Until My Heart Stops Beating (25 page)

              The doors opened. He stepped on the elevator exiting on the lobby level. There was no one in the building except for the security officer posted at the lobby desk. All other employees were allowed to leave early due to the inclement weather, a move he should have made himself a few hours ago.

              “Goodnight Max,” he said walking by the desk.

              “Mr. Whitaker, I thought you were gone already,” he frowned. “Are you sure you want to go out in that. It’s a mess out there.”

              Declan stopped suddenly, placed his briefcase on the floor and put
on his coat. “I’ll be fine Max. I’m sure it’s not as bad as it looks. You know how often meteorologists get it wrong.”

              Max sat behind the desk. “Well, if you insist be cautious. You know even in weather like this there will be some nut out there driving like he’s on dry pavement.”

              “Yea, I know,” he said as he picked up his briefcase and adjusted the collar on his coat. “Stay warm Max.”

              “I’ll try Mr. Whitaker. Get home safe.”

              “I will,” Declan replied exiting through the revolving doors.

~*~

              After sitting in traffic for what seemed like forever, Declan was elated when it began to move. He heard his cell phone ringing just as he pulled off but decided it would be better to ignore it under these conditions. It was important for him to stay focused. The roads were as bad as everyone said they were. Since he’d been on the expressway, he had seen three accidents and slid on black ice himself a couple of times. A quarter of a mile down the expressway, an SUV traveling at regular speed while trying to change lanes, swerved. It was apparent the driver
had lost control of the vehicle. Everything had happened so fast there wasn’t time to get out of the way. The SUV slammed into his vehicle sending it careening into the guardrail. Airbags deployed, smoke seeped from the hood, and shards of glass from the shattered windshield hit him in the face. Barely able to breath from his chest hitting the steering wheel, he opened his eyes looking up but couldn’t see a thing. Everything was blurry. He thought he had heard his cellphone again but he was too hurt to move. He could hear voices in the distance asking if he was ok. Sadly, he was unable to respond. Suddenly, the voices faded and everything went dark.

~*~

              Makeba was happy Declan agreed to take her advice and stay at the office building. This was one time she was elated about having an executive apartment. Realizing how difficult it would be for her to sleep without him lying next to her, she went into the kitchen and fixed herself a cup of chamomile tea with lemon and honey. Afterwards, she returned to the living room, sat on the sofa and began watching Steel Magnolias, one of her favorite movies. While taking a sip from her cup, she thought about the previous night and Declan’s reaction to her pregnancy surprise. As she lowered the cup onto the coffee table, a smile spread across her lips. She was happy as well but it was not without reservations. She was worried about going through this again. Although the doctor assured her that very rarely does miscarriage happen after the first time especially if the mother is in optimum health, she still couldn’t shake the fear of it happening again.

              Shaking off those negative thoughts, she reached for her mug and brought it to her lips. As she took a sip, she glanced at the watch on her wrist. To her estimation, Declan should have been settled in by now. She frowned, wondering why he hadn’t called as of yet. Scooting to the edge of the sofa, she reached for her cellphone that was on the end table to the right of her. She
called Declan. Strangely, there was no answer. Assuming he was still working at the office, she called there. Again, there was no answer. Her heart began to pound rapidly against her chest. Suddenly, she remembered the lobby desk contact number. She called inquiring whether her husband had been seen. When she was told by the security officer that he had left more than two hours ago, she shrieked at his response and lost her grip on the phone, it fell to the floor. A few seconds later she reached down to pick it up. A thousand thoughts were running through her mind. Perhaps, he was just going to the local market or something. No need to panic. He agreed to stay. He’ll call, she thought. These were the words she was telling herself but it did nothing to soothe the anxiety she was experiencing.

              Pushing herself back against the sofa, she sighed deeply and closed her eyes. She was sure there was a logical explanation for why he wasn’t answering his phone and why he had left the building.

              The ringing of her cellphone startled her. Her heart was beating so fast, she thought it would burst in her chest. Taking a deep breath then exhaling slowly, she answered the phone. Closing her eyes in fear at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line. It wasn’t who she wanted it to be and from the sound of his voice she was positive what he had to say would not be good news. Bracing herself for what was to come she answered.

              “Hello Sam.”

              Picking up the nervousness in her voice, he hesitated a bit before revealing the purpose of his call.

              “Ahem!” he cleared his throat. “Makeba.”

              Her stomach knotted from the way
he said her name. It was laced in sadness.

              Without her volition her voice cracked. “Why are you calling me Sam,” she asked as steady tears began to roll down her cheeks.

              It wasn’t uncommon for her to receive a call from her brother-in-law but in her gut she knew before even answering the phone it wasn’t going to be a social call.

              “Makeba, Declan has been in an accident.”

              She gasped as she covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to stifle the screams she wanted so badly to release. With every bit of strength she had in her, she managed to regain her composure. Wiping the tears from her eyes she asked, “How bad?”

              “I don’t know yet. Granny and I are on our way to the hospital now. Mother is already there. Shyanne will be there to pick you up in a few.”

              “Oh God! Oh God!” she cried out.

              “Makeba! Makeba!”

              She heard him call her name but she was too distraught to answer.

              She ended the call without so much as a goodbye. She didn’t have time for proper phone etiquette. Quickly, she ran to the bedroom snatching a pair of jeans and a sweater from the drawer
and put them on. Sliding her feet inside her snow boots, she felt herself on the verge of a breakdown but fought against it. Instead, she silently prayed that her husband would be alright.

