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They’re back!
I jerk away, thinking they’ve come back to finish me off.
“Calm down, miss.” This man speaks perfect English. He calls out, “Dial 911, Doreen.” He pulls at the ropes around my ankles, loosening and finally removing them. “Don’t move,” he says.
“Put this under her head,” a woman says. That must be Doreen. She drapes a jacket over me and bends down to stroke my hair. “I can’t believe what I just witnessed. The ambulance is on its way, honey. Hold tight.”
The EMS are quick to get me into the back of their ambulance. Doreen doesn’t hesitate to jump in back and tells her husband to follow.
“I hurt so much,” I whisper, a lone tear falling down my cheek. “I never told him. I want him to know.”
“Who, dear? What do you want him to know?” she asks gently, taking my hand in hers.
“Alex. I should have told him. I was too scared. I love him.”
“You’ll get to tell him.”
“I don’t know.” I’m finding it hard to breathe. I begin to pant, needing air. The paramedic puts the oxygen mask on me, and it helps. I close my eyes, praying I’ll get a chance to tell Alex how I feel.
* * *
Alex
Sabrina’son her way to the hospital. I’m already here and pacing in front of the emergency room door. Caleb and Zeke are outside waiting. Damian and Chloe are waiting at the desk.
Zeke is racing toward an ambulance. I rush out to meet them. Sabrina’s a mess. Her matted hair clings to her scalp, there’s blood on her face, and her breathing is labored.
“Buttercup, I’m here,” I say. Her eyes float open, but they’re hazy.
“Don’t let me go,” she says quietly.
“Never, baby.” I touch her hand, and she winces, but when I go to remove mine, she clings to me.
“Don’t let me go,” she repeats, her voice fading.
“Never.”
I don’t let go even as they wheel her through and the nurses and doctor hurry her down the hall.
“Don’t let…” She doesn’t get to finish before they pull me away from her gurney, and take her through the glass door leading into the examination room. All I can do is watch them wheel her away from me. My face is plastered to the glass, hands braced on the doorframe.
“Are you Alex?” I spin to see a middle-aged woman with kind brown eyes gazing at me.
“Yeah.”
“My husband, Connor, and I found your girl,” she tells me.
I nod, unable to speak.
“She wants you to know… She kept saying that she wishes she told you.”
“What?” I manage to choke out.
She smiles sweetly and says, “She loves you.” Then she does the unexpected and puts her arms around me to console me. A few minutes later, her husband arrives and fills in the gaps.
I don’t hear any of it. My eyes are glued to the doors to the surgical ward, where they’re working on Sabrina. She was gone less than six hours. Missing.
I haven’t prayed in a good long time, but I promise to never let her go if she just comes through this.
