Chapter Twenty-Seven
Beth
Beth woke to the sound of voices all around her. She couldn’t understand anything that was being said, it was all just white noise. She could feel the waves of drowsiness pull her under again, but she fought against it.
“We are losing her,” a voice rang out loud among the chaos in her head.
Losing her? What are they talking about, she thought?
Then the pain came, causing another wave to engulf her. Beth couldn’t catch her breath. She was lost in the sea. Losing her battle with the tide, she gave up. Drifting off, she let the darkness take hold.
It seemed like seconds passed, but Beth could hear the sound of beeping fill her ears. It was a huge difference to the nothingness she had been lost in for so long. Abruptly, a smell hit her senses. She knew that smell, but couldn’t remember from where. Then it hit her, it was Devin. She could feel his warmth pressed against her right side.
Beth tried to push the fog from her head and blink her eyes open. The darkness was still around her but this time it was different. She could see the faint glow of light coming from the windows across the room and another from behind a closed door. Looking around the room, she could tell she was in a hospital. Everything came rushing back to her. The clubhouse, the shooting, Sticks entering her bedroom telling her Devin was hurt. She remembered the feel of the gun against her head. She remembered seeing her father and a woman. Beth even remembered the searing pain after the woman shot her.
Hearing the door open, Beth turned her head toward the sound. A petite nurse walked into the room. Surprised to see Beth awake, she gasped. Devin’s eyes shot open and a smile slowly spread across his face. Beth couldn’t help but smile back.
“Well hello there, my beauty,” he whispered.
“Hi, handsome,” she croaked out. Her throat felt like sandpaper and hurt.
“I’ll go let the doctor know that you're awake and ask about maybe getting you some ice chips,” the nurse smiled as she backed out of the door.
“How,” Beth started, clearing her throat, she tried again. “How long?”
“Have you been out?” Sledge asked. Beth nodded her head. It hurt less than trying to talk.
“Almost two weeks,” he answered.
“Two weeks,” she moaned, “Holy shit.”
“Yep,” Sledge replied, placing a kiss on her head.
The door to the room opened, and an older man with graying hair walked in smiling at Beth. “Ms. Andrews, I am Dr. Shaw. It is good to see you awake finally. You gave us all a scare. Has your husband had a chance to explain everything to you?” he asked.
Beth turned her head to look at Sledge. Husband, she thought. But, instead of calling him out on that, she looked at the doctor. “No,” she choked out.
“Pam, will you go grab those ice chips for our patient, please?” Dr. Shaw asked.
“Yes, Sir,” the nurse replied and left the room, but quickly returned; handing Beth the cup.
The ice felt amazing on her sore throat. Literally like ice cream after being outside and dehydrated for too long. Who would have thought ice chips would taste so dang good?
“Now. That better?” Dr. Shaw questioned.
“Much. Thank you,” Beth answered.
“Okay. So back to business. I am sure you remember being shot?” he inquired. When Beth indicated that she did, he continued. “The bullet barely missed two extremely important arteries in the body. It traveled between the aortic and the pulmonary valves. There was damage to both, but I was able to repair them. It was a little crazy for a bit, but you came through like a champ,” he smiled.
“Thank you,” Beth replied.
“For a few days, you fought through a high-grade fever, but again you got through that. You’re a fighter Ms. Andrews,” Dr. Shaw stated. “Now that you are awake, we’ll see how things progress and will look to be releasing you in a couple of days if all goes well.”
“Okay. Sounds good,” Beth understood the need to be kept longer, but honestly she just wanted to go home.
“Okay then, get some sleep. I will be in tomorrow afternoon to check your wound and incision.”
“I’ll be here,” she retorted.
After the doctor and nurse left, Beth tried to turn her body towards Devin’s, but the pain caused her to suck in a breath.
“What do you need, love?” Devin asked, concerned.
“I want to lay closer to you,” she answered honestly.
“Here, let me move towards you.” Devin scooted as close as he could to her right side. Again, she could feel the heat radiating from his skin. His smell engulfed her. Closing her eyes, she drifted back into the darkness. But this time it was completely different. This time, she didn’t feel completely alone. Devin was with her.
Beth only woke a few times during the night. How she could be so tired after sleeping for almost two weeks, was beyond her; but, it seemed she couldn’t keep her eyes open for long. Devin was a trooper through it all, helping her to adjust positions when the pain was too much for her to do it on her own. Just when she thought she couldn’t love him anymore than she already did, he would do something that would make her fall even harder.
Drifting back to sleep, Beth knew her place would forever be next to the man lying beside her in the most uncomfortable hospital bed on the planet. If they could make it through this, they could make it through anything. As long as they were together.