by Laura Storme
out the kinks. The least of her injuries is the four
broken ribs on her left side and the scrapes on her
legs; all should heal fine. She inhaled a lot of smoke
in the fire and her lungs have been cleared of that. I
was going to disconnect her today to try to wean
her off the respirator and make her lung work again. She surprised us though and woke
up. The tube is being removed now. We also
performed a laparoscopy which revealed the
pregnancy and allowed us to check for additional
damage to her organs. We were unable to save
the child, as I mentioned earlier, the miscarriage
happened at the crash site. She's being prepared
to be moved to Transition Care before placing her in
a private room. Just to be sure," Dr. Maynorly
finished and moved to the door. He opened it and
escorted James back into Alex's room.
Sam, Morgan and Grayson were crowding around
her bed and she was smiling up at them. Grayson
was standing as well, with help from Morgan and
encouraging her to get well. James thought she
looked like a southern belle holding court. "How are you feeling, Alex," he asked upon
entering.
"Okay, I guess," she whispered. "My throat
hurts. "
"That's alright. It's from the tube and lack of
moisture. Maggie is going to bring you some ice
chips to start off. You're going to be on a clear
liquid diet for a few days. Just to make sure that
you can keep food down and can tolerate it. Every
day will be an improvement from here.”
Just then Maggie bustled into the room with the ice
chips and a spoon. She spooned some chips into
Alex's mouth and Alex closed her eyes and let the
cool liquid slide down her throat easing some of the
ache there. "Better dear," asked Maggie. Alex shook her head
affirmative and watched as the doctor left and
James came in. "You can only stay a few more
minutes, gentlemen. We want to move her today
and get her settled in Transition Care before
bedtime," she directed at them; then turning her
attention back to Alex, "Can I get you anything
special; how about a Popsicle?" Alex shook her
head with the delight and asked for a banana
one. "Coming right up," with that the nurse
waddled out of the room to retrieve the treat for
her patient.
Alex smiled weakly at the group. They cleared a
path and James stepped close to her and grasped
her hand. He smiled down at her and tried not to
let the disappointment of losing his child show, but
Alex sensed something. "What is it," she croaked.
"Nothing, Alex. You're going to be fine. Dr. Drew
is a fabulous doctor. He said you're healing up just
fine," replied Morgan noticing the far off look in
James' face.
"James," she whispered questioningly. She felt the
tightness of James' grip and hoped that Morgan was
being honest with her.
"You're fine, sweetheart. You're just fine. Dr.
Drew did a great job in putting you back together,"
James smiled. He was happy that Alex was
alright. But he was bitter over the loss of his
child. He didn't blame Alex, just the cruel twist of
fate that prevented them from ever discovering
their child's existence. If they had been able to
stay together, they might be rejoicing the imminent birth of their child. James choked back the
tears. Alex almost noticed but was distracted by
Maggie bustling back in with two orderlies to move
her to a new room and the promised Popsicle.
"I'm sorry to see you go sweetie. I'll check on
you. I have asked Nancy Schaffer to take you
on. She's the best in Transition. I wouldn't let
anyone else tend to you," said Maggie as the
orderlies prepared to move Alex out of her sterile
ICU room.
"Thank you, Maggie," whispered Alex harshly.
"You're welcome," replied the nurse smiling as the
orderlies wheeled her down the hall towards the
elevators. After the orderlies left with Alex, James
and the others prepared to follow when Maggie
stopped them. "Take care of her boys. I know you all love her in your own ways, but she needs to
get better," she counseled.
"We will," replied Grayson as Sam took control of
his wheel chair and directed them to the
elevator. Grayson had noticed James' distracted
look as well. He knew something was wrong.
Once in the elevator, Grayson, Sam and Morgan all
looked at each other. Before one of them dared to
ask James what the doctor said.
"She's going to be fine," he answered
non-committedly.
"Then why do you look like somebody just died,"
asked Morgan.
James' head snapped up and burned a hole into
Morgan's face, "Because somebody did," he answered hoarsely, choking back the tears, "Alex
lost a baby in this mess."
"What," asked Grayson.
"She was three weeks pregnant, possibly, when Tad
interfered; our child, a baby with Alex's beautiful
eyes and her smile and a shock of red
hair. Something I never thought I would have, I've
lost twice in the span of a week because of Tad
Pierce. And I almost lost Alex in the
process. How do I tell her that," James pleaded
looking searching the eyes of his friends as tears ran
down his face.
