The girls laughed again and each took their own breakfast roll from Keela who took them out of a plastic bag on an empty chair beside her.
“Where are the lads?” Bronagh asked as she opened her roll.
Keela shrugged her shoulders. “They weren’t here when I woke up half an hour ago. I thought they’d be outside so I checked when I went to the deli to buy the rolls, but they weren’t out there either.”
I yawned. “They’re with Kane. When you were all sleepin’ last night, the nurse Keela tried to kill came in. She felt bad for upsettin’ Keela, and pulled some strings with the night staff. They let the brothers go be with Kane and let us stay in here. We have to leave soon though because they’ll need this waitin’ room for other families of A&E patients. Kane is on St. Peter’s Ward and they have a waitin’ room there that we can use.”
Bronagh cheered a little as she bit into her roll.
“What?” I chuckled.
She chewed and swallowed her food. “St. Peter’s Ward is on the first floor. All wards on the first floor aren’t trauma wards, so whatever is wrong with him isn’t too serious—trauma wise, anyway.”
I blew out a big breath of relief.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Bronagh nodded her head. “It was on one of those hospital adverts on the telly last night. All the wards were listed and what floor they were on. I pointed it out to Ryder and said I hope Kane is in a ward on the first floor so we know it’s nothin’ too serious.”
I was delighted with that news.
“Thank God,” Alannah breathed.
We all nodded our heads in unison as we agreed with her. I was about to speak when the door next to me opened. I turned my head and watched as Nico, Alec, and Ryder walked into the waiting room looking tired but put together, which was better than how I felt.
“You’re all up.” Ryder smiled.
“Thanks to Aideen and her vocal abilities.” Alannah grinned.
I glared at her and the other girls when they started laughing.
“Do we want to know?” Nico asked, amused.
“No,” I growled. “You do not.”
Nico snorted and stretched his arms over his head. “We’re going home to shower and get some food then come back with some stuff for Kane. Are you all ready to come with us?”
I frowned. “You want to leave him on his own?”
Everyone looked at me.
Alec sat next to me and dropped his arm around my shoulder. “He hasn’t woken up yet, he’s still out cold.”
I shrugged. “So? That doesn’t mean he won’t wake up today, and what if none of us is here when he does?” I asked and shook my head. “No, I’ll go up and sit with him, then when you all come back I’ll leave and go get showered and stuff.”
I caught Nico grinning and looking down. Alannah looked away smiling, too.
“What are you grinnin’ about?” I asked Nico then looked at Alannah.
Both of them said nothing; they only shook their heads with their silly smiles still in place on their faces. I narrowed my eyes at them, but shrugged it off as I stood up. “Go on, get goin’. I’ll go up to his room and wait.”
I hated when everyone else started to smile at me.
“I’m not doin’ this because I care or anythin’. I just don’t want to listen to him complain that he was on his own when he wakes up. That’s all. I’m doin’ this for me own benefit when you really think about it. I’m savin’ meself a future headache.”
The fuckers just continued to smile at me. Alec was smirking though, and I wanted to wipe the stupid look from his face. I shook my head, dug the car parking card and keys out of my back pocket, and handed them to Ryder.
“Fourth floor in the multi-story car park, closest spot to the stairs and elevator.”
Ryder winked at me.
“He’s in room nine, right?” I asked the brothers.
They all nodded, still smiling.
I opened the door and walked through it. “I hope your faces get stuck like that,” I threw over my shoulder.
Their laughter didn’t fade away until I got into the elevator next to the waiting room. I shook my head as I pressed the button for the first floor and watched the elevator doors close. They reopened a few seconds later when it brought me to the first floor. I nervously swallowed as I stepped out and looked up at the signs on the wall in front of me. I saw St. Peter’s Ward was to the right so I turned and walked down the hallway and straight through the set of double doors for the correct ward.
I walked by the nurse’s station and avoided eye contact with them. I didn’t want any of them to stop and ask me questions. I continued to walk down the hallway and followed the room numbers. Room number nine was down at the very end of the hallway with the door closed. I swallowed as I reached for the handle, pushed it down and nudged the door open.
I looked at Kane as I entered the room and closed the door behind me. I stood motionless and stared at him for a few minutes. He was too big to be in the bed they had him in. He’d lost weight and muscle mass over the past year, but he was still a big lad, and seeing him lying down on a small bed with a hospital gown on looked weird.
I walked over to the large chair next to the head of the bed and quietly sat down. I flicked my eyes over Kane to see what else was different about him. He had an IV drip in his arm to give him fluids, I assumed, and a dressing on his forehead. It was spotted with little red dots. I figured that was from when he fell and hit his head.