Chapter 4
Rated M
Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows. It really means a lot to me. Hope this explains your concerns from Ch3.
That night, Jacob lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Over and over in his mind, he played back the cafeteria conversation in his mind. He knew he had a guilty conscience for having imprinted on Bella, but was it obvious to his brother-in-law? It couldn't have been. They barely spoke for 5 minutes and nothing out of the usual happened between them. He flopped over and stared at the wall. He was at a loss with what to do with the situation.
He could hear Paul and Rachel whispering in the guest room. It was getting a little louder and they were clearly trying to keep it too low for him to hear.
"What is your deal, Paul? Ever since you guys got back, you and Jacob haven't said a single word to each other," Rachel asked.
"I don't know. Something happened at the hospital. We met one of Jake's friends. A nurse. A nurse who happens to be young, and really pretty. She's all friendly with Jake, I guess. I mean, Christa's your sister-in-law, and the mother of my nephew. While Christa lays there day in and day out fighting for her life, Jake is off making buddy/buddy with one of the nurses," Paul said.
"Is my brother not trustworthy all of the sudden? Isn't he allowed to have someone to confide in?" she defended her brother.
"Why can't he talk to us? He always tells us he's fine. Why does he need to air it out to some stranger at the hospital?" Paul fired back.
"Oh? So this is about you? Why isn't Jake coming to you with his problems?" she retorted. "Really, Paul? Please tell me that is not what you are getting at!"
"Of course not. I don't know. I guess it sounds dumb when you say it like that. I should apologize to Jake for reacting like that. Me being a jerk at the hospital is the last thing he needs right now," Paul answered, feeling like a big fat jerk.
Jacob was relieved to hear their discussion. The pathetic part was Paul should've been mad at him, only he didn't know why. The conversations they had been having lately were getting more personal. As much as Jacob would like to deny the truth in that, he couldn't.
Turning to the other side, Jacob curled up with Christa's pillow and finally went to sleep.
In the morning, Paul set out to make things right with Jacob first thing.
"Hey man, sorry I was an ass yesterday. That was a jerk move, especially at the hospital," Paul apologized, holding his hand out to shake with Jacob.
"I understand. She's a nice person, and she's really helped a lot," Jacob said, as he reached around and hugged Paul instead.
"Ugh. Get off me," Paul smiled, as he pushed away from Jacob and headed into the kitchen to pester Rachel while she made breakfast.
"Paul, touch me again while I'm cooking and that'll be the last time," Rachel laughed.
Jacob leaned against the door jamb and smiled at them. JJ and Leena were sitting at the table, Leena in her high chair. JJ hopped up and headed over to give Jacob a big hug and a syrupy kiss.
Discreetly, Jacob wiped the sticky kiss away and hugged his son.
"Daddy, can you give mommy a big kiss from me and tell her how much I miss her. Also, don't tell her that Uncle Paul knocked over her pretty white vase and broke it last night, cuz he told me not to tell anybody," JJ said with bright eyes.
All of the adults laughed, as Jacob promised to let mommy know. Then he walked over to hug Rachel, and give Paul a punch to the arm.
"Take it easy on my house, P. Jeez!" Jacob rolled his eyes and headed out the door.
As he sat in the car, he contemplated taking out his phone and texting Bella to see if she'd arrived safely in Florida. He decided against it, and put the shifter in reverse.
His phone rang a few minutes later. He answered without looking at the screen.
"Is this Mr. Black?" the woman asked.
"Yes, this is him," he answered.
"This is Beth from Swedish Medical," she answered. He rolled his eyes. He knew what hospital she was from for crying out loud. "Christa is not doing well. You probably want to come to the hospital right away. We're having a difficult time stabilizing her oxygen levels."
His heart rose in his throat. Oh god. Not today, not now.
"I'm already on my way there," he choked out and dropped the phone into the cup holder. It only took him several more minutes to pull into the parking lot before he ran past the desk. He was there so often whoever was at the desk had to know who he was there to see. If not, he'd sort that out later. His only priority was upstairs suffering.
Impatiently, he waited outside her room. When there was an issue such as this, only hospital personnel were allowed in the room. He would be ready to go in the room the moment they let him.
He texted his family, and some of the pack. He finally swallowed and pulled Bella's number out from his wallet. Right as he tapped her number in, Janie came out of the room.