              She ran to the living room the moment she heard her phone again. Without looking at the screen, she answered it.

              “Hello.”

              “I’m outside."

              Shyanne had the same sadness laced to her words as Sam had not long ago. She could tell Shyanne had been crying too.

              “I’ll be right out,” she replied then ended the call.

              She got her coat from the closet, her keys off the rack and her purse off the table in the foyer and hurried out the door, hoping things wasn’t as bad as she imagined them to be.

              Upon their arrival, Makeba and Shyanne rushed to the nurse’s station seeking information about his location. The nurse directed them to the waiting area and assured them that the doctor taking care of Declan would be there to speak with them shortly. They noticed Sam and Shelly sitting next to one another when they entered the waiting room. Immediately they rushed to the area where they were seated.

              “How is he?” Makeba asked looking through eyes filled with worry.

              Sam hugged her. “We don’t know just yet. The doctors have said very little. They were waiting to speak with you. Have a seat. I’ll alert them that you’re here.”

              Thank you Sam,” she replied as she
took a seat.

             
She glanced over at Shelly and nodded her head as her and Shyanne took their seats. Instead of a warm greeting, Shelly rolled her eyes and turned away from her but she didn’t care. She didn’t have the time nor the energy to deal with her mother-in-law and her nonsense.

              Shyanne noticed the exchange between her mother and Makeba and didn’t like it one bit. She got up moved to sit closer to her mother. From the sound of things, Shyanne was chastising her in reference to her behavior. A few minutes later granny wheeled into the waiting room accompanied by Deena. There was no need to ponder why she was there. The answer was obvious. Shelly had only brought her to get under Makeba’s skin. As furious as she was, this was neither the time nor the place to address the issue. Her thoughts were on her husband and that’s where they were going to stay. Granny wheeled her chair over to Makeba and reached for her hands.

              “How are you holding up dear?”

              “I’ll do a lot better when I find out how he’s doing.”

              “He’ll be fine. No worries,” she replied, rubbing the backs of Makeba’s hands.

              Releasing her grip from granny’s hand, Makeba rose to her feet when she observed Sam’s return but he wasn’t alone. He was with two doctors who were walking towards her. There was a desire to meet them halfway but for some reason she couldn’t. Her legs felt like they weighed a ton and refused to move on command. Her heart began to palpitate and perspiration welled within her hands. In an effort to dry them, she wiped them on her jeans.

              “Hello, I’m Doctor Mathers, the neurologist caring for your husband.”

              He was about six feet two inches tall with short black curly hair and blue eyes. He was young and handsome, a little too young to be a doctor according to her. Even so, there he was standing in front
of her with an extended hand.

              “Hello Doctor Mathers,” she replied as she shook his hand.

              “And I’m Doctor Spencer, the resident.”

              She glanced at him. He also looked a little young but age didn’t matter to her. What mattered was how her husband was doing.

              “Pleased to meet you both,” she replied.

              “Mrs. Whitaker, your husband suffered a traumatic head injury causing some damage to his hippocampus,” said Dr. Mathers.

              She eyed him inquisitively.

              “Hippocampus?”

              “The hippocampus is located in the frontal lobes of the brain. It is associated with memory. We each have two. If one is injured, you can still have normal memory function. If both are, then it can cause some memory loss.”

              By this time everyone had congregated around them to hear what the doctors had to say about Declan’s condition.

              “Here’s the thing with your husband. X-rays show there’s some blood on the brain and both of his hippocampus’ are damaged.”

              Instantly the tears started to fall. Sam grabbed her hand to comfort her. Granny moaned as Shyanne rushed to her side and began to rub her back and Shelly held onto to Deena.

              “Right now we’re contemplating whether we want to go in to drain the blood but we don’t want to be too hasty. In most cases the blood tends to dissipate on its own over time. There is some swelling as well. We’ll know more and how we want to proceed after another round of x-rays. As for the hippocampus, since both are damaged we suspect that when and if he awakens there will be some memory loss, but to what extent we won't know until he wakes up.”

              “Wakes up? What are you saying?” Sam inquired releasing his hands from Makeba’s.

              “Oh my God!” Shyanne said.

              “Dear Lord,” cried granny Whitaker.

              “No,” sobbed Shelly.             

              Makeba stood there deathly silent waiting for Dr. Mathers' reply.

              “Mrs. Whitaker, your husband is in a coma,” interjected Dr. Spencer.

              Makeba closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply. Turning on her heels, she headed back to her seat. It was worse than she had imagined. She knew it was bad but she didn’t expect this; coma, swelling on the brain, memory loss. This was far from what she had expected to hear. As the others continued to converse with the doctors, she tried to keep her composure which was proving to be a losing battle. Out of nowhere, a loud moan inadvertently escaped her lips. She began rocking back and forth as she sobbed uncontrollably. Granny wheeled over to her and tried to assure her that Declan would pull through but Makeba was inconsolable. On the other hand Shelly had returned to her seat just as distraught as Makeba. All the
women were clearly in emotional pain and Sam didn’t know what to do to comfort any of them because he was hurting too.

              For the next several days Makeba sat at Declan's bedside day and night. There had been no changes in his condition which worried her. As much as she tried to remain calm and keep her stress level low, it was damn near impossible. The longer Declan remained in a coma, the more she realized the possibility that he may never wake up.