The Lake House

29|| Awakened

The phone's shrill ring shattered the stillness of the night. The call was urgent and unexpected, plunging Lesley into a state of frantic worry. The surgeon who operated on Nick was on the other end, calling from the NYU Trauma Center with dire information.

"Hello, is this Lesley Livingston?" A soft-spoken woman's voice came through the phone.

Lesley clutched her phone tightly, pressing it against her ear. Fear surged through her veins, and a flood of nerves consumed her, as she anxiously pondered on what revelations the call would bring.

"Yes, this is Lesley." She said hastily, the words spilling from her mouth like a sudden downpour on a stormy day.

"I'm Dr. Singh." She introduced herself. "I wanted to provide you with an update on your husband, Nick." Dr. Singh's voice echoed compassion and concern.

"Okay," Lesley said impatiently. Her thoughts plunged into the abyss of the unknown, teetering on the brink of Nick's potential demise. Her heart sank deep into the pit of her stomach, and she felt as though she had been uprooted from the earth and thrust into her own mind, where her thoughts weaved an agonizingly dreadful resolution.

"Currently, Nick isn't doing well."

A loud gasp escaped Lesley's lips.

"What's going on? Will he live?" Her thoughts once again threw her into a terrifying reality. It was as if her mind was operating with an uncanny psychic ability. Or so she thought. Her heart sped faster, the beat vibrating against her throat. Her hands trembling as she stood there paralyzed by fear, waiting for Dr. Singh to utter her next words.

"Unfortunately, his prognosis isn't good. I understand you were initially informed that his injury affected his gluteus maximums. However, that wasn't the case. The bullet hit his lower back, thankfully missing his spinal cord by centimeters."

Lesley interrupted Dr. Singh with another loud gasp and a subtle cry.

Dr. Singh continued. "Fragments of the bullet traveled into his appendix, which we successfully removed. We were also able to extract the bullet from his lower back, but after the surgery, he fell into a coma. He is currently in our ICU."

"What?!" Lesley asked, shocked. Her voice trembling with panic. "Is he going to survive?!" Lesley pleaded for an answer as tears streamed down her face.

Dr. Singh took a deep breath on the other end of the line. "His prognosis isn't good at this time. From my experience, I want to remain hopeful, and I believe there is a forty percent chance of him pulling through."

"Oh my God! You can't be serious?" Lesley cried, clinging onto the phone as if it were a lifeline that could potentially save Nick.

"I'm sorry, Lesley." Dr. Singh expressed her sorrow and abruptly ended the call, leaving Lesley overwhelmed by a new wave of distress, her emotions were in turmoil.

Without further thought, Lesley immediately grabbed her car keys, slipped on her beige coat, and strolled out of her door. She was on a mission, determined to make it to NYU Hospital before  sunrise. Hopeful that Nick would pull through.

***

Lesley had never been this profoundly shaken up before, not even when she was first visited by Leah. The sheer magnitude of fear, pain, and heartache she experienced that day was unlike anything she had ever felt. She was never on the brink of losing anyone close to her, except for now. When she lost her father at the age of nineteen, it stirred little emotional response from her- ultimately he was a stranger. She had never even met the guy before she heard about his untimely demise. Her heart clung to her mother and grandparents, whom sacrificed all they had to give Lesley a good life given the absence of her father.