Helena
The clock ticked on, and eventually even the TV stopped giving clues about what had happened. Slowly, the three of us began piecing together the events of the day.
"But why was your daughter with Dominick in the first place?" Soreya Henderson, Dominick's grandmother, finally asked. It was a question I'd been anticipating since I first spoke to them, and one I still didn't quite know how to answer. Dominick clearly hadn't kept them in the loop about much, and so I needed to tread very carefully.
Clearly they'd already figured out that there was some kind of relationship between us, but I didn't want them to find out about Ali—not like this, at least. Learning about your eleven-year-old granddaughter, or great granddaughter, from a complete stranger in a hospital waiting room just didn't seem right. Ideally, Dominick would be able to share the news himself tonight or tomorrow, turning a bewildering shock into cause for celebration.
I prayed that it would turn out exactly like that.
"He was taking her to Provincetown, a trip to the beach," I explained.
A nurse walked in and we all held our breaths—all except for Soreya, who started quietly reciting a psalm to herself.
"He's out of surgery," the nurse said. "But you won't be able to see him tonight. He's in an induced coma due to the swelling, and will be so for some time. But you'll be able to speak with the surgeon soon."
The words made me want to crumble and die.
"Ms. Bramford?" the nurse asked, turning to look at me. "I do have some good news for you, at least. You can see Ali now, she's ready and has been asking for her mommy."
"Ooh," I cried out in relief, feeling one of the two huge weights lift from my chest. I was still worried sick about Dominick, but I couldn't wait to see my little girl again—even though she'd only gotten scratched up, it had taken all my willpower to not try tearing down the walls of the hospital to find her before the doctors were done with her.
Looking at Jane and Soreya with tears in my eyes, they nodded at me to go. With a weak smile, I brought their hands to my lips and gave them what I hoped was a reassuring kiss. "Please hang on tight, for Dominick's sake. He's a fighter, and I'm sure all five of us will get through this okay," I said, projecting a confidence that I wished I felt more strongly.
The nurse turned to leave and I followed quickly behind, eager to see Ali.
"She was very lucky, you know," the nurse commented.
"That's what one of your colleagues said earlier."
"Thank goodness she was wearing a helmet, and the leather," the nurse said as we stalked down the hall. "It protected her from the worst of it, when she took her tumble."
"Do you know what happened, exactly?"
"Not really. She's still quite shocked, and very scared. She's barely said anything to us, only that she wanted to speak with her father. What she really needs is rest, so we didn't push," she said, pausing at the door. "But you're probably not going to get that luxury, you know."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "I know less about this than anyone here…."
"That's not going to matter once the media gets its claws into you," the nurse said sadly. "You saw the reporters in the parking lot when you came in?"
"Yes," I said, frowning. "At least a dozen of them, maybe more. I wasn't really paying attention."
"A dozen was about right," the nurse began. "Before the story got picked up by the major networks. It's only gotten worse since then. The hospital is practically on lockdown because of the number of them, it's crazy. My shift is ending soon, and I wanted to be sure someone warned you. I know it's none of my business, but Ali is…recognizable. Before you take her home, you really should ask someone to show you how to get to the staff parking lot. You can pick her up there."
"Thanks," I said, feeling more bewildered than ever. Unable to process the new bad news, I focused on the good. "This is Ali's room?" I asked.
"Yes," the nurse said with a smile, opening the door.
Inside was an elevated hospital bed, with Ali's small frame on top of the crisp white sheets. All other thoughts gone, I rushed forward with tears flowing down my face.
"My baby!" shouted, not caring how loud I was.
"Mom!" Ali answered, breaking into tears of her own when she saw me. I reached down and gave her as gentle a hug as I could, but the pain in her eyes made me afraid of doing more.
I wanted to smother her with love and kisses, to hold her tight until I was sure she'd never leave again. But I couldn't do any of that for fear of hurting her, unsure where she was hurting exactly. Deciding to let her do the hugging, I put my forehead against hers and reassured her that everything was going to be okay.
