The hospital?
“Wh-”
“There was a fire at the school. You were trapped for a little bit, but you’re safe now. You’re safe, babydoll.”
A fire in the school?
I tried to think of a fire, but I couldn’t.
My mind drew a blank.
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
“You don’t remember?” Kane questioned.
I tried to think hard, but nothing came to me so I shrugged my shoulders.
“It’ll come back to you,” Kane murmured.
I nodded my head and tried to sit up a little, but I yelped when pain shot up through my leg. I pulled the blankets off my lower half and stared down at the royal blue cast that covered my mid-thigh down to my ankle of my right leg.
What the hell?
Kane gripped my hand. “Your knee and shin bone were broken. You’ll have to wear the cast for eight weeks until the damage repairs itself.”
I blinked.
What the fuck happened to me?
I examined the rest of my body for any other signs of injury, and my eyes zeroed in on the white bandage that was wrapped around my left arm from my elbow to my wrist. I stared at it then looked up at Kane.
He frowned. “Second degree burns. You’ll need a skin graft.”
Fucking. Hell.
I checked out the rest of my body but saw nothing else, so I looked at Kane.
“You have a black eye, and a swollen jaw, but that’s it. Everything else is okay.”
I slowly nodded my head.
“Are you in pain?”
Surprisingly no.
It hurt when I tried to talk, but other than that I was okay.
I shook my head.
“Good,” Kane said. “Pain meds and some fluids are in the IV drip. They’ve had you on it since you came in last night. You’ve been here for sixteen hours now.”
I’ve been here for sixteen hours?
“Are you okay?” Kane asked me.
I instantly shook my head.
I didn’t know what happened to me, or why I was so busted up. It made me feel like a stranger in my own body. I didn’t like it.
I looked down to my hands and stared hard at them. I tried so hard to think about what happened to me. I could remember going to school for detention. I had one kid to look after. One kid. My classroom. On our own.
One second things were misty and dark, and the next images flooded my mind.
Philip.
Fire.
Smoke.
Caleb.
My baby.
I widened my eyes to the point of pain. “Baby,” I rasped then fell into a fit of coughing.
“Easy, darling,” Kane soothed and got me some water to drink. “Small sips, swallowing will hurt.”
I whimpered in pain when I swallowed the little bit of water I had in my mouth. It felt like lava was sliding down my throat.
“There you go,” he murmured and continued to rub his hand up and down my good arm.
I blinked my eyes and lifted my arms, though it was difficult because my body felt so tired. I pressed my hands on my stomach and was relieved to feel it was still huge and hard.
I looked at Kane, my eyes wild.
“He is okay, he is still in there.”
The relief that flooded me almost caused me to throw up.
I began to cry and it upset Kane.
“Babydoll,” he breathed. “You’re both okay, I swear.”
I shook my head.
“The baby is okay. The doctors don’t know if there was any damage because of the smoke inhalation, but as far as they can tell, everything looks okay.”
My tears were fast and furious then.
What if the baby had brain damage because of the smoke cutting off my oxygen?
All sorts of horrors flooded my mind, and terror filled me completely. I couldn’t hear Kane speak. I realised why, it’s because I was wailing.
“Baby!” Kane pleaded. “He is okay, I promise, he is okay.”
“What if... brain... damage?”
“Don’t think like that,” Kane hissed. “You think positive thoughts. He is okay!”
I reached up and gripped my throat when the pain struck it.
I closed my mouth as hot tears spilled from my eyes and onto my cheeks. The pain... God, the pain. I had never felt anything like it in my entire life. It was like someone was slowly running a saw over my throat.
“I’ll get the nurse,” Kane said and jumped up off the bed. He ran out into the hall and called for help. “She’s awake and in pain. Please, hurry.”
I blinked my eyes a couple of times, and when I focused, two nurses were next to me.
“Aideen, can you hear me clearly?” the first nurse asked. “Don’t reply verbally, just nod for yes, and shake your head for no. Do you understand?”
I nodded my head.
“Good. Is your hearing okay? Does it sound like you’re in a tunnel?”
I shook my head. My hearing was fine.
“What about your chest, does it hurt when you breathe?”
I tested it out and took a deep breath, which only resulted in coughing. I quickly pointed to my throat, which was the only pain I could feel.
“Your throat?”
I nodded my head.
“Okay, do you have any chest pain?”
I shook my head.
“Good, that’s really good.”
The nurse looked at Kane then and said, “Just to be safe, we’re going to do a round of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. She will be placed inside a pressurised oxygen chamber here in the hospital. It will speed the replacement of carbon monoxide with oxygen in her blood.”
“Is that safe?” Kane questioned. “She is pregnant.”
The nurse nodded her head. “It’s highly recommended for pregnant women who’re exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Unborn babies are more susceptible to damage so this will be good for both mother and baby.”
I wanted to do it. If it would eliminate any damage to the baby, I was completely on board.
I nodded my head.
Kane focused on me. “You want to do it?”
Again, I nodded my head.
“She wants to do it.”
The nurse looked at me. “Okay, Aideen, we’ll get the chamber prepared. We’ll come get you in twenty to thirty minutes if you’re able. Is that okay?”
I nodded my head.
The nurse pressed a button then and it caused the top half of my bed to rise. She raised it enough until I was still lying, but in a more upright position. She leaned into me then and adjusted the oxygen mask on my face.
“Keep this on your face, sweetie,” she said and fluffed the pillow under my head. “It’ll make breathin’ easier.”
I nodded my head then looked at the door when it opened and in piled person after person. I gave a closed mouthed smile to my family when they gathered around the bed. My little brother was the first person who quickly leaned in and hugged me.
“Are you okay?” he whispered into my ear.
I leaned my head against his and nodded my head.
Gavin squeezed me tightly, kissed my cheek, and pulled back. He quickly wiped his eyes, and it only heightened the need for me to console him.
“I’m... fine,” I rasped.
“No talking,” the nurse chastised.
I ignored her and focused on Gavin, giving him a knowing look. He nodded his head to me and moved aside so my other brothers could hug and kiss me.
My father, along with James, stepped outside to ask the nurse some questions. I smiled when Keela shoved her way through Alec and Nico and almost climbed onto the bed to grab hold of me.
“I was so scared,” Keela cried into my neck. “I thought you were gone when Kane called and told us what happened.”
I tiredly lifted my good arm and put it around Keela. “I’m okay,” I rasped.
“If you don’t stop talking, I’ll telling your dad,” Kane warned me.
Keela laughed through her tears and I smiled.
She kissed me a bunch of times on the cheek, and then climbed off the bed. I hugged Kane’s brothers and the girls. Alannah was shaken up pretty bad. She was worried about the baby, but Kane assured her that everything was okay.