by Hotcheri
Please say yes.
I didn’t want to impose on the family, but I really wanted to be there when Luke woke up. He will wake up, Celsi. Part of me was sure that Hope and Vanessa would shoo me out of the hospital after a while, telling me to go handle my business, but part of me was hoping that they would let me stay.
As soon as I uttered those words, Vanessa hugged my shoulders gently. “Of course you can stay, Celsi.” Her voice turned playful and I was once again forcibly reminded of Luke. “In fact, Hope and I would be offended if you didn’t stay. Right, Hope?”
Hope nodded, smiling at me. “We’d love to have you stay,” she added, warming my soul with the sincerity in her voice.
It’s always nice to feel wanted.
I slipped into the (thankfully) empty hallway and sat down, sucking in a sharp breath as I leaned my back against the wall.
Oww...
Sucking it up, I dialed Aunt Kelly's number and waited with bated breath for her to pick up.
“Hello?”
Her familiar voice washing over me, I said, “Hi, auntie. It’s me, Celsi,” in a small voice. Suddenly, I didn’t know what to say to her.
A loud gasp. “Celsi! Are you okay? Where are you?”
“I’m at Mount Sinai,” I told her, wincing as I tried to find a comfortable position to sit in. Maybe you should have stayed standing, Celsi. “Luke's aneurysm ruptured.”
“You’ve got to come home, Celsi,” Aunt Kelly said, talking over me as I tried to explain what was going on. “Pastor Weeks told me that Nate- that Nate attacked you.”
Her voice came out in an incredulous whisper and I trembled in fear. She didn’t believe him, did she?
Hugging my knees, I said, “Yeah.”
“What happened?”
I decided to answer her question with a question of my own. “What did- Nate tell you?”
Just saying his name left a bad taste in my mouth and I felt a flood of anger towards him. How dare he do this to me? There wasn’t a single excuse that would fly when I went back to school. Everyone would take one look at me and come to the same conclusion- someone beat the crap out of her.
“He won’t talk to me; he’s sitting with his head in his hands.” Aunt Kelly snorted derisively as I slowly looked up, my head pounding.
Say what?
I whispered, “He’s still there?” in disbelief.
Didn’t Officer Rodriquez promise me that he was going up to arrest him? Or maybe Aunt Kelly was at the police station?
“Yes, that’s why I need you to come home. The police officers need a statement from you.” She paused and I heard her sniff before continuing in a low voice. “I pressed charges.”
I swallowed hard past the lump in my throat. “I’m so sorry,” I breathed, tears running down my cheeks. This isn’t how I wanted things to turn out. It had to be hurting Aunt Kelly to press charges against her own son for domestic abuse. And it was my fault. “Why didn’t you tell me, Celsi?”
Wiping my stinging cheeks, I choked out “I couldn’t. I was scared.”
“All those bruises- I saw them and I thought something was going on but I didn’t want to believe- how long?” Aunt Kelly asked.
Simply, I answered, “Since Rhea.”
“Oh, my God.” I hung my head, idly listening to whispers on Aunt Kelly’s end. She came back on the line a few seconds later. “Officer Rodriguez wants to talk to you.”
“Hi, Celsi. How are you feeling?” Officer Rodriguez’s worried, booming voice resounded in my ear.
“Much better, thanks.”
“I know you’re at the hospital and you won’t leave till you make sure your friend is okay,” he started. I nodded (like he could see me) as he continued. “I’m still at your apartment because I had to wait for Mrs. Grant to come home. I need to take Nate in, but I need a statement from you.”
I scratched my head, confused. “Over the phone?” I asked, feeling slow.
“No, in person.” Officer Rodriguez chuckled. “Come and see me when you get home, I don’t care what time it is. Bring your auntie too.”
“I will,” I replied, twisting my fingers into my hair.
“Great. Pastor Weeks says call him when you’re ready to go home. Now, you take care, okay?”
I nodded obediently. He just had that ‘take charge’ kind of character that I just had to react to. “Okay. Thanks, officer.”
“You’re welcome.”
He passed the phone to Aunt Kelly, who immediately asked, “Sweetie, what’s going on with Luke?”
