"
Shawn replied quietly. "Yes, he's in there with Brady right now."
"Belle, where are your parents?"
Belle sighed softly. "New York, on vacation. I called them as soon as I got
the call from the police. They're getting on my dad's plane as soon as it's
fueled up and ready."
"Is there anyone else that you want me to call? I can go in Craig's office
and make some calls if you need me too."
Belle paused to think and then grabbed a small purple book out of her purse.
"Actually, yes. Could you please call Victor and Phillip? I know that
they'll want to know what's going on."
Chloe nodded in agreement and interjected. "And Mimi... Call Mimi. She'd
want to be here too."
Belle handed her phone book over to Nancy, and Nancy quickly embraced her
daughter before standing up. "Are you alright sweetheart?"
Chloe shook her head. "No, and I won’t be. Not until I know that Brady is
going to be okay."
Nancy nodded in understanding and kissed Chloe on the forehead. "Just have
faith, and I'll be back soon."
Nancy walked away and Chloe slumped down in her chair. "Why would someone
do this? What kind of a person would hit someone and then drive away?"
Belle shrugged and sniffled slightly. "I wish I knew."
The three friends sat in silence together. Shawn holding on to Belle, and Belle
with her hand resting on top of Chloe's. Belle tried to stop her tears, but they
kept flowing, slowly but steadily. Chloe was trying to feel something, feel
anything, but she couldn't. She had always tried to be the strong one, the calm
one, and now she couldn't let her tears flow like Belle's. But she knew they
would come later, and when they did it would hit her like a ton of bricks. For
now though, she had turned her emotions off to allow her brain to cope with the
seriousness of the situation.
The doors from the ER opened and Craig came busting through. Normally, Craig was
an expert at hiding his emotions but Chloe could see the worry in his eyes. The
three of them stood and Craig first gave a quick, but strong, embrace to his
stepdaughter.
Belle looked up at him, her eyes wide with worry. "What's going on?"
"They just took him up to the operating room. He's lost a lot of blood. A
lot of broken bones. One of his lungs collapsed, and he's got a pretty serious
head injury."
"How serious?"
"Only time will tell. There's a lot of swelling and fluid on the brain. It
could go away, or it could get worse. We won't have any idea of how bad it is
until something changes. He's still unconscious, and until he wakes up, we won't
have any idea about the severity of the head injury."
Chloe chewed her bottom lip nervously. "Do you have any GOOD news?"
Craig nodded slightly and rested his hand on Chloe's arm. "There are a few
good things to report. Besides the collapsed lung and just a little internal
bleeding, all of his major organs are intact. His heart is fine, it's beating
weakly, but it's beating on it's own without the help of any machines. That’s
a very good thing."
Belle took a deep breath in and questioned him. "Is there anything we can
do? I need to do something... I have to."
"Are you the same blood type as your brother?"
Belle nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I am. Do you need me to donate?"
"It's always helpful if we can get blood donors. I know it may seem small,
but it is important."
"Of course, I'll do it. I'll do anything I can to help Brady."
Craig nodded and smiled weakly. "Good, I'll send a nurse to come get you in
a few minutes. What about your father, Belle?"
"He's on his way here from New York City. It'll be a couple of hours, but I
know he'll want to do it too."
Craig wrapped one arm around Chloe's shoulder reassuringly. "Right now...
Brady needs you all to pray for him. That's the most important thing you can do
for him. And be strong. He needs you to be strong for him."
Chloe nodded affirmatively. That's exactly what she would do. She would be as
strong as redwood if she had to, anything to keep from losing Brady. Craig
looked at her curiously. "Did your mother drive you here?"
"Yeah. She's in your office making a few phone calls for us."
"Alright, I'm going to go see Nancy for a minute and then I have to go up
to the operating room. I'll come back down as soon as I have any news at
all."
Chloe managed a weak smile and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Craig. I
know that you'll take care of Brady better than anyone else could."
Craig nodded confidently. "Of course I will."
Craig bid them goodbye and they all took their seats again as he walked away.
Shawn looked at the two girls with a worried look.
"Should I get some coffee or something? We may be sitting down here for
awhile."
Chloe shook her head slowly. "No, no thank you. I don't need
anything."
Belle shrugged slightly. "Me either. I don't think I could hold anything
down. I feel like I'm going to throw up."
Shawn began to gently caress her back with one hand. "He will make it
through this. We've all made it through so much in our lives, and this is no
exception. This is Brady we're talking about after all. You think he'd let
something like this stop him?"
Chloe sighed softly and interjected. "I hope you're right, Shawn."
"I am right. And both of you know I am. Brady has always been a fighter,
and he will not back down from this fight."
Belle laid her head on Shawn's shoulder and closed her eyes. Chloe leaned her
head against the wall behind her chair and closed her eyes also. She knew that
Belle was silently praying that God would save Brady's life, and she was doing
the same. Shawn was right, Brady was a fighter. But, Chloe also knew that even
the strongest person in the world could sometimes lose the fight.