Cat nodded and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“I’m sorry I was such a bitch at the hospital. I had no right to treat you like that. Forgive me?”
Another nod from Cat.
“All right then,” Jen said. “I want you to stay with us tonight. You shouldn’t be alone.”
“I can’t. I’m going to shower and head back to the hospital. I want to be there in case she wakes up during the night.”
Jen squeezed her tight for a moment then released her and rose to her feet. She offered a hand to Cat. “Then I’m going with you. Come on, on your feet.”
Cat went home to shower and change while Jen said goodnight to her family. Twenty minutes later, they were in Cat’s car on the way to the hospital.
Chapter 21
Cat and Jen arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes later. As they approached the ICU, Cat noticed a barrage of activity going on around Billie’s room. Panic filled her when she saw a trauma cart being wheeled into the room. “Oh, no!” She ran the rest of the way down the hall with Jen right on her heels.
Cat fought her way through the bodies surrounding Billie on the bed and broke through to see her in the clutches of a seizure. Her body jerked and twitched, making it difficult for the doctors to monitor her vitals.
Cat heard her father’s voice. “Time?”
“Four minutes,” came the reply from the intern seated at Billie’s side.
“It should be over soon,” Doc said.
“Daddy?”
Doc’s attention was drawn to the sound of her voice. “Monitor her closely. If the seizure doesn’t stop in another four to five minutes, notify me immediately.” He took Cat’s arm and dragged her across the room.
“You and Jen need to wait in the hall. You’ll do her no good in here.”
“She needs me,” Cat said.
“Right now, she has no awareness of anything or anyone around her. Not even you. Now do as I say and go wait in the hall. I won’t take no for an answer this time. I promise to come get you if her condition worsens, all right?”
Jen approached Cat and took her by the hand. “Come on, sweetie. Do as Doc says. I’m sure Billie will be fine.”
Cat allowed Jen to lead her to the waiting area just beyond Billie’s room.
Cat was in a daze. Her heart ached to think about what Billie was going through. She looked at Jen and their clasped hands as Jen brought them to her lips and kissed Cat’s knuckles. The gesture was so like Billie, tears welled up and threatened to spill over. No words passed between them as the minutes ticked by.
After what felt like an eternity, Doc joined them in the waiting area and took a seat next to Cat. “I’m sorry for my abrupt tone in there, but there was nothing you could have done. You didn’t need to see that. However, if my suspicions are right, you might have to get used to it and learn how to deal with it.”
Cat eyed him questioningly. The knot in her throat made it difficult to breathe.
“Caitlain, you’ve seen this before. I’m sure it’s happened to a random patient while you’ve had them under anesthesia, so you know she’s in no real danger from the seizure alone. However, so soon after injury, there’s always the concern the jerking and twitching might cause excessive movement of her already swollen brain inside the skull cavity. That’s the last thing she needs right now.”
“So what happened in there? What caused the seizure?” Jen asked.
“A seizure occurs when there’s an abnormal electrical discharge from a group of cells in the brain. This abnormal discharge can be caused by a head injury that results in scarring of the brain tissue, as is the case with Billie. What you saw in there was Billie in the throes of a grand mal. These seizures are typically partial, meaning they affect a localized area of the brain, but sometimes they become generalized, encompassing the entire brain. I believe the seizure she just endured was generalized.”
“You said she was in no danger from the seizure,” Jen said, “but it seemed pretty bad.”
“Most seizures are harmless. In fact, if a person is unconscious during a seizure, they may feel nothing at all. There’s a type of seizure called ‘status epilepticus’ that is characterized by several hours of prolonged seizure activity. That could be life threatening. However, the type of seizure Billie had lasts one to seven minutes and almost never requires medical attention. It’s much scarier for the people around her than it is for her to experience.”
“What did you mean I might have to get used to it?” Cat said when she regained her voice.
Doc took a keep breath. “It’s too early to tell, and we’ll need to run several tests, but it’s possible the injury may have caused Billie to develop epilepsy.”
* * *
Cat stood in the window of Billie’s room and stared out into the darkness while Jen sat in the chair by the bed. Billie lay a few feet away, wires from the electrocardiogram extending from pads placed strategically on her chest and head in an octopus-like fashion. An intracranial pressure monitor was attached to her skull. Intravenous tubing, which fed her fluids from the bag hanging on the rack next to her bed, extended from her arm and was taped to a board on her left forearm. A transducer to detect and measure heart rate and blood pressure completed the assortment of monitoring devices attached to her body.
Cat turned around and leaned against the windowsill. Her heart went out to Billie lying so frail and helpless in the midst of all that gadgetry. Cat’s thoughts dwelled on the comments Billie had made on the operating table. That’s not possible. I’m a woman.
Cat’s attention was drawn to Jen when her friend’s chin slowly lowered to her chest. Cat approached Jen and shook her. “Jen, honey, wake up.”
Jen rubbed her eyes. “Is she awake?”
“No. I don’t expect her to regain consciousness before tomorrow morning. Why don’t you take my car and go home. Get some sleep, okay?”
“I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
“I’m not alone. Billie’s here with me.”