And here I was, thinking that she hadn’t heard me or didn’t care. Awkward.
“His aneurysm burst. He’s critical,” I explained. “I can’t leave him.”
Aunt Kelly sighed. “I know. That’s my Celsi, putting other people above herself.”
I knew that she was smiling and it suddenly brought tears to my eyes. I learnt from the best. “It’s what got me into this in the first place,” I murmured. “I’ll be okay.”
“I’m going to call Enrique.”
My heart almost stopped as Aunt Kelly said this, her voice firm. I knew that she knew about my meeting with Enrique but I had gotten an ‘I don’t want to talk or hear about it’ vibe coming from her so I didn’t talk about how happy I was to have found my dad.
Or should I say, how happy I was that Luke found my dad for me. But this... This was huge.
“Are you sure, auntie?” I asked warily. Maybe he wouldn’t want anything to do with me once he found out that Nate used me as his punching bag. Or maybe he would take me away from Aunt Kelly! I don’t want to think about that. But Aunt Kelly was adamant, and when she got that way, she was as stubborn as a mule. Yes, that mule on Family Guy.
“I’m sure. It’s time we had a little talk. And I think he deserves to know what's going on.” Her voice softened. “Don’t worry. If he’s anything like I remember, this won’t have a negative effect on your relationship at all. Let’s face it; you’re special to a lot of people.”
Aunt Kelly always knows the perfect thing to say.
“Thank you, auntie. For- everything. For understanding,” I whispered, blinking back the tears.
“I love you, sweetie. And don’t you ever forget that.”
I nodded. “I love you too, auntie. But I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Ok, bye.”
***
I walked back into the room, greeted by Vanessa and Hope’s questioning looks.
“What happened? What did your aunt say?” Hope asked as I handed her the phone and sat down in the middle.
I told them everything, tiredness seeping in as I spoke.
“Nobody should have to deal with that kind of BS. I hope he goes away for a long time. Coward,” Vanessa muttered vehemently, tossing her glossy brown hair.
“Me too,” I admitted wearily.
Vanessa leaned forward to look at Hope. “Is Astor on his way?
“Yes. He should be arriving by now,” Hope replied, her eyes dull. “Faith won’t go to sleep, keeps asking where her brother is so he’s coming back with her.”
“Poor baby,” Vanessa clucked sympathetically.
Hope nodded. “She was so hysterical about her big brother.” She swiftly glanced at Vanessa, as if imploring her not to believe whatever Mr. Astor might have told her about Luke and Faith’s relationship. “They’re really close, no matter what Luke's dad might say.”
“I stopped listening to Luke's dad years ago,” Vanessa said airily, waving a dismissing hand. I could almost feel the relief radiating out of Hope’s pores as she beamed appreciatively. “Nothing that comes out of that man’s mouth is positive. And knowing that he’s the main reason Luke's aneurysm burst is coz of him…” Vanessa turned to me, her eyes glimmering with red-hot anger as she continued. “They were having an argument. Luke's little sister saw him collapse in front of her just because his dad didn’t have the decency to wait till they got home to ream him out.”
A few minutes later, the doo
r opened for the umpteenth time and Mr. Astor strode in, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit. He looked like he was coming straight from a board meeting and as I glanced nervously at Vanessa; I saw her top lip lift up in a moue of aversion.
Beef?
A sleepy Faith shuffled behind him, dressed in her Dora pj’s and fluffy slippers. She was clutching a teddy bear in her hand and when she spotted her mom she ran to her and hugged her knees.
“Where’s my son? What's going on? I want to see the doctor, a nurse- somebody!” Mr. Astor blustered, pacing up and down the small room.
Coolly, Vanessa stood up, folding her arms across her chest as she glared at him. “Why are you so worried about Luke all of a sudden?”
Mr. Astor snapped his head towards her, a stony expression on his ruddy face. “What the hell are you on, Doctor Wright?” He managed to make ‘Doctor Wright’ sound like as insulting as possible and Vanessa's lips tightened. “Of course I’m worried, he’s my son! Now, what’s the update on his condition?”
