Baby Mav

Here Comes The Bad News

The group lost track of time as they sat there for hours. Maverick tried to get them to go home or go to the cafeteria for something to eat but they refused. They didn't care how long it took, none of them were going to leave.

Maverick looked down at his watch, his stomach turning when he realized that Maddy had been in surgery for over four hours.

"I can't take this anymore," Rooster mumbled. "How long does one surgery take?"

"Depends on the level of trauma and the extensiveness of the injury," Maverick said, feeling numb.

"So the longer she's in surgery," Bob slowly started but didn't finish.

"The worse her injuries," Phoenix finished for him.

Rooster jumped up and started pacing. As he paced, he started angrily wringing his hands.

"This shouldn't have happened," he mumbled. "This shouldn't have happened, Maverick. Any of it."

"Any of it?" Maverick asked under his breath.

"All of the crap she's been through," Rooster said through clenched teeth. "She shouldn't have gone through any of it. I should've been right by her side, protecting her."

"Bradley. . ."

"I should've been at her graduation."

Rooster sat down and put his head in his hands. Before Maverick could try and calm Rooster down, the doctor walked into the waiting room.

"Captain?"

"Yes?" Maverick said as he jumped up. "How is she?"

"They finished the surgery," the doctor started. Maverick's heart sank when he hesitated to continue.

"How is she?" He asked again.

"Maddlyn broke her back."

The feeling in the room shifted. Maverick wanted to ask how it happened but he couldn't form his words.

"We're not sure exactly how it happened," the doctor continued slowly, "but Maddlyn's spine suffered some severe nerve damage."

"You were able to fix it though, right?" Bob asked hopefully.

"No," the doctor sighed. "We were able to stop the internal bleeding and reset her back, but we couldn't repair any of the nerve damage."

"Wait," Rooster stuttered. "What are you saying? What's wrong with her?"

"We were able to save her life, but I'm afraid we weren't able to save her spine. We did as much as we could, but Maddlyn is paralyzed from the waist down."

"She can't walk?" Rooster asked under his breath.

"Unfortunately, no. There's a slight chance through intense physical therapy that she could regain her ability but it's unlikely."

"She's strong," Maverick said more to himself. "She can go to physical therapy. She can get stronger. She can get through this."

"Can we see her?" Rooster asked, his mind racing as he thought about how much pain she must be in.

"She's still unconscious but she should be awake in an hour or two," the doctor said gently. "Why don't I show you to her room?"

He started to walk but stopped when he realized everyone was following him. "However," he cleared his throat, "only family is allowed in the room."

Maverick turned around but mainly spoke to Rooster. "I will call you the second she wakes up."

"Mav," Rooster whispered. "I can't leave her."