Jen nodded. “Of course. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“No, I don’t mind. I’m not leaving her side anyway. There’s no sense in both of us sitting here watching her sleep. I insist. Go home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“All right. I’ll be back bright and early, okay?”
“Sure. Oh, before I forget, could you stop by and pick up a change of clothing for me? I’ll shower here in the morning.”
“No problem.” Jen took the keys from Cat and hugged her close. She kissed the side of Cat’s head and whispered in her ear, “Be strong, my friend. She’s going to need you.”
“I will. Now go home. Get some sleep.”
Jen walked over to the bed and kissed Billie on the cheek. “Hey, big guy, you’ve got one hell of a lady waiting here for you, so get well soon, okay?”
Then Jen was gone.
Cat sat in the chair next to the bed and held Billie’s hand close to her heart. She stared at her for long moments. By midnight, she was unable to stay awake, so she laid her head on the bed next to Billie and fell asleep.
“Cat. Cat, come on, wake up,” Doc said as he shook her.
Cat’s eyes fluttered open. “Daddy?”
“You fell asleep, kitten.”
Cat looked at Billie and saw there was no change from the night before. Stiff from sleeping bent over all night, she stretched her back and leaned over to kiss Billie on the forehead. “Good morning, love.” She watched Billie’s face for some type of reaction but was disappointed to see none.
“Cat,” Doc said. “I need to examine her. The monitors show stable readings throughout the night except for a very brief period around midnight when it appeared her heart rate increased.”
Cat stood back and watched as her father examined Billie. There was virtually no response to stimuli tests, including those designed to evoke movement and reaction to pain and sound. Her heart sank as Billie failed test after test. Finally, Doc was finished.
“
She’s in a coma, isn’t she?” Cat asked.
“I’m afraid so. Hard to tell how long it will last.”
Cat tried to mask her disappointment.
“Caitlain, go home and get some decent sleep. You’ll be no good to her if you end up sick yourself.”
“I can’t. I can’t leave her. Please don’t ask me to.”
Doc squeezed her shoulder. “All right. I know when I’m defeated. I’ll be back a little later to check in on her.” He kissed Cat on the cheek and left the room.
Soon afterwards, Jen came in, juggling a small suitcase, a bag of pastries, and two coffees. She handed the food to Cat and placed the suitcase at the foot of the bed so she could embrace her. “Good morning,” she said. “Any change?”
“She’s in a coma. Daddy put her through a battery of tests this morning, and she failed to respond, even to those intended to test her pain level.” Cat handed a coffee back to Jen.
“That’s not good, is it? I mean, being in a coma is serious, isn’t it?”
“It can be serious when it’s associated with some type of traumatic event, but there are times when the body will put itself into a coma so the necessary healing resources can focus on the source of the illness. It appears Billie’s coma is self-induced. Daddy feels certain neither the operation nor the seizure caused it.”
“So that’s a good thing,” Jen said.
“Yes. We’re choosing to believe Billie’s coma is a positive sign.”
“Let’s hope so. Here, eat something. You must be starved.”
Cat declined the pastries, but welcomed the coffee. “Oh, this is delicious coffee. Thank you.”
“I brought a few days’ worth of clothes, since I figured you wouldn’t want to leave Billie.”
“You thought right. Thank you for thinking ahead.”
“No problem.”
“I need to shower. Could you keep an eye on her while I’m in there?”
“Absolutely.”
“And let me know the minute she twitches, all right?”
Jen raised her right hand in the air. “Scout’s honor.”
While Cat was in the shower, Jen held a nonstop talk with Billie. “Well, tall, dark, and gorgeous, how are you today? You know, you’ll have to get your lazy butt out of bed pretty soon. I miss my five a.m. running partner. The kids say hi. You’ve got some wonderful kids. Seth is pretty worried about his mom. He’s a great kid, that one. Very sensitive and softhearted. Tara and Sky can’t wait for you to come home, so hurry up and come back to us, okay?” Jen paused to take a sip of coffee.
She traced the edge of the bandage that ran across Billie’s forehead and let the back of her hand trail down along Billie’s cheek to her jaw. “You’re pretty damned cute in a turban. Don’t tell Miss Spitfire in there I said that though, she might get jealous. Quite honestly, she’d look pretty ridiculous in a turban—yep—she’s kind of too short, know what I mean? She’d pretty much resemble a Q-tip.” Jen laughed at her own joke and continued her monologue.
“You know, I wasn’t so sure about you and Cat when you moved into the neighborhood. I have to confess I was ignorant about relationships like yours. Before you two, I don’t think I’d ever met a lesbian, never mind find myself a soul mate with two of them. All I could think when you moved in was there goes the neighborhood. Well, my friend, I was right, the neighborhood did change, from a bigoted, opinionated bunch of pompous asses, to a group of people who have come to care for one another.
