Madisonr glanced in the backseat of the 4-Runner to see Andrew curled up in the backseat. She smiled a little and turned back to the front and sighed. Anne put a reassuring hand on her leg, "Honey, just keep up hope, okay?"
She nodded, "I know..I'm just..scared. I hate hospitals."
"I do too, you're not the only one. We're about 5 minutes from there, right?"
Madison glanced at the sign they were about to pass, "Yes, its this exit."
Madison was growing increasingly nervous as they walked through the halls of the hospital. Andrew was still asleep in her arms and somehow that comforted her a little. "This is it..," Anne said.
She pushed open the waiting room door to see Brian and the other three guys sitting there or sprawled out on the chairs trying to sleep. Anne hugged her nephew and made 'the rounds' to the other guys. Brian smiled, "That's Andrew?"
"Yeah.."
"He's grown alot."
"Yeah..how is he?"
"I don't know Madi.."
She nodded, "Okay.."
"Here Madi, put him down here.," Howie said getting up from the couch.
She nodded and put the little boy on the couch who didnt even wake up from all the moving about.
Anne was talking to all the guys and they looked up as Madison rushed out of the room. Nick went after her, "Madison!"
"Don't...Nick..just..please..go away and leave me alone.," She said as she faced a wall.
He put a hand on her shoulder, "I don't think you should be alone."
"I..can't do this Nick.."
"You never call me Nick..its always 'Nicky' or whatever."
"Nick...Nicky..just tell me..just...reassure me he's going to be okay?"
Nick almost couldn't stand to look her in the eye, there was so much pain in them; it hurt him. He hugged him to her tightly as she began to cry. "He's not going to leave any of us...he's my big 'brother' and I won't let him leave you.."
"I'm trying to stay strong and..I just can't. Nobody knows what's going on, if he's...dead..or if he's alive, what injuries he has..anything. I need to know something.."
"It's like when you were in that car accident Madi..nobody knew whether you were okay or not.."
"I know..I'm scared for him Nick..and I know why you all were coming home.."
Nick leaned back against the wall and smiled ruefully, "It was supposed to be a surprise..who squealed?"
"Anne did when I called her."
"Kevin was so excited, I've never seen him that excited. He told us all the other day and said he wanted us to be there to witness it and everything. He showed us the ring, he bought it with Howie actually, its gorgeous Madi..I can't wait for you to see it."
"Guys?? The doctor wants to talk to all of us.," Brian said finally finding the two.
Madison nodded and Nick said, "We'll be there in a sec."
After Brian rounded the corner and was out of sight Nick turned to Madison, "Just remember, he loves you."
"I know."
She took the younger man's hand and the two walked back to the waiting room together.
The doctor looked at them as they came in and sat down. "Is that everyone?," The young man asked.
Everyone nodded. "Good, first off, let me introduce myself, I'm Doctor Mark Garner and I'm on the ER/OR team here and was on-call when Mr. Richardson was brought in. He had mutiple external and internal injuries and had to take him to the OR once he was stable to stop the internal bleedind and that was stopped. His left arm was broken in three places and his left shoulder was dislocated, those aren't too serious and truthfully the only injury I am seriously worried about is the head trauma he suffered. His head must of hit the seat in front of him and snapped backwards. And..so far, his lower body has no stimulation at all."
The only word that kept echoing in Madison's head was 'paralysis'. Her Kevin...strong, muscular, headstrong Kevin was possibly paralyzed????? It couldn't be true, not him. Dr. Garner said they wouldn't know the extent of his head trauma until he woke up from the anesthesia. Madison sat on the stairs outside the hospital staring out into the dark parking lot. She was doing something she hadn't done in years; smoke a cigarette. She had bummed on off AJ. "Madison?"
"Yeah Brian?"
He took a seat beside her, "You smoke?"
"I used to..bummed it off AJ...I just needed something to calm me down for a few minutes..."
Brian nodded, "I never thought anything this bad could happen to him. I figured the shoulder dislocation from snowboarding could be the only bad thing he ever suffered."
Madison nodded, "I know.."
"You're going to have to deal with this Madison..."
She swallowed hard, "I know."
"He wouldn't want to see you like this.."
"I don't want to see him like that."
"Madison.."
She flicked the cigarette across the grass, "Brian...I've tried so hard to stay fuckin' calm. For Anne and Andrew and everybody else. And I swear, if one more person tells me 'What would Kevin say if he saw you crying?' I'm going to scream. If Kevin saw me crying, he'd walk over to me and wrap his arms around me and hold me till I stopped. What if he's never able to walk again Brian??? What if..what if..he has to live in a wheelchair the rest of his life and never walk again?? What if..he dies.what if he leaves me Brian???"
She wiped the tears angrily away from her eyes as Brian hugged her. "Its about time you broke down or did something like this..don't keep anything inside you Madison.."
"I'm just SO worried and scared what I'll see when I go in there.."
Brian turned as the door opened again and Anne peeked out, "Madison? He's waking up..he's asking for you.."
"Me?"
She nodded, "Yes. I was in there when he started to come around and he's saying your name."
Madison stood up and walked inside, "Are you sure it's me?"
"Yes..I've got to go to the airport, are his keys in your purse?"
"Oh..oh yeah, here they are."
"Thanks..I'll be back.," Anne said before hugging Madison.
Madison walked with Brian down the long hallway and stopped in front of Kevin's room. "Don't be afraid Madi.."
She nodded, "I'll come get you when I'm done.."
"Okay."
She waited until she couldn't see Brian anymore before pushing open the heavy door. She only looked at the floor as she came into the main part of the room. Tubes and wires and bandages seemed to cover Kevin. He was bruised and wrapped up almost like a mummy.
She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she sat down next to the bed. She saw his eyes flutter open and focus on her. "Madi?"
She forced the smile to come on her face, "Hey Kev.."
"What...where?"
"Shh..don't talk. You're in the hospital in Tampa."
He looked around, "Why?"
"You..you don't remember?"
"Plane...crash...?"
"Yes.."
"I..I was coming to see you..."
"I know baby..your mom told me about it...you know nobody in your family can keep a secret very long."
He smiled a little, "Madi?"
"Yeah?"
"My...legs?"
"What about them?"
She kept telling herself not to cry as tears flooded her eyes. He saw her eyes water up, "Madi? My legs? They're there, aren't they?"
She nodded as she bit her lip, "Yes..they are.."
"I..I...I..oh my God..I can't..can't...feel my legs....Madi??"
"Oh Kevin..."
She watched as the headstrong, silent type of guy she loved started to cry. Together, they both did. And it probably healed them in alot of ways.
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Chapter 24
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