by Sherie Keys
She walked into Lucas’ room, and although she knew he was still hooked up to an array of cords, wires, and tubes, the site was still startling. His frail frame rose and fell with the whoosh of the machine, his skin was pale, and thin blue veins traced his body. He was shaved bald, the angry, red incision stitched tight and puckering out in defiance of the rest of his scalp. She felt her heart grow heavy again. It was never easy seeing people in such a state; the weakness that came about with illness was heartbreaking.
She watched Lucas for a few minutes, still rolling everything around in her head. Ella’s words rang clear, but as she stared at him now, listless and not responding, she felt the anxiety twist in her gut. Had she done everything she could have? Was anything else lurking she may have missed?
She sighed, knowing Ella was right. Fresh air and sunshine would help her think more clearly. She turned to leave the room and walked straight into Michael’s chest, letting out a startled cry.
“Sorry!” he exclaimed, startled by the quick turn she had made directly into his chest.
He held her shoulders and gazed down at her worried face. “What is it?” he asked with concern.
She took a deep breath. “It’s nothing, just me worrying.”
He stepped back and then moved next to Lucas. He watched his brother for a few moments, a tangible sadness in the air. Then he looked back at Catherine and gave a nod for her to join him as he stood next to her patient. She strode over and stood by him. They looked to the shallow rise and fall of Lucas’ chest, and she felt Michael take her hand in his.
“What are you worrying about?” he asked softly as his eyes shifted over to meet hers.
She ran a nervous hand through her hair then returned her gaze to Lucas. “The tests and scans are normal, his vitals are good and stable. But he’s not awake, and I just so badly want him to open up those eyes and talk to us.”
Michael nodded and a half smile creased his lips. “Me too, I miss his laugh. I miss his ability to light up a whole room. I miss our drunken, late night conversations, me giving him shit for being shorter than me and him telling me he made up for it in other ways.”
Catherine let out a laugh at that, and Michael smirked back at her.
“I know Lucas. If anyone is going to pull through this, it’s going to be him. But he’ll make sure it’s on his own time, that’s for damn sure.” He shook his head with a grin.
“One time he showed up to a cousin’s wedding as the bride and father were walking down the aisle. Trailed behind them like nothing happened.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, and she let out a giggle, “Really?!”
“Oh yeah, guy has no idea how time works. He’s great on projects, there have been days I’ve caught him working for over thirty hours. Of course, there have been other days where I have found him sleeping for that long.”
She gave him a warm look, “That’s reassuring to know.”
“Another time, when we were teenagers, he was playing road hockey and took a blow right to the head. He should have been knocked out, but not Lucas. Guy acted like nothing happened and kept right on playing. I’m sure he had a concussion, but he never acted the least bit phased.”
Catherine shook her head “Hard heads must run in the family,” she deadpanned and tried to hold back her laugh.
Michael gave her a playful shove. “You better believe it.” He paused and let his gaze fall back on his sleeping brother. “I know it’s an anxious time, I’m feeling it as well. But I also have this feeling, and usually my feelings are pretty on point, that he’s going to pull through this.”
“Yeah? Well, that’s good to hear as well.” She gave his hand a squeeze, and he returned the gesture.
“I once had this really good feeling about a woman. She was gorgeous, funny, and braver than anyone I had ever met. My feeling was she could pull off anything, and I was right.” He looked to her, and she felt her heart flutter.
“Yeah? She sounds like quite the impressive lady.” She gave him a coy expression, her brow raised in sarcasm.
“Oh, she is. The best, actually.”
He nudged her with his elbow, and she looked up at him. His eyes seemed to swallow her whole as he slowly leaned in for a kiss. When their lips met, she felt a spark of electricity. He reached behind her and pulled her close, his mere touch bringing her comfort and washing away the worries. Her hands reached up and caressed his face as she kissed him harder, needing him and feeling desire burn deep within her. She knew damn well there couldn't have been a more inappropriate time or place, but she couldn’t help herself when it came to this man.
A sudden gasp startled both of them, and they looked over to see Lucas stirring on the bed. The tube that went down his throat had startled him as he woke, his body convulsed with an instinctive cough, and a few nurses rushed in to begin pulling the material out of his throat.
“You’re doing good, Lucas. Give us a minute to take these out and you’ll be able to breathe normally, just relax right now,” one of the nurses spoke to him in a soothing tone. Michael and Catherine watched with smiles as his eyes fluttered open and he began to look around.
The team bustled to clear away the tube, and as soon as it was out, he sucked in a deep breath and let out a cough. It took him a few moments to catch his breath, but then he looked over to Michael and Catherine with a small smile across his dry lips.
