"Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind." Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex

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XXXVII. Fracture

Sophie's phone vibrated in her back pocket for the third time in a row, and she was finally able to answer it as she didn't have her hands full. It was after eleven on a Thursday, so it was quietening down.

Sophie pulled her phone from her back pocket, and she saw it was Beck calling her. She rolled her eyes so hard they might as well have been looking at her brain. Obviously, her lawyer's threat had gone in one ear and out the other.

"What?" she snapped, bringing her phone to her ear, before Olivia's reminder to play nice echoed in her ear.

"You sent him over to bribe me so that's equally bad!" Beck cried, the panic in his voice evident. She could also hear the alcohol in the way he slurred some of his words.

Sophie's blood immediately ran cold. She had never heard Beck sound frightened before. Cocky, smug, belligerent, definitely. But scared? What the hell was scaring him? And why the hell was he talking about bribery?

"Beck, what are you talking about?" Sophie demanded to know, her tone forceful and stern as she frowned deeply with worry.

"I called 999, okay? I did the right thing ... but you can't tell me that bribing is not worse because it is!" Beck didn't sound like he was convincing himself, but Sophie still had no idea what he was talking about. All she knew was that something terrible had happened and Beck was freaked out beyond anything.

"What did you do?" Sophie growled. "Why did you call 999?"

"Your boyfriend!" Beck cried in anguish. "He tried to bribe me, okay? That's bad, you know. If the judge knew, that's bad! But you know what I'm like, Soph," he stressed, "I mouthed off, wanted a bit of sparring, and he wouldn't come back at me, so I hit him."

Sophie fell into the bar, using the counter to support herself as she gasped. Pete immediately noticed Sophie's sudden reaction, and he raced over to her, placing a hand on her back.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

"I didn't mean to, Soph!" Beck promised. "I didn't think he'd go down like that!

Visions of Noah's lifeless body filled her head as she imagined the worst. She had seen enough security vision of brawls on the news to know what happened when a man threw a fist at another's head. Hell, she worked in a damn bar! Skull fractures, brain bleeds, concussions, and even death. Oh God, it couldn't happen to him!

Bribery or not, he had obviously gone to try and help her! And fucking Beck had thrown his fist at him!

"Where did they take him?" Sophie demanded to know.

"They said St Thomas' A&E," replied Beck, panting with panic. "I'm sorry, Soph! I didn't mean to! You've got to tell him that! When he wakes up, tell him that! You don't have to call the bobbies!"

And there was confirmation that Noah was unconscious. Sophie couldn't even comprehend what Beck was asking her to do. Sophie ended the call and looked at Pete with pure fear. "Beck's punched him!" she exclaimed. "He's unconscious, taken to A&E. I've got to go!"

"Oh, Jesus! Let me give you money for a cab!" Pete insisted. "Please." Pete ran to the till and pulled open the drawer, grabbing out two fifty-pound notes.

Sophie didn't have the clarity of mind to argue. All she could do was to grab the cash and run out the door into the street, not even bothering to grab her coat or her bag. She ran along Shaftsbury Avenue until she found a black cab, luckily only a few minutes later, wrenching open the door and throwing herself into the back.

"Where to, love?" asked the driver.

"St Thomas' A&E!" cried Sophie as she fumbled with her seatbelt. As soon as she was belted in, she pulled up her phone and growled with fury as a dozen messages began to pop up of Beck begging her forgiveness and mercy. Sophie ignored them, finding Joy's contact details in her phone that she had thankfully gotten before she'd left Napa.

Joy answered virtually immediately. She sounded fearful, as though she already knew something was wrong. "Sophie! Have you heard from Noah? Tally thinks something's wrong."

Sophie knew there would probably have been a better way to break the news to Joy other than shouting, "Beck's assaulted him!" but in that moment her brain couldn't think of it. "He's been taken to St Thomas' A&E. Go down to reception and ask for a taxi to take you there! Please can you ask Tally and Vanessa to mind Maddie for me a while longer?"

Joy immediately started to panic cry, and Sophie couldn't blame her. Her own heart was beating so fast it was more of a consistent hum than a pulse. She watched out the window anxiously, willing the driver to go faster.

