Broken Promises {Brendon Urie}

Chapter 17

The doctors kept walking in to check on her. She still hadn't woken up. They were going to give her until midnight. After midnight, they'd have to discuss disconnecting life support. . . But they hoped it wouldn't come to that. And I did too. I didn't have the heart to tell Brendon. Not yet. I was the only one who knew, other than her doctors. I sat in her room, holding her hand, trying not to fall asleep in case she did wake up. I hardly slept anymore. Brendon said I needed to sleep. Dallon said it wasn't healthy. Zack said he was worried about me, not getting enough sleep. And every time I said I was fine. Every time I told them not to worry about me. 

"You're still up?" I turned to see one of the interns standing in the doorway, a small smile on her face. She was my favorite intern out of all of them. "You've been up all day. Every time I come in here, you're either sitting there wide awake or somewhere with your husband."

"I want to be awake when she wakes up," I said, yawning and rubbing my eyes.

"Take a nap, Mrs. Urie," she said, checking Rilynn's vitals. "I'll be here for a little bit and we have like five nurses out there watching out for her. She'll be okay. Just get some sleep." I shook my head and looked back at Rilynn. She sighed and went back to checking her out. "How's your husband doing?"

"Good," I said. "He's walking more. He made it all the way here from his room without stopping to sit down. He was so proud of himself."

"That's good," she smiled. "I'm sure she'll wake up. It looks like she's doing better. She seems to have a little more brain activity than she did last time I saw her. That's good. There's nothing to worry about."

"Please, don't tell me there's nothing to worry about," I sighed, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. "There are all kinds of things to worry about. She may not wake up. She may never wake up. Spencer Smith? He's been in a coma since they got here. There is no way of knowing whether or not he will get better. There is no way of knowing whether or not he will wake up. So don't go telling me there is nothing to worry about. There is more than enough for me to worry about."

"Mrs. Urie, please, that's not what I meant," she said.

"Get out," I said.

"Mrs. Urie--"

"I said get out!" I screamed, crying now. One of Rilynn's surgeons came rushing in.

"You should leave," he said. "Now." She scurried out and her surgeon sat down next to me. "Sarah, I know this is tough on you. You have a right to be worried. A lot happened all at once. She stepped out of line. I'm sorry about that. I promise you, we are doing everything we can to take care of your family and friends."

I was still crying when he left me alone with Rilynn. I just wanted to hear her voice. I wanted to hear her call me Mom again. It was such a big step, and she'd only just taken the step. Now she might die and there was nothing I could do except wait. I held her hand and cried. I just needed for everyone to be okay. I needed Spencer and Rilynn to wake up. I needed Brendon to keep getting better. I needed them to come home, but I knew they would want to go right back to touring as soon as everyone was better. 

"Don't cry, Mom." It was the faintest whisper, but it was there. My head shot up as tears streamed from my eyes. Rilynn's eyes had opened and she was blinking against the light. I jumped up and hugged her, crying. I glanced at the clock. Midnight. Just on time. I hugged her close, as if she would disappear if I let go. "Mom, please, don't cry. I'm okay."

"You scared me so much," I cried.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. 

"Don't be sorry, honey," I said, letting go reluctantly and wiping my eyes. There was the sound of the glass door of the ICU sliding open, and I looked over.

"Oh, you're awake," one of the other interns said as he walked in. "That's great. I was just coming in to talk to your mom. I'll page the other surgeons and let them know. They'll want to check up on you themselves." He went out and told the nurses to page her doctors before coming in and conducting an exam. He checked her heart, her incision from the surgery, the monitors, her eyes. Then the other surgeons came in.

"Hello, Sarah," her pediatric surgeon said, smiling. "Welcome back to the real world, Rilynn. We've been waiting for you. We want to check and make sure the surgery worked. It may be difficult, but we want you to try and move your toes. It may not work the first time, so don't get frustrated. You haven't moved in quite a while." Rilynn nodded and tried to wiggle her toes. They moved, but only a tiny bit. Just a small reaction. 

"Great job," her neurosurgeon said. "That's a start. Hopefully you'll be up and walking in no time. In the meantime, I urge you to stick to working a little bit at a time. You're fingers, toes, maybe roll your ankles and wrists eventually. After your body gets used to small movements, we can talk about learning to walk again and other movements. For now, try to take it easy. We don't want the incision to get infected or rip back open."

Rilynn nodded slowly. I knew she was disappointed she couldn't do more, but she had to understand what the doctors were saying. After awhile, all the doctors left and we were left alone. I still sat next to her bed, in the chair on the side. I grabbed her hand and held it while I took out my phone.

"I'm going to call and see if Breezy is up," I said as I pulled up her name in my phone. "Dallon got out a while ago and they wanted me to call when you woke up so they could come see you." She nodded and I hit the call button. After a few rings, she picked up.