by TJ Thomas
Amy shook her hand. “Amy Franklin.”
“Alan said you have Jo’s power of attorney?”
“Yes, my wife is bringing the paperwork. She should be here soon. But Rhonda is the one who should make any decisions needed and be given any information you have about Jo.”
“Okay, that’s fine. Listen, I suspect we’re going to have quite the crowd here shortly. Knowing the kids are all probably heading this way, why don’t I see if I can find someplace more comfortable for all of you to wait?”
Amy nodded. “That would be great.”
Sharon quickly found an empty conference room just two doors down from the ER. Once she got the three of them settled, she left a message with the front desk to direct anyone asking about Jo there.
As anticipated, the room started filling quickly. One after another, Randi, Christie, Barbara, and Mike came in and gave Rhonda long, heartfelt hugs. There wasn’t anything to do but wait. But when Julie came in looking like she belonged there, it was too much. Rhonda stalked over to her. “What are you doing here? You’ve made your feelings about me and Jo very clear.”
“I came to support you. I may not approve of your relationship, but I still love you.”
“You love me? But only if I live my life the way you believe I should, right? You probably should go before I say something I regret. Jo wouldn’t even be in the hospital if it wasn’t for you.”
“What do you mean?” Julie asked, concern lacing her voice. “She was in a car accident.”
“She wouldn’t have been going that direction if she wasn’t staying with Amy and Randi. And she’s only staying with them because she moved out the morning after you issued your ultimatum. She wasn’t willing to risk our family. Clearly something you aren’t concerned about.”
“That’s not true. That is all I’m concerned about.”
“We see that very differently. You should leave.”
Julie looked as though she was going to say something more. Then she turned without a word and walked away.
Distantly, Rhonda knew she had been harsh and she would eventually need to apologize to Julie. But right now, she wanted to hold onto her anger a little longer. Even that was better than the cold numbness and despair that had plagued her since Amy had called about the accident. Rhonda knew deep down the person she was actually angry with was herself because she hadn’t fought for Jo when she had the chance. Maybe it wasn’t too late.
*
As Christie suspected, Julie hadn’t gone very far. She found her in the small chapel. She sat quietly beside Julie and waited. She didn’t need to wait long.
“Are you here to blame me too?”
“No.”
“Then you’re here to try to convince me why I’m wrong about Mom and Jo.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I just have a question, because I want to understand. Why are you so against them?”
“Let’s see, the age difference, the fact that Jo is sponging off Mom, Jo taking advantage of Mom, how quickly it all happened, and that’s just a few off the top of my head. So, I guess my question back to you is why you are okay with them being together?”
“Well, let’s tackle your concerns first and then I’ll tell you why. Ben is ten years older than you and yet you fell head over heels in love with him. Would it have made a difference to you if he was ten years older than he is?”
“I doubt it. I didn’t even think about his age for more than a few moments.”
“Okay. As far as Jo sponging off Mom, I happen to know that Jo offered to pay Mom for staying at the house, but Mom turned her down. They came to some arrangement where Jo took them out for dinner once a week or something. That was Mom’s idea. Now, Jo taking advantage of Mom, that was where I got stuck at first too. I mean Jo has so much more experience, at least as far as I know, and also I didn’t think Mom had ever been with a woman. But Mom set me right on that one. She’s the one who was the aggressor in their relationship. Apparently, Jo was trying to move out so she didn’t act on her feelings. She didn’t want to disrespect Mom. It took them a month of living in the same house before either of them made a move. I know you and I both moved a lot more quickly with Ben and Peter.”
“Okay, I get it. What’s your point?”
“I’m simply showing the double standard you seem to be operating under. Why is it okay for you to marry a man older than you, but mom can’t even date someone younger than her?”
“So what, Mom’s a lesbian now and you’re okay with that? What happens when Jo leaves?”
“First of all, I don’t know how Mom’s identifying these days as I haven’t asked. As for Jo leaving, if she hadn’t already moved out, I imagine it would have been very difficult for both of them when she left. I think that even more seeing how the last week has affected them both. Mom has been devastated since Jo moved out.”
