Not What I Expected

Part 16

Anna turned her head and looked at Nicole with uncertainty. She had pulled away from Nicole, but she was now holding her hand tightly. Nicole knew that Anna was nervous to go into his room alone and so was she. Nicole nodded her head at Anna and gave her a sad smile.

"You go ahead Anna," Nicole said, "Take your time. I'll go in after you."

Anna smiled back and reluctantly let go of Nicole's hand. She slowly made her way down the hall towards Chad's room and disappeared inside.

Nicole walked over to a chair and sank into it, finally letting the tears fall freely. She was exhausted and she was terrified. She looked at Dr. Burrows as she sat down in the chair beside her and reached for her hand. Nicole held it and felt strangely comforted by it.

"It's none of my business," Dr. Burrows stated quietly, "But I'm guessing this is a pretty complicated situation..."

"You have no idea," Nicole mumbled as she slipped her hands into the pocket of her hoodie, "My husband left me for her...and when you called me earlier to let me know, my first instinct was to drive over to her house and pick her up..."

"You are a strong woman," the doctor said quietly, "You put her first, when it's your husband lying in there fighting for his life. That's amazing."

"Did I mention that she is pregnant with his child?" Nicole whispered just before the sobs took over, "I'm worried about losing him and he doesn't even love me anymore."

Nicole leaned over and put her head in her hands as the sobs coursed through her body. It was like she wasn't even in control of her emotions anymore. She had stayed strong for so long that now her body had taken over control. Her whole body shook as the tears coursed down her face and she was powerless to stop it.

Dr. Burrows rubbed her hand up and down Nicole's back to try and calm her down, but nothing was helping at that moment. Nothing could take away the pain that she was feeling.

Nicole continued to cry, silently at this point and Dr. Burrows never left her side. Nicole leaned her head on the doctor's shoulder and took deep breaths to try and calm herself down. She slowly began to feel better, but it didn't take away what was happening. Things didn't seem right with this situation. It should have been her sitting in that hospital room with Chad, not Anna, but here she was, being the bigger person.

Around 6:00 in the morning Nicole was still sitting in the chair, but now she had steaming hot coffee in hand. Anna still hadn't come out of Chad's room and now Nicole was beginning to get angry. Dr. Burrows had left a little earlier to tend to some patients, but Nicole had been extremely grateful for her companionship. She had needed it. Not much was said between the two of them, but just knowing that Dr. Burrows had been there just in case she needed to talk, was enough for her.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out and looked down at the call display. It was Beth, Nicole had completely forgotten to let her know about Chad.

"Hey," Nicole said quietly after she answered the phone.

"Hey," Beth replied, "Are you coming to pick me up today? I hadn't heard from you since you left work yesterday, so I thought I would check in."

"Shit, Beth," Nicole mumbled tiredly, "I'm so sorry."

"Is everything ok?" Beth asked, "You sound exhausted. Is Hudson sick?"

"Hudson is fine," Nicole replied, "Beth, so much has happened in the last 12 hours and I haven't had any time to call and let you know what's been going on."

"What is it?" Beth asked.

"The counselling appointment went horribly for starters," Nicole replied, feeling the emotion well up inside her, "And then when I went home, Ryan told me it was too hard to just be my friend and left. And then, at 3:00 in the morning I got a call from emergency at Vancouver General Hospital saying that Chad was drunk and got hit by a car while walking downtown last night. So I took Hudson to my parents', went to Anna's place to pick her up and bring her here to the hospital and she has been in Chad's room since we got here at 4:00 a.m. I still haven't been able to see him and it's killing me...He might not make it Beth..."

There was no response on the other end for what seemed like forever. Nicole heard Beth's breathing on the other end and then a small gasp.

"I'm closing the office today. I'll rebook appointments first thing," Beth replied, her voice shaky and quiet, "I'll come to the hospital once I'm done at the office. I'm so sorry Nic...I'm shocked, at a loss for words...I really have no idea what to say to make this better."

"Thanks Beth," Nicole mumbled, "But there is nothing you can say to alter this. There is nothing good about this situation. I'll see you when you get here."

Nicole held her phone in her hand for a moment after they had hung up and she noticed that there was a missed a text message. She opened the message and it was from Chad around 9:00 the night before.

I'm so sorry Nic, I hope you will be able to forgive me one day. I love you more than you know.

Nicole stared at those words until she could no longer read them. Her eyes were clouded with tears and she wished that she could tell him that everything would be ok and that she loved him too, but she couldn't because she knew that everything wasn't going to be ok.