Not What I Expected

Part 16

"What was the surgery for?" Nicole asked, her stomach churning, knowing that the response was not going to be good.

"Judging by the description of the accident by the driver, your husband was thrown about 15 feet before he landed on the ground," Dr. Burrows responded sympathetically, "So when he arrived in emergency he was unconscious and we suspected internal bleeding. Mrs. Sanders, your husband has suffered extreme injuries and we suspect that he won't recover from that as well as the significant internal bleeding that we did find. We tried to control it, but I can't be sure how long it will last."

Nicole felt like she was about to throw up. She had not been expecting this. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and grabbed her cell phone. Unable to respond to the doctor, she was trying to process the news and the gravity of the situation. What was she supposed to do now, she asked herself.

"I have a couple things I have to do," Nicole said to the doctor, "I have to take my son to my parents and I have someone to pick up on the way, but I should be there in about an hour. Please phone me if anything changes."

"Absolutely, Mrs. Sanders," the doctor replied.

Nicole hung up the phone and rushed around like a crazy person, getting dressed, brushing her teeth, at best she was functioning at half capacity. She picked up her phone again and dialled her mom and waited.

"Sweetie is everything ok?" her mother asked groggily.

"No, no it's not," Nicole replied quickly and breathless, "Can I bring Hudson over to your place right now? I just got a call from Vancouver General Hospital. Chad got hit by a car and it isn't looking good."

"Oh my goodness Nicole," her mother replied, sounding much more awake, "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I just need you to take care of Hudson," Nicole replied, "I am going to pick up Anna on the way. If he doesn't make it, we should both be there with him. He may only want her there with him, but I should be there too."

"You are a much stronger woman than I am sweetheart," her mother stated, "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks mom," Nicole replied quietly, "I'll be there in about 10 minutes. I have to go."

Once they said goodbye she put her phone in her jeans pocket and opened her bedroom door and walked down the hall to Hudson's room. She was shaken up and unsure of how to deal with everything and she felt like one more thing would make her crumble, but she held on, knowing that she had to be strong for Hudson and for Anna.

Anna looked at her clock on the nightstand. It was 3:30 in the morning and Chad still wasn't home. She had tried to go to bed and sleep, but the worry had taken over and she had spent more time tossing and turning than she had sleeping. She sat up in bed and picked up her phone and dialled Chad's number.

"Hi, you've reached Chad Sanders. I'm not available to take your call right now, but leave a message and I'll get back to you."

Anna pressed the red button on her phone, threw it on the bed and sighed heavily. Where could he possibly be, she thought to herself. She pushed herself off the bed and slowly made her way down the hall to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of milk. Milk had always soothed her and made her sleepy, so she thought she would give it a go.

The buzzer for her front door went off and made her jump in her seat. She stared at the door for a minute wondering if she had heard that right or wondered if she was just hearing things. Who the hell was buzzing her at 3:30 in the morning?

The buzzer went off again and this time Anna stood up and pushed the button to answer it.

"Yeah," Anna growled into the speaker, "Whoever this is, you better have a damn good reason..."