2015 Prompt Responses - 4. Prompt 388 - The Minor Part 3

“Snow? Again? How much more are they expecting?” I looked out the front window of the ER in consternation. All I could see was a wall of white, swirling snowflakes.

“About another eight inches by morning. Maybe it will be a slow night,” said my coworker Sandy.

I frowned. I didn’t wish ill fortune on anyone, but I had been hoping for a busy night to take my mind off Ray.

“What’s going on, Nate? You seem really down.”

“Ray and I are having some issues. I’d rather not talk about it right now,” I said.

“Well I hope things work out ok. You two are such a great couple.” Sandy patted my shoulder reassuringly.

“Thanks. I’m going to take advantage of the lull and get caught up on paperwork.” I grabbed a laptop and headed into one of the treatment rooms for some privacy. I found that I couldn’t concentrate on my work, though. Ray and I had finally found time to have our talk that afternoon and I was still reeling from it.

“I’ve met someone,” Ray said, wringing his hands.

I stared at him. That was the last thing I expected him to say. “What do you mean ‘you met someone’?” I asked. My hands started shaking. When he told me he wasn’t leaving me, I had believed him.

“Right now we’re just friends.”

“Just friends?” I snorted.

“I would never cheat on you, Nate.”

“But you want to.”

He nodded. “He’s giving me the attention that you aren’t.”

I winced. “I’ve been working so much to save for our house. For our life together. I thought you understood that.”

“I do…but Nate, you need to make time for me, too. We haven’t had sex in three weeks. You’re always too tired. Do you know how that makes me feel?”

“I’m sorry.”

“And now you have Jonathan. Where do I fit into all this, Nate?”

“The same place you always have. I love you, Ray. I don’t want to lose you.” A tear slid down my cheek. “I want us to be a family. I’m sorry I didn’t talk with you before I consulted the lawyer, but I really thought you were on board with this.”

“I just don’t see how you can find time for both of us.”

“I’ll find the time, Ray. I’ll cut back my hours at work. We’ll get through this, sweetheart. I want to make this work. I want us to work. I love you too much to just let you go.” Tears were pouring down my face now.

“You have a kid to take care of now. They can get pretty expensive.”

“We have a kid to take of. After the custody papers are filed I’ll be going after Brad for child support. We can still get the house, Ray. Our dreams don’t have to change.”

Ray looked at me sadly. “I’m afraid they already have.”

I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. “Are you leaving me for him?” I whispered.

“I don’t know.”

Ray was packing a bag to take to his parents’ house when I left for work. From the look on Jonathan’s face I knew I’d have to have a talk with him when I got home. I had a feeling he was blaming himself.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. “Nate, we got a bad one coming in. There was a head-on collision on the boulevard. One person dead at the scene and the other driver is on his way in. Broken leg and possible head injury. There were two other people in the car with the dead driver. One with internal injuries, the other only has minor injuries.”

I immediately jumped up and followed her out the door. We had three treatment rooms ready to go and two surgeons on standby for the internal injuries and the head injury when the ambulances arrived. The paramedics burst through the door with a woman on a stretcher groaning in pain. She was followed by a teenaged boy who looked shell shocked. I led them into a treatment room and followed the doc’s orders to get vitals, start an IV, and to get the ultrasound team down here. I was in the middle of taking the patient’s blood pressure when Sandy entered the room.

“Nate? We need you in the other room.”

“Give me a minute,” I said. I had to take the BP again.

“You need to come now.” Something in her voice made me look up. She looked very distressed. “Nate…honey… it’s Ray.”

My blood ran cold and I dropped the BP cuff and ran out the door. Sandy grabbed my arm and stopped me.

I felt like I was going to pass out. “Oh my god. Please tell me he’s not the driver who died.”

“No, he’s still alive. He has a broken leg and a possible head injury. He’s unconscious. They’re stabilizing him now so he can get his leg x-rayed and a brain scan completed.”

“I need to see him.”

Sandy just nodded. I followed her into the treatment room. I’d been an ER nurse for the past five years so had seen pretty much everything come through those doors at some point. Nothing prepared me for seeing the man I loved on the gurney, surrounded by my colleagues, stuck full of tubes and wires. It didn’t help that I knew what each one of them was for.

I brushed his hair away from his eyes. It was matted in blood from a cut on his forehead. The airbag must not have deployed. I felt a hand on my shoulder, trying to guide me away from Ray. I shrugged it off.

“I don’t know if you can hear me sweetheart, but I love you so much. Please get better. I need you.”

The hand was back, guiding me away firmly. “C’mon, Nate. He needs to get up to radiology so we can get those tests done. It’s likely he’ll need surgery at least on his leg.” Dr. Matthews walked out of the room with me. I stood staring as Ray was transported down the hall and entered the elevator to go to radiology on the third floor.

I sat on the waiting room couch with my head in my hands. Ray had been in surgery for two hours of what I was told would be a five hour surgery to patch together his leg. The bone had been shattered, but the surgeon was pretty optimistic about saving the leg. The head scans were thankfully all negative. I called everyone I could think of. Ray’s parents were at our apartment with Jonathan. It was their idea to take care of him until my friend Carol could arrive at nine. They were pretty amazing people.

I curled up on the couch and thought about attempting to sleep, even though I knew it would be futile.

“You must be Nate.”

I sat up, my heart pounding since it was way too early for news from surgery. That couldn’t be good. “Yeah, I’m Nate.”

A blond haired man stood uncertainly in the doorway. He looked like hell. He appeared to be warring with himself, then walked over to me and extended his hand. “I’m Dave.”

I took his hand and then realized who Dave was. He had a lot of nerve showing up here.

“You’re Ray’s ‘friend’.” I said flatly.

He nodded and sat in a chair next to the couch. “Can we talk?”

“I don’t really think that this is the best time for this.”

“He really loves you, you know.”

I raised my eyebrows. So we were going to do this now.

“He told me you had your talk today.”

“Why are you here? I mean, seriously, this is like the worst timing ever. You have a lot of nerve even showing your face around here!”

“I’m sorry…I just thought you’d want to know that he told me he wants to try and work things out with you. I hope you realize how special he is and don’t throw this chance away. Ray deserves better than that.”

I was livid with the gall of this guy. “Don’t you dare lecture me about what Ray deserves. I’ve spent the last ten years of my life with this man. I know exactly how special he is. Now get the fuck out of here.”

Dave got up and left, leaving me a sobbing mess.

I must have managed to fall asleep for a little bit, because the next thing I knew I was being shaken awake by Ray’s mother. We exchanged a tearful embrace before I relayed that there was no news yet. It was going on hour six for the surgery – one hour longer than estimated. I knew that meant that there had been complications.

Ray’s parents were very complimentary about Jonathan. He was scared, but seemed to be handling things ok.

It was another hour before the surgeon came into the waiting room to give us news about Ray. We all cried in relief when we were told that they were able to save his leg and that he was in in the recovery room. He was groggy, but regaining consciousness and would be transferred to the ICU soon. We could visit him there briefly.

Right before we headed to ICU once we got word that Ray had been moved, his mother stopped me. “Whatever issues you two were having don’t matter now. Make it work.”

I nodded. “I want nothing more.”