The Love We Choose

Chapter 52

Lynne's heart thudded hollowly as she sat in Huan's room for the third night, just watching the rise and fall of his chest. He had successfully made it through surgery and they had been able to locate the sources of his internal bleeding. Dr. Levater, who had introduced himself to the Zhang family as Huan's Department Head as well as the lead trauma surgeon on his case, explained the extent of his injuries to them. He had a suspected concussion, a third-degree ankle sprain, three broken ribs, and numerous superficial cuts and bruises. One of his ribs had punctured his spleen which was the cause of the initial internal bleeding and an emergency splenectomy had been performed. He assured them that while his prognosis was good, all they could do was wait for Huan to wake up to assess the extent of his concussion and see if there had been any lasting trauma to his spinal cord.

After the doctor left, Mrs. Zhang sent her family home with promises she would update them when there was further news. It was around midnight and Rose had school the next day. Lijuan left with the rest of the Zhang family, but she promised her friend she would return the next day with a bag for her, leaving Lynne and Mrs. Zhang. Once Huan had been put into a private room on the recovery floor, a nurse came to escort Mrs. Zhang up. Turning to Lynne, Mrs. Zhang told her she could go home. She met an immovable force in Lynne, "I'm staying with you."

"But you have work in the morning," she argued back.

"I already sent an email to my supervisor and HR department about taking the next two days off for a family emergency. I never use my time off."

"No, Lynne-"

"Mama Ying! Respectfully, I'm going to say something you taught Huan and I when we were younger: Bao xin jiu huo: by adding fuel to this fire, you're only going to make me argue more with you, which will lead to aggravation on both parts. And we ain't got time for that. My job is just a job. If they can't survive a day or two without me, I'm not the problem. Now you and that knuckle-headed son of yours are my family. Let's go."

Turning to the nurse who had been awkwardly shifting from foot-to-foot while they argued, Mrs. Zhang told her, "you can take us to my son, please."

Cutting her eyes in Lynne's direction the nurse informed them that "only family members are allowed on the floor after visiting hours" and that Lynne would have to wait until the morning.

Defeated, Lynne fixed a smile on her face and went to turn to Mrs. Zhang. However, Mrs. Zhang grabbed Lynne's hand in her own and squeezed it reassuringly. "This young woman is my daughter. That makes her Huan's family member as well. She is coming with me."

Now, three days later she was in the same spot she had pretty much occupied since they had been allowed up into his room. A constant flow of visitors had been to see him: family, friends, and coworkers. They came with food, flowers, cards, and all manners of well-wishes. Mrs. Zhang spoke with them and thanked them for their kind words. When Mrs. Zhang's family visited, she took the time to leave the room and get air, but Lynne rarely left.

The only exception to this was the day before when Ava called her.

"Where have you been? I dropped by your house last night to speak with you and your car wasn't there. Then today, I stopped by your office and Fran said you took an unexpected leave after a family emergency. Is something wrong with one of your siblings?"

Lynne was silent on the phone as she gathered herself for the conversation. All she can get out is a deep breath and a long sigh.

"Lynne, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"I'm at the hospital."

"Which one? Are you hurt? Is someone with you."

"It's," she blew out a shaky breath. "It's Huan. He was in an accident. He's been in a coma for the past few days."

"Oh! Lynne, I'm so sorry. What hospital is he at? Are you in the city?"

"Yeah. It's Kensingtonna, ironically enough. He got hit on his way home from work."

"I'm on my way."

When Ava showed up, her heart broke at the haggard look on Lynne's face. After Ava gave her condolences to Mrs. Zhang, she and Lynne excused themselves to the cafeteria to speak. While they were on the elevator, the weight of the situation finally caught up with Lynne and she dissolved into a fit of tears. "I don't know if he's going to wake up, Ava" she bit out angrily. Ava wrapped her arms around her friend and held her close to her chest, soothing her to the best of her ability.

"Let it out. I know you've been holding this all inside for Huan's mom. However, you just cry out all you need now. But I need you to stop thinking he won't wake up. Remember what Scuttle said, Positoovity."

Lynne let out a ragged snort as her sobs began to subside. "O-of all the th-things you could've used, you went f-for 'Positoovity?" She asked, as she pulled out of Ava's embrace and wiped her eyes.

"Hey, 'believe you me I seen it work miracles!'"

"Ok, please stop," she told her as the elevator dinged on the floor they selected and they exited, heading toward the cafeteria.

"The Little Mermaid is an underrated classic. But all joking aside, Lynne, he's going to make it through this."

"You don't know that. None of us do. He had a traumatic brain injury. The brain is a mystery and even the best and brightest in their field don't know everything about the way it works."

"Yes, but I know Huan. He would never leave you and that nugget you're carrying by yourselves. Whatever mental plane he is on right now is getting one hell of a fight from him to get back to his body. You just have to be patient."

"That is something I am having a hard time being right now."

"Understandable, now let's get some sub-par hospital food and I'll fill you in on all the juicy gossip you've been missing," she told her as she slung an arm around Lynne's shoulder as they entered the cafeteria.

Once they had grabbed food and sat at a table, they ate in companionable silence for a while. "You know Veronica's only visited once," Lynne informed Ava as she stabbed a piece of lettuce in her salad with her fork. "And she only stayed for twenty minutes. It's not like her boyfriend is hurt or anything."

"Not everyone takes seeing their loved ones hurt the same Lynne. You have to give her the benefit of the doubt."

"Yeah, well, she could make more of an effort to show she cares. She hasn't messaged me or Mama Ying for an update either."

"Ok. I'll admit, that's a bit off."

"Right? Even my whole family has been asking me for updates since they heard. A few of them came to visit with Mrs. Zhang and Elissa even dropped off a bag of clothes for me since I haven't been home and only had one backup outfit in my car."

"Like I said, Lynne, give her time," she remarked with a small smile.

Blowing out a sigh of frustration, Lynne tried to get her feelings under control, absently rubbing a hand over her belly. "You're right. And Ava, I'm sorry about acting like an ass to you the last time we spoke. I just-"

Ava raised a hand to stop her. "Now is not the time to discuss this. Your feelings are too raw and you're all sentimental. When all this blows over, we'll hash that out. But now, we send good vibes to Huan. Ok?"

"Ok." Lynne went back to forcing herself to finish her salad and thought how blessed she was to have met Ava and become her friend. Good vibes. Please universe, send us something positive. "Now tell me all I've missed these past few days."

XXX

A/N: Hello, lovelies. I hope you haven't missed me too much. I've just been a little backed up mentally and took a break. Please let me know what you think in the comment section, like, and share with your friends! Happy Reading!