“Do we intubate?” one of the paramedics asked another.
“God, I don’t know. Where’s all the blood coming from? He’s going to drown in it.”
They rolled Sed onto his side, and a pool of blood spread across the stage from his mouth.
“Help him!” Jessica insisted.
“Stand back, ma’am.” One of the paramedics examined the inside of Sed’s throat with a tiny flashlight. “His trachea isn’t collapsed, but he’s blown a blood vessel in his throat. Keep him on his side and let’s get him to the hospital. We can’t fix this here.”
They lifted him onto the gurney. No one else moved. The entire stadium stood silent. Several roadies helped the paramedics lower the gurney to the floor and then they were racing toward the ambulance with Jessica on their heels.
She could hear a crowd of people following behind her, but she could only see Sed. Unconscious. Shallow breathing. Pale. Blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. So pale.
Oh God, please let him be okay.
Jessica waited for the paramedics to load Sed into the back of the ambulance and then climbed inside without hesitation.
“Ma’am?”
“I’m his wife,” she lied.
She sat near Sed’s feet and held on to his shin while the paramedics tried to get the bleeding to stop the entire long ride to the hospital.
At the hospital, Jessica was the only one there to impress upon the emergency room doctor the importance of treating Sed’s throat carefully.
“He sings professionally. Please keep that in mind when you work on his throat.”
“Do you want him to sing or live?”
“I want him to live, obviously. I’m trying to think about what he would want.”
While they worked on him, Jessica stood just outside the curtain wringing her hands. How had this happened? Her thoughts kept returning to that night at the strip club when Sed’s throat had been injured by that bouncer. Surely, that injury would have healed by now, but maybe all the screaming he did onstage had prevented full recovery.
A nurse ushered Jessica to the waiting area. The place was packed with familiar faces.
Trey grabbed her by both arms. “Is he going to be all right?”
“I think so. They got the bleeding stopped, but I’m not sure they were careful with his vocal cords.”
What would Sed do if he couldn’t sing? Singing was his life.
They waited for word from the doctor for over an hour. When he finally came to report Sed’s status, he approached Jessica.
“Your husband lost a lot of blood, but he’s going to be just fine. As soon as he wakes up, you can go see him.”
“How’s his throat?” Trey asked. “Will he be able to sing again?”
“There will be a long healing process and there might be some scar tissue. We won’t know for sure until the swelling goes down. Right now he has a tube down his windpipe to keep his airway open.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Eric said. “This is Sed we’re talking about here. He won’t let anything stand in his way or put up with any bullshit. Not even from his own body.”
Sed was moved to a room upstairs and the crowd of band members and roadies headed to a waiting room on that floor.
“Can I sit with him while he sleeps?” Jessica asked the nurse.
“It’s past visiting hours. You should all come back in the morning.”
“He is going to freak out when he wakes up and doesn’t know where he is.”
“I know you’re worried about him, honey, but rules are rules.”
“When do visiting hours begin?”
“Eight a.m.”
Unacceptable. She couldn’t go seven hours without seeing him. Without touching him.
“What room is he in?”
The nurse eyed her warily.
“So I know where to go in the morning.”
The nurse consulted her computer. “Room 2117. Now head on home and get some rest. I’m sure he’ll be really happy to see you in the morning.”
Jessica smiled wearily and nodded. She told the guys waiting at the end of the hall what the nurse had told her.
“I fuckin’ hate hospitals anyway,” Trey said. “How long are they going to keep him in here?”
“At least until they can take the tube out of his throat.”
“He has a tube in his throat?” Brian whispered, paling under his stage makeup.
“I’m going to sneak into his room and stay with him while he sleeps,” Jessica told them. “Will one of you distract the nurse for me?”
“Is she hot?” Trey asked.
“I don’t know,” Jessica said, exasperated.
“That would be a no,” Trey said. “But I’ll do it for Sed, because he needs you, Jess, no matter what stupid shit he told you.”
Jessica smiled in appreciation. She wasn’t sure if Trey was correct, but she wasn’t going to let Sed get away that easily.
And now that he’d be unable to talk, he’d have to listen to her for once.
Trey went to schmooze the nurse. He could charm the pants off a rattlesnake, and probably had more than once. While the nurse’s head was ducked, Jessica crept through the partially open door of Sed’s hospital room.
The only light came from the private bathroom. When her eyes adjusted, she quietly pulled a chair up beside his bed and sat next to him. She couldn’t believe such a big, commanding guy could look so frail. She took his hand, the one without an IV, and touched it to her cheek.
“I’m here, Sed. Everything’s going to be okay.”
He didn’t respond. Not even with a twitch, but that was okay. They were together. That’s all that mattered to her.
Chapter 45
Sed felt like he’d been run over by a train. He peeled his eyes open, but everything was blurry, so he closed them again. He tried to remember what had happened. He remembered being onstage, the pain in his throat, and choking on blood, but nothing after that.
He lifted his hand and winced as something tugged at a vein in the back of his hand. He tried his other hand, but someone was clinging to it. His throat felt strange. He couldn’t even swallow properly and he couldn’t close his mouth.
Panicked, his heart thudded in his chest like a jack hammer. He jerked his hand away from his unknown visitor’s and reached for his throat. Someone stopped his progress.
Jessica whispered, “Sed, it’s Jessica. You’re in the hospital. Can you hear me?”
He tried to form words, but nothing came out. Not a solitary sound.
“Don’t panic. There’s a tube in your throat to keep your airway open. As soon as the swelling goes down, they’ll take it out. How are you feeling?”
He rolled his eyes toward her and she smiled at him, her fingers stroking his hair. He tried to convey his level of displeasure with a look, but she seemed oblivious. What was she doing here? She was supposed to be in school.
“You’re getting your color back already,” she said. “I couldn’t believe how much you bled. They had to give you a transfusion.”
He freed his hand from hers and lifted it to his neck, wanting her to tell him about the injury. He hoped she knew Sed sign language, because he had a lot of questions.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” she promised. “You blew a vessel inside your throat. It’s not near your vocal cords or anything, but you’ve got to let it heal. That means no singing and no talking for at least a week.”
He mouthed the word “What?” to the best of his ability.
“It won’t be so bad. I’ll take care of you.”
He gave her a stern look and pointed to the door.
“I’m not leaving, Sed. And you can’t tell me what do, because you can’t talk.” She offered him a self-satisfied grin. “I’m dropping out of school to take care of you.”