Heart of Clay Read online

  “Callan, honey?” Callan felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the tear-rimmed eyes of her aunt Julie.

  Callan fell into her warm embrace and started sobbing again.

  Julie rubbed her back and held her tight, letting her cry. Steve did his best to keep himself together while Bobbi continued to sob uncontrollably. Ralph went to find them all something to drink.

  As they sat together on a couch, Julie wiped Callan’s tears and pushed a dry handkerchief into her hands. “Now, tell us what you can. We need to know, honey.”

  Callan took a deep breath and explained that Clay was in surgery. She tried not to dwell on the extent of his injuries, or her concerns about him pulling through surgery.

  She instead said the doctor had let her see Clay before they rolled him into surgery and she was confident in Dr. Fisher being an excellent physician and surgeon.

  Josh and Jenna arrived along with Big Jim and Jake. Jenna stopped by the house long enough to bring Callan a change of clothes and her purse.

  For that, Callan was immensely grateful. She hurried into the bathroom and changed out of her bloodstained clothes. She tossed them into the bathroom garbage can, unwilling to set eyes on the clothes again. The bloodstains would never come out and the sight of them would only serve as a reminder of this awful day.

  Afternoon faded into evening and no word came from the doctor. They sat and cried; paced and prayed. No one felt like eating, everyone was on edge, and still they waited.

  Callan took her cell phone outside and left a message for Laken, keeping it to the briefest of details and instructing her to call Julie the next day for an update.

  Just when Callan thought she wouldn’t be able to stand the uncertainty one more minute, Dr. Fisher walked down the hall, looking utterly exhausted. Callan jumped up and stood waiting. From the look on his face, she tried to brace herself mentally for whatever he was about to say.

  David Fisher looked around the worried faces of the group and wished he had better news to share with them. His gaze settled on Callan. He decided to tell her the facts and not sugarcoat the truth. As he stepped up to her, the rest of the assembled family stood as well.

  Callan introduced him to Clay’s parents and highlighted the names of the rest of the family. He assumed the young man, Josh, must be Callan’s brother due to the resemblance they shared. Glad to see him and the other young woman, Jenna, flank Callan on either side, she would need all the support she could get.

  “Callan, I’m going to give it to you straight. I don’t think you’d want it any other way,” David said, looking directly at her. She nodded her head and he continued. “The good news is that his spinal cord was not injured, so we shouldn’t be facing any paralysis issues. He lost a lot of blood due to the number and extent of the injuries. He bled significantly both externally and internally. Both of his kidneys are bruised and his spleen was torn. We were able to repair it and not remove it, which is a good thing. He has some swelling in the brain due to the head injury. We’ll monitor him closely for any brain damage and there is the possibility he may slip into a coma. There’s also the threat of infection setting in considering where he was at when the accident occurred.” David stopped and took a breath before continuing.

  “Then there’s his leg. It’s broken in two places – his thigh and his shin. His thigh had a clean break and I think it will heal well. His shin is another story. The bone’s broken in three places. We had our top surgeon piecing it back together and it’s pinned with plates, but to be upfront with you, his leg may never heal properly. We aren’t looking at amputation, but we’ll monitor that leg closely.”

  Callan hadn’t said anything as he spoke but the word amputation made her gasp and a look of fear pass across her pale face. After drawing a shaky breath, she asked the question they all were wondering. “Is he going to live?”

  “His body has been battered beyond belief. He is in a crucial stage at this point, Callan. I’d like to tell you he’ll wake up in a few hours and start healing. I’d like to promise you he’ll be just fine, but I won’t. The next twenty-four hours are extremely critical. If he makes it through them, then we have a fighting chance. I know you all are exhausted and past the point of reason, so I can only advise you to go home and rest. If anything changes, we’ll call immediately. However, if you insist on staying, we’ll continue to keep you updated.” David rubbed his hands across his weary eyes. “Callan, if you’d like, I’ll come get you in a bit when we’ve got Clay settled in intensive care. You can sit with him for a little while.”

  She squeezed David’s hand and whispered, “Thank you.”

  Julie and Ralph volunteered to take Big Jim and Jake home. Josh and Jenna refused to leave Callan, and Steve and Bobbi weren’t going anywhere. Throughout the long night, they encouraged each other and continued sending up prayers for Clay.

  In the early hours of the morning, as the sun began to spread fingers of pink and gold across the sky, Callan stared out the waiting room window and thought of all the mornings with Clay she had wasted. The mornings during the last few painful years that she awoke angry and bitter. How she wished she could take each one back and relive them with Clay. Regret was a cruel, callous companion that offered no compassion or forgiveness. Callan realized that now.

  The sound of code something came across the hospital’s intercom system, drawing her attention. Something in ICU. Feet pounded down the hallway along with muffled shouts.

  “Please, Lord, don’t take him. Please don’t take him from me,” Callan pleaded.

  Josh stood next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze. She leaned against his strength. Minutes passed. All grew quiet again then Callan looked up as David walked toward them with an unreadable look on his face.

  “Callan, I’m so sorry, we…” David reached a hand out to her but Callan fainted before he could finish.