Grey had their conversation in the elevator lobby. The federal agent was pleased Kate’s father held up his end of the agreement. When he returned later in the day, he made his apologies and kept his word to stay by Paul’s side. He even convinced Paul to check into the hotel to get a shower and change of clothes. When Stan went into the minibar to fix them a drink, Paul fell onto the bed and didn’t wake up for over ten hours. Grey was relieved he found some peace.
They were all assembled back in the waiting room when Dr. Singer surprised them with a visit. At first sight of him, Grey thought the worst. A disarming smile on the doctor’s face let him know she was still fighting.
“I just finished going over the results of Kate’s last round of testing,” said Dr. Singer. “There’s still no sign of internal bleeding, and her vitals are getting a little stronger. But I have to caution you, the improvement is minimal. The fact that she’s continuing to improve at all is nothing short of amazing.”
“None of us have seen her,” said Maggie. “Is there any chance we can go in for just a minute? I need to touch my baby’s hand. That’s all I want.”
“Mrs. Coleman, I need you to listen to me,” said Dr. Singer. “All of you need to listen. This is going to be a very long battle with no guarantees for the next few weeks, perhaps months. The pace of any improvements is going to be very slow for Kate and all of you. I’m not telling any of you to leave today and wait for our call, but this waiting room is going to become small and uncomfortable.”
“We know,” said Stan. “But you’re right, we’re not going anywhere for a while. Our place is with our daughter until she’s stronger. And she will get stronger. You don’t know our Kate like we do.”
“We have rooms across the street at the hotel,” said Abby. “We can visit in shifts. We’ll be fine, Dr. Singer. So can we see her?”
“No more than two at a time and no longer than five minutes,” said Dr. Singer. “I’ll send a nurse to escort you in and out. Whatever she says goes. Okay?”
“Yes, of course,” said Maggie, unable to hide her excitement.
“There is extensive facial damage and her eyes are covered,” continued Dr. Singer. “She is discolored and swollen from her injuries. You need to be prepared to see her in that condition.”
Maggie didn’t hear anything the doctor said after he had given her permission to see her daughter.
Grey looked at her beaming smile and knew it would be wiped off her face as soon as she walked into Kate’s room. The image of her being tied to the bedposts covered in blood would be the one burned into his memory. Regardless if she managed to survive and sought the best plastic surgeons in the world, he’d never forget. And he knew Paul wouldn’t either.
Grey thought about saying something, anything, to help prepare her before she went inside. But in the ten minutes it took for the nurse to come out, nothing seemed adequate. He felt sorry for her when she grabbed Stan’s hand and disappeared behind the ICU doors. He knew the reason Dr. Singer limited the visit to five minutes wasn’t because Kate needed the rest. He did it to limit the level of exposure to something her family would need time to digest. Their daughter’s familiar beautiful face was gone.
“I want to apologize for what I said to you earlier,” said Abby, taking Grey’s thoughts away from her parents. “You just happened to be the closest target for a misguided anger. I know you’d be out there with them hunting that animal if you could.”
“I know you and your parents aren’t my biggest fans,” said Grey. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure why I’m not out there looking for him either. I think some of it has to do with staying as close to Kate and Paul as possible so nothing else bad happens. In spite of what you may believe, I love Caleb and Kate like they were my own.”
“Do you think he’d try
They were all assembled back in the waiting room when Dr. Singer surprised them with a visit. At first sight of him, Grey thought the worst. A disarming smile on the doctor’s face let him know she was still fighting.
“I just finished going over the results of Kate’s last round of testing,” said Dr. Singer. “There’s still no sign of internal bleeding, and her vitals are getting a little stronger. But I have to caution you, the improvement is minimal. The fact that she’s continuing to improve at all is nothing short of amazing.”
“None of us have seen her,” said Maggie. “Is there any chance we can go in for just a minute? I need to touch my baby’s hand. That’s all I want.”
“Mrs. Coleman, I need you to listen to me,” said Dr. Singer. “All of you need to listen. This is going to be a very long battle with no guarantees for the next few weeks, perhaps months. The pace of any improvements is going to be very slow for Kate and all of you. I’m not telling any of you to leave today and wait for our call, but this waiting room is going to become small and uncomfortable.”
“We know,” said Stan. “But you’re right, we’re not going anywhere for a while. Our place is with our daughter until she’s stronger. And she will get stronger. You don’t know our Kate like we do.”
“We have rooms across the street at the hotel,” said Abby. “We can visit in shifts. We’ll be fine, Dr. Singer. So can we see her?”
“No more than two at a time and no longer than five minutes,” said Dr. Singer. “I’ll send a nurse to escort you in and out. Whatever she says goes. Okay?”
“Yes, of course,” said Maggie, unable to hide her excitement.
“There is extensive facial damage and her eyes are covered,” continued Dr. Singer. “She is discolored and swollen from her injuries. You need to be prepared to see her in that condition.”
Maggie didn’t hear anything the doctor said after he had given her permission to see her daughter.
Grey looked at her beaming smile and knew it would be wiped off her face as soon as she walked into Kate’s room. The image of her being tied to the bedposts covered in blood would be the one burned into his memory. Regardless if she managed to survive and sought the best plastic surgeons in the world, he’d never forget. And he knew Paul wouldn’t either.
Grey thought about saying something, anything, to help prepare her before she went inside. But in the ten minutes it took for the nurse to come out, nothing seemed adequate. He felt sorry for her when she grabbed Stan’s hand and disappeared behind the ICU doors. He knew the reason Dr. Singer limited the visit to five minutes wasn’t because Kate needed the rest. He did it to limit the level of exposure to something her family would need time to digest. Their daughter’s familiar beautiful face was gone.
“I want to apologize for what I said to you earlier,” said Abby, taking Grey’s thoughts away from her parents. “You just happened to be the closest target for a misguided anger. I know you’d be out there with them hunting that animal if you could.”
“I know you and your parents aren’t my biggest fans,” said Grey. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure why I’m not out there looking for him either. I think some of it has to do with staying as close to Kate and Paul as possible so nothing else bad happens. In spite of what you may believe, I love Caleb and Kate like they were my own.”
“Do you think he’d try
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