Sophie heard Joy shout at Tally to watch Maddie, while Tally anxiously demanded to know what was wrong with her brother. Sophie wished she had answers.

Fate, traffic, and the universe were on her side as the taxi trip only took just over ten minutes. Sophie barely heard what the driver charged for the ride, throwing both bills at him as she tore out of the cab and raced into the A&E ward through the patient entrance.

The smell of bleach, stainless steel, and the sick that would not go away immediately filled her nostrils as she ran over to the reception desk. The waiting room was filled with patients awaiting being seen by a doctor. There were mothers with children, elderly citizens, and teenagers supported by their friends.

An overworked nurse was on the desk, currently on the phone to someone, and she eyed Sophie with a frown. "Let me call you back," she said into the receiver as she hung up her end. "Fill out his form and bring it back," she instructed, grabbing a clipboard and a pen and holding it out to Sophie.

"No!" Sophie stressed, holding up her hands. "I'm not a patient. My boyfriend has just been brought in by ambulance. He was ... well, I don't even know what happened! He was hit! His name is Noah Bentley. I believe he was unconscious, but he would have had his driver's licence on him."

She did appear sympathetic, but regretful. "Look, I'm afraid I can't disclose any information if you're not family."

Sophie eyes flared. "Can't you bend the rules? Please?" she begged. "I need to know if he's okay!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't. Please, have a seat, and we will contact the next of kin."

"Sophie!"

Sophie's head snapped around as she saw Joy and Tally racing into A&E, both wearing expressions of pure dread. Both were in varying states of loungewear and pyjamas.

"Thank God!" cried Sophie. "She isn't allowed to tell me anything because I'm not family."

Tally raced into Sophie's arms, gripping her tightly, while Joy slammed her hands on the counter like a complete Karen.

"My son, Noah Bentley, was just brought into your ER!" exclaimed Joy hysterically. "I need someone to tell me what happened immediately!"

The nurse looked back to Sophie again with a sympathetic expression, as though she didn't like the policy, but she brought up Noah's file on her computer screen.

"He was brought in a half an hour ago," read the nurse. "Presented with a suspected compound skull fracture, and possible fractures to the ribs and his right hand. He's currently getting a CT, but I will have the doctor come out and speak with you as soon as he can. Take a seat. I promise your son is in good hands."

Sophie's fears were confirmed when she heard that. Skull fracture ... brain damage ... oh, God!

"Compound fracture?" stammered Joy fearfully. "What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that he presented with an open wound to the head. The skin and tissue have been broken and his brain has been exposed. He's gone straight up for treatment. You'll have more information as soon as it's available."

"Mom, come on," urged Tally, as she led both of them over to the waiting area. They chose three seats together that were facing the glass sliding door that was emblazoned with "authorised personnel only".

"I told him not to go," Joy hissed as she sat in between Tally and Sophie, holding onto both their hands. "But he couldn't be reasoned with. Stupid, stubborn ass!"

Silent tears spilled down Sophie's cheeks as she thought of Noah's mindset. He would have only been trying to help her, trying to stop Beck from ruining her life. And Beck had gone and put him in the hospital for his trouble. Oh, God he had to be okay! This wasn't right!

Sophie kept her eyes on the door, willing someone to come through to tell them that Noah was going to be alright.

"Tally, what's happening?" Joy whispered to her daughter.

"He's not dead." Tally spoke coolly with certainty, and Sophie broke her eye contact with the door to look back at her with furrowed brows.

"How do you know?"

Tally's eyes were swollen and filled with anxiety for her brother. "I can feel it," she said simply. "I could sense something was wrong, and Noah wouldn't answer his phone. And then you called. I can still feel that same feeling. He's hurt, but he's not dead." Her conviction sounded like a prayer.

Joy accepted it, believing in the connection between her children. Right then, Sophie wanted to whole-heartedly believe in it, too.

***

They waited for what felt like hours. Patients came into A&E. People in the waiting room were seen. Patients went home. Sophie, Joy and Tally didn't leave their place as they willed Noah's doctor to come out and speak to them.

Joy prayed. Sophie listened in earnest as Joy begged God to keep Noah safe, to heal him, and to protect him from any more harm.

