Peak of Desire Ch. 11

"What's his status?" Came the reply.

"Critical. Pulse is rapidly dropping and there's massive blood loss. Needs immediate surgery."

"Noted. OR will be ready."

With Erica being in such a state of panic, it seemed that everything around her was happening in a blur. In a state of complete shock, she stared dazedly down at her lover, feeling as if she were in some sort of a nightmare.

Although she knew it did no good to dwell on passed moments, she couldn't help recalling how upset she'd been with him when they'd first arrived at his apartment.

Why had she been so quick to mistrust him about the phone calls? She should have known he wouldn't lie to her. As long as they'd known one another, he'd been entirely straightforward and had never given her reason to mistrust him.

So why had she chosen to give him such a hard time? Shaking her head with a sadness in her eyes, she brought his hand up to her mouth, then graced the back of it with a light kiss.

No sooner had the ambulance pulled to a stop in front of the ER entrance, did the medical attendants waiting outside the hospital rush for the back doors.

The second paramedic who had been driving the ambulance came around back, and assisted his partner in unloading the stretcher that Cody was lying on. Erica was last to exit the vehicle, and as the paramedics wheeled the stretcher into the hospital, a doctor rushed up to meet them.

"What's his status?" Asked a female surgeon, walking quickly alongside the stretcher as the paramedics scurried forward.

"Two stab wounds, one upper spine, one lower back. He's lost a hell of a lot of blood, so he's gonna need a transfusion. And his pulse rate is rapidly dropping."

"So he's in a critical state. Has anyone contacted his family?"

"Yes, I have," Erica suddenly spoke, causing the doctor to take notice of her.

"Are they on their way?"

She gave a nod in response.

"Good. The sooner they arrive, the better." She then directed her attention back to the paramedics. "Alright, let's move it. Get him to OR."

The stretcher was hastily moved further down the hall, and as it reached the emergency room double doors, the medical team wheeled Cody inside. Erica tried to enter as well, but her progress was suddenly halted by a male nurse.

"Ma'am, you're not allowed in the ER. I'm sorry, but you you're going to have to wait out here." He gestured toward the waiting room, where a number of other anxious looking people were sitting in chairs.

Desperately wanting to be by her lover's side, she directed her gaze toward the ominous looking double doors, taking one last glance at Cody on the stretcher before the barriers swung shut.

Then with great reluctance, she headed for the waiting room. She sat with shoulders hunched, focusing her eyes on her hands, which were nervously clasped in her lap.

Suddenly realizing that her palms were covered in blood, she held her right one up in front of her face. She eyed it curiously, as if unable to believe the sight before her, and as the iron-like scent of his blood wafted into her nostrils, she felt a crushing wave of sadness come over her.

Knowing it would do no good to release more tears, she bit her bottom lip to stop it from quivering, then made herself busy by going through Cody's list of cell phone contacts.

Since Mia was the only friend of Cody's that Erica had met, she knew it was important to inform her of his condition. She was definitely the last person that Erica felt like currently dealing with, but since it was an emergency, she knew it was important for her to put her personal feelings aside and just make the call.

After locating Mia's number, Erica hit the send call button, then brought the receiver up to her ear. The line only rang twice, then the sound of Mia's voice came through the phone. Erica took a deep breath to stabilize herself, and after reining in her emotions, she began to speak, somberly delivering the bad news.

* * * *

Twenty minutes after Erica placed the call, Mia arrived at the hospital. Beyond the necessary communication, the two women had spoken very few words to each other, and were now angstfully waiting for word from the doctor. The minutes dragged painfully slow, causing them both to repeatedly check the clock.

Thirty minutes finally turned into an hour, and as the minutes ticked on, Erica found herself becoming increasingly nervous. She didn't know why it was taking so long to get an update, but desperate to receive some type of news, she got onto her feet and made her way toward the nurses station.

Her sudden presence caught the attention of a mousy looking nurse, who looked up from a clipboard she was writing on. "May I help you?"

"My boyfriend has been in surgery for an hour now, but I haven't received any word back from the doctor. Is there any way at all I can get some sort of an idea about his condition?"

"I'm sorry but there's nothing I can tell you at the moment. I'm afraid you'll just have to wait for the doctor to inform you."