“I thought they were just having fun. Mom said it wasn’t anything serious.”
“I think neither one of them wanted to admit exactly how serious it already is. I saw it for myself, the night I found out. When I asked the same question about Jo leaving, Jo looked absolutely sick at the thought. Mom was trying to play it off as no big deal, but I could see how much she was hurting just thinking about it. That’s part of the reason I’m not against their relationship. I could see how much they already cared about each other, even if they’re not admitting it. I couldn’t stand in their way. Jo would never hurt any of us intentionally. I mean look at what she is willing to sacrifice, just to protect our family. I think if you would actually look at the situation rather than ignore it, you might see those things too.”
“You said that’s part of the reason. What’s the other part?”
“I’ve never seen Mom happier than she was with Jo.”
“Come on, that can’t be true.”
“I swear. Even when we were little, I don’t remember her ever looking as light and happy as she seems lately, well prior to this last week anyway.”
*
Rhonda alternated between pacing the room and sitting, staring into space. Whenever she sat, there was always at least one person, most often two, flanking her and giving her their silent support. Her family and friends chatted in hushed tones around her, but nobody tried to pull her into conversation. She was grateful for that because her thoughts were on Jo and how she was going to make things right between them. But first, Jo had to be okay.
A woman wearing a State Police uniform came in after a while. Her name tag said Diggs. She walked over to Christie first and chatted with her briefly. Then she walked over to Rhonda. “I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Tam Diggs. I went to high school with Jo and your daughters.”
“Tam, I didn’t recognize you. Jo mentioned she saw you at the reunion.”
“She did. She mentioned she was dating someone special, Christie just told me that was you. I’m sorry she’s here.”
“Thanks. How did you know she was?”
“I was at the scene. I’ll need to talk with her when she wakes up.”
“Okay. You’re welcome to wait with us. I don’t know how long it’ll be.”
“Thanks.”
Finally, Sharon came back with a petite brunette who wore a white coat over her scrubs. She introduced the newcomer. “Rhonda, this is Dr. Robbins, the head of neurosurgery.”
Rhonda gasped. “Oh God, does Jo need surgery?”
Dr. Robbins answered, “No, not at this point. The head CT was clear other than a subdural hematoma. I suspect Jo will wake up on her own before too long. We will continue to monitor her, and if she hasn’t regained consciousness in another four to six hours, we will do another scan. Even if she does wake up within that time, I would like to do another scan to make sure all is still as it should be. But right now, I believe it’s just a matter of time.”
Rhonda slumped in relief. “Can I see her now?”
Dr. Robbins looked at Rhonda, then around the room. She made eye contac
t with Sharon before she returned her gaze to Rhonda. “Yes, let me take you up. We’ve got her in a room upstairs for now.”
Rhonda’s heart raced as she followed the doctor out of the room.
*
The lights in Jo’s room were dimmed, and the machines that monitored her hummed. After the harsh lights of the hallway, it took a moment for Rhonda to adjust to the lack of light. As soon as she could see, she rushed to Jo’s side. Jo looked almost asleep, but this was different. The white bandage across Jo’s left temple contrasted sharply with her bronzed skin.
She looked so vulnerable. Rhonda was almost scared to touch her. Afraid she would hurt her somehow, but she had to. She took Jo’s right hand in hers, the warmth of it settled her someplace deep inside. She reached up and brushed the hair off Jo’s forehead and leaned down and kissed her softly. “I’m here, Jo. Baby, I’m right here. I love you so much. I know I should have told you before now, but I was so scared. Now I’m completely terrified because you’re hurt. Please wake up so I can tell you how much I love you.”
Jo lay still, too still. Rhonda continued to talk to her. She watched, hopeful that Jo would hear her pleas and come back to her. Eventually, Rhonda pulled over a chair and sat holding Jo’s hand in both of hers. She focused on Jo’s face and just talked, babbled about everything that came to mind, her lunch with Bill, who all was at the hospital waiting for word on her, and anything else that popped into her head just so Jo could hear her voice.
