Chapter 86
/Samantha/
I quickly cast a glance in Linda's direction. She didn't say a word the entire time she was looking at us, but her mouth was open and she had tears rolling down her face as she clutched her shirt just over her heart. Only one thought kept running through my head: vain brat. I took a deep breath and turned my attention back to Henry while faking a grin. "No sweetie, it's not. I whispered in a teasing tone, "But on the bright side, now we get to spend another wedding night," in an effort to lend some semblance of normalcy to this otherwise dreadful situation.
He let out a light chuckle before wincing once more, this time clamping his eyes shut and clenching his jaw. He muttered the word "pervert" with his teeth squeezed together.
"Yeah, you know me." I choked back the tears that were making my eyes water and managed to nod my head.
When he finally relaxed his jaw, he took a few seconds to glance around the room. His eyes eventually landed on his parents, and he grinned as widely as he could muster. When Linda moved to the bed next to me, I attempted to shift back so that she would have more space in which to see Henry, but Henry's hand became increasingly firm on mine and prevented me from moving away from him.
"Oh, Henry, I'm so happy that you're awake. She expressed this with a trembling voice as a result of the intense sobbing that she was doing at the time. "I've been so anxious, we've all been so worried," she continued.
He nodded, "Yeah, sorry." He gave Richard a friendly smile and said, "Hey, dad."
Because I was sandwiched between Linda and the wall, I couldn't even look at her, and the feeling made me want to push her as far away from me as possible. I was slightly uncomfortable in the position in which I was pressed up against Linda. I felt as if I had all of a sudden developed claustrophobia or something since I found it quite difficult to breathe with her so near to me.
"How are you doing? Are you all right?" When Linda asked, she did so while lightly running her hand up and down Henry's arm.
He laughed dryly and asked, "I just found out that there's a good chance I might not be able to walk again, how do you think I'm feeling?" He had no sense of humour. he inquired while squinting his eyes and shaking his head as if that was an extremely foolish question. I was able to sense his hand trembling while it was in mine, and the sweat that was accumulating on his palm caused it to feel slightly slick against my skin. Inadvertently, his fingers located my wedding ring, and he began to play with it by circling it around my finger.
"I'm so sorry Henry, we felt that was what was best for you," Linda said to him after taking a long breath and looking at him with her sadness plainly visible on her face. We didn't want to send you in there with the odds stacked against you because it wasn't our decision to make; we don't get to play god with your life; that was your choice to make. There was a possibility that you may pass away. "I couldn't let Samantha sign the document," Linda whispered to him as she continued her persistent caressing of his arm. "It was against my policy."
I forced myself to ignore the feeling of animosity that was rising up inside of me and instead tried to remind myself that she was probably simply terrified, that she had not intended to cause Henry any harm, and that she genuinely believed that what she was doing was for his own good. She was just unaware of the fact that she was blinded by her own emotions and the suffering she was experiencing, and that she had in no way taken that decision for him but rather for herself.
He did so while maintaining a tone of bewilderment in his voice as he spoke to her. "What exactly does that entail? You weren't going to let Samantha sign the consent paperwork, were you? You prevented her from sending me in for the procedure, didn't you?
She gave Richard a sideways glance before nodding, her eyes welling up with tears once more. "We decided that it was in everyone's best interest to get you healthy. She repeated what she had already said and added, "It wasn't for us to make that decision with your life, Henry."
He moaned and scratched his head before asking, "Why? Why would you even consider doing that? Do you think that I would like this? Do you seriously believe that I would choose to live like this? He demanded in a furious tone, the regular beeps of the cardiac monitor picking up a little bit of speed.
We all gazed at the little green line that was spiking quicker and faster as Henry's breathing started to get shallower again. I was looking at it with his parents, and they were looking at it with me. I told Henry in a stern voice to "slow down" as I leaned over the bed further and stroked the side of his face in an effort to encourage him to relax. At the same time, I accidentally brushed against Linda and told her to move as I continued to lean over the bed.
