Chapter Eight: Purple Hearts


Daddy,” she called as she rushed after him.
He was almost running down the stairs, her footsteps following his as quickly, maybe even more quicker.
Brian trailed behind her determined to not let her face this alone.
“Daddy, stop,” she insisted as she reached him at the bottom of the stairs.
He looked up at Brian who was a few stairs from the bottom.
“You have no respect for my house or my family, get out!” He shouted and pointed fiercely towards the door.
Brian looked at him solemnly, he knew he had done wrong, but all he wanted to do was cheer her up, she deserved a life full of sunshine because she wasn’t going to be alive forever.
“Yes sir,” he answered as he touched Tia’s arm and quickly left the house.
Anger enraged in her.
“How could you do this to me daddy?!” She yelled. “Brian’s the only thing that makes me happy and you want to take him away!” She screamed.
“He’s no good for you, sneaking inside our house while we’re gone,” he muttered as he walked away, he wouldn’t even face her and that enraged her more.
She began to run up the stairs when suddenly her breathing became shallow and her head dizzy. She was up about ten stairs and as if hit my lightening, stopped and began to fall back down them.
Tia’s dad rushed to stop her fall, her eyes fluttered shut as he mom came running out of the kitchen.
Brian heard the commotion inside, for he had not left her house, just sat sadly outside on her front porch swing and decided what to do.
Suddenly Tia’s father pushed open the door and was holding a limp Tia in his arms.
“Tia?” Brian yelled as he followed her dad down the front steps.
“What’s wrong with her?” Brian asked.
“She’s barely breathing, we need to get her to the hospital,” her dad looked straight at Brian’s BMW and immediately thought – sports car – fast, hell why not?
“Brian will you drive us?” He asked.
Brian nodded and replied “of course.”
Brian opened the doors to the car quickly as they all hopped in and headed over to the hospital.

~AT THE HOSPITAL~
Brian paced back and forth in the waiting room of the ER. He didn’t know if he had a right to be there after the incident earlier today, but he felt in his heart it was the place her belonged at…by her side. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts as his footsteps patted quietly against the marble floor. He knew he loved her, without a doubt, there was no question. But how did he let it get this far? He knew it was beyond making love to her, it was a connection they shared that was deep down, perhaps linked within their hearts.
Tia’s father suddenly emerged from the ER.
Brian’s blue eyes stared at him intently, hoping he had answers for him.
“They moved her from the ER into the CICU. She’s gonna stay there while they run some tests and she’s probably going to have to have surgery. If she does then they’ll take her up to SICU within the next hour or so. They think there’s something wrong with the major valve in her heart, the blood is not getting through correctly, so they gave her meds to thin it, but they have to do surgery if it doesn’t act within a half hour. That’s why she passed out because she lost blood flow. Also the hole in her heart is somehow counteracting with the prolapse, they’re not sure yet, they have to open her up to see,” Tia’s father looked solemn, like he had just been crying as he stood there looking at the ground, not at Brian.
Brian’s face was pale, he knew what it all meant, it meant that she could die.
Brian turned around and stared at the windows of the ER.
“She asked to see you Brian,” her father whispered.
Brian turned around and looked at him, he smiled. “She seems to care about you a great deal, now head on over there, you might be her only light right now; she’s in room 128,” he patted his shoulder as he walked away.
Brian stood outside the doors of the ER wandering what to say to her. He had to go in there and be strong, that’s what she needed. Here he was, tears burning his eyelids and his face pale. She could read into him well and if he was looking miserable how would she find strength within him?
He wiped his eyes and slapped his face a bit, waiting for the color to come back and then proceeded down the long white hallway. He had memories of these halls from when he was a child, he’d been born in this hospital and had all his surgeries here, even the one in 1998.
He slipped into her room, unnoticed at first. She was pretty drugged up and her eyes were fluttering open and then shut.
“Brian,” he heard a small mutter from the other side of the room.
He immediately walked over to her and took her hand, smiling at her as bright as he could.
“I look like shit,” she started laughing but then broke out into a cough.
“Shhh, don’t laugh and you don’t look like shit, you look just as beautiful as always,” he ran his fingers through her soft hair. She had IV’s attached to her everywhere and a bandaid on a huge cut she’d gotten when she knocked her arm into the metal banister when she came tumbling down the stairs.
“You’re always so sweet, stop it,” she teased.
She shined brilliantly when he was in the room, her heart glowing as well as her face and her eyes.
“Are you ready for surgery?” He asked.
“I don’t want to do it but I know I have to,” she shrugged.
“Tia you’re the bravest person I know, you’ll do great and come back with 100% recov—“
“Brian don’t patronize me, okay, you know that I could die on that table,” she whispered, looking around.
“You’re not you know why?” He smiled, trying to be strong for her.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because you have the purple heart of courage inside of you darlin’ and you have my strength to pull you through, that’s all you need,” he pointed to her heart.
She smiled at him blissfully and replied: “for all you are and for all you’ll be you have a purple heart inside of you…” she poked him in the chest and smiled.
The doctors began to file in to prepare her for what assumed was surgery. She realized the tests must have been inconclusive.
“Brian,” she muttered as they unhooked her I.V.’s.
Tears came to his eyes, this couldn’t be the last time he might see her.
“I have something to tell you before I go to surgery,” she was determined as she shooed the nurses and doctors away for one more minute.
Brian sat down next to her on the bed and held her hand.
“I – I just wanted to say that…that I love you,” she whispered as tears streamed down her eyes.
A tear escaped Brian’s eye.
“Tia – I – “
“Tia we really have to get you to surgery, come on,” the doctor ordered as Tia’s mother and father came into the room and kissed her gently. >
Tia’s hand was yanked out of Brian’s as she was wheeled off down the hall.
Brian stood there, tears pouring down his face…”I love you too,” he whispered as he saw her disappear from his sight.



Chapter 9
Contents

Email Author
Email WebMistress