Erica gave a weak nod, then turned and went back to her seat. It wasn't until she was once again seated that she noticed Mia intently watching her, looking her up and down with an expression of clear animosity. With Mia seated in a chair directly across from Erica, she was afforded the chance to stare directly at her.

Erica tried her best to hide her discomfort of being the subject of such a heated gaze, but it was a very hard thing to do with the hostile energy that Mia was sending her way. Completely fed up with the other woman's rude behavior, Erica met Mia's penetrating look with one of her own.

"What's your deal?" The tone of voice Erica used clearly conveyed the annoyance she felt.

"What's *yours*?"

"You're staring at me."

"And?"

"It gives me the creeps."

"So move somewhere else. Nobody's forcing you to stay in that seat."

"You're the one with the staring problem, so why don't you move?"

"Because I don't want to."

A scoff passed Erica's lips, and she averted her eyes, choosing to focus instead on a watercolor painting of swans that was affixed to the wall. She'd been staring at the picture for less than a minute before she heard the sound of Mia's voice.

"So what's with that getup, anyway?"

She turned her head, giving Mia a sour look. "What do you mean what's with it? It's a cocktail dress."

Lifting an eyebrow, she gave Erica's garment a scrutinizing look. "Seems more like a Halloween costume to me."

"Are you seriously criticizing my outfit? What are you, in high school or something?"

"Whoa, major burn." Her voice was laced with sarcasm. "That really hurt my feelings."

Erica's irritation reached its peak, causing her to angrily respond. "Is it really necessary for you to be this bitchy? I mean just what exactly do you get out of it?"

"Look, I don't like you, and you don't like me. So why should we pretend? Why not just come right out and say what we think of each other?"

"Because it doesn't accomplish anything."

"So you'd rather just be fake? Make believe that we don't hate each others guts?"

"I don't hate you, Mia. I may dislike you, but I certainly don't hate you."

"Yeah, right."

"It's the truth. I don't have the time or energy to waste on such a destructive emotion, and I think it's a real shame you can't realize that."

"Yeah, whatever." She rolled her eyes, then emitted a little noise as if to convey how absurd she found Erica's statement.

"Look Mia, I know you're having a hard time accepting it, but the reality is that I'm Cody's girlfriend. So you may as well just deal with it, because that isn't going to change."

A humorless chuckle escaped her lips. "You're not his girlfriend. You're just somebody he's screwing."

"What Cody and I have goes far beyond just sex. He cares deeply about me, and I feel the same about him."

"Yeah, okay. Whatever makes you feel better."

The smug look on Mia's face was nothing short of infuriating, and Erica suddenly had the urge to give the other woman a good, hard slap. Yet knowing that Mia was the type to feed off anger, she did her best to remain composed, choosing to seethe in silence.

"You're the third girl Cody's dated in the past four months," Mia said. "And just like all the others, you're completely boring and totally spineless. I bet he walks all over you." She shook her head in a disappointed way, then said, "I will *never* understand his taste in women."

"Interesting you should say that, because you're a woman as well. You do realize that, don't you?"

Suddenly realizing that her insult had been unintentionally self-directed, a shamefaced expression briefly crossed her face. "I was referring to the ones that he dates."

"Of course, you're exempt because you're just his friend." She gave a nod then said with a little smile, "Got it."

Mia narrowed her eyes in a predatory way, but it didn't cause Erica's gaze to falter in the least. Engaged in an intense stare down, neither woman noticed the doctor in light blue scrubs enter the waiting room.

Upon reaching them, she asked, "Excuse me, are you two family of Cody Begay?"

"I'm his best friend," said Mia.

"And I'm his girlfriend."

She offered them a nod, then said, "I'm Doctor Anderson. I know you're both anxious to hear about Cody's condition, so I'll get right to it. He's currently stable but he's lost a lot of blood, so he'll be getting a transfusion. He is out of the red zone, but there is one issue in particular...something very serious that I need to mention."

"What?" Julia felt a knot of anxiety begin to form in her stomach.

"There's been some spinal damage. We haven't been able to determine just how serious it is yet, but we do know for certain that he won't be able to function at the same level he did before he was injured."

"Are you saying he's paralyzed?" Mia asked.

