Kyle was in a daze.How could this be happening?
He sat on the chair, holding onto Sayuri"s hand as he looked at her. Kay was right beside him, leaning on him to give him moral support.
His eyes misted over as he looked at all the bandages on her, his heart twisting in so much pain that he never thought possible. Although he suppressed it from getting out, Kay still felt it. The pain that he was feeling was that deep.
Far stronger than the pain he had felt when breaking up with Sari.
He knew then, without a doubt, of his feelings for her.
Seeing Sayuri like this, he felt so much pain and helplessness. He couldn"t do anything to alleviate her pain.
The top of her head was bandaged up, covering the injuries underneath. Her face was black and blue, a result of it hitting the stairs as she fell. Her hands wrapped up tightly, as it had swelled up due to the injuries it sustained as it protected their babies. He also knew, underneath the hospital gown, her chest was bandaged.
Kyle had seen the report on her injuries.
He gritted his teeth as he hissed, "They found bruises on her back, Kay. Bruises that weren"t caused by the fall down the stairs. The injuries to her head were severe, consistent with the knocks sustained by the fall."
"Yet, the injuries to her stomach wasn"t but looked more like it had been kicked."
"SHE WAS KICKED, KAY!! KICKED!!"
Tears streaked down his face, "She protected our babies. She sacrificed herself for our babies."
"Doctors don"t know if she"ll wake up, Kay. They don"t …"
Kyle looked up at Kay, despair in his eyes, "Kay … I don"t know what I"m going to do. What if … what if … if she …"
Kay hugged him as he sobbed.
Patrick and Delilah were silently crying behind as they watched this scene. Their son looked so broken right now and there was nothing that they could say to ease the situation.
Betty sniffed in Sam"s arms, Ali was leaning on the wall and said a few prayers while Xing Han"s own sobs were m.u.f.fled in Nitocris"s chest. The prognosis on Sayuri and the twins weren"t good.
Luckily, there was no damage to her spine but the hard impact had been severe. There was swelling in the brain (hemorrhages) and it had induced a coma. If Sayuri woke up, there may be long term issues with mobility, memory, cognition, and behaviour that would require long-term rehabilitation. She may even have amnesia.
In short, if Sayuri woke up, it may not be Sayuri.
Kyle didn"t care about that.
He just wanted his Sayuri back. As long as she woke up, it didn"t matter how long it took for her to recover or what he needed to do.
As long as she woke up.
As for his twins, he hadn"t seen them yet.
They had been whisked away into the Neonatology Intensive Care Unit, or NICU for short, as they were born before 32 weeks. They had to be placed in an incubator, and they were being taken care of before he could see them.
"Mr. Smith?" came a nurse into the room.
"Yes?" both Kyle and Patrick answered.
The nurse was fl.u.s.tered for a while, then clarified, "The father of the twins?"
"That"s me," Kyle said, as Kay wiped his face of his tears.
"You may see them now," she told him.
Kyle nodded, then turned towards Sayuri. He kissed her forehead, just below the bandages and said, "Did you hear that? I"m going to see our babies now. Please wake up soon, okay? They need you."
His voice hitched a bit as he said, in a whisper, "I need you."
He gulped, took a deep breath and went close to her ear, saying, "I love you, Sayuri. I"m sorry it took me so long to realise this so please, don"t leave us."
The tears started again and he wiped them, taking several more deep breaths to calm himself down. He gave Sayuri one brief kiss on the lips before straightening his back and went to follow the nurse.
Everyone waited until Kyle went out before they followed behind him. He was holding onto Kay"s hand as they walked over to the door of NICU.
"I"m sorry," the nurse said as she saw the whole entourage, "Only the parent can go in."
Everyone was silent and Kyle went inside. First, he had to take off his shoes and socks and wear the slippers provided. Inside, he had to put on the surgical cap, mask, and outer garment. Then, washed his hands before wearing gloves.
Finally, he was allowed to enter into the inner chambers of the NICU.
Once he entered, he was led to the incubator that held his kids.
They had been placed in one incubator.
The hospital provided co-bedding for preterm twins, but they had to obtain the parents" permission first. This was because although research had shown that twins fared generally better when placed together, there was a higher risk of infection and caregiver error.
The nurse kindly provided Kyle with a stool, upon which he sat down as he stared at his kids.
They were so tiny.
They looked so vulnerable with all the monitors on their tiny little chest to monitor their heartbeat. Their eyes were still tightly shut as if it had been glued together. Their faces could hardly be seen as there were tubes attached to their mouth and nose, while huge diapers covered the lower half of their bodies.
Their heads were covered by tiny knit caps. One was blue, and the other was pink.
"A pair, huh?" Kyle whispered with a smile, "Be strong, my precious."
He began talking to them, even though they couldn"t hear him through the incubator. It didn"t matter. The nurses who could hear him, couldn"t help but tear up at the intense sadness and deep love that was etched in them.