"I'm sorry, mom," Ali whispered as she nestled against me, and her whimpering quickly broke into open sobbing. "So, so, so sorry!"
"Shh, it's okay, honey. You've been through a lot, but you're safe. You just need some rest," I coddled her, rocking her frail body in my arms.
"But what about Dominick? They won't tell me anything! I hate them," Ali wailed, and it was all I could do to kiss her nose and gently stroke her hair.
"We don't know much," I admitted. "But the good news is that he made it out of surgery in one piece. They have him…sedated," I said carefully.
Ali grew silent, pulling back a little and looking at me with wide eyes.
"We were actually hoping that you could tell us—" I began, but was interrupted when the door behind me swung open once more. An older gentleman with a clipboard and laptop entered, smiling at both of us.
"Alicia Bramford?" he asked.
"That's us. I'm her mother, Helena."
"So you're…huh," he said very quietly, then quickly shook his head. When he spoke again, he was all professional.
"Alicia is a very lucky girl," the doctor began. "She tumbled off a speeding motorcycle, but the damage is minimal thanks to the padded leather and the helmet. Lots of bruising, but besides an extensive burn to her feet she's just fine."
"Her feet?" I asked, looking down at her legs and noticing the bandages there. "What happened to her feet?"
"Whatever she was wearing there just wasn't very protective," the doctor remarked. "They'll take some time to heal, but like I said, she is very lucky. That would've happened to the rest of her body, too, if she'd only been wearing a dress or something like that."
I looked back at Ali, surprised. The boots that Dominick had bought for her had seemed ridiculously heavy and impractical at the time, running up far past her ankles. It'd only been my trust for Dominick and his expertise that'd stopped me from complaining about them, reasoning that he wouldn't have dressed her in boots like that without good reason.
And apparently, they hadn't been big enough.
It showed what I knew about motorcycles.
"Like I said, she's very lucky," the doctor repeated. "She just needs rest and some time to heal. I'll have a nurse show you how to care for the wounds and keep the bandages clean. If her luck holds out a little longer, she might even make it to the first day of school on those feet without issue."
"Thank you so much," I said, breathing deeper and more calmly than I had since before hearing the horrible news. "You're sure she is okay?"
"Absolutely. We did extensive tests and she passed with flying colors. No broken bones, no internal injuries, no sign of neurological damage or anything else. It is, if you'll pardon the expression, merely a flesh wound.
"Thank you," I said again, feeling almost peaceful. But the news wasn't all good, I knew, and summoning what courage I had I closed my eyes and asked the question I was dreading. "And Dominick? The man she came in with?"
"Henderson," the doctor said quietly, nodding. "Yes. I can't really say anything about another patient, I'm sorry."
"His mother and grandmother were telling me everything, back in the waiting room," I argued. "I'm sure they would agree."
"Did they sign anything saying that?"
"No," I admitted, frowning.
"Then I could lose my license if I said anything," the doctor explained apologetically. "Especially about someone so high profile. The higher-ups here have been very careful tonight to remind us about the dangers of leaking."
"I need to know," I said, sounding pitiful even to myself. For Ali's sake, I needed to remain strong, and that was the only thing that kept me from bursting back into tears.
The doctor nodded slowly, sucking his lip as he thought. Finally, he nodded.
"I actually have season tickets for the Bruins, you know," he said suddenly. "But I'm thinking of canceling them. I don't think it's going to be a very good season for them."
I froze, my blood feeling ice cold in my veins.
"That's…" I began slowly, reeling from the ambiguous news.
"All I can say," the doctor finished for me.
Worse than not knowing anything at all, I silently finished.
"All?" I actually said, biting back the harsh words. "That could mean anything. There must be something useful you can tell me."
"Maybe they'll recover and do better next year," he said carefully. "And maybe they won't. I'm sorry, but I really just don't know any more than that."