Meant to Marry Me

The medication Dr. Holloway gave her helped a lot with the pain, but by the time Bree got home to Nashville, her fingers were beginning to throb again. The bus took them back to the recording studio. Trent had to help her down the steps as the pain was starting to make her light headed.

Zelda and several others were there to greet them "How are you dear?" her manager asked, not touching her, but coming close. "Are you okay?"

"I am," she said, "but I think I need to get to the hospital."

"Yes, of course. We just wanted to make sure you know we love you and are here to support you."

"I appreciate that so much," Bree said with tears in her eyes as Trent steered her through the small crowd toward his truck so he could take her to the hospital. She knew that he would get her to Dr. Rook as soon as he could so that the pain could be alleviated, and she could have the surgery Dr. Holloway had recommended.

Trent picked her up and put her in his truck, which she didn't think was completely necessary, but it was a testimony to how much he loved her. He buckled her seat belt and then came around to get behind the wheel.

As happy as she was to be back in Nashville, Bree closed her eyes instead of looking at the city as it flew by out the window, something she normally loved to do.

She must've dozed off because, before she knew it, Trent was pulling into the parking lot of the hospital they'd been told to go to. He helped her out of the truck, and they went inside, asking for Dr. Rook at the front desk. "You must be Bree?" the nurse asked with a sweet smile. "We've been expecting you. Right this way."

She escorted Bree to a private room. 'If you'll put on this gown, I'll let Dr. Rook know you've arrived, and she'll be right in."

"Thank you," Bree said, waiting for the nurse to leave and close the door behind her before she started to change. She was glad Trent was there to help her. With her burnt hand, it was harder than she would've ever expected to get out of the T-shirt and shorts the band had bought her while she was in the hospital in St. Louis. They'd wanted her to have something that didn't smell like smoke and wasn't pajamas.

With Trent's help, she got into the gown and onto the bed about the time there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Bree called.

Dr. Rook was a petite woman with dark black hair. When she spoke, Bree could tell her accent was Korean, "Miss Matthews. It's nice to meet you. How are you feeling?"

"It's nice to meet you, too," Bree said. "I've been better."

"I bet, I bet. Is it hurting right now?"

"Yes," Bree said definitively as the doctor laid her hand on a raised table next to the bed and unwrapped it.

The face Dr. Rook made when she looked at her fingers wasn't reassuring. "Oh, yes. You definitely need surgery, dear. This doesn't look good at all." She turned Bree's fingers over a few times, being gentle, as she examined the burns. "We will need to get this taken care of before an infection sets in."

"Okay," Bree said, accepting her fate. "How long will it take?"

"Not too long. You'll be out the whole time, of course. I think less than two hours. It's a delicate surgery in this case because it is your fingers. But I can do it. We'll take some skin from your thigh, remove the burned skin, and then replace it with the new skin."

"And will I have to spend the night in the hospital?"

"Normally, I would send you home, but considering the traumatic events you've been through recently, I will keep you overnight. When was the last time you ate or drank anything?"

Dr. Holloway had warned her not to eat anything before she got to the hospital. "I haven't eaten since late last night. I had a few sips of water on the way here."

"That'll be fine. All right. I'll go check on the availability of an operating room, and we should be able to get started soon, okay?"

"Great. Thank you so much, Doctor."

Dr. Rook smiled at her, nodded at Trent, and then left. Bree rested her head back and took a deep breath. She'd never had surgery before, and she was scared. "It'll be fine," Trent assured her. "Remember when I had my tonsils out? Like that."

She laughed. She did remember when he'd had his tonsils removed. They'd been in junior high at the time, and he had gotten to eat ice cream for two weeks. She thought his surgery was a lot faster than this, though, more like twenty minutes. Still, she felt reassured. "I know it'll be okay, I'm just nervous."

"I'll call your parents and let them know what's going on." She'd already talked to them once. They had wanted to make the drive from Kentucky immediately, but she'd insisted they stay home. Trent brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead.

Smoke from her hair made her cough, and she wished she would've been able to take a shower before she came to the hospital, but that had been out of the question. "Thanks. I love you."

"I love you, too, and I'll be waiting when you're out of surgery."

He'd barely finished the sentence before the nurses were back to prepare her for surgery. Bree took a deep breath and told Trent goodbye. This was something he couldn't hold her hand through, but it still made her feel more calm to know that he'd be there when she opened her eyes--when it was all over.