Panic immediately coursed through her as the realization seeped in that Lauren may not even be alive. Sade closed her eyes hard, shaking her head slowly just as her phone turned on. She couldn't bear the thought.
Messages and missed calls popped up onto her screen once she glanced down at it, still in shock. Only one stuck out to her though.
Lauren had called her... twenty minutes ago...
Her stomach twisted into knots so tight, she clutched it absentmindedly. Now barely feeling the phone in her hands, she glanced up at the TV again, then back down at the device.
Oh my God, she thought, and kept repeating slowly in her mind as her body walked out of the airport while her mind remained in that chair, paralyzed with shock.
~~~~~~~~
"Ma'am, please just calm down-"
"I just need to know if she's okay," Sade said frantically as tears fell from her eyes. "Please, just tell me if she's okay or not," she begged, holding onto the doctor's arms for balance as they held her shoulders.
When she'd come to the hospital, asking for an update on Lauren, they told her only family could be informed. That didn't help her state of panic, and she felt as though she'd lose it if she had to wait any longer. If she tried to lie and say she was a cousin or something, they'd simply ask for ID and figure out it wasn't true. So instead, Sade took another route.
"We're engaged," she said to the male doctor, making him pause. "Does that change anything?"
The man looked back at the nurse sitting behind the high rising desk for confirmation, and Sade looked on as well. The nurse simply gave a shrug, saying 'it does.' Sade's attention snapped back to the doctor as he slowly turned to her. He simply could've called her bluff, and asked for proof, but he didn't; he looked into her eyes, then dropped his head with a knowing sigh. Even if their being engaged wasn't necessarily believable given the circumstances of which Sade blurted it out, he could tell she cared for Lauren deeply, so he let it be.
"I won't lie to you, she's in pretty bad shape as of right now," he said, making her let out an emotional huff as she dropped her head. "The impact did some damage to the entire right side of her body, as far as I know at the moment, leaving many possible ruptures in ligaments," he informed, put simply. The doctor was sure to refrain from adding, 'we may be looking at a broken arm or leg, or both, a fractured hip, a concussion, a fractured rib or two- And worse than all of that, internal bleeding, especially in the brain. If gone left, or not treated soon, she could die.' He figured it might scare Sade into a panic attack or fainting, given the state she was in at the moment.
Sade simply stared at him for a beat, reading between the lines. Then her eyebrows softly knit as she tilted her head with emotion,
"It's worse than that, isn't it?" she asked in a whisper.
The silence from the doctor as he only tilted his head back gave her all the answer she needed. Drawing a subtle yet deep weighing breath that she couldn't seem to release, Sade slowly turned away from the him.
Millions of 'what if's' swarmed her brain as she took a much needed seat while trailing her eyes to the floor. She tried her best to just breathe, and not think the worst, but as each breath became harder to take, her thoughts only grew more churning.
The man slowly walked up to her, pure sympathy across his face.
"Please, Ms. Harper, don't think the worst. It's too soon to know anything for sure as of right now, but I'll update you every chance I get. Alright?" Without lifting her head or drifted gaze, she gave a simple nod. "I'm so sorry," he said softly before turning to walk back through the double doors.
Chapter 70
Start from the beginning
