Private Lives

by Karen Young

  “I wish we’d hear something!” Elizabeth cried suddenly. “What could be taking so long?” She tossed the empty container in the trash. If she didn’t hear something soon, she didn’t know how she would be able to keep up a pretense of calm.

  “Tell me about Gina,” Lindsay said. “I was at the hearing, remember? I heard you testify to Austin’s abusiveness. What I don’t get is why he’s making a big play to keep Jesse. Seems to me a guy like that wouldn’t want the hassle of a little kid.”

  “He doesn’t want her. He just wants out from under the specifics of any financial burden the court has decreed.”

  “Another thing puzzled me.” Lindsay glanced toward the door to be sure no one was listening. “Why are there no records of the abuse she suffered? Did she never need medical treatment? From the point of view of the average person, that would indicate she didn’t really get hurt all that much.” She put up a hand to stop Elizabeth’s instant protest. “I know, I know, I believe everything she said, but don’t you see why it’s difficult to convince other people?”

  “Yes, I do. But she was very good at hiding the true situation in their private life.” Elizabeth sank slowly onto the settee. “She was ashamed, I think.”

  “Yeah, abused women are really good at assuming the burden of the abuse and the shame, almost embracing it personally.”

  Elizabeth gave her a quick glance. “You know something about the subject?”

  “I did a series of programs last year. I was stunned at the response. Women poured out their hearts in letters to the show—unsigned for the most part—while at the same time they were going to incredible lengths not to tell their best friends or proper authorities about the hell they lived daily.”

  “I don’t think Austin was violent every day, but when he was—”

  Lindsay heard footsteps and got up to check. “But when he was bad, he was horrid, right?”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Something like that.”

  “Here’s Megan. At last.”

  “Sorry you’ve had to wait so long,” she said to Elizabeth as she pulled off the surgical cap and ran a hand through her dark hair. She looked exhausted. A mask dangled from its strings at her neck and she still wore booties from the OR. She glanced at Lindsay. “Glad you could make it, Lin.”

  “How is she?” Lindsay asked while Elizabeth stood up slowly, her eyes huge and full of worry.

  “We’ve just moved her from recovery to ICU. She survived the surgery, thanks mostly to Dave Hamilton’s skill. He’s the best. But she’s critical. She’s on life support and the swelling I mentioned before will likely do more damage. She’s extremely unresponsive, in a deep coma. I want to warn you, Elizabeth, she’s going to look nothing like herself. Her head is almost completely swathed in bandages, she has an airway and her face has cuts and bruises. Her eyes are taped over to keep them moist. People in a coma don’t blink, therefore, their eyes get very dry. I wish I could tell you something more positive, but it’s a very bleak situation. Dr. Hamilton will be out shortly to give you details and answer any other questions you might have.”

  “She can’t die!” Elizabeth said in a fierce, low tone.

  Megan’s eyes went soft with sympathy. She hesitated, then took Elizabeth’s arm and drew her over to the settee, urging her down so that their knees touched. “She won’t die because we’ve got the best equipment known to medical science keeping her alive, but if that were removed, she wouldn’t breathe on her own, Elizabeth.”

  “No.” She couldn’t accept that. Not Gina, not her quick, funny, loving Gina.

  “We’ve done all we can,” Megan said. “The injury was just…too much.”

  Lindsay sat on the arm of the settee, rubbing Elizabeth’s shoulders. Now she slipped an arm around her sister. “Elizabeth needs to see her, Megan. Is that possible?”

  “Of course. As I said, she’s in ICU. Two visitors are allowed, but for only ten minutes.”

  Elizabeth was already on her feet, but her legs, as she walked to the door, felt ready to buckle. She didn’t notice that Megan was on one side of her and Lindsay on the other. A few weeks ago, she wouldn’t have allowed it, had she realized. “I need to—”

  Megan motioned to Lindsay to touch the button that allowed access into the restricted world of the ICU. “Yes. And we’ll go with you.”

  She entered the ICU, braced to see Gina as Megan described her. Instead, she came face-to-face with Austin in conversation with a doctor who was explaining Gina’s condition and warning him what to expect for the next few hours. Austin listened attentively, his face a mask of sincerity. He had a few questions, which the doctor conscientiously answered. Everything about him spoke of the concerned and caring lover.

