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But Kevin didn’t know what she was thinking, because Kevin was
gone, and she realized then that it was finally, truly, over.
41
The hospital kept Katie under observation for most of the night
before finally releasing her. Afterward, Katie remained in the
hospital waiting room, unwilling to leave until she knew Alex
would be okay.
Kevin’s blow had nearly cracked Alex’s skull, and he was still
unconscious. Morning light illuminated the narrow rectangular
windows of the waiting room. Nurses and doctors changed shifts,
and the room began to fill with people: a child with a fever, a man
having trouble breathing. A pregnant woman and her panicked
husband pushed through the swinging doors. Every time she
heard a doctor’s voice, she looked up, hoping she would be
allowed to see Alex.
Bruises mottled her face and arms, and her knee was swollen to
almost twice its usual size, but after the requisite X-rays and
exams, the doctor on call had merely given her ice packs for her
bruises and Tylenol for the pain. He was the same doctor who was
treating Alex, but he couldn’t tell her when Alex would wake and
said that the CAT scans were inconclusive. “Head wounds can be
serious,” he’d told her. “Hopefully, we’ll know more in a few
hours.”
She couldn’t think, couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t stop
worrying. Joyce had taken the kids home from the hospital and
Katie hoped they hadn’t had nightmares. Hoped they wouldn’t
have nightmares forever. Hoped Alex was going to recover fully.
Prayed for that.
She was afraid to close her eyes because every time she did, Kevin
reappeared. She saw the smears of blood on his face and shirt, his