“Hi, baby. Do you miss me?”
“Always,” Jamie said.
“I miss you, too. So, how was school?”
Jamie recounted everything about her day. How a boy named Dean had pushed Bobby from the jungle gym, and how mean Dean was to her, but that Nanna thought Dean and Bobby both had a crush on her.
Holly laughed, because the way she’d said it was cute. The ache of missing her daughter pooled in her belly and pierced her heart. She wanted Jamie here with her, but bringing Jamie to Boston was out of the question, especially now. She couldn’t take that chance now that Jake was constantly in and out of Downsend. It would be a catastrophe. After listening to a few more silly stories, they said their goodbyes, making kissing noises over the phone, before Jane came on the line.
“Hello, sweetheart. What’s new with you?”
“Nothing much. The idiot remembers me,” Holly said.
“He spoke to you?”
“No, but he told a patient what to call me. A stupid name he had for me back then.”
Jane remained quiet for a few seconds. “What name did the patient call you?”
“You know which name, the honey one.”
Jane laughed. “Bee Puke?”
“Yes, that one. He is driving me insane, Mom. Why is he doing this?”
“Oh, baby, I wish I knew. But be careful. If he’s being friendly, it could only mean one thing.”
“Please share, as I’m clearly the only stupid idiot who doesn’t know.”
“You are so naive when it comes to men. He’s clearly not done with you, Holly.”
“Oh, please! He’s getting married.”
“Well, that certainly didn’t stop your father.”
She winced. “So what you’re trying to say is that he just didn’t want the girls?” She knew it sounded stupid even as she said it.
“It could be. Just don’t give in to him.”
“Mom, are you stoned or something?”
“No, but I’ve seen his pictures, Holly. That man screams sex on legs.”
Not expecting that, Holly wasn’t sure if she should laugh or groan. But deep down, she was upset her mother would even suggest she’d fall for him again.
“Okay, whatever. I’ve got to go.”
“Are you upset with me?”
“Mom, I’m tired, and yes, I’m a little bit upset. I can’t believe you would think that of me. He threw us away when we needed him the most.”
“Okay, okay. Just as long as you remember what he did.”
“You’re doing it again.”
“I’m just saying.”
“I’m going now, bye.”
Huffing, she chucked her phone onto the bed. That couldn’t be his reason for being friendly, could it? She didn’t want to think about it. He’d left, and that was what she should never forget.
Climbing into bed, she tried not to think any more about Jake and his hidden agenda, so she forced her thoughts to Ty and his surgery the next day. Her thoughts veered to Jamie. She really wished she could have her by her side, but it was a wish that couldn’t be fulfilled. Jake could never find out about her. She groaned as thoughts of Jake invaded her mind again. Angry with herself, Holly pulled the covers over her head and thought about the color black until she fell asleep
IT WAS D-DAY.
Holly helped prep Ty for surgery, not caring whether Jake was there or not. She needed to speak with Ty, and he had to listen to what she had to say before he went under. Most importantly, he had to wake up.
She took his vitals, writing them on the chart as she went.
“Why Bee Puke?” he asked, after staring her for a long time.
His parents chuckled nervously and she saw Jake from the corner of her eye. He seemed to be enjoying this.
“Because that’s what honey is made of,” she answered, nonchalantly.
Ty laughed. “That’s why? You don’t like to be called honey?”
“Do you want to be called something that’s derived from an insect’s vomit?”
Ty laughed again. “The question is, how does Jake know about this?”
Holly grunted softly, curling her lip—hoping it sounded like it bothered her, but conveyed that it wasn’t anything of importance. However, Jake chuckled, and George and Mavis sported huge grins on their faces.
“Breathe in, then slowly breathe out for me,” she told Ty, as she put the stethoscope to his back.
“Holly, I’m fine. Really.”
“Just breathe, Ty.” Her voice was stern.
“Ooh, feisty,” he replied in a tired voice, but not tired enough that it stopped a grin from spreading across his face. Holly had to suppress her smile. “I’m fine,” he repeated.
