The ringer on my phone woke me up sometime around 3 a.m. Groggily, I forced open my eyes and reached out blindly through the darkness in search of it on the nightstand. When my hand skimmed over it, I silenced the call and squinted to read the number on display. It wasn't one I recognized and that reason alone was why I answered, croaking out a, “Hello?”
“Mr. Carr?” asked a sweet voice.
“This is he.”
“Mr. Carr, my name is Felicity Smalls, a registered nurse down at Cedar-Sinai. I deeply apologize for calling at this hour, but I'm afraid Mr. Fonseca has been in a terrible accident. I've tried calling his sister several times, but unfortunately, there's no answer and you're the only other person listed as an emergency contact.”
I shot up to a sitting position, her words just barely registering through the disoriented fog, delaying my reactions. Luis had gotten into an accident…and Rey was out of town.
Holy shit.
“She's in Colorado,” I said to her in alarm, combing a hand through the hair falling in my face. “What happened to him? Is he okay?
“He was in a serious car accident and remains stable, but he's sustained grave injuries that will require extensive surgery.”
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered, shaking my head.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Carr. I know it’s not the easiest news to hear at this time of the morning. They just whisked him off to surgery, but you’re more than welcome to come see him once he’s in recovery.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Take your time, sir. He’ll be in there for quite a while,” she explained thoughtfully.
“Right, right, you said extensive. Okay, well, I’ll be there soon then.”
Hazel stirred as I ended the call and laid back onto the mattress in a heap. She rolled over toward me and splayed a hand on my chest, melting into my side. “Everything okay?”
I sighed and brought her hand to my lips, kissing the inside of her wrist. “No, it’s not.”
“What’s going on?”
“Luis wrecked out.”
“What?” she asked in disbelief, picking her head up.
“He’s stable, but they have him in surgery. The nurse that called said he sustained serious injuries.”
“Oh my God. And Rey…” she gasped, covering her mouth.
“I was gonna run over there to see him, but he won’t be in recovery for a while.”
“Where’d they take him?”
“Cedar-Sinai.”
“We can always get there early. Let’s have a shower, go eat breakfast. Then we’ll go check on him,” she suggested.
“Yeah, I guess we can do that,” I agreed, though I wasn’t sure I could stomach a plate of food after this blow. “Let me call Manny real quick and let him know we’re gonna be leaving.”
“I’ll start the water.” Her lips pressed against my cheek before she climbed over me and padded into the bathroom, lightly closing the door behind herself.
Illuminating the screen on my phone once more, I scrolled through my recent calls and clicked on Manny’s name. A second later, I could hear the ring in my ear and Manny’s ringer from the living room downstairs. It rang a few times before his hoarse voice echoed.
“Everything alright, man?”
“Nah, Luis got into a nasty accident. Hazel and I are gonna head over to Cedar-Sinai.”
“Shit, is he okay?”
“He’s stable, apparently, but he’s got serious injuries.”
“Fuckin’ hell. Does Reyna know?” he questioned, just as Kilo began sniffing under the door.
“At this point, no. She hasn't answered her phone.”
“I’m sure she's passed out, given the time.”
“I know,” I sighed. “Just makes the situation worse. I'm gonna hop in the shower before we go. I just wanted you to know so you wouldn't flip out when you woke up and didn't find us here.”
“I'll fill M in when she wakes up too.”
“Thanks, bro. As soon as I find out exactly what's going on, I'll give you call.”
If it wasn't one thing, it was another. One after another, to be exact. I couldn't catch a damn break. Life clearly was intent on breaking me and I didn't understand what I'd done so wrong to deserve even half of it. Yes, I know I wasn't the one who'd been in a severe accident, but my best friend had, the man who I considered my brother. To see him out cold in a hospital bed, banged the hell up, was not easy, to say the least.
Walking in here, I was well aware of the fact the wreck had been bad, but when the doctor actually explained what happened, I wanted to throw up. Basically, the driver who struck Luis ran the stop sign at over sixty miles per hour, t-boning him right in the driver's side. The impact was so strong, it wrapped Luis’ car into a tree on the passenger side, pinning him between both points. When the paramedics arrived on scene, they had to use the jaws of life to pry him out. He was beat up, with cuts on his head from the glass, a swollen nose, and a busted hip from the steering wheel, but the worst was the damage to his legs. All in all, my best friend was lucky to be alive, but the road ahead was going to be extremely difficult.
With my shoulders slumped over, I cradled my head in hands, my eyes trained on the floor beside my brother’s bed. We’d been here for an hour and he hadn’t woken up yet, which had me on edge, despite the nurse warning us this might happen due to the morphine. Hazel rubbed my back from the seat beside me, her legs curled up under herself.
“He's gonna be okay,” she murmured softly.
“What if he can't walk again?” I asked.
“He will. It'll take time and patience, but he’ll pull through this, babe. We just have to stay positive. If he wakes up to doubt, he'll lose faith in himself before even getting started.”
“All his clients, everything he's worked for.” I shook my head. “He's gonna lose everything.”
“He might, yes, but once he's well, he can rebuild. And you never know, some of those clients might wait it out for him,” she offered, reaching for one of my hands.
“I doubt it. Those stay-at-home moms are fickle as fuck.”
Luis stirred then with a groan, my eyes darting to where he laid. I leaned forward onto the bed and waited for him to come to, his eyes squinting from the bright lights in the room. My girl shot up to her feet and switched a few off, just as he turned his bandaged head toward me.