At just after four o'clock in the morning, the sliding door opened and a middle-aged doctor wearing navy hospital scrubs entered the waiting room. He spotted them waiting, and all of their postures suddenly straightened.

"Noah Bentley's family?" he asked.

"Yes," confirmed Joy desperately.

"My name is Doctor Sanders. I took Mr Bentley's case when he came in through A&E."

Joy didn't have the patience for introductions. Neither did Sophie or Tally. "Please, tell me my son is okay?" Joy pleaded.

"Your son is okay, Mrs Bentley," confirmed the doctor.

Relief washed through Sophie as she closed her eyes, exhaling a deep breath.

"Oh, thank you, God!" cried Joy. "Because I'm going to kill him myself!"

Doctor Sanders was confused momentarily, but he continued, choosing to sit down in the empty seat beside Sophie as he spoke to the three women. "Noah presented with several injuries, the most serious being a compound skull fracture to his frontal bone. Noah's initial CT scan showed signs of brain swelling so I inserted an intracranial pressure monitor in between his skull and brain. An ICP alerts us to any changes to the pressure inside a skull."

Sophie gasped. "Didn't you just tell us that he was going to be okay?" she exclaimed.

"Whatever you just said was in goddamn Japanese and it certainly didn't tell me that my beautiful boy is healthy," Joy snapped, panicked.

Noah's doctor nodded and took a breath, before repeating his treatment. "Noah has a head injury, and we use a CT scan to check for brain bleeding or swelling," he explained. "Noah's scan showed signs of swelling, but it wasn't enough for me to send him into surgery. I inserted the ICP to monitor the swelling. He has been monitored for a few hours while I tended to his other injuries and the good news is that the swelling was very mild and is nothing to be concerned about. There is no bleeding on the brain, and the swelling will go down by itself."

Okay. Thankfully the doctor knew more about brains as any sort of trauma or swelling sounded catastrophic to Sophie.

"Noah's x-ray showed that his skull fracture is not depressed. This is good news. It means that there are no bone fragments pressing on his brain. As the fracture was open and his brain was exposed, Noah was immediately placed on antibiotics to prevent infection. He has been sewn up and bandaged and I will remove the ICP in a few days."

All three women nodded as they absorbed what the doctor was saying. Sophie was understanding that Noah was bloody lucky indeed, and so was Beck.

"You mentioned other injuries?" prompted Tally.

"The paramedics reported that after sustaining the head injury, Noah had fallen on some concrete steps, the force of which had resulted in two rib fractures, and a fracture in his right wrist, index and middle fingers."

"Are those very difficult injuries?" Sophie asked fearfully. "To heal?"

"My son is a pianist, a composer, Doctor Sanders," Joy said tensely. "His hands are his livelihood."

"His wrist is in plaster and his fingers are braced for at least six weeks. With physiotherapy, I don't see why he would have any problems returning to work," replied Doctor Sanders, before he took a breath, as though he needed to broach something difficult. "Now, as you haven't asked how Noah sustained these injuries, I'm sure you are somewhat aware. We believe an assault has taken place. Would you like me to call the police?"

Sophie wanted to say "yes". Every fibre of her being wanted Beck punished for everything he'd done. But a small, horrible, selfish voice in the back of her head told her, warned her that if Beck was arrested, would he start shouting to anyone who would listen about the bribery? Would that put Maddie at risk?

She looked to Joy and Tally, knowing that she wasn't in the right headspace to make that decision. She found that they were both looking at her for the same reason.

"Is Noah awake?" Joy asked Doctor Sanders.

"He is under a light anaesthetic to keep him comfortable, but it will be stopped in the morning," replied the doctor.

"Noah can decide then," Tally told the doctor, though looking at Sophie reassuringly.

"Are we allowed to see him?" asked Sophie.

"He will be moved to a ward in a few hours once he is weaned off the anaesthetic. You will be able to see him then." 

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Hope you enjoyed it!!

We're officially back in lockdown. We went over to see my niece and nephew tonight for one last snuggle before we're allowed to see them again. My niece will be three months old when I see her next!! 

Just hoping I'll get to see my own kiddos soon. 

Vote and comment everyone!