Risking the Crown (The Crown 2)

Kaitlyn

“Miss, are you next of kin?” The nurse behind the station kept repeating herself, but I wasn’t looking at her. I searched the curtains behind her for some sign of Cole. “Miss?”

I nodded. I would lie and promise my firstborn, too, at this point. “Yes. Cole Thomas. I just need to see him. He’s alone.”

She typed something into the computer and double-checked her findings on a clipboard. “He’s in curtain five.” She pointed around the corner.

I didn’t wait in case she changed her mind. I took off in the direction of the next set of curtains.

There was a crack in curtain five, and I peered through the slit before slipping inside. Cole was asleep. His foot was wrapped and his leg was suspended in the air.

I wiped a tear that had snuck its way onto my cheek. The cubicle was small, but there was one chair. I pulled it as close to the side of the bed as I could and sat.

Two hours later, Cole’s eyes fluttered open. I smiled and clutched his hand.

“Cole?”

They closed with zero recognition. I sighed and returned to my strained posture. There was an IV dripping something into his arm. Whatever it was, it must have been strong enough to keep him asleep for a while.

My eyes began to burn, but I didn’t dare venture out for coffee. I was afraid one of the nurses would try to check my ID.

One of them pulled the curtain to the side. Her name tag said Darlene.

“How’s he doin’, honey?” She retracted a clipboard from the plastic bin over Cole’s head.

“Should he be asleep this long? He hasn’t been awake since I got here.” I looked at the clock. That was now four hours.

“It’s the morphine.” She chuckled. “He’s probably happy to be sleeping through this.” She pointed to the contraption rigged around his leg. “We just got the green light to move him to a room.”

“He has to stay the night?” I didn’t know what was going to happen, but an overnight hospital stay made it feel like everything was worse.

“He needs a day with this leg, and then I think he’ll get discharged tomorrow. Don’t take my word on that.” She returned the clipboard. “Just a guess.”

“Can I stay with him?” I didn’t want him to wake up alone, if he did wake up tonight.

“There’s a recliner in his regular room that folds out to a small bed. It’s not comfortable, sugar, but you can stay if you want to.”

I watched as she started unhooking cords and wrapping the IV tubes around the cart.

“Thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say. She was the nicest person I had encountered all night.

A team of two other nurses appeared. They loosened the breaks

on the wheels, folded the sides of the bed, and took off with Cole. I grabbed my purse and followed them.

The hospital was a maze. I would need all the exit signs to find my way back out.

A few minutes later, Cole was stationery again, and his bed on lockdown and plugged into a bunch of wall sockets.

Darlene opened the cupboard at the end of the bed and handed me a set of blankets and a pillow. “Here you go. These are for you. Don’t feel bad if you feel like you need to go home. You wouldn’t be the first to be defeated by the chair.” She smiled warmly before closing the door behind her.

It wasn’t much, but it would make the recliner bearable. I kicked off my sandals, extended the chair, and nestled in for the night. I wasn’t going to leave Cole’s side.

If I thought sleeping on the hard living room floor was rough, it was nothing compared to wrestling sleeping positions in a hospital recliner. I opened my eyes, remembering where I had spent the night.

“Good morning,” Cole whispered.

“You’re awake.” I hopped out of the chair faster than I should have. My shoulder and leg had both fallen asleep. The dizziness hit me. I stumbled, but grabbed the end of the bed to gain some balance.