by Barbara Ebel
Danny bit his lip. What did she know about his problems anyway?
“See you later, sweetheart,” he said as Julia gave Rachel a hug. Danny left as mother and daughter headed towards the apartment.
“I have a huge surprise for you,” Rachel said when Danny was gone. “I found the most fun four-legged playmate for you ever!”
Julia’s eyes grew wide as saucers, and she jumped up and down as Rachel opened the door. The beagle Rachel had bought ran across the room to both of them.
Julia giggled with delight as the dog excitedly wagged its tail and curiously sniffed her shoes.
“It’s a girl dog,” Rachel said, “and since she’s yours, you should give her a name.”
“She’s mine?” Julia asked in near disbelief.
“All yours.”
The dog’s attention went to the youngster’s face and quickly darted out her tongue, swiping Julia’s chin.
After a stream of giggling, Julia wrapped her arms around the dog’s neck and squeezed. “She’s little like me.”
“And she’s all potty-trained just like you, too. You both are big girls. So … what would you like to name her?”
“Mommy, she’s like Charlie Brown’s dog. Can I name her Snoopy?”
“Ask your dog.”
“Snoopy?” she said, looking into the dog’s alert eyes. In a moment, the dog licked her face again.
“I think you made an excellent choice,” Rachel said. “She likes that. I think Snoopy is going to be your own lovable pal for a long time.”
-----
“I hope today is a better Monday than last week’s,” Danny said as he joined Casey in the parking lot. They had both left for work at the same time, Casey earlier than normal to meet his new partner and hopefully have a cup of coffee with him.
“I’m lucky I was cleared by the surgeon so soon,” Casey said, “and I’m happy to get back.” He looked at his newest bandage, a thin wrap with a small strip of Velcro meant only as protection until another hand surgeon’s visit as the end of his finger had healed nicely so far.
“And I hope that my new partner is as easy to get along with as Mark,” Casey added.
“Since you’re easygoing,” Danny said, “you shouldn’t have any problem.”
The day was warming up quickly and, as Casey unzipped his leather jacket, they neared the rear entrance. The back door of his ambulance was open and someone wearing a paramedic’s uniform was hunched over a clipboard looking inside.
“You must be Tony,” Casey said.
“Yes, I surely am,” said Mark’s replacement with an unmistakable southern drawl.
“Oh,” Casey said when the person straightened up and was unmistakably female. “You must be a Tony with an ‘i.’”
“Yes, Toni with an ‘i.’” She shook his hand firmly.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Casey and this is Dr. Tilson, one of the neurosurgeons here.”
Danny smiled. “Good luck with your new job. You’ll be working with one of the finest.”
She took her foot down off the back bumper and Danny figured her to be a full-figured size ten, maybe thirty-two years old. She wore a clip in her hair, stylish and unique, but her primary asset was perfect white and straight teeth; a smile she wasn’t shy to display as she shook his hand.
“I better get going,” Danny said, “if I want to get a cup of coffee on the run.”
“We’ll be quick behind ya,” Toni said. “Can’t work with Mr. Casey until I’ve downed some myself.”
Danny walked through the double doors, wondering what his best friend was thinking about his new partner.
-----
Danny admitted it to himself: He’d been giving David Bell preferential treatment. Maybe not totally preferential, but certainly more attentive time. He had even skipped one night he was supposed to go to the gym with Casey and, instead, spent an hour in the ICU scrutinizing every detail of David’s care. When he went home, he poured extra time into researching new neurosurgery and neurology information on comatose traumatic brain-injured patients.
He stopped in the ER coffee room after leaving Casey and his new partner, displaced the coffeepot, and let the dripping brew fall into a cup. As he took a sip, he remembered why he was addicted. It was, by far, a liquid drink better than Tennessee whiskey and the glory of it was you could drink it on the job.
No one was in the room so he leaned against the counter and thought about his next step with David. His patient was young and medically healthy except for the present circumstances but the time had come to consider full nutritional replacement for him; he could stay in a coma for a long time and his metabolic needs needed to be replaced.
Danny decided his first chore after seeing the young man was to start a central line or very large IV into a main vein where they could infuse TPN. The total parenteral nutrition could help ward off too much weight loss; if David lost even thirty-percent of his weight, statistics indicated his chances for mortality increased.
When he finished half his coffee, his pager beeped; he returned the call to the ICU from the main ER desk.
“Dr. Tilson, this is Charlotte, taking care of David Bell. His eyes opened within the last half hour and he’s responding to commands.”
“What?” he asked in amazement.
“David Bell is aware of his surroundings.”
He could hardly believe it. David would defy all odds if it were true.
“I’m on my way,” Danny said.
After dumping out the remaining coffee, he hurried up the stairs. When he entered David’s room, the ICU nurse was adjusting new tape to an IV on his arm and talking to him in a reassuring tone.
David’s eyes were only slightly open as if he craved sleep. He looked at Charlotte, they gave each other a tiny smile, and she stepped to the side.
“David, it’s Dr. Tilson.” Danny put his hand into the youth’s left palm. “Squeeze my hand.”
David’s fingers weakly enclosed Danny’s and slightly pressed.
