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“No. She sure the hell isn’t.” I croaked out in misery.
“Tell her about the baby.” I heard Emilie whisper in my ear. “Leedy will live for the baby.”
“Baby?” I snapped my head up. “What baby?”
But Emilie was gone.
Kid
“Move her?” Betty was saying to the doctor who was now in the room I had just burst into. “What do you mean?”
“We are going to run a few more tests over the next few days but there is no reason for us to keep her here any longer.”
“What do you mean? No reason? My niece won’t wake up. She’s lying in that hospital bed with all those tubes and monitors, and she still won’t wake up. You have to keep her here until she does.” Betty’s voice was close to panic. “You have to give her something to wake her up!”
“We are trying everything we know, Ms. Owens. We will run a few more tests, but beyond that I am sorry. She is breathing on her own, we have catheterized her, and we will arrange for a feeding tube. There will be a nurse who comes daily to exercise her limbs and keep up with motor functions. We will teach you how to do that too. There is not much more we can do for her that you cannot do at home at this point.”
“So you’re telling us, you’re going to equip this beautiful young woman with her whole life ahead of her with a Mickey tube, a shit bag, and some asshole who is going to come once a day and move her legs for her? That’s what you’re telling us, Doc?” Deke was seething.
“No. I won’t bring her home like this…she needs to wake up. You need to help her wake up. Please.” Betty pleaded and her hand clung to the doctor’s arm. He gently touched it with his own before he sighed and moved away from her.
Then the doctor slumped down on a chair, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. “I honestly can’t figure this one out myself. All indications show that she should be awake by now. I don’t understand it.”
“Well, if you don’t understand it…how the hell am I supposed to know what to do?” Betty cried out in alarm.
“She has brain function. That’s good. We have every reason to hope that eventually…”
“Oh, don’t you dare hand me that line of bullshit.” Betty cried out, and I thought for sure she was going to lay the guy flat out.
She looked at Deke and then at me. Her tone was part accusation, part hope, and part desperation when she said, “Do something.”
Deke for the first time looked like he was at a total loss. When my father looked at me for an answer I did not hesitate.
“Give her a pregnancy test.” I shot out.
“A what?” The doctor, Betty, and Deke all looked at me.
“A pregnancy test.You wouldn’t have checked for that would you?”
“No. we wouldn’t have. Not without reason.” The doctor said.
“Do it. Do it now.” I ordered and for the first time in days felt like I had some control.
He hesitated for only a moment. “We already have a bunch of blood samples from Liddy. I can call down to the lab. It should only take a moment. If you’ll excuse me?”
The doctor was back in less than ten minutes.
“Bingo.”
I smiled hard.
I took off running. I knew exactly what I had to do. I just wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to manage it.
I hurried down three corridors to the inside ramp that led to the next wing of the hospital. I turned left and right more times than I could count and ended up hopelessly lost despite the signs showing the different departments. I just couldn’t seem to find the one I needed. I stopped for a moment. I bent down and put my hands on my knees, breathed in deeply, and gathered my wits. When I looked up again. I saw it. The sign for the maternity ward. I grabbed a bunch of flowers from a nearby vase and walked into those swinging doors like I knew where I was going. I made myself slow down and smile at the people passing by. It wasn’t hard to look at ease, because in stark contrast to the floor I had just been on, everyone here was cheery and the mood was uplifting.
At the end of the long corridor was the glass case that held those babies. I had to get one of them and bring them to Liddy. I hung around the window watching the comings and goings and knew that there was no way I could sneak out a baby even for a hot minute. And actually, I probably shouldn’t. My guess is no matter what my intent, the hospital, and new moms and daddies wouldn’t take kindly to me borrowing one of their newly hatched.
“Hey man. Long time, no see.” I felt a hard hand clamp down on my shoulder. Then he looked down at the flowers in my hand. “Congratulations in order?”