"Jacob, she's okay. Somehow her breathing tube slipped out of place. It's good now," she reassured him, as she reached out and patted his shoulder. She stepped to the side as a portable machine was wheeled out of the room. Jacob wondered what it was but didn't really care if it meant he could go in to see Christa. He turned his body in the chair, to peer into the room. He looked back at Janie, seeking permission with his eyes.
"Give the rest of the team time to come out and then you can go in," she said.
"Thanks so much," he said sincerely.
He had already began the text to Bella, so he went ahead and finished it off.
Hi, this is Jake. Just had a scare. Everything's good now.
A few more people walked out and then the pulmonologist headed out to talk to him about all that had happened. Jacob's head buzzed with all of the words he said. He felt as though the man was speaking a foreign language. He kept asking Jacob something, but Jacob just felt confused and puzzled. He looked around for Janie, maybe she could help him.
The next moment, Jacob slipped to the floor. Rachel had just walked in the double doors with Paul. They both ran to him, as the doctor reached down to check him out, while calling out for assistance.
"Oh my gosh! What's happened?" Rachel asked panicked as to why she just witnessed her brother passing out. He texted and said something had come up so they rushed right here leaving the kids with Billy and Brady. Had something horrible happened? "Jake? Jake? Are you ok?"
Jacob opened his eyes and looked around him, a bit confused as to how Paul and Rachel were here and why he was laying on the ground.
"What happened?" he asked.
"You fainted, I guess, little brother. Thanks for scaring the crap out of me! How's Christa?" she asked, not wasting another moment now that he was awake.
"She's ok. Her breathing tube slipped and they had to fix it. The doctor was talking to me and all of the sudden, I couldn't understand a word he was saying. It was really weird," Jacob admitted. He took a deep breath and started to get to his feet. Paul reached out to steady him and help him into the chair.
Janie rushed over with a couple of juices and water bottles for him. She watched over him and made him get plenty to drink, then asked him a few questions about his breakfast and dinner the night before. Jacob hung his head and admitted he had skipped breakfast and had eaten only part of his dinner.
She walked away and came back with an apple and banana for him to eat. "A big guy like you burns a lot of calories. You can't neglect yourself. Christa wouldn't want you to," she said, with a motherly tone to her voice.
They all scrubbed themselves before heading into the room. Usually there was a 2 person visitation rule, but it seemed they were ignoring that for the time being. No one was sure how much longer Christa could fight.
A little while later, Rachel got a text from Brady that Leena wouldn't calm down. So she and Paul left Jacob with the promise that they'd be right back if anything changed.
Jacob leaned back in his chair and took his phone out of his pocket. It felt like he'd gotten a thousand texts from various pack members and imprints. They were obviously all in contact because the most recent texts from them all said how glad they were to hear things were all right.
The last text Jacob read was from Bella. It said she had called and talked to Janie and was glad things seemed to be okay. She told him he could call her anytime if he needed to talk and she already missed their coffee chat time. Her mother's coffee was something compared to even the hospital's coffee, she'd said. She sent a few more texts saying that she'd arrived safely in Florida and had finished reading a very interesting book on the Quileute on the plane ride.
Jacob chuckled at that message. He didn't know what legends and traditions she had read about, but he highly doubted that she'd believe the reality of it all. Especially that he shifted into a wolf and was the alpha of the pack. Moreover, he had imprinted on her and that according to their histories and legends, she was his soulmate.
Looking at Christa, he wondered how this could be true. He still loved her just as much as he did on their wedding day. His heart ached knowing that their lives together could end much too soon.
Gently, he rested his head on her stomach and looked up at her rising chest. If it weren't for the miracle of modern medicine, she wouldn't be alive right now. Now he was depending on a bigger miracle to save her life. Even if she did get the lung transplant, it wasn't a quick fix. He turned his face and nuzzled his nose against her. Then he stood, planted a lingering kiss to her forehead before walking out the door.
Jacob went to the cafeteria and loaded a plate with the lunch buffet. He made sure to get a variety of food. Janie was right, he needed to keep himself in good shape for Christa. There was no way he could drop like a fly every time he got stressed.
While he sat eating at his and Bella's usual table, he contemplated that he had a "usual table." It certainly seemed odd, but there were plenty of other employees and patients that had their own spots as well. Whatever. He liked this spot by the window. He could see what was going on, and he liked the pretty trees. It wasn't a forest or anything like home, he was in Seattle after all.