His eyes met mine, and he murmured, "You wanted to send me in for it and my parents wouldn't let you?" as he raised his hand feebly, the IV line evidently making it more difficult for him to move it. "You wanted to send me in for it and my parents wouldn't let you?" He had a loose grip on it around the back of my head and tugged ever-so-slightly so that I could bring my face up to the same level as his.
He expressed his confusion by stating, "They didn't send me in there, and now there's a risk that I'm stuck like this?" I was aware that I would be unable to communicate, so I just nodded. I was at a loss for words, and all I wanted to do was turn back and give Linda a good scratch behind the ears. He took a sharp breath in, his eyes still fixed on mine as he did so. While his palm was tightening its grip on the back of my hair, he gave the order, "Tell them to leave, Samantha."
I took a deep breath and tilted my head to the side as I looked at Linda and Richard. They were comforting one another by hugging, and both of them were crying. Linda was visibly shaking from head to toe. It was a mild suggestion, but I said, "Why don't you go wait outside or something?" I knew they wouldn't want to leave, and at the very least, Henry and I could have a private conversation about it.
Henry snarled while his eyes remained firmly set on me, giving the impression that he couldn't even force himself to look at them or something. "Not outside, go home," he said.
Richard made an awkward attempt to clear his throat. He looked between me and Henry, an imploring expression on his face, and said, "Henry, we believed it was the best thing for you, we had no right to risk you like that." "Henry, we thought it was the best thing for you, we had no right to risk you like that."
Henry's attention finally shifted away from me and settled on his parents while his face hardened into an angry mask. He looked at them with astonishment as he posed the question. "You think that wasting time waiting for me to wake up was what's best for me?" he said. You ought to have allowed her to sign the documents, you ought to have permitted her to... He became less insistent, and his voice became more hesitant.
Richard mumbled, "I'm very sorry," several times.
"Just get out. If there is still a chance that I can undergo surgery, then I definitely will. How could you possibly be so ignorant to the fact that that is what I would want? Henry inquired in a feeble manner. Richard opened his mouth to respond, but Henry cut him off and cried, "Just get the hell out!" as his pulse rate increased once again. Richard closed his mouth again.
I heaved a sigh and pulled away from Henry a little bit as I realised that I needed to get them out of there before Henry got even sicker from the stress of the situation. "Could you please just leave?" I pleaded with them while directing their attention to the number that was appearing in the top right-hand corner of the cardiac monitor. That number was steadily climbing higher with each passing second.
Richard grimaced in pain as he stared at it, and then he quickly took Linda's hand and led her out of the room as quickly as he could. When I heard her wail from outside the door, it caused me to jump in response. When I turned around to look at Henry again, he was just lying there staring at the ceiling with his jaw clenched and his eyes fixed on a single point, as if the ceiling were imparting wisdom to him about the meaning of life.
"Are you ok? Does it hurt?" I mumbled something while fidgeting with the sheets, unable to think of anything else to do or say.
"I'm ok. What exactly took place, Samantha bear? When he finally turned around to look at me, he inquired.
I forced myself to close my eyes as I tried to figure out how I was going to explain everything to him and how I was going to be able to face him in the eye knowing that this was all my fault. "Blake, he....he got a knife and he," my voice cracked as his hand grabbed mine and gently squeezed it. You were the first one he stabbed in the side. They said that you had a collapsed lung, but they fixed it by inserting some kind of tube, and they declared that everything was fine now...."
It wasn't a question; it was a statement that he made as he bowed his head and stated, "He stabbed me in the back too."
I looked at him in an embarrassed manner while nodding my head. "I truly apologise. Henry, I am truly, deeply sorry. I am entirely to blame for this. I am to blame for everything, including the current predicament. "I'm sorry that I've caused you pain," I mumbled, fighting back the tears despite my best efforts.
He gave her a friendly grin before shaking his head and saying, "No, Samantha bear." Please don't do that, this isn't your fault, and try not to feel guilty about it, okay? Because he pulled me closer to him, I lowered myself into his bed, snuggled my head into the side of his neck, and inhaled deeply of his scent.
"Henry, you know I love you, and I want you to know that everything is going to be okay." I had just finished kissing the flesh on his neck when the door opened and the doctor entered the room with another man following closely behind him.