Fate's Cruel Hand

Kelly steps out into the cool night air and shivers, her eyes red and puffy from crying at Jeremy's bedside. She wipes away stray tears and looks out at the car park, how empty it is and how silent everything is. She had sent Marilyn and Wayne home, promising to call them if she heard any news. So far she hadn't. The painful imagine of Jeremy lying on a bed, a tube down his throat to help him breathe, his arms attached to various monitors and IV's. She had held his hand, squeezing it to let him know she was there and felt literally gutted when he didn't respond. The nurse who was looking after Jeremy had said that he's so full of pain medication he won't know where he is or what's going on. She had only been with Jeremy a few minutes until he had been whisked away to theatre.
Someone nearby is smoking a cigarette and she badly wants one. Her vow to never start again is thrown out of the window as she sucks in deep breaths of the second hand smoke.

"You look like you could use one of these"

She turns to see an older man in his sixties extending an unlit cigarette. She takes it and is grateful.

"Thank you" she blows out smoke"I never thought I'd do this again"

"Everyone thinks that." The stranger replies "it's a small piece of heaven in a place like this."

Kelly agrees and watches him as he disappears back into the hospital. She has never been so thankful for a good samaritan.

Five hours have passed with no news of Jeremy's condition and the longer he is in theatre, the more Kelly worries. She has counted the ceiling tiles and paced the floorspace, drank coffee until she dizzy and pestered probably every passing nurse who offered her sympathetic smiles. It was normal for them to have a relative pester them and she feels bad, but she needs to know. She needs to know if he's going to be okay.

Kelly feels her stomach lurch and her heart pound in her chest as the doctor walks towards her, his expression giving nothing away. His scrubs are pale green, over washed and sweaty underneath his arms. He looks exhausted, exactly how she feels.

"Miss Hunter" He says"The whole surgery was a success. We removed the ruptured spleen and fixed his shoulder and knee. I suspect he's going to make a full recovery. We've put him in a medical coma, so he won't be in constant pain and recovery is easier."

"Can I see him?"

"Sure. He's in intensive care and it all looks worse than it is."