  “Dr. Hamilton.” Megan interrupted, urging Elizabeth forward. “This is Gina’s good friend. I’ve given her a general account of the surgery, but she probably has some questions.”

  Austin glanced up then, met Elizabeth’s eyes, and for just a moment, the smooth mask slipped and she saw open hostility. But almost instantly, it was back in place. “Liz. I didn’t know you were still around.”

  If he had the power, she knew, he would have barred her from the room. “I couldn’t leave Gina.”

  “But you could leave Jesse?” There was insolence in his expression.

  She ignored him and turned to the area of the unit where Gina lay. Her questions to the doctor could wait. A curtain was partially pulled around the bed, but Gina was visible. Someone—a nurse—was adjusting small round electrodes stuck to her chest. A plastic bag hung from an IV pole, dripping medication into her arm. Other equipment bleeped electronic data fed to it from unknown sources, displaying it on a TV-like monitor. Taking it all in, Elizabeth felt as if a dense weight had settled on her chest. She moved forward in mute anguish. The nurse glanced up and moved aside. Only then did Elizabeth see the full extent of Gina’s condition. She shouldn’t have been shocked, as she looked essentially just as Megan had warned her she would. But had she not been told, Elizabeth simply wouldn’t have recognized her. She felt such a crushing sense of loss that it was hard to breathe.

  “Oh, Gina…”

  She was vaguely aware of Megan at her side. “She is in no pain, Elizabeth.”

  There was no comfort in knowing Gina felt nothing. The near-dead do not feel. With a heavy heart, Elizabeth groped beneath the sheet for her friend’s hand. Oh, but Gina was so much more than a friend.

  “What can I do?” she whispered, cradling the cold, limp, lifeless hand.

  “You might try talking to her,” Megan said softly. “Some people believe that sensory stimuli, such as a familiar voice, has some benefit when a patient is…like this.”

  Elizabeth’s gaze was fixed on Gina’s hand, more familiar to her than the broken and bandaged form that lay like a mummy and still as death. “Do you believe it?”

  “I don’t know, Elizabeth. I’ve seen so much since my training began. I know miracles do happen.”

  “Are you saying only a miracle can save Gina?”

  “She’s very sick.”

  “Meaning it’ll take a miracle?”

  Megan’s smile was fleeting, but genuine. “I make it a practice never to second-guess the Miracle-maker.”

  Elizabeth brought Gina’s hand to her cheek. “Gina’s a survivor. She won’t give up.”

  Just then, Dr. Hamilton spoke Megan’s name and with a parting touch to Elizabeth’s arm, she moved away. Elizabeth kissed the lifeless fingers of Gina’s hand and was tucking it back into place when she suddenly noticed some discoloration on the wrist. Turning it gently, she studied the odd markings with a frown.

  “I guess we’ve got ourselves a helluva situation here, haven’t we?”

  She looked up to see Austin standing on the opposite side of the bed.

  “What?”

  “Haven’t you got the word yet? She’s brain-dead, Liz.”

  “What are you talking about? No one’s said anything to me about that.”

 
“Maybe they think you can’t handle the truth. I could tell them a thing or two about how tough you are.” He indicated the monitor with its array of electronic data. “A respirator’s breathing for her, some kind of device is keeping her heart going, a tube poked into her intestines is feeding her. Face it, she’s in a vegetative state, Liz. That’s gentle talk for as good as dead.”

  Elizabeth took in a deep breath and fought the rage almost choking her. Where was the tiniest spark of decency in this excuse for a man? But she couldn’t argue the facts. Gina was being kept alive by machines, but she was alive. Her heart was beating. She knew what Austin was getting at and she wasn’t going to allow it. “The accident happened less than six hours ago, Austin. It’s too early to make those judgments.”

  “It’s not a question of time,” he said, dismissing her argument. “They want a decision to pull the plug and I’m giving it.”

  She stared at him in shock. “You’re crazy. That’s—that’s horrible. You haven’t given her a chance, Austin. I’m not letting you do anything like that.”