"Yes, but not totally. He has something called central cord syndrome, which means he's affected with incomplete tetraplegia. While his sensation to touch and pain has been preserved, he'll have a huge reduction in the motor function of both his arms and legs."

Erica heard a soft curse slip from Mia's mouth, then saw her cover her face with her hands. In a state of shock herself, Erica stared in utter disbelief at the doctor, temporarily at a loss of words.

"I know how difficult this is for the two of you to hear, so I'll give you a bit of news that may make this a bit easier to swallow. His spinal cord was fractured, not severed, so there's a good possibility he will recover. To what extent and how quickly that recovery will come about is unclear at this point. I'm not making any promises that he'll ever be the same, but I just want you to know that there is hope."

"So this could be a temporary thing, then," The deep sadness in Erica's voice seemed to lessen just a little.

"Yes, that's what it looks like. But again, this doesn't mean I'm making any promises he'll ever possess the same level of functionality he did pre-injury. Chances are, he'll require help with daily living for quite some time. Whether it will be months or years, I'm unable to say at this point."

Erica nodded, then blew out a quivering breath. Her eyes were growing moist again, and she could tell that tears were threatening to fall.

With a concerned look on her face, the doctor asked, "Does he have family, anyone directly related?"

"Yes. I called his mother and she's on her way," said Erica. "It'll take her some time to get here though, because she's driving from Arizona."

"Allright, well it's good to know he has relatives. I'm sure you two will be wonderful support for him, but when these sort of things happen, it's very important for family to come together."

"I agree." Her voice wavered, lips trembling as she struggled to hold in her emotions. Unfortunately her attempt was met with failure and she promptly burst into tears.

The doctor grabbed a box of kleenex off the end table next to Erica's chair, then held it out for her to take a few. After pulling a few of the tissues out, Erica wiped the salty liquid from her eyes, then dabbed at her nose.

"I'm very sorry to give you such bad news. I know it can't be easy hearing something like this, especially with you being his girlfriend and all." Doctor Anderson placed a hand on Erica's shoulder, giving it a compassionate rub.

Feeling weak and foolish and completely out of control, she mustered every bit of strength and willed herself to stop crying. After a few moments of focusing her energy on more positive thoughts, her tears subsided, and she was once again able to speak.

I'm sorry, it's just.." Her shoulders heaved and she did her best to swallow the sobs which threatened to tear from her throat.

"Take your time, it's no rush," came the doctor's reassuring words.

"Everything's changed so quickly. Just a few hours ago, everything was normal. And now..." Feeling an overwhelming sense of melancholy, she shook her head in dismay.

"I know, it's all so sudden, isn't it? Unfortunately that's the way these things happen. Swift and without any warning at all."

"When will we be able to see him?" Asked Mia.

"Not for another hour, possibly even two. Sorry for the long wait, but we want to make sure he remains completely stabilized before he receives any visitors."

Mia gave a nod in response, then blew out a heavy breath.

"If you guys would like some coffee, there's a machine right down the hall, and if you get hungry, the cafeteria is located on the basement floor."

"Thanks, but I'm fine for now," said Erica.

"Allright. Once again, I really am sorry. As soon as Cody's ready to receive visitors, I'll come out and let you two know."

"Okay. Thanks doctor."

"You're welcome, Erica." She then turned on her heel and left the waiting room.

Neither Mia nor Erica spoke a word, and both directed their gazes downward, staring at the linoleum tile floor of the waiting room. Erica heard sounds of people coughing and the low volume of the flat screen TV on the wall, as well as the overhead paging system, but despite the noises of activity in the hospital, she felt very disconnected.

Of course she'd known that Cody's injuries were serious, but never in her wildest imagination would she ever have expected for them to result in paralyzation. Cody, paralyzed? He was the most active, driven, and energetic person she'd ever met, so knowing that he'd become largely immobile was just too difficult for her to even process.

Yet as heart breaking as it was for her, she could only imagine how incredibly devastating it would be for Cody once he found out. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Mia's voice cut through the air.

"I can't sit here any longer." She abruptly rose to her feet, then said, "Gonna go outside and get some air."