Holly leaned down. “You’ve got to wake up, okay?” she whispered in his ear, praying her voice didn’t break. “You can’t die.”
“Hey.” Ty took hold of Holly’s hand. The doctor-patient relationship was close to crossing the line, but Holly didn’t care. This boy was dear to her heart. “I’ll wake up, if you promise to tell me what happened between you and Dr. Peters.”
“Ty!” Mavis shrieked. “Don’t go poking your nose into other people’s business.”
“It’s the tumor, Mavis.” Jake put his two cents in, looking down at the tablet he was holding while scrolling through it. Holly rolled her eyes and Ty let out a weak laugh.
“It’s going to kill me not knowing.”
“No, it’s not. If you wake up, maybe I’ll share it with you.”
“Not good enough. I need to know now.” He was pouting like a two-year-old.
“Ugh, fine.” Holly bent down to whisper in his ear again. “It’s nothing much,” she lied. “He has a bit of an ego problem, and I couldn’t stand it, so I broke it off.”
“Whoa, seriously?” Ty said out loud.
“What did she tell you?” Jake asked.
Not giving Ty a chance to reply, she cut in. “So, you’ve got to wake up, that was the deal, right?” Winking, she left the room.
“Dude, seriously?” She heard Ty address Jake.
“I’m sure that whatever she said to you, isn’t quite the truth. There are always two sides to a story, so don’t believe everything you hear.”
Holly remained close to hear Jake’s reply. The gall of the man! There were no two sides to their fucking story. He hadn’t wanted her. End of story.
Stepping away, she checked in with the other patients then returned to Ty’s room. Jake had left, which was a blessing. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been lucky enough to scrub in with Teresse. Even if Teresse had offered it, she doubted she would’ve taken it. Today, Ty came first.
Desire was scrubbing in with Jake. Not that she was crazy about neurology, rather, it was more of a Jake thing.
Holly made the decision to wait with Ty’s parents. They needed reassurance during the critical surgery. There was no doubt that the surgery would be a long one. They were looking at twelve hours, maximum. Hopefully, when Jake was done, Ty would be able to function as a normal teenager should.
Ty was taken to surgery at midday. Jake was already in the OR, getting everything ready. She liked that he took the time to prep the OR himself.
“Remember our deal.”
“I will.”
“You’ve got to wake up, Ty.”
“Don’t worry, Holly,” he said, winking.
“If you don’t, I will Ouija your butt back, even if it’s against my religion, you hear?”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t mind.”
She gave him a playful smack on the arm. “Not what I want to hear. I will become your worst nightmare.”
“Okay, got it.” He rolled his eyes.
Both of his parents bent over his to kiss him. A lump formed in Holly’s throat and tears glistened in her eyes as Mavis spoke to her son softly, kissing him over and over. Holly was familiar with the doubt and the hope she was sure Ty’s parents were feeling. She knew they were battling to hold onto the hope more than doubt. She kne
w they were battling to fight down the fear that lodged itself inside their hearts. Fear that this would be last time they heard his voice, fear that if they allowed themselves to hold onto the hope that it wouldn’t be enough. She knew the guilt was already building up inside them; any parent felt guilty once they made peace with the fact that death was waiting to take their child away. She knew it deep inside her bones, that they were fighting to believe their child would make it. They’d be devastated if their hope, their belief, their faith wasn’t strong enough. She knew they already felt ruined, even as they grasped onto their hope with tight fingers.
Yes, Holly knew exactly what Ty’s parents were going through.
George was next. Ty and his father did something weird with their hands, which could have been a secret handshake, perhaps. Ty was their only child. Holly had prayed every night for him… he had to hold on, had to make it through this.
“Let’s go, Bee Puke,” Ty called.
“Hey, watch it.”
Ty laughed.
Shaking her head, Holly and one of the male OR nurses wheeled him through the door. “I’ll see you in a bit,” Holly said over her shoulder to Ty’s parents, before continuing to wheel him in the direction of OR 2, where Jake and Teresse were waiting.
