“Dr. Shaw, please tell us, do you know how long will Dax remain consciousness?” Claire asked staring teary eyed at her beloved big brother, laying stock still in the hospital bed.

“Ms. Daxton, your brother has suffered severed a tremendous amount of trauma. It is a miracle that he survived as long as he did trapped under the rubble with his injuries; that  is a testament to his will to survive. I have to be honest,” Dr. Shaw said looking at everyone in the room, seeking out Dax’s wife Zhay in particular, “I am concerned about his head and possible spinal injuries, because of the position that the rescuers found him in; as well as the punctured lung he sustained. But we all know that Dax is strong and he will fight to live no matter what.” 

With that, Dr. Shaw began barking orders to his staff, while making notations on Dax’s medical chart.

He walked over to Claire, who was now sitting in the chair closest to Dax’s bed. She was having a hard time seeing her brother in this condition and had been removed several times from his hospital room due to her childish and accusing outbursts against Zhay. Dr Shaw knew that she was hurting and went over to offer her some hope.

“Patients who have been comatose often say that they can hear everything that is going on around then. Continue to sit with him and talk to him, it helps.” Dr. Shaw offered, checking Dax’s monitors one more time before preparing to take Dax down to Radiology for his latest round of CT Scans and MRIs. Claire smiled and thanked him for his kind words.

Zhay stood off near the hospital room door still in shock. When Claire called to tell her that Dax had been injured in the Renaissance Towers collapse, she was rendered paralyze for a few seconds. Hoping that he had only suffered minor injuries, she nearly collapsed when the doctors told her that they did not expect him to make it through the next twenty-four hours, due to all the internal bleeding. She felt guilty that she had accused him of intentionally standing her up for their date, not knowing that he had been buried and lay dying at the collapsed tower site.

“Dr. Shaw?” Zhay called out as he was about to leave the room.

“Dr. Daniels.” Dr. Shaw acknowledged and moved closer to her, handing off the chart to a passing nurse. He noticed that she just seemed to settle into the background, while Dax’s family seemed to dominate the room; he wanted to ask her about it, but decided that now wasn’t the best time.

“I know that your team is working around the clock caring for the tower collapse victims, thank you; but please be honest with me, I know that you have been focused mainly on his head injuries,” she said looking back to her husband, “but what about the other issues, internal bleeding, damaged organs, possible spinal injures…how…will Dax survive this?” Zhay asked as fresh tears glittered her eyelids.

Dr. Shaw took her by the arm and walked her out of the room to the nurse’s station just a few steps away. He motioned to one of the nurses to bring over some water and tissues.

“Zhay, honey, drink this.” Dr. Shaw offered her the bottled water and made sure she took a few sips. She offered him her thanks and dried her tears with the tissues.

When he thought she was composed and ready to hear the latest findings he relayed all that he discovered so far.

“We are sure that we have stopped the internal bleeding; besides the puncture lung the rest of his organs look good. As far as spinal injuries go, I won’t know anything concrete until he wakes up. The swelling on his brain has gone down some, but not enough to rule anything out.” Dr. Shaw paused seeing that Zhay had started tearing up again, her silent tears slowing building up into body racking sobs.

“Zhay, I wish that I could have more encouraging news but that is what we are dealing with, look at me,” Dr. Shaw coaxed, lifting her chin so that he could see her eyes, “the fact that Dax is still alive 5 days after having a building collapse on him and suffering from these injuries is a very good sign. You and I both know that.  Dax will fight to live with everything that is in him; just to be interviewed and featured in every medical journal on the planet.” Dr. Shaw teased and was able to get a small smile out of Zhay.

“Adam thanks for coming so quickly; I know that you dropped everything to get here and I love you for it.” Zhay moved in to give her old college roommate a tight hug and to seek reassurance that Dax would be ok.

“You know that I’d do anything for you darlin’; even though Dax and I are always at odds, I know that he loves you and is fighting to get back to you. That egotistical cowboy will be fine, raising hell and your blood pressure in no time.” Adam soothed, kissing her forehead and wiping the unshed tears from her eyes. “Now let me get back to work and get Dax prepped for moving, ok. Finish this.” he pointed to the water bottle in her hand and walked back into Dax’s room.

Zhay smiled at him, and thanked the stars that she just so happened to be friends and roommates with one of the top trauma doctors in the country. Dr. Adam Shaw, was on the scene in record time when the 9/11 towers collapsed, Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami and most recently the earthquake in Haiti. However, once she called he dropped everything and rushed back home to Atlanta to head the team of experts currently caring for Dax.

Zhay downed the water and began to feel less tense. She was glad that Adam was here, besides having her sister Chloe nearby, she felt alone. If she lost Dax like this, she stopped herself from finishing that thought and fought tearing up again. She wasn’t going to loose him, not now, not ever.

As she stepped back into Dax’s room, she watched his family hovering near his bed. She smiled and laughed a little, knowing that if Dax could see and hear them, he would be so annoyed by all of their attention. He would also rip them a new one for being so rude to her; but she took it all in stride, knowing that they too were still in pain over their loss.

Just then Alise, Dax’s mother looked over to her and offered Zhay a sad smile; she had welcomed her as soon as Dax introduced them. However, lately their relationship had become strained. The Daxton’s had always treated her like a second daughter, until she and Dax separated. Now she was welcomed with cool indifference.

When Zhay first arrived at the hospital, she learned that Barron, Dax’s father was finalizing plans to move Dax to the more private, exclusive Northern Glenn Medical Plaza; as opposed to the very open to the public, you don’t need money to come here Mercy Hospital. This was the best place for Dax to be, home to the most advanced trauma/ERs in the southeast.

She gently reminded the Daxton’s and the other doctors that she and Dax were still married and that any decisions regarding his care was hers and hers alone. The old man scoffed at that, but the doctors apologized and acknowledged that truly Dax’s medical care decisions were hers to make.

When she learned the extent of his injuries, she immediately got on the phone with Adam and began assembling one of the most talented trauma and surgical teams in the country. Even the hospital administrators were amazed at the resources available on such short notice. Though Dr. Shaw was young, everyone in the ER business knew who he was; he was on his way to becoming a legend. Dax’s father never said it to her but, he told the Chief of Staff that he was impressed with her quick assessment of the situation, her take-charge attitude, and impressive connections.

Now here they were five days later and the Daxton’s barely said anything to her. She knew that they blamed her for Dax’s unhappiness of late; but in times of crisis, families were supposed to pull together, right? Between his mother and sister, she was never able to get close to her husband’s side, she had yet to hold his hands and comfort him.

She wanted Dax to know that she still loved him, that she was there; that she didn’t want a divorce either, that she missed him…them oh so very much.  She wanted him to know that she would never stop loving him no matter what.