At some point, Mike came into the room and asked Rhonda if he could get her anything, coffee, something to eat, anything at all. Rhonda just shook her head. He left as quietly as he came, and Rhonda resumed talking to Jo. Several hours after she came into the room, although to Rhonda it seemed so much longer, she thought she felt Jo squeeze her hand.
Rhonda had been staring at Jo’s face, but she swiftly looked at their joined hands. She saw as well as felt it this time. When she returned the pressure lightly, Jo definitely squeezed back. Rhonda looked back up to see Jo’s eyelids fluttering. Rhonda stood and lightly stroked Jo’s head. “You can do it. Open your eyes.”
Jo finally managed it and then struggled to focus. “Rhonda?”
Rhonda fought back tears of relief. “Yes, Jo. I’m right here.”
“My head…What happened?”
“You were in an accident.”
“What day is it?”
“It’s Monday. You were only out for a few hours.” The longest hours of my life. Rhonda couldn’t bear to leave Jo’s side, but she needed to let someone know Jo had woken up. She leaned over and pushed the button to call the nurse. “Just take it easy. I’m calling the nurse so someone can take a look at you.”
“Don’t leave.”
Jo sounded so weak and scared. Her eyes clouded with pain. Rhonda’s heart hurt for her. “Don’t worry. I’m not leaving your side.” Rhonda would stay but she decided it wasn’t fair to Jo to tell her how she felt about her while Jo was in pain. Things were too unsettled between them.
Before Jo could respond, the nurse arrived. When she saw Jo awake and talking, she paged the doctor. Before long, Dr. Robbins strode in. But by then Jo struggled to stay awake. The doctor performed some quick neurological tests and then said, “Don’t fight the sleep too hard. It’s what you need right now.”
“Okay. Can Rhonda stay?”
The doctor looked at Rhonda, who still held Jo’s hand. Then she looked back at Jo. “How about I see if someone can bring in a cot so Rhonda can sleep by your side?”
Jo smiled weakly. “That would be great, thank you.” Jo quickly faded and fell asleep.
Dr. Robbins looked back at Rhonda and assured her. “Sleep is really what she needs right now. I want to run some more tests, take a look at another CT, and monitor her. The tests I just did looked good. We’ll have her back up as soon as we can and by then the cot should be here for you.”
“Thank you so much.”
Once the orderly took Jo out of the room for the additional tests, Rhonda located her family and filled them in.
Her family also updated her. Bill and Ben had taken her car to the house. Bill had put together some clothes for her. Randi had gone home and brought back a bag of Jo’s things. Bill stepped forward and handed her the overnight bags. Randi and Amy would bring Kona over to her house once Jo was settled back there.
She thanked them all and hugged everyone. Then, she returned to Jo’s room with Tam.
Rhonda and Tam each took a chair and settled down to wait.
“Tam, we’re so lucky you were at the scene. I’m not sure when we would have heard otherwise.”
“I’m glad I was there. But, any officer would have done the same as I did and tried to contact the In Case of Emergency number in Jo’s phone. You should hold on to this.” She handed Rhonda Jo’s phone.
“Thanks.”
“Sure. I heard everyone talking earlier about how nobody would give you any information when you first got to the hospital. That sucks.”
“It did. Clearly, just being someone’s girlfriend doesn’t mean much when the hospital is protecting patient information. Not being able to find out what was happening with Jo was really difficult. If it hadn’t been for Amy and Sharon, I’m not sure what I would have done.”
Finally, Jo was wheeled back into the room. She was asleep.
“Since we don’t know how long it will be until she wakes up, I’m going to step out to make a call. Do you need anything?” Tam asked.
“No, thank you, Tam. Oh, and thank you for keeping me company.”
“You’re welcome.”
Once the orderly got Jo settled, Rhonda resumed her position by her side.
