To See Beyond The Surface
Chapter 17 - Race To The Hospital
The family sat by the phone silently waiting in anticipation. Diana sat sadly as Makie was sound to sleep laying his head in her lap. She glanced around at all the sad faces. She hated the waiting. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked down at Makie and gently caressed his head.
"When do you think he will call!? I can't take much of this anymore!" Zac groaned angrily while he rubbed his hands across his upper thighs rocking back and forth.
"He'll call soon. He said he would when he gets to the hospital!" Ike assured him rubbing Zac's back trying to calm him down. The pain was welling up again inside him again. His stomach was in knots. Those eyes were haunting him again. His hands started to shake.
Jessica held onto Avery who layed her head on Jessica's shoulder, as they both sad there together next to their mother and Makie, trying to comfort each other feeling very sad and scared.
Walker paced back and forth holding onto the phone trying to will it to ring. The tension was getting to his stomach.
"Ring! Please ring!" Walker thought angrily when suddenly the phone rang and Walker almost dropped it as it startled him. The whole family jumped as Walker shakingly answered it.
"Hello? HELLO!?"
"I need to talk to Mr. Hanson." A voice stated on the phone.
"This is him! Jason? Jason Monroe?!" Walker asked excitedly. Fear suddenly gripped him as his eyes filled with tears.
"Yes! I am at Mount Saint Helen Hospital now and Taylor is being prepped for surgery as we speak." Jason told him.
"Can I...? Can I talk to him!? How is he?"
"He is doing fine. Wait I will give him the phone." Jason said.
"Taylor? Your father is on the phone." Walker could hear Jason say in the background. His heart started to pound with anticipation of hearing Taylor's voice.
"DAD! Oh DAD!" Taylor cried into the phone.
"Taylor! Are...are you okay!?" Walker asked as tears filled his eyes with his voice shaking with fear.
"Yes! Jason helped me! If it wasn't for him dad...I....I probably would have died!" Taylor rasped as he heard his son start to cry.
"I love you! We all love you! We will get there as soon as possible! You do everything they say. Okay Taylor?" Walker said as the tears started to flow down his face. He started to cry uncontrollably. He wished he was there holding Tay in his arms. Diana jumped up waking Makie and held onto Walker listening into the phone next to him. Tears ran down her face hearing her son's voice after so long.
"I...I will! Tell everyone I love them! I miss you all so much! I...I can't wait to see you!" Taylor rasped tearfully. Walker could hear the longing in his voice.
"Hello... Mr. Hanson? I am going to give the phone over to a nurse named Alice. She will get all the necessary information. Okay? And don't worry. I promise you Taylor will be just fine. He is in good hands." Jason assured him.
"Okay! Thank you! Thank you Doctor Monroe for saving my son!" Walker bellowed thankfully.
"I...I ...thank you!" Jason stammered back and Walker suddenly heard a female voice.
"Hi. Mr. Hanson? My name is Alice and I need your permission for your son to be admitted into the hospital and some other information. Okay?"
"Yes...yes you have my permission. What...what is happening now?" Walker asked fearfully wishing he was already there.
"They are bringing your son to surgery. They are going right now. Don't worry Mr. Hanson. Jason Monroe is a brilliant doctor. Taylor will be just fine." Alice assured him trying to calm Mr. Hanson down. She could hear the fear and longing in his voice.
"Oh....okay. We will get there as soon as possible after you get my medical info!"
Walker took a few minutes answering the nurses questions. Finally he hung up the phone.
"Well we have to go to Mount Saint Helen Hospital. But where is it? We don't know the area."
"Don't worry Mr. Hanson. I know where it is. It is about twenty or so miles away from here." Sam, the police captain, assured him.
"But how are we going to get through all the media down the road? It is going to take forever to get through!" Walker asked running his hand over his forehead nervously trying to think of a plan to get through the mob out there.
"I know! I will go to them and tell the media that Taylor is now at a hospital. I will explain the situation to them. That should keep them busy before the news leaks out where Taylor is exactly and it should give you time to get through." Christopher stated smiling.
"Thanks Chris. That sounds like a plan!" Walker said grabbing onto Chris's shoulder thankfully. Chris ran out of the camper and jumped in his truck and sped down the road.
"Kids? Get your stuff together." Diana demanded as everyone was hurrying out the door to the police cars that would drive them to Mount Saint Helen Hospital.
Walker, Diana holding Zoe, Ike, and Zac went in one police car and the other kids went in the second one. They slowly pulled out onto the road heading toward the mass of media.
"I...I hope they let us through!" Ike moaned with a worried look on his face.
"Well hopefully Chris is keeping them out of the way." Walker exclaimed as he grabbed onto Ike's shaking hand. "Are you okay Ike?"
"I...yes.... fine Dad. I... I'm just nervous and excited to see Tay, tha...that's all." Ike stammered looking into his father's concerned eyes.