“You ready?” she asked him as they got closer.
“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”
When they reached the theater doors, Holly said, “This is as far as I go.” Bending down, she repeated, “Just wake up, Ty. It’s all you have to do.”
“You got it, Bee Puke.” Everyone laughed, but Holly just smiled at him.
“You’re not scrubbing in today?” She heard Jake ask.
“No,” she replied, without looking at him. “Just take care of him, please.”
“Yes, Mother,” Jake teased, making Ty laugh.
Holly rolled her eyes and left.
Four years ago, she would’ve told him exactly what she would’ve done to him if she was his mother. Now, she wanted to speak to him as little as she could. Why he was even bothering to joke with her was beyond her. It just didn’t make any sense whatsoever.
Going in search of Mavis and George, she found them exactly where she thought they’d be, in the waiting area. Both had red-rimmed eyes, the worry evident on their faces. Holly wrapped her arms around Mavis, squeezing tight. “He’s in good hands.”
“Is he?” Mavis was still in doubt.
“I told you before. There is no doctor like Jake Peters when it comes to tumors,” Holly reiterated.
Mavis nodded. “But, what if…”
“Shh, what-ifs don’t exist, okay? I learned that the hard way. We just wait.” Holly hugged her again when Mavis started to cry. “And pray like you’ve never prayed before, Mavis. Believe me, it does help a lot.”
“Even if He is angry with me?”
“I’ve learned that God isn’t the one who’s angry with us, it’s the other way around. He’s waiting for you to speak to him, Mavis. Today is the perfect time to do that.”
She smiled. “Thank you, Holly.”
“You are so very welcome. Besides, Jake knows if he messes this one up, he will not live to perform another.”
That made both Mavis and George laugh halfheartedly, and Holly was glad she had managed to give them a bit of laughter amid their anxiety.
Holly’s beeper went off and she stood up reluctantly. “I’ve got to go, but I promise I’ll be back to check on you soon.”
“Thank you,” said Mavis.
Holly started running in the direction of the children’s ward. She was working with another pediatrician and found Dr. Foucher at the elevator. He had a slight European accent she couldn’t pinpoint, but he was a good doctor. They rode the elevator up to the fifth floor, the maternity ward. The patient was a woman on the verge of delivering a premature baby. Up to now, there had been no sign of preeclampsia. Unfortunately, protein was found in the womb during her routine checkup; therefore, the baby had to be delivered. Once traces of protein are found, doctors are left with no choice. Adding to this, the baby’s lungs weren’t strong enough. In most cases, preeclampsia developed without any form of a hint or sign.
Thanks to Gus, Jake’s father, the miracle drug he created worked wonders for women who were diagnosed early. These women ended up having normal pregnancies. It truly was an amazing drug, one she’d wanted to discover herself. But things happened for a reason; otherwise she would’ve never fallen in love with cardiology and now pediatrics. If she hadn’t moved to pediatrics, she would’ve never known about or met Ty—things clearly worked out for the best.
Once the obstetrician delivered the baby without any further complications, Dr. Foucher checked the baby over and immediately put the baby in the incubator. Holly couldn’t help but notice that her babies had been smaller than this little girl. The father stood right behind Holly as Dr. Foucher and one of the nurses pushed the incubator out of the room. It was critical to get the infant to the NICU—the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit—as soon as possible.
Facing the father, Holly said, “I know how you feel.” He looked to be in his late twenties, around her age. “Babies have the strength to push through.”
“Thanks. We’ve waited a long time for her,” he said.
Holly led the father to the NICU, where two babies were sleeping. The parents of the one baby boy looked at the new patient, then at her father, giving him a look filled with compassion.
Dr. Foucher ordered a breakdown list to the nurses. Holly helped with getting the teensy patient as stable as possible. She had breathing difficulties. A fat tube would be inserted into her mouth until she was able to breathe easily on her own.