Erica watched as Mia made hasty steps toward the automatic doors that led outside. Once she was out of sight, Erica tilted her head back and allowed it to rest against the wall behind her. Staring up at the ceiling, she tried to figure out how everything could have gone so terribly wrong in such a short amount of time.

* * * *

The sensation of someone shaking her awake caused Erica's eyelids to open, and she moved her head forward so that it no longer rested against the wall. She then focused on the person in front of her, and seeing it was Doctor Anderson, she gave her an expectant look.

"Hi Erica. If you'd like to come along with me, I'll take you to go see Cody."

"Okay."

As she got onto her feet she wobbled a bit, due to the fact that she was not only still wearing heels, but also a bit disoriented from recently waking up. Noticing that Mia was standing near the doctor, she offered her a brief glance, and couldn't help noticing that her eyes were red and puffy.

To her surprise, Mia quickly averted her gaze, choosing instead to direct her attention at something else. This led Erica to guess that Mia was trying to hide the fact that she'd been crying, and judging from the swollen bags beneath her eyes, she'd obviously been doing quite a bit of it.

The doctor's sneakers made a squeaking noise against the linoleum floor as she led them down the hall toward intensive care, and as they reached Cody's room, she pushed the door open.

The hospital bed Cody was lying in had been adjusted so that his head was elevated, and the beeping of a heart monitor filled the air around them.

Both Mia and Erica rushed to his side, glancing down at his bed ridden form. Clearly in pain and in a weakened state from surgery, he focused his eyes on Erica. Meeting his gaze with a sorrowful expression, she leaned over the bed rail to give him a soft kiss on the cheek, then reached for his hand and held it in hers.

"Hi, baby." She gave him a weak smile.

"Hey, Cody." There was deep somberness in Mia's voice, and the expression on her face clearly conveyed her feelings about the distressing sight before her.

Cody's eyes shifted from Erica to Mia, then back again. He blinked a few times, as if to clear his vision, then emitted a little moan.

"He just woke up half an hour ago, and he's had a lot of meds pumped into his system, so he's still a little groggy," said Dr. Anderson.

"He looks like he's in pain," said Mia. "Are you sure you gave him enough medication?"

"The nurse administered a dose just before he woke up. It just takes a little time for it to kick in." She briefly paused, then once again spoke. "I'll let you two be alone with him. You have twenty minutes."

Erica gave the surgeon a nod in response, watching as she left the room, then directed her attention back to Cody. Tenderly stroking his hand, she asked, "How're you feeling, honey?"

"Horrible," he mumbled. "I can't move my arms at all."

"What about your legs?"

"A little, but it takes a lot of effort."

"The doctor said it may not be permanent. She told us there's a chance you'll fully recover."

"Yeah, she told me that too. She was just saying it, though. She doesn't really believe it."

"She wouldn't lie to you, Cody."

"Why not?"

"Because doctors don't lie to their patients. If she says you have a chance at recovering, then you do.

"I saw it in her eyes. She gave me this look of pity, like she knew the truth but just didn't wanna say it."

"You have to have faith that things will work out."

"And if they don't?"

"Don't talk like that. You will get better, I know you will."

"Yeah, you're tough," said Mia. "You can't just give up and accept this."

"Exactly. And besides, since when you are a quitter?" Erica looked him deep in the eyes.

Averting his gaze from hers, he chose to focus instead on the door. Perhaps sensing that he needed some extra encouragement, Mia said a few words.

"You're the strongest person I know, Cody. Anything you put your mind to, you accomplish. This is just another challenge you'll overcome."

"She's right," said Erica. "You never back down from anything, so I know you're gonna work through this."

He let loose a heavy sigh, then irritatedly said, "Would you two knock off the pep talk? I'm really not in the mood for it right now."

Mia and Erica shared a brief glance, equally taken aback by Cody's angry words. Although it was completely expected for him to be distressed, neither had been prepared for his sour disposition. Yet despite the fact that he seemed immune to positive encouragement, Erica refused to give in and just let him wallow.

"We're not trying to upset you, sweetie. We just want you to know that you can do this. We care about you, and we want you to know that things will get better."

"No they won't. My life will never be the same again."

It pained her to the core to see Cody in such a dismal state, and an expression of deep sadness etched into her face. "Please don't give up. You can't just let this happen."