“I made it,” he rasped, his heavy eyes looking from his brother to the doctor.
“You did it,” Michael said with a bright smile, as he laid a hand on his Lucas’ shoulder.
“How’d it go, doc?” he turned to Catherine as she beamed at him.
“You did great. Made history, actually.” She gave a small laugh of relief as she looked at her patient, his open eyes and small smile all the reassurance she needed right now.
He shook his head and let out a hoarse chuckle. “That’s pretty cool, but next time I’d like it to be for something less scary than having a tumor pulled out of my head,” he joked as he lifted his hand and pointed to the incision.
“I hope so too,” Michael replied.
“Alright, Lucas, we need to go through an assessment and see how everything is working. Do you feel up for that now, or would you like to rest more?” Catherine stepped up to him and took his hand; it was cool but gave a weak squeeze in response to her touch.
He nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Over the next half hour, they went through simple, coordinated motions, speech patterns, and memory recall. She asked him about different points on his body and how they felt, if he had any severe pain, blurred vision, or nausea. Lucas seemed to be pulling through completely. His responses were a bit sluggish, but in the normal range for someone who was waking up from such a procedure. As he stayed awake longer, he seemed to gain more energy, his boisterous personality fighting through the fatigue though Catherine could tell he was pushing himself.
“Take it easy, Lucas. You’ll have plenty of time to catch up on things and get back to trouble,” she said with a smirk.
He grunted, “Easy for you to say, all I want right now is a big, juicy burger.”
“I’ll bring you one as soon as I can, brother. Right now just try to focus on the little things,” Michael encouraged, and Lucas took a deep breath, releasing it slowly.
“So what do you think, doc?” Catherine looked at him and the results of the simple task tests, then gave him a smile.
“You’re looking good, right on track for a full recovery.”
He nodded with a smirk. “Great, so when can I head home?” he joked.
The team laughed in relief, glad to see their patient was awake and seemed to be his old self. The recovery journey would be long, some rehabilitation required, but Catherine felt the excitement as she realized he had the potential to return to a near one hundred percent.
“We’ve got a couple weeks until that point, but I think you’ll be able to dig into that burger tomorrow for lunch. Let’s keep it light today,
don’t want to upset your stomach too much.” She wagged a finger at him as he gave a look of faux disappointment.
“Fine, but you better bring me a double cheeseburger, Michael. And no onions.”
“No onions, double cheeseburger. You got it, man.” He gave him a thumbs up and a wink.
“And no more you two making out in front of me,” he jabbed as he sent the two of them a coy look.
Michael and Catherine looked at one another in surprise. Hadn’t he been asleep when they had kissed?
“You thought I was sleeping, but I could hear all of your cheesy, chick-flick exchange and kissing.” His smile grew as he watched their surprised looks turn to him.
Michael smirked. “Fair enough. You get some rest, brother. I’ll be back a bit later after you have some more time with the doctors.”
He leaned in, clasped his brother in a bear hug, then reached up and pressed Lucas’ bald head against his own while they shared a moment of silence. It was a blood tie, and Catherine could see their appreciation and love as they pulled away and nodded to one another. The sight made her smile and warmed her heart. They had done it—they had pulled it off.
Michael turned to head out the door and gave her a nod. “You sticking around here?”
She looked to the team as they continued to work. Her presence didn’t seem dire at the moment, and she was feeling hungry.
“I was thinking about lunch, you?” she asked him with a perked brow.
A grin spread over his face. “I was thinking I could join you for lunch,” he replied.
She let out an exaggerated sigh and shook her head. “I suppose you can join me.”
“Oh, you suppose?” he asked as he tilted his head at her, biting his lip and letting his eyes trail down her body.
“Hey! What did I just tell you two? Take it outside!” Lucas shooed them away and rolled his eyes at their antics.
“We’re going, bye, Lucas.” Michael closed the door as the two of them stepped out.
“Now, where were we?” he turned back to Catherine, his hands reaching down to swoop her up into a deep kiss.
She pressed her tongue against his and tasted him, barely able to restrain herself from ripping his clothes off. She could have stayed there forever, but he slowly released his grip and looked to her, eyes beaming with joy.
“You did it, Catherine. You saved my brother.”
Chapter10
The next few days were a whirlwind of excitement, drama, and success. Michael and Catherine spent their mornings and afternoons with Lucas, bringing him a variety of delicious, yet nutritious food to help his recovery and add a little joy to the process.
The rehabilitation specialists had begun working with him every day on physical, comprehension, and speech tasks. The progress was coming along at a usual pace, but they could see Lucas’ frustration as he struggled with things that were once effortless. They gave him words of encouragement and support, and little by little he inched closer to his old life.
