Chapter 394 - For Now

Chapter 394: Chapter 394 - For Now

Zac moved in front of her and caught both of her arms. "Roxie."

"She’s dying."

"Roxie."

"They’re shocking her fucking heart." Roxie tried to look around him toward the glass, but Zac stayed in front of her, forcing her eyes back to him. "They’re shocking her heart, Zac."

"I know."

"She’s dying."

Something changed in his face.

It was small, just the slightest tightening around his eyes and the way his mouth opened before closing again, but Roxie saw it. He couldn’t tell her Karen wasn’t dying. He couldn’t promise her anything, and that was what finally destroyed whatever was holding Roxie together.

She grabbed the front of his shirt and folded against him with a sob that made her chest hurt. "No. Please. Please."

Zac wrapped both arms around her immediately and held her upright while her legs weakened beneath her. Roxie pressed her face against his chest, gripping his shirt so tightly her fingers cramped, but even through her own crying she could still hear Angela behind them.

"Please, Karen! Please! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!"

Angela’s voice had gone raw. Mason had both arms around her while she struggled against him, his own face wet with tears as he tried to keep her from reaching the treatment doors again. Dylan stood several feet away staring through the glass, completely pale, while Ethan had gone silent against the wall, his phone hanging forgotten in one hand.

There was nothing any of them could do.

Eventually the alarms stopped.

The sudden silence should have made Roxie feel better, but instead her stomach twisted harder. She slowly lifted her face from Zac’s chest and looked toward the doors, then up at him as if he might understand what the quiet meant even though she knew he had no more idea than she did.

"What happened?"

"I don’t know."

"Why is it quiet?"

"They’re still in there."

Roxie looked over his shoulder. "Then why isn’t anybody coming out?"

"I don’t know, Rox."

Zac wiped the tears from her face with both thumbs, but Roxie barely felt his hands. Her attention stayed fixed on the doors while Angela finally stopped screaming, mostly because she seemed physically incapable of continuing.

Mason helped her down until she was sitting on the floor against the wall, then sat beside her and let her collapse against his chest. Angela still had one fist twisted into his shirt, and every few seconds Karen’s name came out of her in a whisper, like she was afraid silence itself might mean something had happened.

The waiting became impossible to measure. Roxie kept staring at the clock and forgetting the time the second she looked away. Five minutes could have passed. Twenty could have. She only knew Karen was still behind those doors and nobody was coming out.

When they finally opened, everybody moved at once.

Angela pushed herself up too quickly and nearly fell, forcing Mason to catch her around the arm. Zac’s hand went immediately around Roxie’s waist as a doctor stepped into the hall and looked over the group.

"Are you the patient’s family?"

"Her aunt is coming," Roxie said before anyone else could answer. She stepped closer, still gripping Zac’s hand. "I’m her best friend. Please, what happened?"

The doctor glanced at the faces gathered around him before speaking. "She developed a life threatening ventricular arrhythmia shortly after arrival. Her heart was beating in a rhythm that wasn’t effectively circulating blood, and her blood pressure dropped significantly."

Roxie stared at him.

The words sounded like English, but her mind couldn’t put them together.

Angela shook her head and stepped closer to Mason. "What does that mean?"

"It means her heart rhythm became dangerously unstable."

Angela’s lips parted. Her eyes immediately filled again. "You shocked her."

The doctor nodded. "We had to electrically shock her heart twice to restore a safer rhythm."

Angela covered her mouth with both hands.

Roxie felt Zac’s palm press harder against the middle of her back, steadying her before she even realized she was leaning into him.

"Is she alive?"

"Yes."

The word almost took Roxie’s legs out from under her.

Her knees softened and Zac tightened his arm around her while Angela broke into sobs again. Mason closed his eyes and lowered his head, his shoulders dropping as though someone had finally let him breathe. Roxie sucked in a shaky breath that hurt going down because for the first time since she watched Karen’s body jerk against that hospital bed, she had something solid enough to hold onto.

Karen was alive.

Then the doctor continued.

"She is critically ill."

Roxie’s relief disappeared so quickly it almost made her dizzy. "What does that mean?"

"We have her rhythm stabilized right now, but we still don’t know exactly what she ingested. We’re concerned about the combination of alcohol and an unknown substance, and there is a possibility that the rhythm disturbance could happen again."

Angela’s hands slowly lowered from her face. "Again?"

"We’re monitoring her continuously."

"No." Angela shook her head. "You already fixed it."

The doctor’s expression softened slightly. "We stabilized it."

Angela stepped closer, her brows pulling together as though she could force him to change the words. "That means fixed."

Mason rested a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him away without even looking at him.

"That means you fixed it, right?"

"We restored a safer rhythm, but she remains very sick."

Angela’s face crumpled. "Is she going to wake up?"

"She has shown some response, but right now our priority is keeping her stable and determining what she took."

"Is she going to wake up?"

The doctor hesitated.

Angela saw it.

Her mouth started trembling. "Please."

"We’re doing everything we can."

The sound Angela made barely resembled a sob anymore. She covered her face and turned into Mason, who immediately pulled her against him.

Mason looked over her head at the doctor. His eyes were red, but his voice came out strangely quiet. "Could she have died?"

Roxie hated the pause before the doctor answered.

"A rhythm like the one she developed can become fatal very quickly."

Fatal.

The word lodged somewhere deep inside Roxie.

Her fingers tightened around Zac’s.

"I can’t do this again."