"Remember what I said. I am there for you Ike." Walker assured sensing the fear and nervousness in his oldest son.
Ike smiled and nodded his head.
"Finally! Finally we are going to see TAY! Oh MAN I miss him SO much!" Zac yelled happily.
"There they are!" Diana pointed at the crowd through the window.
"Man! I hope we get through. There are so many people! Can you see Chris anywhere?" Zac asked searching the crowd.
Suddenly Sam turned on the siren and flashing lights as did the other police car behind them. The media swarmed towards the cars yelling out questions at them.
"Where is Taylor?"
"What hospital was he taken too? How do you feel about this whole situation?"
They started to pound on the windows.
Ike started to shake with tears welling in his eyes.
"Tell them to go AWAY!" Ike screamed out angrily.
"Please try to get through fast Sam! Don't let us get caught here! We have to get to the hospital!" Walker yelled to Sam Smith in a pleading desperate voice.
Sam then turned on the loud speaker.
"Move away from the cars! MOVE AWAY NOW!" Sam yelled through the microphone. The crowd was startled by the loud booming voice and backed away. In that split second Sam and the other police car sped down the road.
"WE'RE through! We got through!" Zac yelled triumphantly.
Ike breathed a sigh of relief with sweat beading on his forehead. Walker put his arm around Ike's shoulders and hugged him gently. He sensed Ike was still upset over the whole accident and his mental state was fragile. Ike wiped a tear from his face quickly that escaped down his cheek.
"Everyone okay back there? It won't take to long to get there. We are going to get there as fast as possible." Sam informed them as he put his foot on the gas with the sirens blaring.
Sherri stood by her mother Alice waiting for her to finish a report. She heard that Taylor Hanson was in surgery in the hospital and wanted to find out from her mother if it was true or not.
"Now what do you want to ask me Sherri?" Alice asked as she typed in the last bit of information into the computer.
"Is it true that Taylor Hanson is here?!" Sherri asked with a pleading, questioning look on her face.
"Yeah....why?" Alice asked teasingly knowing her daughter was a huge fan of the Hanson's.
"MOM!? He is here! Oh wow! Is he going to be alright?" She asked sadly casting her eyes down to her shaking hands.
"Yes. He is in pretty bad shape, but he will be just fine. Jason is operating on him right now. He is one of the best! You remember him don't you?"
"Yeah sort of. He was burned really bad in the face. The scars were terrible. I remembered he scared me at first."
"Shouldn't you be doing your rounds? You wanted to be a candy striper so you could help people... remember? Earth to Sherri!" Alice chuckled as Sherri stood there in deep thought.
"Oh...Oh yeah! Boy I would love to meet him after.... of course when he is feeling better."
"We'll see." Alice smiled.
Suddenly the doors to the entrance burst open and the Hanson's came running in. Walker ran up to the desk by Alice panting out of breath.
"My son? My son Taylor! Oh... I am Walker Hanson! We're here!" Walker explained desperately.
Sherri stood shocked looking at the Hanson's. She stared at Ike and Zac. She couldn't believe they were standing right next to her. She was speechless.
"Oh yes! Come with me. I am going to bring you to a private area so no one can bother you." Alice declared as they all walked following her with the people in the waiting room staring in awe, but the family didn't notice. All that was on their minds was Taylor.
"How is he? Can you tell us anything?" Walker asked nervously when they finally reached a room and piled in.
"I will go and find out the status of the operation. Please Mr. Hanson calm down. Taylor is alright!" Alice assured him putting her hand on his shoulder gently while Walker nodded his head.
"Please hurry. We have been waiting for days to see him!" Diana moaned sadly looking into Alice's eyes.
"Sure... I will go right now." Alice smiled and left the room.
Ike and Zac sat on the couch next to a window as the rest of the family found a place to sit. They waited watching the door. Walker rubbed his hands together nervously. Finally Alice entered the room again. They all stood up.
"Mr. Hanson? Taylor is doing just fine. He is still in surgery, but everything is going smoothly." Alice smiled.
"His leg? How is his leg?" Walker asked fearfully as he licked his lips searching her eyes.
"His leg will be okay. I heard they found what was cutting off the blood circulation and his leg will be alright."
"Oh God thank you! Thank you!" Walker rasped as tears of relief flowed down his face. Diana ran into his arms and hugged him tightly releasing the tears that she was trying to hold back all the way here in the police car.
"I will update you when he gets out of surgery and when you can see him. Okay?" Alice informed them gently and started to back out of the room.
"How much longer? Do you know?" Diana asked with her eyes full of hope.
"Maybe an hour at the longest." Alice smiled and nodded at her.
"Oh... okay thank you." Diana smiled back and drew in a shaking breath of air.
"You're welcome. If you are thirsty or hungry there are some refreshments down the hall." Alice told them and smiled.
"Thanks!" Walker nodded his head watching her shut the door behind her.