STILL THE ONE

Chapter 36 - When The Waves Crash Down

And baby when you fall down, I'll fall too
And if you get lost, then I'll get lost with you
And when the waves crash down
Then baby I won't move

Shawn stared the phone in horror. He knew what had happened, he had heard the crunch of metal and her scream. He knew she was on the road from the house to the hospital. He was only about 2 minutes from the hospital but told the driver to head to where he thought she'd be. It would take about fifteen minutes, and the driver knew it was urgent and went as fast as he legally could. He could see the flashing lights before they got there and when they got to the road block he jumped out and ran to the policeman.

"That's my wife in the car!" he said frantically.

"Which car sir?"

"The one heading South. The red hybrid."

The policeman asked him to stay there and he walked away, asking another officer to take his place. A few minutes later he came back.

"The woman in the car has been taken to UCLA emergency by ambulance. That's it there." He pointed to an ambulance that was navigating the road block before putting sirens on and rushing away.

"How bad was she? Do you know?" The officer shook his head.

"Sorry sir, I have no information on that. I suggest you go to the hospital. I'll have a motorcycle escort you."

With the sirens on, the motorcycle cop took them there as fast as they could go. He could see the ambulance a long way up ahead but it only took ten minutes and they were there. He jumped out and ran inside.

"Hi, a woman was just brought in by ambulance, she's my wife."

"Oh, Mr Cabello, of course, she's gone into the ER, I'll find out what's happening for you."

He waited impatiently, trying not to think about what had happened. The nurse returned looking serious.

"They're just assessing her, but she's conscious. If you wait here, as soon as they're finished, I'll take you through."

"Thank you. Also, my son is here, our nanny brought him in a few hours ago with an asthma attack, can you tell me how he is? John James Mendes."

"My, you are having a bad night. Mendes? Oh, OK. Yes, I can see him here, he's in the pediatric ward, he's stable and doing fine. Oh and you can go see your wife now, come with me."

He followed her through a maze of corridors coming out into an open area surrounded by curtained cubicles. A number of nurses, doctors and orderlies were flitting around the bed in the last one, where the nurse took him. He was prepared to see her with tubes and machines. He was terrified. He had seen it before after Baby James had been delivered. He never wanted to see that again. Then he heard her laugh. He moved closer and saw her sitting up in bed, taking selfies, one by one, with the hospital staff. He almost fainted from the shock he had felt at hearing the accident. And all this time, here she was.

"Shawn!" she saw him, towering over everyone. "My husband is here."

"Mr Mendes?" a doctor stepped in front of him. "I'm Dr Harrison, I've just finished assessing your wife. She was very lucky, she swerved at just the right time and although it's not usually the case, her air bag didn't deploy. She's a tiny woman so it would have done some damage unfortunately, and as it is she just has a small cut on her forehead and we can have the plastic surgeon work on that for her tomorrow so that there's no scar."

He heard everything, but it wasn't sinking in. He was looking at her pale face, the dried blood, the bandage. He could have lost both his son and his wife today. Both of them were almost completely fine, but it had been close. He pushed past everyone and politely said excuse me to the nurse getting his selfie with her and took her gently in his arms.