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A quiet nurse leads us through the near-empty corridors of the ICU – the only other people here are those visiting their loved ones, like hosts I must look like one of them I feel like it

At the end of the hall is the roo kept in; Todd tries to hold ht in, but I don’t want to hear it right now I need to kno bad it is

I need to knoe’re dealing with here

"Oh, asp as I step into the room with him I have never seen my father look so helpless in all of his life – the shock of it, of thisaround hih to make my head spin Can this really be him? My father?

I sink down toin front offor him to open his eyes, for him to look at me and smile, but he can’t He’s out of it His face is wrapped in bandages and his legs are in casts, his ars must be even worse on the inside than they seem out here

"How bad is it?" I ask the nurse, speaking softly, as though Iat her as I ask the question Maybe I don’t want to hear the answer

"We don’t know yet," she replies, and her voice is gentle, soothing But it sounds fake, rolls off ht as well have not bothered in the first place I can’t handle this I know that this is terrible I don’t even know the ins and outs of what happened, but itto know that I haven’t been here to help him

"We’ll have a better idea of how his recovery will go once he’s gotten through the next few days," she explains "Once we see how his brain activity is switching up, how his healing is going"

She keeps talking, but I can’t hear a word co his cool skin against mine He is here He is still here That is all that ht now I have not lost hi that matters

Todd crouches down besideatto help, but it takes everything that I have not to push hiht now, and I need so sincere

He puts his hand on ives it a squeeze I don’t even turn to look at hie hi there like he has never taken an unassisted breath in his life