Zac immediately turned toward her. "Roxie."

"I can’t."

He pulled her closer, but the tears were already coming again. Roxie shook her head hard as if that could stop the image building in her mind.

"I can’t go to another morgue."

Zac’s face changed.

Roxie pressed one trembling hand against her mouth. "I can’t see Karen like that."

"You’re not there right now."

"What if I am?"

"Babe."

"What if she dies?"

Her voice cracked so badly that the last word barely came out.

Zac’s eyes filled, but he kept looking at her. His hand moved to the back of her neck, thumb brushing beneath her ear while Roxie searched his face for something he couldn’t give her.

"What if Karen fucking dies?"

He had no answer.

That silence was enough.

Roxie buried her face against his chest and sobbed, clutching him while he wrapped both arms around her again.

Angela heard her.

"No."

Roxie lifted her head.

Angela had pulled away from Mason and was staring at her with horror.

"No. Stop saying that."

"Angela."

"She’s alive." Angela came toward her so quickly Mason had to follow in case she fell again. "He said she’s alive."

"I know."

"Then stop talking like she’s dead!"

"I’m scared."

"So am I!"

Angela’s voice broke into a scream, making several people farther down the hall turn toward them. She grabbed Roxie by both arms, fingers digging through the sleeves of her shirt while tears poured down her face.

"I’m fucking terrified! I can’t lose her too. I can’t. Everything keeps fucking falling apart and I can’t lose Karen too."

Roxie pulled her into her arms before Angela’s legs could give again.

Angela collapsed against her immediately.

"She has to wake up," she sobbed into Roxie’s shoulder.

"I know."

"She has to, Roxie."

"I know."

"Promise me."

Roxie closed her eyes.

Angela pulled back enough to look at her. Her entire face was wet, her breathing uneven as she clutched Roxie’s shirt.

"Promise me she’s going to wake up."

Roxie’s chest hurt.

"I can’t promise that."

Angela stared at her.

For a second she looked almost offended, like Roxie had refused something simple.

Then her face broke.

Roxie caught her when her knees weakened, holding her against her chest while Mason moved close enough to steady both of them. Zac stayed beside Roxie with one hand against her back while the doctor continued explaining intensive monitoring, toxicology and the next several hours, but the words barely registered anymore.

Eventually the doctor went back through the doors.

Roxie and Angela sat together afterward because neither of them had enough strength left to stand. Angela leaned heavily against Roxie’s shoulder, occasionally wiping at her face before giving up because the tears kept coming anyway. Mason sat beside her with his knee touching hers, while Zac took the chair on Roxie’s other side and kept one hand resting over hers.

Nobody talked.

They watched the doors and listened to the ordinary hospital noises around them, waiting for someone to come back and tell them whether Karen’s heart was still behaving itself.

For now, it was beating.

That was all they had.

Around fifteen minutes later, the emergency department entrance opened.

Roxie looked up automatically and recognized Karen’s aunt almost immediately. The woman came through carrying her handbag tight against her side, scanning the waiting room until she found them. Her steps quickened when she saw the group, but there was none of the panic Roxie had expected. She looked tense and tired, her mouth pulled tight, but completely controlled.

"Where is she?"

Roxie pushed herself to her feet.

Angela lifted her head from Roxie’s shoulder and wiped quickly beneath her eyes before standing more slowly with Mason beside her.

"She’s inside," Roxie said.

"What happened?"

Roxie stared at her.

"She almost died."

Karen’s aunt looked toward the treatment doors. "I was told she took something."

"She was drinking too."

The woman closed her eyes briefly and rubbed two fingers against her forehead. "Jesus Christ, Karen."

Something about the way she said Karen’s name made Roxie’s stomach twist.

It wasn’t fear.

It sounded exhausted.

Like Karen had caused another problem.

Angela heard it too. Roxie saw her straighten beside Mason, her eyes narrowing even though they were still swollen from crying.

Karen’s aunt looked back at them. "What did she take?"

"We don’t know."

"You were with her?"

"We found her."

"Where?"

"Near River Road."

Her aunt’s mouth tightened. "What was she doing all the way out there?"

Roxie let out a short laugh of disbelief and rubbed both hands over her face. "What do you think?"

Zac shifted beside her, close enough that Roxie knew he was already watching her temper.

Karen’s aunt looked directly at Roxie. "I’m asking because I need to understand what happened."

"So do we."

"Babe," Zac warned quietly.

Roxie ignored him.

Karen’s aunt inhaled slowly and looked toward the treatment doors again. "I should have known something like this would happen eventually."

Angela’s entire posture changed.

Her arms dropped from where she had been holding them around herself, and she took one small step forward. "What does that mean?"

Karen’s aunt looked toward her. "Karen has always been difficult."

Angela stared at her.

The woman continued before either girl could answer, folding one arm across herself while gripping her handbag with the other hand. "She doesn’t listen when anyone tries to help her. She gets angry, disappears, lies about where she has been. She does whatever she wants, and then everyone around her has to deal with whatever happens afterward. This behavior didn’t begin today."

Angela laughed.

There was nothing amused in it.

Her eyes filled again as she stared at the woman like she couldn’t believe she was real. "She almost died."

"I know that."

Angela stepped closer.

"Do you?"

The question came out quieter than the rest, but Roxie could see Angela’s whole body trembling now, her hands curling into fists at her sides as she looked toward the treatment doors and then back at the woman who had just called Karen difficult.

"Because we just watched them shock her heart twice."