I Won't Give Up on You (2 page)

“Her blood pressure dropped several times, and she went into cardiac arrest once. We were able to bring her back, but she’s in a coma. I’m not sure if there will be any permanent damage and, right now, I’m not sure if she will even wake up. We take it day by day now. I’m very sorry I don’t have better news for you.”

Jon, knowing I wasn’t in the right state of mind, asked, “When can we see her?”

“Probably in an hour or so. Someone will come and get you in the waiting room on the ICU floor. I just want to warn you that she looks pretty rough.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Jon reached out to shake the doctor’s hand as I turned into Sara’s open arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Sara wrapped her arms around me and ushered me to the row of chairs again. Helping me sit, she took my face in her hands and wiped my eyes with her thumbs.

“Caston, focus, look at me. Baby, you have to settle down. Sabrina is a fighter. She’ll make it. She won’t give up, and I won’t let you give up on her. Breathe, Caston. I need you to breathe.”

Jon sat beside me, his hand rested on my back to offer support. “Caston, we’re here for you, but you need to be strong for her.”

I nodded, trying to catch my breath and get my emotions in check. Whispering to Sara as I gasped for air, “I can’t lose her. She… she’s… everything.”

“I know, Cass, I know.” Sara laid my head on her shoulder, and I cried even more.

We moved up to the ICU waiting area as soon as I felt my legs would hold me. As we took our seats, Jon left Sara and me to let the nurses know the family of Sabrina Bennett was in the waiting area.

He returned to the room with a couple cups of steaming liquid and handed them to us.

“Thanks, bro, but I don’t like coffee.”

“I know, its hot chocolate.” He smiled. “I didn’t forget you hate coffee. Sara doesn’t like it either, remember? You guys are just weird.”

We all chuckled and took a sip of our drinks. The hot liquid going down my throat did little to warm my body. I felt so cold and empty. We sat in silence, listening to the television in the corner of the room. I checked my watch; we’d been sitting here for too long with no update. Not being able to take it anymore, I stood up and threw my crushed cup in the trash.

“I can’t take it anymore. I’m going to find her.”

I took off down the hall before Sara or Jon could stop me. I pressed the button to be buzzed into the unit. Impatiently tapping my foot I paced in front of the double doors.

“Can I help you, sir?” A voice came through the speaker.

Sliding to the metal grate where the voice emanated, “Yes, please, I’m here for Sabrina Bennett.”

Silence. It was killing me. Beyond frustrated, I hit the cement wall.

“Sir, I’m sorry you will have to come back tomorrow, visiting hours are over.”

“Bull shit! I’ve been waiting all day. The doctors told me I could see her when she got into her room.” I braced myself on the wall with the speaker between my hands.

No way they’d keep me from her, I’d move heaven and hell before I let them tell me I have to go home. Knowing money talks I pulled out my phone and started making calls. Eventually I reached the president of the hospital. I promised him a good deal of money toward a new wing of the hospital. Hanging up, I waited by the door for only a few seconds when it buzzed open. I quickly walked through the doors that led to the patient rooms. I was met at the door by a burly woman bearing a disgruntled face.

I once heard that when you find love, no matter what happens in life you will always be drawn back to that person. It was as if Sabrina’s soul was talking to me. I turned to walk down the hall with the woman on my heels trying to stop me, going right to room 2621. Somehow, I knew she was in there.

“Sir, please. Stop you can’t—”

I stopped at the door and look back to her face. She was really angry. “She’s in here, isn’t she?”

“Yes.”

That’s all the confirmation I needed. I pulled the sliding door to the side and walked in, drawing the curtain behind me. My breath caught in my throat. There she was, tubes came from her mouth and nose, IVs protruded from her arms, and the ventilator slowly pushed air in and out of her lungs. She looked so beat up and battered.

I couldn’t even get close to her. My heart ached to see her like this. Noticing a chair on the other side of the room, I pulled it over next to her bed. I sat opposite the machine showing her vitals. The only noise was the rhythmic beeping. Carefully picking up her hand, I raised it up to my lips and placed a light kiss on one of the only spots that didn’t have something sticking out of or attached to it. I was very careful to not disrupt anything. Taking a deep breath, I placed her hand back down and covered it with mine. Just being near her made me realize how much I wanted to be her rock. I’d give her all my strength to make her well if I could. Stroking my thumb over her skin made her heart rate slow slightly on the monitor. I leaned over and kissed it again; my touch calmed her. Moving my head to the right, I lay my head on the bed and stared up at her beautiful face.

My heart broke seeing her lay there motionless when not twenty-four hours ago we were wrapped in each other’s arms. She had been so full of life and happy. Her smile lit me up, and she made me whole.

A nurse walked into the room and startled when she saw me. “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t think we let family in here yet.”

My head didn’t move from where it rested on the side of her bed. I stared at Sabrina, watching her chest move up and down with the ventilator. “You didn’t… I couldn’t stand it any longer. Mr. Bratten gave his approval for me to be here.”

“Okay, but I need to get over to her to check her tubes and flush out her IVs. Could you at least step out for a minute or so?”

I sat up in the chair and nodded. Her smile was warm and sincere. I was thankful she would be taking care of my girl. Holding out my hand, I introduced myself. “I’m Caston. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

“Kelsey,” she walked up to me to return the handshake. “Unfortunately, yes, I think we will. But you got the suite, so I’m sure she will be quite comfortable while she’s with us.”

Kelsey walked to the computer on the wall and turned it on, pulling up Sabrina’s charts. As she went about her work, I decided I’d step outside and stretch my legs.

I remembered I left Sara and Jon in the waiting room a while ago. Putting my hands in my pockets, I skulked back to them.