Before too long, Jo woke.
“Hi, how are you feeling?”
“Not…” Jo cleared her throat. “Not too bad, all things considered.”
“Tam was here for a while. She should be back soon. She needs to talk to you about the accident.”
At that moment, Tam returned. She stood on the opposite side of the bed from Rhonda. “Hey, Jo. Great to see you awake. How are you?”
“Hey, Tam, I’ve been better.”
“That has to be true. I think that may be the first time since our freshman year you actually used my name.”
“I can’t very well call you Rooster while you’re wearing that uniform and carrying a gun.”
“Good point. Can you tell me anything you remember about what happened?”
Jo started to shake her head but stopped when the movement increased the pain. “Sorry, it’s not much. I remember hearing metal scrape metal, I felt the truck lurch, and then it’s a big blank until I woke up and saw Rhonda standing next to me in this room.”
“Okay. I thought you remembering much was probably a long shot, but we have to ask.”
“Can you tell me any more than that?”
Tam adopted her professional tone and demeanor and explained. “A young man, traveling at a rate of speed exceeding the posted limit appears to have been distracted by texting, according to witness statements and the timestamp on his phone, when he lost control of his vehicle and pushed your truck into the path of a third vehicle which couldn’t stop in time. Both cars pushed you into the concrete divider.”
“Ouch. How’s my truck?”
Rhonda gripped Jo’s hand almost without realizing it, remembering the twisted metal shell she passed on the way to the hospital.
Tam winced, her professional persona vanishing. “Let’s just say when you’re feeling better you’ll need to go car shopping.”
“Oh, well, okay.” Jo’s eyes started to droop as her energy waned. “Thanks for coming by, Tam.”
“No problem. I’ll touch base with you soon.” Before Tam finished saying good-bye to Rhonda, Jo had fallen asleep again.
*
The next time Jo woke, the darkness outside had enclosed the room. In the faint light of the room, Jo could see Rhonda sleeping on the cot next to her, their hands still clasped through the rail of J
o’s bed. She was careful not to move so she didn’t wake her. Rhonda had looked worn out when Jo had last been awake. She needed sleep too. She had to convince Rhonda to go. But her heart was arguing with her mind on that point.
Jo lay quietly and evaluated how she felt. Her head still hurt but not as bad as it had earlier. Her left shoulder was very stiff, and her chest felt a bit bruised. Could be a lot worse, given the accident Tam had described. She also noticed that her bladder was full. She suddenly needed to pee very badly. She tried to slip her hand out of Rhonda’s smoothly enough not to wake her. It didn’t work. Rhonda woke.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Rhonda sat up quickly. “Are you okay? What do you need?”
“I’m fine. I just need to use the bathroom.”
Rhonda stood up. “Let me help you.”
Jo held up her hand. “It’s okay, I’ve got it.”
Rhonda backed off and watched Jo struggle to lower the bed rail for a few moments, her left arm giving her some trouble. “Can I help you with that?”
“Okay, fine,” Jo said shortly.
Rhonda easily lowered the rail and stepped aside.
“Thanks,” Jo said as she walked gingerly to the bathroom without looking at Rhonda.
Rhonda stared at her back wondering why she was acting so strangely. Oddly, when Jo closed the door, Rhonda felt like she was being shut out of more than just the room. Jo emerged a few minutes later and gingerly climbed back into bed. “I’m sorry. I know I’m grumpy.”
“Of course you’re grumpy. You probably hurt all over.”
“Some. It’s not too bad. I’m sorry you were worried.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. None of this was your fault.”
“How did someone know to call you? My phone is pass-coded.”
“Tam was on scene. Apparently, she had Siri call your ICE contact. Luckily, that was Amy and she called me.”
“Ah.”
“We were lucky Amy had your power of attorney and healthcare proxy or the hospital might not have told us anything.”
“You were wrong before. I need to apologize. I’m sorry I left the way I did. I’m glad you were here when I woke up, but you probably should go now.”