Life wasn’t fair. There was nothing sadder than having to watch a baby struggle, spending every second of its short life trying to survive.
The dad started to weep.
“You should go to your wife. We have her covered,” Holly reassured him. “This is a no-crying zone. These babies soak up emotions like a sponge, and your tears won’t help her.”
Nodding, he looked at the nurse who’d taken him by the arm so she could lead him out of the room. He stood at the window for a while, watching them work on his daughter.
Holly’s heart broke at the sight. Her emotions ran rampant. He was doing what her babies’ father hadn’t done.
She glanced at the mother of the little boy, who was doing amazingly well.
She assisted Dr. Foucher with the girl they’d brought in, and a few minutes later, the fragile baby looked like a robot with numerous tubes protruding from her little body. Of course, her heart rate was nothing like a healthy newborn’s, but it wasn’t alarming.
“I’ll stay with her for a couple of hours. If you could take over the night shift, that would be excellent.”
“No problem,” Holly said to Dr. Foucher.
Following the doctor to where the father lingered, she listened to everything he said to the man. The familiarity was eerie; it reminded Holly of what Frank had told her when her twins were born.
Holly asked one of the nurses to get him a cup of coffee. She’d take him to see his wife, then accompany him to the waiting room, as she needed to check up on Mavis and George. The surgery had been underway for over an hour already, but there were still no updates. Not that updates would be given so early into the surgery; anything could happen. Jake had insisted there be no updates until the surgery was at least halfway through.
That was yet another thing Holly liked about him. Damn it! He reminded her so much of the old Jake, the one she still loved but no longer existed. The one she ached for. The one she would always ache for.
Surprisingly, just over two hours later, Desire came to give them an update. So far, everything seemed to be going well, even though there was still a lot of work to be done. That scrap of information helped calm the Bensons a little.
The day dragged like no other. Holly tried to do her work as best as she could, but it was difficult with all the things on her min
d. Toward late afternoon, she received a message from Rodney, asking how everything was going. Holly updated him, glad that the surgery was by now halfway through. Ty was still hanging in there—a good sign.
When nine-thirty rolled around, Holly excused herself from the waiting room where she’d gone to check up on Ty’s parents again, saying to the Bensons, “Please, could you ask someone, doctor or nurse, it doesn’t matter, to come to the NICU if there’s any further news? I’m so sorry I have to go, but there’s a tiny newborn I need to check up on. She’s fighting for her life.”
“Oh, Lord. How awful. I hope she makes it. Go, Holly, we understand. Go.”
“Thanks, Mavis. Good luck, and remember to pray.”
Both nodded. George said, “We haven’t stopped.”
Holly made her way to the fifth floor. She loved babies, but this situation was bringing up serious memories she didn’t want to think about.
The father, who’d left after only a few sips of his coffee, was back in the ward, sitting in a chair he’d placed right next to his daughter. He looked tired, like he hadn’t slept for days. When she questioned him, he confirmed her suspicions. To be at his wife’s and baby’s side, he’d had to work double time. Holly suggested he go home, but he refused, which she’d expected anyway. A nurse convinced him to go have a lie-down in one of the on-call rooms, with the promise that if anything happened, they’d call him immediately.
Holly took the seat he’d just vacated. Picking up a nursery rhyme book, she read to the little one in the softest tone she could muster. Smiling sadly to herself, she remembered when her dad read Sam I Am to both Romalia and Jamie. She continued reading until the door of the NICU swung inward. Glancing up from the book, she saw Jake standing in the doorway.
“He’s in ICU. I managed to remove about seventy percent of the tumor. The rest hopefully will decrease with radiation.”
She sputtered in shock. “What are you doing here?”
“You asked Mavis to have someone come and give you an update.”
“I meant Desire or one of the others.” Holly smiled softly and shook her head. What the hell...
“Yeah, well, I had nothing to do, so here I am. What’s wrong with the baby?”
Secret Love (The 4Ever Series Book 2) Page 12