We were now completely stuck behind a pile of other cars at fucking red light. No one was coming from any of the opposite directions, and it was as if everything was trying to make me overload and spiral. It was another three minutes of complete silence as we waited for it to switch, and I didn't begin to know what to say to Amy anymore.
"Luke, are you still there?" She asked continuously into the phone, as I watched the cars in front of us accelerate in utter stillness.
I heard more shuffling in the background of the phone, and I breathed out a sigh as I saw the familiar bridge that would lead us into the heart of downtown.
"Luke, fucking say something before I hang up this call."
I snapped back into the present time and tried to get my mind to wrap itself around what had just been said. With a shaky breath, and the hope that I'd heard her wrong, I responded.
"What do you mean my daughter?"
"I mean exactly what I said Luke." she snapped back, angrily. "Now answer the damn question."
I paused, trying to think clearly for a moment and push aside all of the jumbles of thoughts and emotions that were being hurled in my direction.
"Then yes." I said, my voice thick as a lump in the back of my throat formed.
"Yes?"
"I would trust him with her life too." I confirmed, trying to convince myself of what I was saying.
Don't get me wrong, of course I trusted Ashton. I trusted all of the guys. But something else comes into play when the mention of your own child gets brought into the mix. There's a new protective nature that pops up, and suddenly everything you thought you knew gets put into question.
The car came to a stop with an abrupt halt as we hit yet another backed up redlight, this time traffic surrounded us from every direction.
"What does he have to do to... make her okay until you get here?" She asked, giving me a glimmer of hope.
"I'm really not sure. It'll depend on what exactly is making her crash right now." I rushed out, mentally kicking myself for not asking Alex for more intricate details on what her differential was.
"Well, what's causing it?"
"Amy, I have no way of knowing right now. I'm not there, you'll just have to trust Dr. Irwins judgement."
"I can't do that Luke, I'm sorry." She said, sounding resigned as I heard her pull away from the phone.
"Wait! Wait, give me back to the doctor really fast, maybe he can tell me what's going on." I reasoned, not willing to just give up and let this girl suffer as Amy refuses to let anyone help.
I waited on the line, hearing only static and some noises as I assumed she brought the phone to Ashton.
"Luke, ya there?" He asked, his voice exacerbated.
"Fill me in."
He took a deep breath and I heard him explain to Amy that he needed to step out for a second, which wasn't a good sign in the slightest.
"She's got severe internal bleeding located in the abdominal region. We've not been able to locate the exact hemorrhage, since we couldn't convince her to authorize a scan."
My heart dropped into my stomach as I took in the direness of the situation. Never in all my years as a doctor had I ever felt so powerless. There really wasn't much he could do to stabilize her in the meantime, except for the scan and emergency surgery to stop the bleeding.
"Shit um.. prep for an IV and get a blood type established. Have them rush to prep the OR and get a hell a lot of units up there."
If nothing else, he could have the operation room ready and have it prepped for a transfusion, which I was sure she would need.
"Ashton, you've got to keep that girl alive until I get there." I stressed out into the phone.
"I'll do my damnedest." I listened as he re-entered the room and Amy came over the speaker once more.
"Everything that's about to happen was ordered and decided by me." I explained to her, keeping my voice firm in order to fight off the tears that were threatening to spill out. "Do you understand?"
"I.. I guess so." She said, finally giving in. I heard a buzz spark around the room and multiple people started to run both in and out.
"Why don't you step out into the hallway and I'll meet you there? I can see the hospital now, we're almost to the front doors." I bargained, trying to get her out of their way so she wouldn't step in and forbid them from doing anything else.
"Okay.. I'll do that."
She sounded tired, and almost defeated which broke my heart even more. While we hadn't had the best past and we both had fucked up more than either of us could count on one hand, I still cared for her.. deeply.
Michael's car came to a screeching stop as he landed us right outside of the front main doors to the hospital.
"I'll go park the car, do what you gotta do Luke." He said, shooting me a nod as I practically ran out of the car and into the threshold of the hospital.
I couldn't run up the hallways fast enough, and it felt like an eternity before I saw the medical personnel entrance to the ER. I ran over and into at least two different doctors and even more nurses on my way in, but I didn't have time to care. I had to get to her, no matter what it took.
In the distance I saw the room that clearly had the most attention throughout the whole department. There was a constant stream of medical professions both in and out of the curtains, and standing right outside of it was a short woman with dark long brown hair.
Amy.