"James, I'm sorry. What does her doctor think? Is
she strong enough to hear the news," asked Sam. "He doesn't know either," he replied looking down
at Grayson, "If the child had been older, I would
have told you sooner. But it had to have been
mine. "
"I know. And I'm sorry. Truth be told, James,
after she called your name that night, I just couldn’t
seal the deal. I felt like an idiot, but she knew
then, as did I, that she loved you.”
"Thanks Grayson. "
"What are you going to say?”
"I don't know. I don't think I could stand to hurt
her further." The elevator doors slid open and
they moved to the desk to locate Alex's new room. Transition Care looked a lot like ICU to Alex upon
begin wheeled off of the elevator. She wondered
why James was not following but could not ask
because of her throat. A plump nurse scurried
over to Alex's gurney upon her arrival in T.C.
"Hi Alex, I'm Nancy Schaffer. Maggie asked me to
take care of you. We're going to do something fun
now. Get you out of this bed," smiled
Nancy. She motioned to the orderlies to wheel
Alex into her new room.
"Do you think you can roll out of this bed, or would
you prefer these nice strapping men to do it," she
asked Alex as they parked her old bed by her new
one with the clean sheets.
"I want a bath," she hoarsely whispered. "Do you want to get cleaned up before moving into
the new bed?" Alex shook her head yes. She
wanted more than anything to be clean and dry
before moving o
nto the clean bed. Nancy agreed
to help her with a sponge bath and shooed the
orderlies away. After a quick sponge bath and a
good brushing to get the knots out of her hair, the
orderlies moved Alex into the clean bed.
"I feel better, Nancy, thank you," she whispered.
"I'll bring you a menu so you can order some
supper, such as it is on a clear liquid diet." Nancy
stated as she left the room.
Aside from the missing overhead exam light and
monitors it looked like an ICU room. That was
probably the point of the change. Not to remind
her how close to death she may have been but to remind her of how alive she was now. The room
was still close to the nurses’ station and there was a
window which allowed the nurses to watch her.
She felt like a guinea pig. Alex stretched cautiously
in the bed. She felt the tug of the stitches and the
restraint of the casts on her arms and the tape on
her ribs. Closing her eyes briefly, she luxuriated in
the brief silence and tried to enjoy her Popsicle.
Once the group had arrived in Transition Care and
they discovered her sleeping. She had laid the
Popsicle aside to doze off and now it melted on the
bed stand in a cup of ice chips left by Nancy. They
stopped at the nurses’ station and introduced
themselves to Alex's new nurse.
"Well, she has taste. I can see that," remarked the
pert nurse. "Maggie said you boys were devilishly handsome. Glad to see her eyes ain't giving out on
her. She's just fine. The doctor told you
so. Always listen to Dr. Drew. Anyway, she
wanted a bath before slipping into the clean
sheets. I always take that a sign of recovery, when
a patient doesn't want to be filthy anymore.”
"That is a good sign. Alex hates sleeping in a clean
bed without a shower," remarked James sliding a
glance at Sam, Morgan and Grayson.
"If she wakes up, will you tell her that we went to
get cleaned up ourselves and will return during
visiting hours later," asked James.
"Sure. Not a problem," replied the nurse. James looked in on Alex one more time and kissed
her cheek before joining the others at the
elevator. The four of them settled Grayson back
into his room and promised to pick him up before
going back upstairs to see Alex. All of them were
exhausted and looked forward to hot showers,
clean clothes and a decent meal before returning.
"What are you going to tell her, James," asked
Grayson once back in bed.
"I haven't decided yet. I'm going to have deal with
this pain first before I can help her cope with hers.”
"I'm really sorry. "
"I know, Gray. I know. " James followed Sam and Morgan out of the hospital
and to the parking lot where their cars had been
collecting dust for several days. James told the
others he would be returning in a couple of hours
after checking on the rebuilding of Hasani Industries
and grabbing a shower. Morgan and Sam said
they would come back then as well.
"Actually, guys, I'd like some time with her alone. "
"We'll bring Gray up in a few hours," promised Sam.
"Thanks. "
James drove back to his house and grabbed a quick
shower, packed a few things for Alex, fed the dogs
and checked his mail. He found a card from
Francine's parents thanking him for the flowers and his attendance at her sparse funeral. He was
surprised at the turnout himself. Aside from the
required attendance by Jeff and a few others from
Hasani, Francine had had no friends. It was only
her parents who grieved for her, unaware as to why
she died or the stillborn child she carried inside
her. When James had been asked about the care
of the child, he had requested that she carry it with
her into the grave. He had no rights to it and no
desire to bury the child separately.
