The ringing drew me from my sleep and with a groggy mind I reached blindly for the thing responsible.
“Hello,” I mumbled.
“Greer? It’s Sydney,” the sweet voice answered.
Immediately I was wide awake and sitting up.
“Syd? What’s wrong? Is it Kane?” I asked, my mind conjuring up images of horrible things.
“Calm down, Greer. We’re at the emergency room and he’s calling for you. No one else can seem to soothe him. Can you come?” she asked.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” I answered, hanging up and climbing from my bed.
Quickly I dressed and threw on some shoes. Grabbing my bag, I threw open my door to leave and stood face to face with Alex.
“Greer,” he said, his face registering his surprise at the way I opened the door.
“Alex, I don’t have time right now. Kane’s in the emergency room and he needs me,” I said, pushing past him as I ran down the steps.
“Wait,” he called out, chasing me.
“Alex,” I warned, but he cut me off.
“I’m coming with you. I care about him too,” he said.
I stared at him for a moment but only a moment before I simply nodded and allowed him to accompany me. Hailing a cab, we were at the hospital only a few short minutes later.
I left him behind as I ran in searching for Sydney and Kane.
“Greer,” I heard Sydney call out from behind me. Spinning, my eyes caught her. She stood shaking and pale in the waiting room.
“Sydney, what happened?” I demanded, hugging her in an effort to calm her.
“I don’t know. I don’t know how it happened. We were at the park playing. We’ve gone there a million times. He knows where he can go and where he can’t. One minute he was playing with his friends by the swing set and the next thing I knew he was standing at the edge of the parking lot. A car came flying through and the guy didn’t see him. I couldn’t scream out to Kane or anything. He hit him before any of us knew what was happening,” she cried in my arms.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, the thought of the beautiful little boy I loved so much hurt. “Can I see him?”
“He’s hysterical and no one on staff signs. He’s scared, but they said I couldn’t stay in there. I don’t know if they will let you in,” she answered, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Well I’m going in whether they like it or not,” I stated, turning around.
My eyes focused on Alex who stood talking to a doctor to the side. Both faces were serious and my stomach twisted in knots at the sight of the blood on the physicians uniform.
Taking a deep breath, I approached him.
“Excuse me, doctor, but my name is Greer Stone and I need to see Kane,” I said, interrupting them.
“He needs to see you too,” Alex answered. Reaching out, he took my hand and led me towards one of the rooms.
“Where are we going?” I demanded.
“To see Kane,” he answered,
“How do you know where to go?”
“I talked to the doctor, Greer,” he said, looking at me.
We stopped outside one of the doors and he turned me to face him. I didn’t like the look on his face, the expression in his eyes. It scared me and it took a lot to scare me.
“What is it, Alex?”
“He looks pretty bad, Greer. A lot worse than his condition really is. I need you to be prepared for this. He needs you to be. You can’t walk in there and break down at the sight of him. It won’t help. He’s pretty black and blue, cuts, scratches, a couple of broken bones, and a concussion.” He stared at me. “Ready?”
I nodded and turned to open the door. He had warned me, done is best to prepare me, but nothing could have prepared me for the sobbing five-year-old who lay on that big bed like a broken, battered doll.
“Oh God,” I sobbed quietly at the sight of him, the tears welling in my eyes.
“Greer,” Alex whispered, behind me. He placed a hand on my shoulder for support and it seemed to help me get control of myself.
With another deep breath, I moved toward the bed.
Kane must have felt the vibrations of my footsteps in the room because slowly he turned and looked up at me. His eyes, black and blue from the accident, were also red from his tears. The emotion in them broke every corner of my heart.
“Greer,” Kane sobbed when he saw me. He reached out to me with the arm that wasn’t broken and I rushed to sit next to him.
“Hi, Red,” I said, forcing a smile in hopes of appearing more in control then I felt. I didn’t even bother signing for once, simply letting him read my lips.
“Hurts, Greer,” he cried, holding my hand with his little bit of strength.
“I know, baby. I know, but it’ll get better. All those scary strangers that have been around you, those are the doctors and they are going to make it all better, Kane. I promised,” I said, still fighting the tears that demanded even more strongly to fall.
“Make it stop, Greer. Make it stop,” he begged, suddenly becoming the little boy that had stolen my heart three years ago. His tears turned to sobs and his body started shaking.
Pulling him gently into my arms, I rocked him as I brushed his hair and whispered soothing words I knew he could feel but not hear.
My baby, the precious little baby that had given me a renewed hope in the life I was living now. His laughter, his smile, his simple joy of life had been the bright moments in my healing after Quin’s death. It hurt me so much to see him in so much pain when there was nothing I could do to ease it. He was so scared too. Without his hearing his main form of communication relied on his eyes. In his fear and pain tears clouded his vision and even if Sydney had been allowed in earlier to sign to him he would have been too upset to see her. He didn’t understand what was wrong, what had happened. He didn’t know why it hurt so much and why the pain wouldn’t go away.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alex move. He nodded at me before quickly closing the door leaving me alone to soothe the boy who had soothed my pain years ago.
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