Beauregard gasped and looked shocked, “Is she alright? Is she…is she gonna be okay?”
Buggy shook his head sadly, “no...it's bad Beauregard. Real bad. They're doing everything they can”
“When did this happen?” asked Beau quickly, worry evident in his voice.
“She slipped down the stairs of the Josephs this morning and landed hard on her back. It wasn't a pretty sight and when she woke up her heart rate had skyrocketed and the doctors couldn't get the pain to subside.
She's on the ventilator now, and the doctors think she'll be fine once she gets treatment.
But they also don't think she'll ever walk again.”
“Oh,” was all Beau could muster. Tears sprung to his eyes.
Beavis ran out of the house, heading towards the hospital. He didn't bother waiting for his friends and rushed straight to the emergency room. When he arrived, he saw a nurse talking to the doctor, who was busy writing something on a clipboard.
Beau approached the nurse and grabbed the paper from the doctor’s hand. “What is it?” he asked anxiously.
“It looks like she's suffered severe internal bleeding. There is blood clotting in her arteries, and her body has shut down completely from the shock of the blood loss. According to the reports, she has been in critical condition for several hours now. Her pulse is weak, which means that the heart muscle isn't functioning as much as usual.
The next 24 hours may be going to be very difficult for her” explained the doctor.
Beau stared at the doctor for a few seconds in silence. Tears formed in his eyes and he lowered his lip and quivered slightly. “What should we do?” he asked nervously.
The doctor took a moment to think about the question. “Well, she needs medical attention immediately. We have to stabilize her blood pressure and pump the air into her lungs.
That way her heart will work better, and we can keep trying to find a way for her to live. We will do our best to give her some fluids and antibiotics as well. But we’re running out of options here. The bleeding will increase over time unless we do something”
“Is there nothing else you can do?” Beau asked hopefully.
The doctor sighed, “Yes. We could monitor her heartbeat and make sure that it doesn't drop anymore, but the bleeding is going to increase over time whether we wait or not”
“Do you think that maybe she might…die?” inquired Beau quietly.
“We cannot allow ourselves to think that, Beau. It would be devastating for us, and most especially for her,” reasoned the doctor.
Beau sniffled and wiped away the stray tears streaming down his face. “Okay,” he said softly.
“There is one other option though, but it seems like such an awful risk” the doctor continued.
“What is it?” inquired Beau.
“Her heart might just be damaged beyond repair. We need to do a complete thoracotomy, and remove the left lung,” said the doctor.
“And what does that mean?”
“We cut into her chest and remove the right lung so that she can regain breathing function. That’s the best way to save her life. But, there are risks. As you can see, her left lung is already severely damaged from the trauma caused by the fall earlier today. The damage to her lung might become more fatal if we do that. There are no guarantees that she will survive” explained the doctor.
“So, what do you suggest we do instead?” asked Beau.
“I recommend that we perform a full thoracotomy surgery” stated the doctor bluntly.
“What?” asked Beau.
“That’s right. We will perform a full thoracotomy on your mother. If she survives, the chances of her survival are increased.”
Beau clenched his jaw tightly. He closed his eyes and thought deeply about what he had just heard. After a few minutes, he decided to answer the doctor.
“You know what? Let’s do it”
Alex passed by Beavis, as he headed out of the hospital with sadness, and tears of what occurred. He then remembered the doctor's words
'The Murderer stabbed her deep inside her stomach, penetrating the fetus of her unborn child. The wound had penetrated right into the uterine wall, piercing both the uterus and baby inside the womb.'
Alex stopped in his tracks before continuing, the shock of hearing those words hitting him hard. It was like a punch to his gut when it sank in. What if Maggie did this? What if she didn't care enough about Alex to tell him? To let him know? To give him some warning that something bad was going to happen?
He thought about all those years they spent together, how everything felt perfect for them. They were happy, at least until they found out. She'd always be there, supporting Alex every step of the way, never leaving his side. Never let anyone hurt him again. That's when it all started to fall apart. They weren't good together anymore, and neither was Maggie. Not after finding out the truth from the doctors.
Alex couldn't get the image of Maggie in the ER out of his head. Her eyes looked lifeless, glassy like she was dead, or dying. Alex tried not to think about it. It made his heartache and his vision blur. He felt sick to his stomach.
Immediately a phone rang, Alex accepted the call, “Hello Alex?” a strange voice said, “Yeah... it's who you are thinking. I killed your sister, Maggie ."
"What do you want?" Alex asked, he sounded harsh. His tone reminded him of one of his foster parents. He hated when people talked down to him.
A chuckle came through the phone, "I got no choice but to kill her..with her unborn child”
Alex paused. He wanted to express his grief, but he controlled himself “I promise you if I get my hands on you, your body will be rejected even by the vultures”
“I guess that's a challenge, why don't you try and get me before I commit my next murder” he reassured, “And feel free to bring the cops with you”
With that, the line went dead, leaving Alex alone.