~ Chapter 3 ~
After making Delana eat at least a half of a tuna sandwich, they made their way back up to the ER.
Delana was actually happy that Jr. made her leave the scene. There was nothing she could do and she didn’t need to see what was going on anyways.
Once up there, a room full of nervous and impatient friends and family greeted them.
“Is it true? They found him?” Tony Stewart said while rushing up to the two.
“Yes they did” Jr. said while ushering Delana to an empty chair. The room let out a sigh of relief when they heard what they had hoped.
“How is he?”
Delana looked over at Jeff Gordon and saw his eyes were red. When this all happened, she was shocked at the reactions of everyone but after 2 weeks she wasn’t anymore.
“I don’t know.” She looked around for Jr but he was nowhere to be found.
“How are you D?” Matt Yocum said from the corner.
“I don’t know.” She honestly said as she stood up to look for Jr. She didn’t want to be the spotlight any more.
She moved down the hall heading to Kevin’s “room” and found him talking to the doctor she watched earlier. They both looked over at her as she approached.
“Mrs. Harvick?”
“Yeah?”
“Hi… I’m Aaron Shepard. The Doctor that worked on your Husband.” He extended his hand to her and she lightly accepted it.
She wasn’t too sure if she wanted to hear anything he had to say but she clenched her fists and prepared herself for anything that was coming.
“When Kevin came in today he was suffering from a drug overdose.”
“What?!” Jr and Delana said the word in unison.
“We took some blood and ran tests. He has been injected with things from Heroin to Cocaine. They must have been small doses for a while. Ya know, to just keep him out of it… but today he was hit with a lethal amount of Heroin. They found him just in time.”
Delana looked back in the room to her husband who was still shaking. It wasn’t as bad now but it still made her shiver as she took in what the doctor had said. She noticed a little color back in his face. She was hopeful that it was a good sign.
“So what do we do now?”
“We are gonna give him the night to let his body work out what we couldn’t do.”
“So he’ll be ok?” Jr asked.
“I’m gonna say yes. You got him here in time for us to do our job and get a lot flushed out. We are going to put him into a private room but I think it would be best if you all went home to get some sleep. Withdrawals are not a pretty sight and you can’t do anything for him… ok?”
“So that’s it? He should be fine tomorrow? I can take him home?”
“Mrs. Harvick… I seriously don’t know. Anything can happen.”
“Like what?” She was starting to get worried now.
“Well I was getting to this part. It is quite possible that he could have some brain problems.”
“Excuse me?! Kevin went from alright to brain problems?”
“Well it’s always a possibility when it comes to drug overdoses. It’s just a possibility. I didn’t want to alarm you.
“Well you did.”
“I’m sorry. But don’t worry ok? I know its easier said than done but I’m not concerned. I was just making you aware of what COULD happen.”
The two standing in front of the doctor looked like they had just been beaten up… Which was true in some aspects. Their hearts were beaten. Delana noticeably shivered as she stared at the love of her life. His shaking was now limited to light twitches and his eyes were finally fully closed. His face held no emotion. His hair was matted to his head causing him to look like he just stepped out of the rain. The blanket was pulled to the middle of his chest and his arms lay loosely by his sides.
Jr put an arm around her shoulder to comfort her. He couldn’t’ believe this was all happening either. One of his best friends was lying in front of him and none of them could do anything.
The doctor watched them stare intently with longing eyes. With a huge sigh, he spoke up.
“Five Minutes…”
“The two sets of eyes locked on the doctor. Did he really say what they thought he said?
“Well go on before I change my mind.”
Jr reached over and opened the ER door allowing Delana to walk in first. The sound of beeping invaded her ears and she unconsciously shook her head to ride herself of the annoying sound. Dale kept his distance as De floated over to his bedside. She stared down at him, examining every feature. His somewhat pale skin gave off a look of death and she cringed at the thought.
After a few seconds of staring she allowed her hand to travel to him. She was slow and unsure at first. Hesitating, afraid of how he might feel.
Her eyes closed as her hand finally made contact. She lightly ran it over his hair, smoothing out the loose strands. Courage over took her as she unexpectedly leaned over him. Close enough to feel his warmth.
“I love you…” She whispered before inching closer.
She breathed in deeply to take in his scent and with tears in her eyes she landed her lips softly onto him.
The soft skin of his forehead under her lips was enough. She couldn’t’ hold up anymore. Her knees fell to the floor beside his bed and her face snuggled into his chest as she sobbed openly on him. Her blonde hair cascaded around her as her body shook from the tears.
Jr watched the scene from the corner of the room. He didn’t know what to do but he knew one thing. It was time to leave. He quietly slipped through the doors and headed back toward the room with everyone waiting.