Now he had lost another child. One he hadn't
known about but ached for more. One that had
been carried by the woman who had made him
more mature and made him believe in love
again. Shaking his head, he sat down heavily on
the couch and lit a cigarette. What was he going
to tell her? How could he tell her after everything she had gone through? "Damn," he whispered
before getting back up and heading over to Hasani
to check on the construction.
Jeff was standing outside the building when James
arrived. He was talking to Doug and Allen about
the most effective way to restart inventory
measures since most of the inventory had been
destroyed or rendered useless in the fire and
explosion. Everything from the weld shop forward
was non-existent. The sandblast area was
suffering from water damage and the paint shop
had fortunately been spared. James nodded at the
threesome standing on the receiving dock and
walked back to the machine shop.
"Jimmy," hollered Dave as he stepped over some
lines and headed towards him. All of the machine shop workers had stopped what they were doing
and followed him to the back corner to get a status
report on Alex.
"Hey Dave," James smiled, "Got a few minutes. "
"Sure. How's Alex?"
James looked around and saw not only the machine
shop group, but most of the rest of the plant, all of
the R&D as well as Jeff, Allen, Doug and Robert.
"She's awake, off the respirator and out if
ICU. The doctor said she'll be fine and out of the
hospital in about a week. Grayson is being released
tomorrow. " A collective sigh was followed by a collective cheer
at the good news. They hadn't lost anyone except
Francine in the whole fiasco and, unfortunately,
most of them didn't miss her. James smiled,
grabbed Dave's arm and lead him into his office
closing and locking the door behind them.
"What's up, James?"
"I need some advice and we're close enough that I
think you can help," James replied pulling a box
from his pocket and opened it.
Dave whistled, "Wow. For Alex?"
"Of course; I can't lose her, Dave. If one more
thing happens to her, I think I'll go nuts."
"So what do you need me for," he asked tossing
himself into one of the chairs. "Am I doing the right thing? Look how badly my last
marriage ended."
"Do you love her?"
James smiled, "I think I have from the minute I
walked in the door and saw her sitting in that chair
so prettily, so prim. Her hair is like a living thing it
radiates her energy. Her eyes are like pools I could
drown in. When I hold her, that's all I want to do
is hold her. When she cocks her head to one side
and gives attitude I can do nothing but
smile. She's everything I ever wanted and never
knew it."
Dave watched James describe Alex and felt a pang
of jealousy, "To be that in love was a dream for
every man and woman, some
of us fall short, James. You've got the real deal. Ask her? Then
you'll know. "
"Thanks, Dave," James smiled, snubbing the
cigarette and heading out to find Jeff.
"How's it going," he asked when he found the
pudgy manager.
"We should be back up in a few weeks, barring
further problems. I'm going to need overtime
from your guys."
"No problem. Just make sure they have
materials."
"I will. So, Alex is alright?"
"Yeah," he replied and began to walk away, "Jeff,
can I ask you a question? In confidence?" "Sure. "
"Has Nancy ever lost a baby?"
"Can I ask why you're asking," Jeff asked shocked.
James explained what happened with Alex and her
not knowing about it, "That's rough. Tell
her. She'll find out somehow. And if she does
and knows that you knew, she may take it badly."
James shook his head, thanked Jeff and got in the
car. Shaking off the bad mood, he headed back to
the hospital.
Alex woke up feeling stiff and a little
sore. Without the constant flow of pain killers
through her IV she had a better sense of her
injuries, however, minor. Groping for the call button, Alex found the interminable thing and
pressed it.
"Well hello there," came a chipper voice that Alex
immediately recognized as her nurse, Nancy, "Nice
to see you awake. I found a brush to run through
your hair. That handsome gentleman of yours
promised to bring you some things from home," she
prattled as she began to brush the tangles from
Alex's hair.
"James," Alex sighed, smiling.
"That's him. He's a fine man. He loves you an
awful lot. "
Alex smiled again. It was the only movement that
didn't hurt at the present time, "Casts," she asked. "They come off in about six weeks. Both arms are
broke."
"Damn. What am I supposed to do?"
"Well, you'll be here for about another week or so,
so you'll have the nursing staff to help."
"Great," Alex sighed allowing Nancy to continue to
comb her hair, "When is he coming back?"
"He's here, beautiful," answered James from the
door. Setting the bag down on one of the chairs,
he crossed the room and kissed her offered cheek,
"I'd prefer one on the lips."
"I haven't brushed my teeth in days, James," Alex
grinned. "Well then, I have a solution," James stated walking
back to the bag, opening it and pulling out a
toothbrush.