Title: A Christmas Miracle
Author: Elane
Summary: Jacqueline prays for a Christmas miracle
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own no one...
Pairings: Jacqueline/Bradshaw, Molly/Jeff, Stephanie, Amy (Lita)
Note: Kinda a sequel to Costume Party Surprises and Turkey, Stuffing, and Giving Thanks. This is focused on Jacqueline/Bradshaw... everything from the last one that was mention is carried over in this one: Stephanie/Jericho and Jacqueline/Bradshaw are married, Stephanie/Jericho is expecting a baby, and Molly/Jeff is engaged.
More Notes: I'm not a doctor... so don't complain if the medical jargon isn't right.
She sat in the small, yellow plastic chair with her head cradled in her hands. This can't be happening to her... it can't be. Not on Christmas Eve of all nights! They were supposed to be spending a quiet holiday at home and together for once, and then spend the evening with their friends. Instead she's sitting in the St. Stephan Medical Hospital's emergency room waiting room; waiting for information on her husband.
Jacqueline use to think that bad things, really bad things, didn't happen to good people; that everything had a grand purpose in life. Now she wasn't so sure. She wasn't sure about anything anymore.
"Ms. Moore?" The man walked out some double doors, that lead to the patient beds, that was located next to the registration area and waiting room.
She raised her head slowly and looked at the man in front of her. He was dressed in blue scrubs with a hair nap covering his light brown hair. "Yes..." she said. Her voice was hoarse and dry from all the crying that she had did earlier when she found out the news.
"I'm Dr. Brian Michaels," he said. He held his hand out and shook hers. Then he sat in a plastic chair across from her. "Your husband, Bradshaw, is in surgery right now. He has three broken ribs, a broken leg, his left lung collapsed, some internal bleeding, and there might be something wrong with his heart. There are two other doctors in there right now working on him too."
"Oh God," Jacqueline mumbled. She put her hand over her mouth.
"Right now," Dr. Michaels said, "they are trying to figure out were the bleeding is from and stop it as well as make sure no other damage is done."
Nodding her head silently, she put her other hand over her eyes.
Dr. Michaels frowned solemnly. "I'm sorry; we are doing what we can." He stood from his chair and went back through the double doors.
Holding out her hand, Jacqueline stared as her wedding ring. She smiled in remembrance:
"So," Bradshaw said as he looked at their linked hands, each hand adored with a ring. "We're married..."
Jacqueline smiled. They walked out of the Justice of the Peace office silently. On a whim, they decided to get married... well, not exactly on a whim. They had a wedding all planned out and everything; it's just the more her and him thought about it, the more they didn't want it. The farther along it got in planning, the more they couldn't take it back...
Yesterday, they just decided to get married. And that's why they were at the Justice of the Peace office.
Looking down at her hand, she admired her half carat diamond ring that was embedded in a silver band. It was nice, just what she wanted. It wasn't big and it wasn't small— for her. It fit her just right... and he knew it. "You have great taste."
Bradshaw nodded as he looked at her intensely. "Yes, I do."
She chuckled, "And I do too..."
"Yes, I'm lucky to have you," he said. "You are my life, Jacqueline. I love you with everything in me."
"I love you too. I'm glad we did this," Jacqueline said. "Something between you and me... the wedding planning was getting hectic and turning into everyone else's wedding, except for ours."
"Yeah," Bradshaw said. "And that's why I wanted to do this... you know we still have to do the wedding thing though."
Jacqueline laughed. "I know... but at this point, who cares?"
Bradshaw smiled. "Yeah, who cares!"
Her eyes started to water and she blinked them fiercely to keep them from slipping over. "I can't do this." As she stood from the plastic chair, the sliding doors from the outside opened.
Molly and Jeff rushed in and went to her immediately. "Jackie?" Molly said.
Jacqueline looked at the two.
Molly ran to her and gathered her into her arms and rocked her as she cried. Looking at Jeff, she silently asked him to stay here. She walked with Jacqueline to the medium chapel in the hospital; they went and closed the door behind them. Slowly they walked down the chapel to the front and sat on the first pew that was there.
"He'll be okay," Molly said. She rubbed her back up and down to soothe her. "He's strong Jackie."
"I know," Jacqueline said, "I know. I'm just scared Molly."
"I know." She took her arms away from her and held her hand. "I would be too. He would never leave you though. He loves you to much."
She nodded. They sat there in a comfortable and at the same time tense silence.
Peacefulness settled on the two, and the door to the chapel opened. Molly and Jacqueline saw Jeff there.
"Is something wrong?" Molly asked Jeff.
"Bradshaw's out of surgery and they moved him into the ICU," Jeff said. "The doctor is waiting there to talk to you about him."
Molly thanked Jeff quietly. All three left the chapel and walked to the Intensive Care Unit. There they met Dr. Michaels. Dr. Michaels took them to the small waiting room. They all sat in some chairs; Jacqueline sat in between the two. She held onto Molly hand as she prepared herself for what he had to say.