I’ll be damned, Danny thought. He could swear this qualified as a medical miracle.
“Very nice,” Danny said. At the bottom of the bed, he asked David to wiggle his toes. After checking out reflexes and being satisfied, Danny finally allowed himself to really smile.
“David,” he said, leaning close, “I have to evaluate your condition slowly this morning but, perhaps in a day or two, we can take out that breathing tube. You have had a brain injury and you’ve been here more than a week. Bear with us, keep optimistic, and let’s get you better.”
With renewed vigor, Danny walked out and over to a private corner. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Annabel. “Hi, honey,” he said when he reached her voicemail. “I’m cautious, yet optimistic. David has opened his eyes. I know you are not talking to me but I just wanted you to know.”
Next, Danny went to his patient’s chart. He opened it up to the personal information and called David’s parents. Mrs. Bell picked up and Danny gave her the same cautious update on her son’s condition.
“Mrs. Bell, at the moment, David’s waking up is extraordinary. It’s the turnaround we’ve been waiting for so let’s say a prayer he continues making progress.”
The outpouring of warmth and gratitude from Tara Bell made Danny lower himself into a chair and savor every word. He listened as she expressed newfound hope like grabbing onto the last life jacket on a sinking ship.
After finishing all his work in the ICU, Danny strolled to the chapel. It was one thing to pray for help but a different thing all together to give thanks for prayers answered.
-----
Before going home, Danny called ahead to ask everyone to dinner.
“Let’s get last week’s bad luck behind us,” he told Sara. “I’ll spring for anywhere you all would like to go.”
After speaking with Sara, Nancy said she would stay home to mind Julia. His littlest girl was going on three years old but her ‘terrible two’s’ were getting worse instead of better an
d it wouldn’t be fun if she acted out during their dinner. Danny always tried to give her slack because she had been abused but, after coming home from Rachel’s last night, she had been mean-spirited with Dakota and he didn’t know what to make of her behavior.
At seven o’clock, Danny met Sara, Casey and Mary in the front entrance of a southern-style restaurant.
“Did you have a nice day?” he asked, taking Sara’s hand.
“I actually did. It was a test day for my students and I’ve already started grading their papers.”
“Glad to hear it. And glad this date worked at the last minute.”
“And glad you both could make it,” Danny said to Casey and Mary. A waiter signaled for them to follow and they asked for a window table.
After they ordered and a bottle of wine arrived, Casey made a toast. “To the two of you. We’re sorry about your recent miscarriage. Don’t worry. Since we’re all growing older together, there will be lots of happy times ahead.”
With water for Mary and wine for everyone else, they clinked glasses together. Sara put her elbow on the table and motioned with her hand. “I was miserable last week but I feel a lot better now. Support from you both has helped and, of course, you too, Danny.”
Danny put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed. “That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile since last week.”
“So,” Danny said. “I have big news. But Casey, you come first. How did the first day go with your new partner?”
“Yes,” Mary chimed in. “You haven’t mentioned it yet.”
Casey leaned towards his wife, admiring her; she wore her hair loosely tied with a scarf and seemed to glow.
“You won’t believe it,” he said. “I’ve been paired with a confident and energetic woman. I think work has just gotten more interesting.”
“A woman?” Mary asked, putting her glass down.
“Toni with an ‘i,’” Danny responded.
“You met her?” Sara asked as both women looked at him.
“I did.”
“All right,” Sara said to Casey. “You and your partner are synonymous to cops in a patrol car. You spend a lot of time together. So … what does she look like?” Sara glanced at Mary. She was asking the question for both of them.
Casey finished a sip of wine. “Do you all remember at all,” he asked in a hushed tone, “what Marilyn Monroe looked like?”
Sara and Mary exchanged serious looks as Casey tapped his glass.
“She doesn’t look like her at all.”
“Oh, Casey Hamilton,” Mary said, poking his arm.
“Don’t worry, ladies. I love you two the most and no sassy paramedic can take your place. As long as she can pull her weight and do a better than average job, that’s what’s important.”
“It’s not like I was jealous or anything,” Mary said. “I’d rather know the situation right now before I’m blindsided. Plus, it’s time to make a toast for your future paramedic teamwork.”
Chapter 10
“So how far along is Mark Cunningham with the litigation against Rachel?” Danny asked while a waiter placed étouffée down in front of his brother-in-law.
“We’re in the paperwork stage,” Casey said. “I’m gathering the medical bills for him.”
“When and if you go to court, I’d like to go,” Mary said. “It’s bad enough Danny suffers with her all the time but now she’s impacted the two of us. It’s horrid … you losing most of your finger. Even if she didn’t plan on doing it, I’d like to see an empathetic judge give her hell.”
“Dear sister, don’t get your hopes up,” Danny said as he stirred together shrimp and grits.
“I agree with Mary,” Sara said. “She deserves more than the broken face she got last year. Why don’t you claim post-traumatic stress disorder from the trauma of the accident? You could be so afraid to put your hand anywhere that you can’t do your job.”
“And then you would have to take a permanent medical leave from being a paramedic and sue her for future wages,” Mary said.
