chapter FIFTY-THREE
“Any news, Pop?” Zane asked, worry creasing his brow as Curtis joined them in the waiting area.
Glancing around, Curtis noticed that the group had grown smaller over the last few hours. Since they had rug rats who needed to be put to bed, he completely understood. But there, sitting in a line against one wall, were all seven of his boys, plus Beau and Gage, who were additions to his family who he considered his own. As he neared, they all got to their feet.
“They did more blood work and the doctor came in to talk to us,” he told them. He was doing his damnedest to keep his composure, but it wasn’t easy.
“And?” Sawyer prompted.
“The doctor called it sepsis,” he explained, although he didn’t really have a clue what the hell that meant.
As soon as the word was out of his mouth, Zane was on his phone, and Curtis knew he was looking up the definition and probably what doctors did to treat it. Curtis had a fairly decent understanding based on the way the doctor had described it, and the one thing he’d taken away from it all was that it wasn’t good.
“Something about a complication from infection,” he said, trying to recall the long, drawn-out explanation the doctor had given.
“But she’ll be all right?” Ethan asked.
That, Curtis honestly didn’t know, but he’d said enough prayers since the doctor had told him that he hoped like hell God was listening. “It can be life-threatening,” he relayed, hating the looks he received. The last thing he wanted to tell his boys was that their mother might not survive this, but he’d always believed in telling it to them straight.
“What does that mean?” Travis questioned, his tone relaying his lack of acceptance of a fatal outcome.
Curtis took a deep breath. “The chemicals that her body naturally releases to fight the infection have caused inflammation throughout her body. He said that this series of changes within her body has the potential to cause her organs to fail.”
“Fuck,” Gage mumbled.
Curtis couldn’t have said it better. “Like they said, they’re getting ready to move her to the intensive care unit. She’s still really sick, can’t stop vomiting.”
Braydon’s eyes widened and Curtis could feel his son’s pain.
“How do they treat it?” Kaleb asked.
“They’ve got her on antibiotics and fluids. They’ll push those, hoping to fight the infection. The problem is, they don’t know where the infection is coming from.”
“How long will she be here?” Brendon asked.
All faces were staring back at him, concern etched deeply across them. Curtis could only shrug. “They didn’t say. They’ll do more blood work to check her white count, see if the numbers’ll go in the direction they want.”
“What can we do?” Beau asked.
Curtis stared back at his son-in-law. Beau had been part of the Walker family since he’d been a kid, so he knew that he was close to Lorrie. Having been Zane’s best friend growing up, then marrying Ethan, Beau was as much a part of the family as any of his boys. He was grateful that he was there.
“The doctor said the only thing to do now is wait. See if the antibiotics will kill the infection.”
“Can we see her?” Brendon asked.
“Sure.” Curtis nodded. “No more than two at a time. I’ll sit out here while y’all go back. When they get her to ICU, they said there’ll be visiting hours.”
“Go on back,” Travis told Brendon and Braydon. “We’ll wait out here with Dad.”
Ethan urged Curtis toward a chair.
“Can we get you somethin’ to eat?” Gage offered.
Curtis looked at Travis’s husband and forced a smile. “Not hungry, but thanks.”
“Pop, you have to eat,” Sawyer stated, squatting down before him.
“I will,” he assured him. Even the thought of food didn’t sit well. The only thing he could think about was how he wanted to see Lorrie smiling and laughing, enjoying her Sunday dinners with her family, not laid up in a hospital bed. His chest tightened as he tried to fight the urge to cry. He didn’t want his boys to see him break down, but the mere thought that he’d have to spend a single day on this Earth without Lorrie was too much.
Fighting the tears was useless, and the next thing Curtis knew, Travis was hugging him tight, cradling his head like a baby as he broke down, releasing the pent up emotion.
“Oh, God,” he groaned, his entire body weak as the emotions poured out. He was scared. So damn scared.
Travis held him tighter while Curtis fought for breath, hating that he was falling to pieces, but he couldn’t stop it. The one and only thing guaranteed to take him out would be losing her.
One minute without Lorrie … would be too long.
He wouldn’t survive.
Lorrie hurt all over. Her eyes continued to drift shut although she was doing her best to stay awake. It wasn’t easy, especially when she had a reprieve from the vomiting. Seemed every time she would close her eyes, her body tried to send her stomach out through her mouth. That and the pain. They’d said they would give her something, but she feared it would only make her groggier; still, she wouldn’t refuse, because the pain was overwhelming.
“Hey, Momma.”
Forcing her eyes open, she saw Braydon and Brendon standing on either side of her bed. She smiled. At thirty-one, her twins were still identical, although she could easily tell them apart. That was a mother’s gift, she supposed.
“Hi,” she whispered.
“How’re you feelin’?” Brendon asked, his big hand settling on top of hers.
“Like crap,” she said truthfully, chuckling.
Braydon gently squeezed her other hand. “Need anything?”
Glancing over to the chair on the opposite side of the small curtained-off room, then back to him, she said, “Just take care of your dad. I know he’s havin’ a hard time with this. But I promise, I’m gonna get well.”
“We’ll keep the old man in line,” Brendon assured her, grinning.
“I’m not sure that’s even possible,” she noted.
“Probably not,” he agreed.
Looking between the two of them, she didn’t try to hide her pain. “Make sure he eats. And sleeps.” She forced another smile. “And showers.”
“He’ll be fine, Momma,” Braydon stated, sliding his hand on her arm. “You worry about you.”
“Did he tell you what the doctors said?”
They both nodded.
“I guess they’ll be moving me to a room soon?”
“That’s the rumor,” Brendon said.
“Hopefully it’ll have a view,” she teased.
Her boys smiled, but those smiles didn’t reach their eyes. They were scared, as was she.
Something about this felt off. Never in her life had she felt like this. The pain seemed to be coming from everywhere, and the only thing she wanted to do was sleep. It killed her to watch Curtis trying to process what was happening to her. She knew it was tearing him up that he couldn’t fix this for her. He’d always been the one who wanted to fix whatever ailed her. Although, they’d been together long enough, endured so much, he should’ve known by now that he couldn’t fix it all. Still, she loved him for wanting to.
Before she was ready, sleep pulled her under, but not before she saw the deep worry on her boys’ faces. It hurt her heart to know they were upset. That was the last thing she wanted.