“My gut feeling told me something wasn’t right. I bet that muthafucka is cheating on me!” she yelled. Skye started the car and pulled out the parking lot like it was NASCAR Season at the Daytona 500.
While driving, Skye started hyperventilating and having a panic attack. She reached over in her purse in the passenger seat while trying to keep her eye on road and pulled out her pills. When she twisted the top off, the pill bottle fell on the floor.
“Shit!” Skye said, while trying to reach down and grab them.
It seemed as if she’d only taken her eyes off the road for a second. By the time Skye looked back up, she could see two rear lights only inches away from her car. Going way too fast to stop, Skye let out a piercing scream as she hit the break, but still managed to collide into the back of another car.
CHAPTER 8
Skye was completely delusional as she laid in the emergency room badly bruised and cut. With everything a blur, she looked down at her clothing that was covered in blood and became hysterical.
“Where’s my daughter?” Skye screamed.
When the petite Asian triage nurse working on her wounds grabbed on her arm, Skye started swinging back and forth.
“Ma’am, please calm down. I need to finish sterilizing the cut over your eye,” the nurse stated. “Your daughter is with a doctor in another treatment area. From what the paramedics said you’re both lucky to be alive. Your vehicle was completely destroyed.”
Desperate to see her baby girl, Skye immediately jumped up off the hospital gurney and ran through the emergency room snatching each curtain back. She wiped the dripping blood from her forehead as she continued to look for Payton.
“I need to see my daughter!” she yelled.
“Miss, you can’t disrupt the other patients like this. Come back and lay down, you need stitches. That cut is very deep and you’re losing a lot of blood,” the nurse said, running behind her.
Ignoring the Asian woman, Skye kept looking through various areas invading other patient’s privacy in the ER until she finally found Payton. When she saw her precious baby laying on a gurney with her right leg wrapped in a splint and blood on her Dora the Explorer pajamas, she completely lost it. Skye ran to her bedside.
“Oh my God. Payton…Payton!” Skye belted. Flashbacks of the accident continued to flood her thoughts. “Is she okay?” Skye said, kissing her forehead.
When Payton started crying uncontrollably, Skye was even more devastated. Suddenly the doctor treating Payton walked around the bed and introduced himself.
“Hello, my name is Dr. Matthews. I’m one of the pediatric orthopedic surgeons here at Southern Regional Medical Center,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m sorry, I haven’t gotten your name yet.”
Skye did a quick handshake. “Skye Washington. Is my baby going to be okay?”
“Can I speak with you for a second Ms. Washington?”
“Why…what’s wrong?” Skye questioned with a concerned expression.
“I just need to speak to you for a second. Don’t worry,” the doctor tried to convince.
“I’m not leaving my daughter. Can’t you see how upset she is?” Skye said.
The doctor reached over and pressed the button for a nurse. When she walked in a few seconds later, the doctor told her to stay with Payton for a few minutes so he could speak with Skye. When the nurse was able to quiet Payton down, Skye agreed to go.
“Mommy will be right back, baby,” Skye informed. She knew something was wrong with her daughter when she didn’t throw a temper tantrum like she did most of the time whenever Skye left her.
Skye followed the doctor into a private area not far from the emergency room and quickly took a seat, anxious to find out what was wrong.
“Ms. Washington, your daughter’s right leg has what is called a Growth Plate Fracture,” the doctor said, getting straight to the point.
Skye’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. “A Growth Fracture? What’s that?”
“The Growth Plate is the softer part of your daughter’s bones where growth occurs, and it’s generally the weakest part, which is why it’s so easy to obtain a fracture. It’s a very common injury for kids during a car collision. Most likely, your daughter’s car seat wasn’t properly secure and that caused her to be thrown around in the car, shattering her leg.”
As the doctor continued to speak, tears continued to stream down Skye’s face. She immediately felt guilty.
“We’re waiting for the X-Rays to come back, but I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve seen this type of injury many times before. Unfortunately, surgery has to be done to put the bone back into the correct position. If the surgery isn’t done, the injured bone can possibly become deformed. That unfortunately can cause her leg to become shorter than the other.”
At that moment, Skye became frantic. “Oh my God. I can’t believe this is happening. My poor baby. A fracture basically means it’s broken right?”
The doctor patted her on the shoulder. “Yes, that’s correct, but don’t worry Ms. Washington, everything will be fine. This type of fracture can be corrected. Plus, things could’ve been a lot worse.”
“Is it painful?” Skye questioned.
“Yes, I’m sure there’s pain involved which is to be expected. But I’ve already given her something to try and keep her calm. Once we’re able to sedate her, that’ll help even more.”
“Where did all the blood come from on her pajamas?”
“She has a few minor cuts on her neck and collar bone which the paramedics said came from the shattered glass, but that’s also nothing to be concerned about. Your wound, however, needs to be looked at.”
“I’m fine,” Skye tried to assure.
“No, I need you to go back and let one of the other physicians stitch up that cut. I’ll come over and get you once we get Payton’s X-Rays back. I’ll need you to fill out some paperwork in order to proceed with the surgery.”
“Yes, of course. Thanks, Dr. Matthews.”
When the doctor left, Skye sat gathering her thoughts. Completely upset, it wasn’t long before she broke down crying once again. The fact that she’d come out of the accident with only minor injuries, but her baby needed surgery weighed heavy on her heart. Skye couldn’t believe that she’d let herself get so upset over a man that it had almost cost them their lives.
An hour later, Skye sat biting her nails with a huge bandage on her head while waiting for Payton to come out of surgery. After briefly talking to the doctor and confirming that his diagnosis was correct, they didn’t waste anytime getting Payton into the operating room. Ever since Skye walked along side her daughter’s gurney and watched as they wheeled her into the restricted area, she’d been on pins and needles.
Getting impatient, Skye walked to the back of the waiting room area to use one of the complementary phones. When one of the paramedics retrieved her purse from her wrecked vehicle, her cell phone wasn’t in it, and neither were her pills. At a time like this, she really needed one to calm her nerves. Her heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to pop out of her chest.
She looked around at one of the families in the waiting area. Seeing some of them laid out in the chairs made her wonder how long they’d been waiting for their loved one to come out. It was such a nerve wrecking process.
Skye decided to try calling Cruze once again. However, just like it had done all morning, the call went straight to voicemail, which had Skye seeing red.