“My, my,” Casey said, “how do you women come up with these schemes? But then what would I do?”
Sara shrugged. “Well, for one, you two can start having babies. Better late than sorry.”
Grinning, Mary shot a glance her way.
“Oh … is that smile for a reason?” Sara asked.
Mary gave Sara and Danny a sheepish look. “We didn’t want to tell you both yet.”
“We felt so bad about your miscarriage, we just couldn’t say anything,” Casey chimed in.
“But we’re the first to know?” Sara asked.
Mary nodded affirmatively and Danny put his fork down. He stretched his hands over to Mary and clasped hers in his.
“Congratulations, sis. Congratulations to the both of you.”
Beaming, Sara waved her hand at Danny. “You’re going to be an uncle and I’m as good as an aunt.”
“Only if the upcoming months go well,” Mary said. “As we know, a pregnancy doesn’t necessarily mean it will go to term.”
Danny still held his sister’s hand. “It’s going to go fine; I can feel it in my bones. If only … if only Mom and Dad were alive. They’d be thrilled.”
Mary’s eyes twinkled. “I could see them hoarding time with our baby so I wouldn’t have enough time with it myself.”
“They were something else with the girls when they were small,” Danny said.
The waiter stopped at their table. “Satisfied with your food?”
Everyone nodded. “Yes,” Danny said, “very nice.”
“Good. Let me know if you need anything else,” he said. When he stepped away, Mary went back to her salad and bourbon chicken.
“So, I have fantastic news from today,” Danny said. “David Bell woke up from his coma.”
“Didn’t you say his chances were poor?” Sara asked with surprise.
“As bad as they get. But it’s not like he’s wide awake; he’s had a major brain injury. His progress now will be so unpredictable, I have pins and needles just thinking about it.”
“Nice work. But how did you turn his outcome around?”
“I treated him with all the usual tricks in the bag to decrease brain edema - hyperventilation, osmotic diuretic.” Danny looked up. “Sorry, ladies, that’s more detail than you need.”
“That’s okay,” Mary said. “That’s like when I tell you how I use certain techniques and mixture of colors on my canvases and you have no idea what I’m talking about. With all our fields, what matters to others is the end result, not the journey. Like David’s parents, they won’t know the skill or decision-making you used to cause their son to wake up. They just care that he has.”
“This is true,” Casey said.
“I agree,” Sara said. “And besides David’s parents, does Annabel even know this news since she’s not talking to you?”
“I called her but she didn’t pick up,” he said, dabbing a piece of bread in the sauce. “I left a voicemail which is an impersonal way to tell her. I wish I knew what’s going on in her mind.”
Danny glanced at Sara. “Is she talking with you?”
“We talked over the weekend. She sounds despondent but I assured her David was receiving good care. All she said was, ‘Yeah, the same care that got him in the ICU to begin with.’”
Danny grimaced.
“I’m sorry, Danny,” Sara said. “Our daughter, or people in general, will perceive things from their own perspective and sometimes there is nothing you can do to make them see the light. It’s like trying to drive through a brick wall.”
-----
“Was Julia polite with you tonight?” Danny asked Nancy when they got home.
Watching TV and eating potato chips, she looked over from the couch. “She was overbearing, Dad. I thought about dropping her off at your table in the restaurant.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“When I put her to bed, she said she wanted to go home to her mother�
��s. Did you know she has a new dog at Rachel’s? Its name is Snoopy and she made a big deal that she named it.”
Her parents exchanged glances. “No, I didn’t know that,” Danny said just as his cell phone rang.
“It’s Annabel,” he said and answered right away. With Sara following him, he walked into the bedroom.
“I got your message today,” she said softly. “I’m just leaving the hospital. I’ve been sitting with him. I just wanted you to know.”
“I bet you perked up his spirits.”
“He shouldn’t be where he is to start with,” she said, annoyed. “But what do you think is going to happen to him?”
With just a slight shake of his head and a frown, Danny let Sara know that Annabel was still holding a grudge. “It’s hard to say but I never expected him to come out of a coma this soon, if at all. Keep your fingers crossed or, better yet, say a prayer.”
“I don’t have a choice,” she mumbled. “Tell mom I said hello. Bye.”
When Danny hung up, he put his wallet and things on the dresser. “At least she’s talking to me,” he said.
“She’s being hard on you and she better straighten out.”
Danny sank next to her on the bed. Putting his hand across to her opposite shoulder, they both laid back. “Are you back on birth control?” he asked.
“I am.”
“Good. I guess now we’ll leave the baby-making to Mary and Casey.”
“Yes. That may be for the best, although they’re no youngsters anymore either.”
They lay on their sides facing each other and entwined their legs. Sara moved closer and grasped Danny for an embrace; after they kissed, each article of clothing came off one at a time. Danny turned off the nightstand light and they burrowed under the covers.
“This is going to be the perfect ending to a long day,” he said.
Sara brought her hand down to his thigh and then inched it over to his hardness. Their mouths joined again while Danny pulled her closer. In a few minutes, he whispered in her ear. “I’m so grateful for the day I met you.”
By the time they fell asleep, he no longer thought about the possible problems Annabel’s boyfriend would be facing.