“Now that he’s critically ill you want to act like you care?” Obviously, Vanessa wasn’t having any of his ‘worried father’ dramatics. Her nostrils flared as she stared him down.
Faith had clambered on the bed, her head resting against her mother’s shoulder as she watched the two adults go at it, her brown eyes wide. “If you cared you would have let me see him before this happened.” Mr. Astor opened his mouth to reply but Vanessa just steamrolled over him. I could tell that she’d been waiting years just to say her piece and I commended her in my head. Good for you, Vanessa. Good for you. “What kind of father doesn’t even tell the mother of his child that her son has an aneurysm? Did you think I didn’t need to know?”
Mr. Astor's mouth fell open. He obviously couldn’t believe that his ex-wife was actually not backing down. “Why the hell do you think I called you?”
“You only called me because you thought there was no hope.” Vanessa narrowed her eyes. “Why else?”
Face working, Mr. Astor bellowed, “I sent my private jet to come pick you up! And this is how you repay me? By blaming me for something that’s beyond my-.”
“Daddy, stop yelling!” All eyes fell on Faith as she raised her head from Hope’s shoulder, her eyes bright with tears. “You yelled at Luke and he’s hurt!” She started crying, her shoulders heaving with wretched sobs as she looked up at her astounded (and more than a little bit embarrassed) father. “I told you not to, daddy!”
“Sweetie, I-.” Mr. Astor cleared his throat, brushing imaginary lint off of his jacket. “I’m sorry.”
That apology sounded like it hurt.
Vanessa exhaled loudly. “Can we please just sit here and wait like civil adults?”
“Okay,” Mr. Astor nodded, defeated. He sat in the lone chair in the room, his gaze straying to me. I looked down at my hands as Vanessa plopped next to me.
“Thank you.”
“Miss Sawyer?” I looked up to find Mr. Astor's eyes on my face, looking- gasp- concerned! Jerking his head in my direction, Mr. Astor asked, “What happened to you?”
Hope answered for me, which was just as well since my mouth had gone completely dry. Mr. Astor scared me, okay? Half of the time I thought he was going to go off like he did at the gala. I don’t want that happening again. “Her cousin happened to her.”
“He did that to you?” I nodded in response. “You should have him arrested.”
“He’s been taken in,” I said, my voice cracking.
Mr. Astor nodded awkwardly. “Good.”
***
As we waited for news on Luke, Faith fell asleep in Hope’s arms. Mr. Astor called in a passing doctor to take a look at me ‘just in case Vanessa missed something’. The doctor proclaimed that Vanessa had done a wonderful job and offered her a residency at the hospital. Vanessa refused politely.
Finally, Dr. Khan came in with the news we had all been waiting on tenterhooks for. He stood by the door, (for easy getaway if Mr. Astor tried to attack him?) a somber expression on his round face.
“Good news, everyone,” he started. I looked up at him, my heart thumping in anticipation as he continued. “The operation was a success. We managed to stop the bleeding in a timely manner. I placed a small titanium clip across the base, or neck, of the aneurysm to block the normal blood flow from entering. Now we just have to wait for him to wake up.”
Stroking Faith’s hair, Hope asked, “He will wake up, won’t he?”
Uncomfortably, Dr. Khan put his hands behind his back, rocking on his heels as he shot a nervous glance at Mr. Astor. “Mrs. Astor, Luke is in critical condition right now. At this moment, all I can say is its touch and go.
“Will you stop with the jargon and give us a straight answer?” Mr. Astor snarled, getting up from his chair.
Vanessa stood up also, flinging her arm in front of Mr. Astor as he advanced menacingly upon Dr. Khan, who stood his ground. “Astor-,” Vanessa started, grabbing hold of Mr. Astor's arm. Hope looked on with wide eyes.
“No!” Mr. Astor shook free of Vanessa's grip, poking a finger into Dr. Khan’s chest. “Ever since I started dealing with him he’s been spewing poetry or something. Tell us what's really going on. Don’t sugar coat it, for goodness sakes.”
As I watched Mr. Astor rage rudely at Dr. Khan, realisation dawned upon me. Mr. Astor's aggression came from fear, it had to. He was scared stiff that something would happen to Luke but he didn’t want anybody to know that he was scared so he masked it with rudeness and intimidation. Unwillingly, my heart went out to him.