“Hey, bro…” I said, one corner of my mouth tilting up in a small smile.
“Knox? Hazel?” He glanced between us, confused. “Where the fuck am I?”
I swallowed deeply. “You don’t remember what happened?”
He shook his head and reached up to feel the bandage wrapped around it.
“You were in an accident. A bad one.”
“How bad?”
I motioned to his legs that were slightly elevated and his eyes widened in alarm. Fiberglass casts cradled his calves and feet, while splints and plasters held it all together. It was a gruesome sight.
“Well, shit,” he croaked.
Hazel shuffled to other side of his bed and pressed a kiss to his cheek, smiling as bravely as she could. “You're gonna be fine, okay?”
He smiled back but it didn't reach his eyes. Reality was setting in quickly for him and it wasn't pretty. All we could do was offer him the support he undoubtedly needed to pull through this difficult time. We wouldn’t really know how difficult, though, until the doctor came in to check on him.
“Oh shit, it’s Rey,” my girl said suddenly, her phone now in her hand. “I’ll be right back.”
Luis shot up to sit as Hazel scurried out the door into the hall. “Oh my God, Reyna…”
“Woah, woah, take it easy, buddy.” I caught him gently by the arm and laid him back. “You’re not getting up from here any time soon. Just relax…”
“Fuck, I just ruined her entire trip.”
“I’m sure she could care less about the trip. What’s important is that you’re alive.”
He scoffed. “Yeah, barely.”
Knock, knock!
The same man I’d spoken to when Hazel and I arrived poked his head in through the door, his expression lifting just slightly when he saw Luis wasn’t under anymore.
“Ahhh, Mr. Fonseca, you’re awake. May I come in?”
Luis nodded.
“I’m Doctor Jennings, how are you feeling?” he asked, en route to the computer beside the bed.
“Like I got run over by a train.”
“I’d be worried if you didn’t. Do you remember what happened?”
“No, everything is pretty fuzzy right now. I remember being in the car, but I don’t remember anything from the accident,” Luis explained, his words laced with worry.
“That’s not uncommon, Mr. Fonseca. It’s very likely you have some sort of a concussion from the force of impact, and you’re only just beginning the recovery process. It may come to you overnight, or it may take three months. Sometimes only bits and pieces will return. Sometimes none at all.”
“How'd the other driver make out?”
Doctor Jennings shook his head solemnly, a simple gesture that spoke volumes.
“And my car? I assume it's totaled?” he asked, shifting his attention to where I sat.
So, I nodded because although I hadn’t seen the car myself, I’d been informed it was not salvageable.
“Well, at least I'm alive, right?” He forced a laugh. “What's going on with my legs, doc?”
The good man clicked through several screens and pulled up x-rays of Luis’ legs. Gnarly was the only word that came to mind when I looked at them.
“You sustained comminuted fractures from your knee caps down.”
“What does that mean?”
“Each of your bones splintered in several places, causing a shatter effect as you can see here,” he said, pointing the different areas. “Because the bone fragments were jammed together, we performed an open reduction with different nails, plates, wires, and screws to reconnect the broken pieces.”
Luis took a deep breath and shut his eyes. “That doesn’t sound promising.”
“On the contrary. With lots of rest, patience, and rehabilitation, I expect you to make a full recovery.”
“And how long will that take.”
“It really depends on your body and your bones. For some, it takes longer to heal than others. But I’d say, given the extremity of your particular situation, at least six months before the casts can come off.”
“Six months?” Luis’ eyes snapped open. “I can’t go that long without working!”
“I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice, Mr. Fonseca,” the doctor concluded, his tone sympathetic. “How are your legs feeling right now?”
“Is boneless blobs an answer?”
Jennings nodded only slightly as he typed something into the computer. “And your pain, on a scale of one to ten – one being the lowest and ten being unbearable – where are you right now?”
“I’d say a four, maybe a three.”
“That’s good, that’s good.” He typed that in. “Due to this specific type of fracture, the pain at times will be almost unbearable. When you feel it coming on, simply click the call button and your nurse will come in to increase your drip. Do not try to play the macho card and convince yourself you’re okay. If you’re in pain, that means your body is stressed, and if you’re stressed, your body won’t heal.”
“What is the drip?” Luis asked, following the IV line secured to his hand.
“Morphine. These first several days, sometimes even weeks, will be particularly painful. Once you’re handling the pain better, we’ll drop you down to something milder.”
Another knock at the door had us all turning our heads toward the sound as my girl padded back in with the phone clutched to her chest. She smiled at the good doctor and took the seat beside me, shoving her phone back into her purse.
“What’d Rey say?” I whispered while Luis asked the doctor a few questions.
She leaned closer to me, keeping her eyes on our dear friend, and whispered back, “She’s spazzing out, obviously, but she and Liv are gonna try to make it home tonight.”
“I should probably call Manny and fill him in too, huh?”
“I tried calling Maya when I hung up with Rey, but she didn’t answer. I’m assuming she’s still sleeping.”
“That, or she and Manny boy are, as Rey would say, canoodling,” I countered, to which she rolled her eyes.
“Pleeease, yeah right.”
“You’ve seen them lately, all attached at the hip and shit. Don’t try to act like you haven’t.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She feigned innocence, and this time it was me who rolled my eyes, because anyone could see it.
Something was brewing there and I was calling it from now. Mark my words...