It was well past midnight, and my body ached from the long grueling day of emotional highs and lows. Reaching the door way, I peeked in and saw Jon sitting on the couch staring at some unknown infomercial. Sara was stretched out, resting her head on his lap. He mindlessly stroked her hair. It was the first time I really looked at them since they appeared at my side downstairs.

Jon had a bandage on his head. He now had his arm in a sling. He hadn’t had it on a few hours ago when they found me, even he was trying to be stronger. His knuckles were all cut up, and there were cuts on his cheek. Sara had bruises up and down her arms and legs. There were small cuts on her face too. Thankfully, they seemed superficial and unlikely to scar.

Walking in a little further, Jon looked up at me finally breaking his stare and held his finger up to his lips to remind me to stay quiet, so not to wake Sara. I nodded and took a seat a few spaces down from him.

“Did you see her?” he whispered.

I nodded. “She looks horrible, Jon. Why? Why did this have to happen?” I hung my head low, holding it up with my hands while I rested my elbows on my knees.

“Cass, Beverly is fucked up in the head. She’s in jail now. There’s no way they’ll let her out. I’ll make damn sure that won’t happen again.”

I looked up at him. “All I wanted to do was to make her my wife and grow old with her.”

“And you will.”

I managed a smile and then looked away because tears brimmed my eyes. Sliding my hands through my hair, I blew out a deep breath and leaned into the wooden arm of the chair to try to get comfortable. Feeling myself drift to sleep, I popped my head back up a few times. I didn’t want to miss the nurse coming to get me.

Sleep won out because I woke to a warm hand on my shoulder. “Mr. Black, you can come back to the room now.”

Looking at my watch it was almost morning. Jon still sat staring at the television. I was thankful they were still here for support, but I couldn’t keep them here.

“Jon, why don’t you take Sara home and come back later after you get rest. If there’s any change I’ll call you. From what they said it probably won’t be today.”

He nodded, looking as defeated as I felt. “Can we bring you something back, Cass?”

“No, just call me before you come back.”

I walked over to Sara and placed a kiss on her temple.

I didn’t leave Sabrina’s side for days. Jon and Sara took turns coming to sit with me, bring me fresh clothing and paperwork that needed my approval. I was thankful my staff took over and kept all my businesses afloat.

Today was a particularly special day. The doctor determined Sabrina could be taken off the ventilator. I panicked with all the ‘what ifs’ going through my head. Dr. Dana came in for the procedure. She was very reassuring that everything would be okay. I sat in the corner of the room and chewed on my thumb while I watched them work on Sabrina.

My phone chirped, alerting me to a new email. I have never been so thankful to have the distraction. I grabbed my phone and excused myself from the room. Opening up the email, I saw a message from the detective working the case against Beverly.

To: Caston Black

From: Detective
Alex Alverez

Date: July 9, 2013

Subject: Case 9131104

Mr. Black—

The case against Beverly Holden is moving along nicely. I would like to find some time to meet with you regarding some developments about your birth mother. Please get back with me as soon as you can to discuss this.

Detective Alex Alverez

Almost walking into a door, I stopped in my tracks. My real mom, what would that have to do with anything?

Terrance walked down the hall carrying my overnight bag with another change of clothes in it. “Sir, is everything okay?”

I slid my phone back in my pocket and scrubbed my hands over my face. “Afternoon, Terrance. Just got a new email from Detective Alverez.”

“Anything new that I need to be aware of?”

I looked up at the ceiling, thinking over the email. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know.”

“Very well, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

I shook my head and turned to walk back to Sabrina’s room. Dr. Dana was just walking out of the room. She turned toward me when I approached.

“It went well. She seems to be resting comfortably. Her IVs are still in, but the breathing tube is gone. She looks more like herself. Now we wait to see if she will wake up. Her CAT scans have shown no brain damage, so we just keep playing the waiting game.”

“Thank you, doctor. I’ll never be able to show my appreciation for everything you’ve done for her.”

“Well, we still aren’t out of the woods yet, but we’re getting closer to the light.” Her smile touched her eyes, and I felt like she was confident that Sabrina would make it through.

“Mr. Black, this is good. She’ll, hopefully, come back to us soon.” Her hand on my arm was comforting.

I walked back into Sabrina’s room, taking up residence in the chair right next to her bed. I grabbed her hand, as I have for the last few days, stroking my thumb over her soft skin. I silently willed her hand to grab it back, squeeze it—do anything. Even though I couldn’t see her beautiful eyes, I knew we were still connected. I could feel it in my heart.

The only sound in the room was the beep of a heart monitor and the buzz of the iridescent lights.

I felt fingers twitch beneath my hand, causing me to jump unexpectedly.

“Sabrina?” My voice sounded rough.

Her heart rate sped up slightly on the monitor.

“Sabrina, honey, please open your eyes. Look at me.”

My hand moved to brush the hair stuck to her forehead off. Why wouldn’t she open her eyes? Fuck!

“Honey, please.” My voice shook.

Then I felt it again—just barely. Her finger twitched.

“Honey, are you there? Bre, please open your eyes. I need to see your hazel gems.” I pressed a soft kiss to her temple.

A loud beep sounded through the room. “Can I help you?”

“She moved. Please, send someone in.”

“Right away, sir.”

I grabbed both of her hands, willing her to wake. I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest with excitement. Suddenly, the monitors went wild; beeping, alarms going off. My stomach churned.
Oh God, what now?

A rush of people entered the room. “Mr. Black, please, give us space. Why don’t you step outside?”

“No! She moved, damn it, I felt it. Sabrina, show them!”

I felt multiple hands on me, trying to get me out of the room, but that just wasn’t an option. I watched as someone even opened her eye lids, looking for some sort of reaction. Her bed was moved up and down, and she was shifted into a different positions. The monitors finally calmed. I took a deep breath and released a sigh of relief.