  “I don’t have to have your approval,” he said dismissing her as irrelevant. “What’s the point in keeping her alive knowing she’ll never wake up? Get real, for God’s sake.”

  Still holding Gina’s hand, she stared at the swathed head, a grotesque bruise on one cheek, the eyes slick with an oily cream and taped shut. The damage was temporary, she told herself, stroking the hand. Her gaze fell again to the telltale marks on Gina’s wrist.

  “What happened here, Austin?”

  He frowned. “What happened where?”

  “Here. Gina’s wrist is bruised.”

  “Well, hell, stop the presses.” He rolled his eyes. “She’s been in a car wreck, Liz. She’s got cuts and bruises. Her arm’s broken.”

  “Her other arm, not this one. This arm hasn’t a mark on it except for these which look suspiciously like the prints of someone’s fingers.”

  “Come again?”

  “This arm is not injured, so how did she get these odd bruises on her wrist?” Watching his face, she lifted Gina’s arm gently. “They look like the marks I’ve seen on Gina before…when you’ve manhandled her. I think these bruises were made by your fingers, Austin.”

  Austin quickly looked around, then leaned toward her over Gina. “You crazy, spiteful bitch! You better watch what you’re saying or you’ll find yourself in a helluva lot of trouble.”

  “Not as much as you if you manage to convince this hospital to take Gina off life support,” Elizabeth promised in the same soft, but fierce tone. “You’re not in charge here, Austin. You were not married to Gina and you have no legal standing.”

  His lip curled in a sneer. “And you do? As what? Her sister? Her mentor? Her other lover?” Satisfied he’d made a direct hit, he stepped back. “Right. So it’s a standoff we’ve got here. But I think the court will find my argument more compelling. She’s been living with me for the past eight years and she’s the mother of my kid.”

  “Careful, Austin,” she said. “If you make that claim, the hospital could very well stick you with the bill. The ICU doesn’t come cheap, you know.”

  The look he sent her might have terrified someone else, but Elizabeth wouldn’t be cowed. Instead, she stared him down in disgust. “And one more thing you should consider. Your belated concern might look odd to somebody reading the transcript of the hearing. It hardly agrees with what you said about her then.”

  “Yeah, well…we’ll see.” But his bluster was fading.

  “Exactly. So I don’t think you’ll be considered the most logical party to dictate life and death for Gina, Austin.”

  “You are a first-class bitch, Liz.”

  “Insults and profanity are the last recourse of someone with no argument,” she quoted, determined not to show him her rage and frustration. She was convinced something had happened between them tonight that set the stage for Gina’s accident. If he had anything to do with it—and she could prove it—he wasn’t going to slither out from under the consequences, as he was accustomed to doing. She’d expose him, even if she had to put everything else in her life aside temporarily. But to make that threat now would only put him on alert. Better to wait until she could prove her suspicions.

  A nurse touched her arm. “Sorry, but time’s up here.”

  Unaware of the tension in Gina’s visitors, the nurse went about adjusting the IV, checking the airway, reading the monitor bleeping other vitals. With one last glare at Elizabeth, Austin turned and left.

  “Wow, what was that all about?” Lindsay asked, watching Austin’s angry strides out of the ICU. “He looks like he’s gonna go kill somebody.”

  “Yes, but it’s not going to be Gina,” Elizabeth muttered. Her pace as she left the ICU forced Lindsay to skip keeping up.

  “What’d you say?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You two were having a pretty intense conversation in there.”

  “To put it mildly.” Elizabeth made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. “He’s such a bastard, such a sorry excuse for a human being! The thought that Jesse might be raised by him is too vile to contemplate.”

  “Does this have anything to do with those bruises on Gina’s wrist that looked a lot like the print of somebody’s fingers?”

  “Yes.” Elizabeth didn’t bother trying to spin it otherwise. Lindsay was too smart.

  “You don’t think those marks could have come from the accident?”

  “No.”

  “Me, neither.” Instead of going back to the waiting room, they stood outside the ICU. “That’s very interesting.”

  “Not interesting, Lindsay. It’s cruel, it’s vile, but it’s characteristic of Austin.”

