He started to argue with me, but Yvette stepped in. “Sleep. We’ll be outside when you wake.” Bossy like her brother. I loved that.
I pressed a kiss to his lips and promised, “I’ll see you when you wake up.”
He nodded and closed his eyes.
A minute later, he was asleep.
I battled conflicting emotions—happiness that he was okay and worry that he was still fighting for his health.
* * *
“You didn’t call me to say he’d woken up,” I accused Nash later that day. I’d gone home just after I’d seen Havoc and slept. Nash had promised to call me when he had news. When I’d woken at five, I’d been pissed off that he hadn’t called.
He shook his head. “He hasn’t woken up again, Carla. So I let you sleep.”
“What do you mean he hasn’t woken up again?” I demanded.
“Exactly that. He’s slept all day.”
Alarm spiked through me. “Are the doctors doing something? Why is he still asleep? What did they say?”
He placed his hands on my shoulders. “Calm down, babe. They’re saying he’s sedated and still stable. And they’ve run his bloods a few times to check his levels. I’m sure if there was something to worry about, they would have told us.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay.” Looking around the waiting room, I asked, “Where’s Yvette?”
“She’s with their father, but will be back here later.” His gaze shifted to look past me. Jerking his chin, he said, “Scott.”
I turned to find Scott Cole approaching. I’d met him a few times over the years and he’d always struck me as a moody guy, but Nash was pretty close to him so I figured he couldn’t be too bad.
“Nash,” he returned the greeting before eyeing me. “Hi, Carla. How’s Havoc?”
“He’s stable.”
But not awake.
“Good.” He turned his attention to Nash. “You got a minute, brother?”
“You okay here?” Nash asked me and I nodded.
“Thanks,” Scott said. “J will be by later to check on him.”
As they walked out into the corridor, I sat. Thankful the waiting room was empty, I allowed my tears to fall. I wasn’t the kind of woman to cry often. Usually when shit wasn’t going my way I fought back. But this situation didn’t give me that opportunity.
I couldn’t fix this.
Instead, I’d have to dig deep and get myself together.
Havoc needed me to be strong for him when he couldn’t be strong for himself.
* * *
Havoc drifted in and out of consciousness that night and the next day. The doctors kept drawing blood to check his levels and they kept telling us he was stable.
Stable.
I fucking hated that word by the end of the second day.
Why couldn’t they give us something more?