He pulled his phone out and went ahead and called Bella.
"Jake, how are you?" she asked, picking up on the first ring.
"I'm ok. Sitting at our table, eating lunch," he said.
"Good. It's a while past lunch time though. I heard Janie gave her part of her snack since you passed out of the floor. I told you that you need to take better care of yourself," she chastised him gently.
"I know, I know. I didn't sleep real great last night, and Paul & I rushed out of here last night, so I wanted to hurry and get back," he responded. "I've eaten plenty of food for lunch and I included all of the food groups too."
"Okay. I'm proud of you. You're such a good boy," she laughed, as she teased him, feeling a little bad for getting on him like that.
He laughed back and without thinking ate more of the food on his plate. They talked about her trip and how her visit was going with her mother. She had told him before that she and her mom weren't real close. After growing up with her father, Charlie, they never really grew too close. She loved her mom, but it wasn't an effortless relationship.
Her voice was calming to him and when she was with him, he didn't worry so much about Christa. He looked down to grab another grape, and realized that all of his food was gone. He was surprised at this.
Jacob's phone beeped indicating he was getting an incoming call. He pulled the phone away a little and looked at the caller ID. It said the hospital was calling.
"Bella, I've got to go, somebody's calling me from here," he said and then immediately switched the call.
"I'm in the cafeteria," he said without preamble.
"Get up here," was the simple response.
He dashed out of the room and up the stairway to Christa's floor. Again he had to sit and wait in sheer terror outside of her room. People sprinted into her room not long after he had heard the "code blue" called. That was a first, but he wasn't in the hospital before when things had gone awry.
He stayed out of the way, but paced the halls. The conversations in the room were too much for him to take, so he tuned them out. He texted Rachel and said, "Get here. I'm not texting anyone else." Inside, he was so frantic that he couldn't get his shaking fingers to tap the right buttons. It felt like his fingertips were the size of quarters and the buttons the size of pinhead.
His phone buzzed with an "ok" from Rachel and then again with a text from Bella.
On my way to airport. Praying for you both.
He wanted to tell her not to come, but it was only a day and he already felt edgy without her nearby.
It was about 20 minutes of pure agony before Rachel and Paul arrived to sit with him.
Paul stood outside the door to listen in on the conversation about Christa. It seemed she had taken a turn for the worse and they were trying to figure out how to make sure she was absorbing the oxygen they were giving to her. They could no longer increase the amount she was being given through her tube.
It was at least an hour later, that people began slowly trickling out of the room. Janie had stopped to give Jacob a hug.
Finally, the last person came out and told them they could come back in. All of the equipment surrounding Christa had changed. The woman explained to Jacob patiently all about the exchange of gases in Christa's lungs, and how due to her disease, it wasn't happening like it would with healthy lungs. The tubes Christa was hooked up to breathed for her. They pumped in the oxygen and pumped out the carbon dioxide. But the lungs had to do the work to convert the gases. Unfortunately, that wasn't happening right. It would only be a matter of time before things became worse. No one was sure how long it would be before that process halted altogether.
Even though inside Jacob wanted to sit in that chair and cry for hours, he was able to pull himself together to talk to his wife.
"Babe, you really scared the crap out of me. I hope you're okay. You can't leave us," he sniffled. "Who will keep me on my toes? Who will chase after me to stop being a slob?" Silently, the tears poured out of his eyes. He looked up at Paul and Rachel standing on the other side of the bed. He seemed shocked at first they were there, but then wiped his eyes and grabbed a tissue to blow his nose.
"I need one of those too," Rachel said, reaching over Jacob to grab a tissue from the box.
"What will I do without her?" he asked.
"We've still got her, Jake. We're not letting her give this fight up, or you either," Rachel reassured him. She walked around the bed and hugged him tightly. Paul stood behind her and held his warm hands on her hips.
"We're a family, Jake. No matter what," Paul said, the sound of residual sniffles in his voice as well. Jacob and Christa were like a brother and sister to him and he was so sad to watch his wife and them both go through all of this heartache.
Eventually, Paul and Rachel headed off for the night. The hospital had brought in a vinyl recliner for Jacob to use, so he could stay the night with Christa. He leaned back and got as comfortable as possible in the much too small chair. A man that was 6'4" didn't really do so well in a recliner this size. He sighed, at least it was better than the office chair that had been in here before. His fingers lightly laying on top of Christa's as he dozed off.