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  “I’m going to see that he doesn’t get away with it.”

  “Even if Gina doesn’t make it?” Lindsay spoke gently, with sympathy.

  Elizabeth looked at her. “Do you know something that I don’t?”

  “I think you should talk to Megan,” Lindsay said. “And Dr. Hamilton.”

  Elizabeth had intended doing just that, only after she’d cooled down. “So Austin’s right. She’s not going to survive.”

  “Nothing’s certain in ICU.”

  “Which doesn’t change anything I’m thinking right now. If Austin is somehow responsible for this accident, he’s not going to get away with it, Lindsay. He’s played fast and loose and viciously with Gina for eight years and I’ve had to stand by and watch, biting my tongue, comforting her, trying to shield Jesse from the reality of the situation she was born into. If it’s the last thing I do in this lifetime, I’m going to make him pay.”

  Fifteen

  It was raining when Elizabeth woke up. She lay without moving for a few disorienting moments, trying to figure out what was wrong. A strong wind whistled, and a lashing rain and small pebbles of hail fell against the huge window. She felt chilled and realized she was partially covered with a blanket. She pulled it more snugly around her shoulders. The movement triggered pain in her neck. And then she remembered. The hospital. Gina.

  She blinked herself awake and sat up, glancing at her watch. She’d fallen asleep around 6:00 a.m. and consequently had missed a couple of visiting periods in ICU. She remembered someone lowering the lights in the waiting room to accommodate others with loved ones in the ICU. Before Lindsay left—reluctantly—at three o’clock, she’d made Elizabeth promise to get some sleep. Not to worry, she’d be back early. Nothing Elizabeth said had persuaded her otherwise.

  “Tomorrow’s Saturday. Actually, it’s already Saturday and I don’t have to go to work. I’m coming back. Consider it moral support.” Lindsay held up a hand. “I know, I know, you don’t need moral support. You don’t need anything. You’re perfectly capable of handling all the stress on your own. But, hey, I’m coming back anyway.”

  How do you reject somebody like that?

  Elizabeth got up and went to the window. Ha
d it been raining when Gina had the accident? Could that explain why she’d lost control of her car? Austin hadn’t mentioned it. But why would he volunteer information? The less information he gave, the better for him.

  Elizabeth moved to the door, debating whether to try to get into ICU even though the official visiting time was still half an hour away. She wondered about Jesse, too, but it was still early. She’d call Louie a little later and check. Rubbing at the stiffness in her neck, she thought how ungrateful she must have sounded when Ryan offered his daughter to baby-sit. Now that she was thinking straight, she realized how helpful Jennifer would be while Gina was here. But other arrangements would have to be made. And soon.

  “Hey, any news?”

  She looked up to see Lindsay in wet rain gear bearing coffee and a paper sack with a familiar bagels shop logo. “If that’s coffee, I’m putting your name in my will.”

  Lindsay grinned. “Starbucks wasn’t open yet, so we’ll have to settle for less high-octane stuff.” She handed over a capped cup and dumped her shoulder bag, her raincoat and the sack of bagels on the settee where Elizabeth had slept. “I didn’t know whether you take cream and sugar, but it’s there if you do.”

  “Hmm, nothing, thanks.” Removing the lid, Elizabeth took a sip.

  “Where’s Megan?”

  “I haven’t seen her since the 2:00 a.m. visit. I assume she went home.”

  “She’s on an ER rotation. She can’t go home. She might be catching a nap, but she’s in the hospital. I bet she looked in here and saw you sleeping. I’ll go check.”

  “Wait! I’ll go with you.”

  Megan spotted them from across the unit. Giving a signal, she made a notation on Gina’s chart and then with a final word to the nurse, headed toward them.

  “Any change?” Lindsay asked, looking beyond Megan to Gina’s bed.

  “Not really.” Megan took Elizabeth’s arm and guided her to a spot out of earshot of others in the unit. “There’s something I want to ask you, Liz. We’ve had a chance to do some tests. They’re all routine. We do them on every patient admitted in Gina’s condition.” Looking her squarely in the eye, Megan asked, “Did you know she was pregnant?”