“I know I’ve grown as a result of your friendship, and Fred has too. We have you and Cat to thank for that. You know, it never occurred to me to teach my kids that love is love, regardless of how it’s packaged. Not that I wanted them to be prejudiced, who could possibly want that? I just never thought about how careless and hurtful ignorance and intolerance can be—hurtful to us as well as to you. I’m so happy you came into our lives at a point when my children were still young enough not to have formed ideas about people who are different from them. Stevie and Karissa think of you as family. Hell, you are family, you and Cat both, and your kids. You have a wonderful life waiting for you when you get home, Billie. Don’t you dare screw it up. Do you hear me?” Jen paused again to regain her composure.
“Cat’s having a rough time with this. She’s worried to death. That wife of yours is one stubborn woman. You’re so lucky to have her. She loves you a lot. She refuses to go home, you know. She’s afraid to leave you alone. You’ve got a lot of people who need you, including me. Yeah, I know, I might seem like just the pesky neighbor to you, but, oh hell, I love you too. It breaks my heart to see you lying there. I want so much to take you in my arms and tell you it’ll be all right. It will be—all right, I mean.”
Finally, Jen rose to her feet and leaned over Billie. She whispered in her ear, “Please come back,” and placed a kiss on her cheek. Unable to go on, she wiped a tear from her eye as Cat came out of the bathroom, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.
Jen looked at her. “That was a quick shower.”
“I didn’t want to be away from her for too long. Been talking her ear off?”
“Yeah. It’s the only time she’s actually listened to me without interrupting.”
Cat laughed and approached Billie’s bed. She stopped short a few feet from her destination. Startled blue eyes met green.
“Oh my God! Billie!”
Chapter 22
“Jen, get Daddy. Please hurry.”
Cat was unsure of Billie’s state of mind, so she approached her cautiously and reached out to touch her cheek. Billie’s eyes widened. The fear evident on her face froze Cat in place.
Doc rushed into the room with Jen right behind him. He approached Billie and sat on the edge of her bed. Billie’s gaze darted to him.
“Good morning, young lady,” he said. “You’ve given us quite a scare. How do you feel this morning?”
Billie stared at Doc. “Who are you? Where am I?” she asked. Her speech sounded strange, like her tongue was too thick.
Cat took another step forward. Billie’s gaze quickly moved to her.
“Billie—”
Doc silenced her with an upheld hand.
Doc’s voice once again drew Billie’s attention. “You’re in the hospital. You’ve just undergone brain surgery. I’m Doctor O’Grady. This is your friend Jen,” he said, pointing to Jen, “and this is Cat, your wife.”
Billie’s eyes grew very wide. “I’m confused. I don’t understand. M… my wife?”
“Yes. You’ve been married for almost two years,” Doc said.
“No... no.” Billie’s eyes misted over, and she was unable to continue.
Cat felt Jen wrap her arms around her from behind. “Hold it together, Cat. She just doesn’t remember yet,” Jen said.
Doc took Billie’s hand in his. Tears flowed freely from Billie’s eyes. He turned to Cat. “Caitlain, I need you and Jen to leave the room for a little while.”
“Daddy—no, I can’t.”
“Please don’t argue with me on this.”
Cat’s face contorted as she struggled with Doc’s request. Finally, she relented and allowed Jen to lead her out into the hallway where she broke down and cried in Jen’s arms.
Doc continued to hold Billie’s hand while she cried. When she stopped crying, he reached for a tissue from the bedside table and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I know you’re frightened. You have every right to be, but I promise, you’re surrounded by people who love you very much, and who’ll keep you safe. Do you understand?”
“What happened to me? Why am I here?” she asked. “Why can’t I talk right?”
“A previous head injury ruptured inside your skull, causing the need for emergency brain surgery. That was yesterday. It’s affected your speech among other things. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Billie felt the bandage around her head and frowned. “Brain surgery?”
“Yes,” Doc said. “Now, I need to examine you, all right?”
; “All right.”
After an hour and a barrage of tests, Doc was finished. Billie remained silent throughout the testing process. Doc sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand once more. “Billie, do you mind if I ask Cat to come back into the room so I can explain the test results to both of you?”
“Why does she say she’s my wife?” Billie asked.
“I know this is difficult for you to understand right now, but you and Cat have been married for about two years.”
“But I… I’m a woman. She’s a woman too. We can’t be married.”
“Don’t worry about that now, daughter. You need to concentrate on getting well. We’ll deal with all of this in due time.”
“Are you my father?”
Doc started. This was the second time Billie had asked that. “As much as I wish I were, no, I’m not your father. I’m Cat’s father and your father-in-law. But in my heart, yes—I guess you could say I’m your father. Now, if it’s okay with you, I’ll ask Cat to come back into the room now.”
“Okay.”
Doc met Cat and Jen in the hall. “Cat, you can go in now, but I encourage you not to move too fast. She’s experiencing memory loss, so you’ll need to be careful around her until her memories resurface.” He addressed Jen. “I apologize, Jen, but I’ll have to ask you to wait out here for now. I don’t want to overwhelm her with too much too fast.”
“I understand,” Jen said. “Maybe I’ll head home for a while. Call if you need me, Cat, and I’ll be here in an instant.”
Moments later, Cat sat by Billie’s bedside, but she made no attempt to touch her. Billie stared at Cat.
Doc sat on the opposite side of the bed. “Billie, let me begin by asking you what you remember.”
Unchained Memories Page 13