While the procedure may have been over, Catherine and Michael now worked to bring the abilities of this new invention to the medical field. Catherine had been working on her report to be published in multiple health outlets, and Michael was speaking with a number of journalists every day, along with other investors and manufacturing companies.
The word had spread about the success of Lucas’ procedure, and worldwide the industry was responding. Michael would talk excitedly every night over dinner about the procedures he had been contacted about, everything from spinal surgeries to eye operations. Catherine would beam at him, give him words of encouragement, and add her opinion on the possibilities this machine could assist with.
“Do you think we could get this in every surgical clinic in the States over the next five years?” he mused as he dug into his breakfast.
They had spent all the day before at the hospital and warehouse, visiting Lucas before heading to the lab to meet with a few doctors who had flown in from the UK to see the machine and talk to the two of them. The conversation had been a good one, and their optimism had excited Michael at the thought that this could become as common as a scalpel.
“That’s a lot of machines, could manufacturing keep up?” she replied as she took a bite of her eggs.
He nodded. “I’m thinking since the rights will be open for bidding, we’ll have a lot of these things being made by multiple manufacturers. So, as long as other companies are interested, they can build and keep up with demand.”
“That’s true, I think it’s possible. It would be ideal for surgeons to have this at their fingertips for any procedure.” She replied as she took a sip of her juice.
Michael paused for a moment as he sipped his and then looked back to Catherine with curiosity. “Not that I want yo u to head back anytime soon, but how long do you think you’ll want to stay on this project?”
She chewed and tilted her head. “I honestly haven’t even thought about it.”
“Well, how would you feel about staying on this for the next year?” he asked cautiously.
She gave him an earnest look. “Honestly, Michael. I really don’t want to go anywhere anytime soon. I’m loving the work here, plus the company isn’t half bad.”
He felt her leg rub his under the table and smiled back at her, “That’s good to hear, you’ve become essential to this team. Really couldn’t have pulled this thing off without you.”
She leaned in and kissed him, reaching up to stroke his beard before slowly releasing from the kiss.
“I know,” She quipped sarcastically, as he stared at her hungrily..
He smiled back. “Do you now?”
She nodded. “Mhmm, I’m a one-woman show.”
They shared a laugh and continued to enjoy their breakfast. A short time later, the sound of little paws greeted their ears, and Catherine looked to the hallway to see Rascal and Alberto. Over the past six weeks that they had been there, Alberto had taken Rascal into his personal care. The terrier went everywhere with Alberto, riding in his classic car, the window rolled down and his tongue lolling out. He was having the time of his life on the tropical island.
“Evening, Alberto, how was Rascal for you this morning?” Catherine asked as the older gentleman took a seat at the table.
“Oh, he was a good boy, as always. We played fetch on the beach for well over an hour. My arm gave out before he did. Such a strong, feisty little fella.”
“That sounds about right. What do you two have planned for today?”
“We’ll be heading down to the market to do some shopping, a beautiful woman there has her eye on him, though. I have to chase her away.” He chuckled as he picked up Rascal, the pup snuggling into his arms and relaxing after the long session of play.
“Hmm, sounds like she might be after more than Rascal,” Michael joked as he clasped a hand on Alberto’s shoulder.
The older man let out a hardy laugh. “Oh, a man can dream,” he sighed and then turned his eyes back toward Catherine.
“How is Lucas’ recovery going? He looked good when I saw him last week.”
“Bit by bit he’s building his strength, I’m thinking he’ll be back home in the next three weeks. He’s not too happy he has to stay, but I’d rather be safe and give his fragile brain plenty of time to heal.” She nodded and looked to Michael.
He sighed. “Yeah, he’s really not happy about it. But I’d rather him be cranky than suffer a postsurgical incident.”
Alberto smiled, “Oh, he’ll be alright. Healing is a thing of patience.”
The three of them took a moment to let the words sink in. Catherine’s gaze fell to where the sun came streaming in through the tall windows. A smile broadened across her face as she looked back at Michael and found him grinning back at her. This had become her life—sitting at breakfast with a man she now saw as her closest friend, her dog, and a new friend who loved him as much as she did. Add to that work that was taking her to new heights and making history, and the possibilities were en
dless.
***
The next three weeks went by without a glitch. The team was constantly blown away by the progress Lucas was making—his speed of recovery exceeded expectations, and his abilities were almost back to one hundred percent. He was eager to leave the confines of the hospital. The constant surveillance had made him a bit irritable, but all in all he had been a complete saint about the entire ordeal. He knew this was all going to research for their life’s work, and that in order for him to have the best chance at a problem-free recovery, it was best to stay where they could monitor him.