"We have Bradshaw's leg in a cast; his chest is taped up, is lung is okay... we repaired it and put him on some antibiotics. His heart is also okay... there was some internal bleeding from his liver. We stopped the bleeding, but his liver is severely damaged. He also slipped into a coma."
Jacqueline looked at the doctor with fear. "He's going to die?" She dropped Molly's hand.
"Not if we can get a liver, like within the next couple of days," Dr. Michaels said. "We put him on the recipient list for a liver. He's up there on the top, so if anything comes in that matches his type; he's one of the first that can get it."
"Can I see him?" Jacqueline asked. She stood from her chair walking away from Molly and Jeff; and was already walking to the nurse's station to be directed to his room.
"Um," Dr. Michaels said, he walked fast to catch up with her. "Sure, I'll take you to him; he's in room four." He took Jacqueline by the hand, and led her to his room.
When she walked in, she went directly to his bedside. His leg was up in a sling and cased in a cast, chest taped up, and tubes were flowing from everywhere on his body to assorted machines that were located all over the small room.
"I'll leave you alone with him," Dr. Michaels said as he slowly left the room.
"I told you not to wait until the last minute," Jacqueline said. She picked up his hand and held it in hers. "But being the man that you are... you just had to wait until the last minute to finish your Christmas shopping." She chuckled to herself. "You just couldn't do it early. I wish you never left... you wouldn't be here if you didn't." She paused as tears slowly fell from her eyes and landed on him. "Please don't leave me Bradshaw. I need you in my life." Saying nothing more, Jacqueline watched his chest slowly going up and down.
The door slowly opened and Molly stuck her head in. "Jackie? Do you want anything? Like take a walk or get something to eat?"
She needed to take her mind off of the situation and nodded her head. Standing from the chair, Jacqueline slowly walked to the door. Molly took her by her arm and took her downstairs; while Jeff stayed near the room to keep an eye on things.
As they passed through the emergency room; they saw a family in worse shape then her. The mother and father were crying in each others arms over their son's lost life.
"I feel bad for them," Jacqueline said as they kept on walking to the cafeteria. "That could have been me."
When they made it to the cafeteria, her and Molly went through the food line to get some kind of substance for the night. When they made it through; they found a booth in the corner. They sat there; Molly had a soda and Jacqueline with a cup of soup.
"I called Lita and Stephanie... they said that their prayers are with you." Molly took a sip of her soda.
Jacqueline smiled sadly. "They shouldn't be on the roads this time of night. It's snowing and the roads are icy."
"I know," Molly said. "I think they want to come, but Matt and Jericho are trying to talk them out of it because of the weather."
Jacqueline used her plastic spoon and stirred her soup. She began to eat some slowly. "I don't want anything to happen to them... especially Stephanie and her baby."
Molly nodded in agreement.
Looking up at the clock, Jacqueline saw that it was a little after two o'clock. "It's Christmas Day..."
A peaceful silence settled between the two. Molly kept drinking her soda as Jacqueline continued with her soup. Thirty minutes at the most passed, when a static sound came overhead followed by a voice. "Code Blue... ICU 4. Code Blue... ICU 4. Code Blue... ICU 4."
Jacqueline stopped eating her soup. "That's Bradshaw's room." She stood from the booth rapidly. She got half way across the cafeteria before she stopped dead in her tracks. "I can't do it," she whispered.
Molly quickly went to her and they went to the chapel to pray. They sat in the same pew as before and locked hands and closed their eyes. Before any one could say anything, the door opened.
Both looked back to see Stephanie and Lita walk in. They sat in the same pew; Stephanie next to Jacqueline, then Lita, and last Molly. All four women clapped their hands together, lower their heads, and closed each and every eye.
*******
"We were very lucky," Dr. Michaels said. "He wasn't in that much pain when he coded because of the coma."
Jacqueline sat in a small chair in a small consultation room near the Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Michaels was trying to explain the whole situation to her. Though at this moment, it was the last thing she could concentrate on.
"A family downstairs in the emergency room decided to donate their son's organs. Bradshaw happen to be a match for his liver," he continued. "After he coded, we stabilized him and he had... a few days, two or three to the max, to survive with his own liver. So we were very lucky."
She smiled to herself. Jacqueline knew she was blessed. "Can I see him now?" she asked Dr. Michaels.
He smiled with relief. "Yes, he came out of his coma a couple of minutes ago, but he's quite sleepy though. We put him on some pain medication, because he's still in pain from the earlier injuries. He's still in the same room."
Jacqueline walked out of the room. As she neared Bradshaw's room, she met up with Lita and Stephanie who she gave each a hug to. "Thank you for being here guys. I really needed your strength... and you guys helped me through this thing."
Stephanie smiled and hugged her again. "We could never let you got through this alone..."
"Goodness, Jackie, you know we love you and want to be there for you," Lita said. She smiled too.
Jacqueline chuckled to herself and then went to Bradshaw's room. She sat in the plastic chair and held on to his hand once again. With her other hand, she caressed his soft black hair. Her hand stopped on his cheek. "I love you, Bradshaw." She leaned over and kissed his chapped lips.
"I love you Jacqueline," he whispered and settled in to a serene sleep.