Dr. Khan stared at Mr. Astor hard for a long minute, swallowing. Finally, just as I thought he was going to flip Mr. Astor the bird and just walk out, he started talking in a clinically detached voice, his face devoid of expression. “As you wish. Luke is in a coma.”
“He already was in one, wasn’t he?” Mr. Astor asked and I swear I saw Hope rolling her eyes.
“That was a medically induced coma, formulated to get his blood pressure back to normal since it was soaring in his unconscious state.” Dr. Khan paused for a second (dramatic effect?). “But when we finished the operation, he slipped deeper into the coma instead of coming out of it.”
Vanessa gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “Oh, no.”
“At this point, we don’t know why this is happening. The operation went as well as can be but Luke isn’t responding as I’d like. At this point, there’s nothing that we can do.”
Dr. Khan gave Mr. Astor a level look as the tension in the room rose. It was clear that the doctor hated not being able to do anything more for his patient, but Mr. Astor didn’t seem to notice that. He’s set on playing the blame game.
“Nothing?” he growled now, leaning in to Dr. Khan’s personal space. “I paid you- .”
“Mr. Astor, with all due respect. Your son is in a coma. Only he can find his way back if he chooses,” Dr. Khan stated matter-of-factly. Mr. Astor subsided and Dr. Khan continued, his voice soft and polite. “The operation may have been a success but that means nothing right now. All the money in the world can’t change that.”
Hope spoke up slowly. “So now what do we do?”
Turning to her, Dr. Khan said “We wait. And pray.” He looked around at all of us. “I mean that, if you are spiritual at all. Prayer always helps.”
“Can we see him?” Vanessa asked hopefully, standing next to her now quiet ex-husband.
Nodding, Dr. Khan said, “Yes, but I must warn you, he’s hooked up to a life support machine. It might be distressing to see him like that. But by all means, you may see him. He won’t know you’re there but your presence might have the power to bring him back.”
Our party followed Dr. Khan down the hospital hallways until we arrived at the recovery room. The door was closed and a nurse sat in the little office across from the room.
“He’s in here,” Dr. Khan told us. “I must leave you now. I have another operation to administer. If anything happens I will be paged.”
“Than
k you doctor,” Vanessa called over Mr. Astor's head as the doctor trotted down the hallway. She turned to Hope, who was carrying Faith. Faith was awake again but she still had that groggy look to her. Poor thing hadn’t nearly gotten the right amount of sleep. “Hope, do you mind if I go in with Astor? Alone?”
Hope gave Vanessa a bemused look. “What?”
Mr. Astor also shot Vanessa a ‘WTF’ look mixed with fear. He probably thinks she’s going to come at him with a syringe once they’re alone. “I’d like to explain something to him,” Vanessa elaborated, still focusing on Hope, who nodded.
“Sure.”
Grabbing Mr. Astor's hand with force, Vanessa opened the door to Luke's room and almost yanked an unwilling Mr. Astor in.
They were in the room for almost five minutes and when they emerged, Mr. Astor had tears in his eyes. Vanessa patted his shoulder as she whispered soothingly into his ear. Faith, Hope and I watched with open curiosity. What I would give to know what Vanessa said to him in there. Even though I knew that I would never know what Vanessa had said to move Mr. Astor to tears, I was glad that she had said it. Was this what it took for him to realise just how special Luke was?
I followed Hope and Faith into the recovery room, my heart in my throat as I laid eyes on Luke after what seemed like an eternity. He lay motionless in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV. An assortment of equipment was arranged around his bed, machine screens blinking and beeping away. Luke's chest rose and fell under the thin hospital sheets, the only indication that he was even breathing. Apart from the lights from the monitors and a small night light by the bedside table, the room was dark. The blinds were shut tight and I glanced around the room before looking at Luke again. Tears welled up in my eyes. Just when I thought I was all cried out... A bandage covered the top half of his head and his face was bloodless, paler than pale. He had dark smudges under his eyes and a tube had been coaxed in between his lips. I hated seeing Luke like this.