“Yes, but it’s a good sign that the bleeding has slowed.” Josie touched Jade’s hand. “He’s going to be okay,” she said again. “Trust me, I know everything.”
Jade held onto her nerves as they all waited for the ambulance. It seemed to take hours but just when she was about to suggest she drive him herself, they all heard the sounds of the ambulance. One of the guards had taken the skinny guy and the teenager up to the resort.
Jade stood by as they loaded Wyatt into the back of the white van, then climbed in after him.
“I’ll find my own ride,” Josie said. “After I clean up.”
The half-hour trip back to Rand Memorial Hospital was the longest ride she’d ever had to endure. Wyatt remained unconscious the entire time. The paramedic checked his vitals and kept his leg from bleeding even more.
She followed him into the emergency room and was directed to sit in a small waiting area.
She had never been in the hospital before, though she’d driven by it tons of times. Her family had always gone to the clinic just down the street. They’d never been sick enough to need the hospital.
She sat, looking down at the blood on her hands, and waited. She tried counting her breaths, then counted the tiles on the floor. Anything to keep her mind from what was going on back there.
Josie arrived with the teenager sometime later. Josie wrapped her arms around her and for the first time, Jade let herself completely go. She cried so hard her body shook. Her head ached. Everything ached.
“Here’s the nurse now,” Josie said after Jade had quieted down.
“How is he?” Jade asked eagerly.
“We’re taking him back to surgery now,” the nurse told her. “We’re short on blood, if any of you are a match?”
“I’m O, a universal doner.” Josie stood up.
“Should we call someone else? His family?” the nurse asked.
“I… his father,” she answered. “Do you have his cell phone?”
“It’s with his things,” the nurse answered. “I’ll get it for you.”
Moments later, she returned with his cell phone. The screen was cracked but she held it in her hands and was searching for his father’s number when it rang.
Seeing only a number on it, she answered.
“Hello?”
“Who is this?” a woman’s voice said quickly.
“Jade…”
“Where is Wyatt?”
“He’s… we’re at the hospital,” she answered.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes, they’re taking him into surgery now,” Jade answered.
“Our ETA is five minutes.”
The line went dead, and Jade was left looking down at the screen. Then she scrolled through the numbers until she found one labeled Nicholas.
Punching the number, she held her breath as it rang.
“Son? Is something wrong?”
“Hello, Mr. Nicholas. My name is Jade,” she said, wondering how to tell the man the rest.