Chapter 4
Miranda spent an unpleasant hour speaking to police about Andrea's accident and the subsequent investigation. The police seemed to believe that Andy had been forced off of the road by another car. Miranda's instincts told her that this had something to do with Andrea's new book.
After Madeleine's birth, Andrea had become obsessed with finding out what happened to her mother's younger sister Elise who had disappeared when Andy was fifteen. That investigation was what brought her wife back to Ohio for the first time in years. Given the circumstances, the police decided to post an officer outside of Andy's room and another at the main entrance. Miranda, whose number one priority was keeping her family safe, decided she wanted additional security. After a quick call to a friend, she had a recommendation for a local security company that she could trust. After a fifteen-minute, a whole security team was being dispatched to the hospital to guard Andrea twenty-four hours a day until she was out of danger.
Miranda heard the officer outside tell someone that they could not enter Andy's hospital suite. When she heard a woman respond that this was her daughter's room, she knew that she had a decision to make. In the end, it was no decision at all. Those letters were concrete proof of Andrea's desire to reconnect with her parents. She loved Andrea with all of her heart and she would do her best to extend that love to the woman who had given her life.
Miranda walked into the hall and spoke to the officer, "You may add Mrs. Sach to the list of people allowed in Andrea's room."
She also informed him of the additional security arrangements she made to ensure Andrea's safety. The officer looked relieved as he commented that he had worked with people from the firm before and that they were very good at what they did. That actually made Miranda feel better about her decision to not to just rely on two police officers to protect her Andrea.
Miranda turned and walked back into Andrea's room to find Ellen standing next to Andrea's bed holding her daughter's hand. Before she could speak
Ellen looked at her, clearly, the woman had been crying, and said: "Thank you, Miranda."
Miranda was willing to forgive but she did not have to make it easy.
"And what precisely are you thanking me for," Miranda said with an edge to her voice. Apparently, "La Priestly," was not on permanent vacation after all.
Ellen winced slightly at the tone and look on her daughter-in-law's face.
"I know that I deserve that and much more," Ellen spoke with her head down. She was having trouble maintaining eye contact at the moment.
The woman forced herself to look up and meet Miranda's eyes and spoke,
"Thank you for loving my daughter."
"Thank you for picking up the pieces from my and Jack's poor judgment."
"Thank you for giving my daughter the family she always wanted and deserves."
"Thank you for healing the worst wound my daughter ever suffered by giving her three daughter she loves and cherishes."
"Thank for giving me three granddaughters when I believed that I would have none."
It was not lost on Miranda that Ellen had included their twins in her list of granddaughters. She gave a slight nod acknowledging the wisdom of the gesture and the heartfelt words.
Ellen finished by saying, "and most of all thank you for giving my daughter a wonderful life."
Miranda looked at Ellen and said, "It is Andrea who has given me a wonderful life and I cannot bear the thought of living the rest of my life without her."
At that moment Dr. Stern breezed into the room, picked up Andrea's chart, and consulted it for several moments. Finally, she looked at the two expectant women and said, "I am pleased with the progress Andy is making."
Miranda, whose patience was running thin, asked, "Then why has she not woken up?"
Dr. Stern whose patience was nearly infinite was not put off by the concerns of her patient's spouse. Besides she knew who Miranda Priestly was and her legendary reputation for having incredibly high expectations. Instead of seeing the dragon lady in front of her she simply saw a woman who was deathly afraid of losing the love of her life. Dr. Stern motioned the two woman over to a comfortable couch and took the chair facing them both.
"The human brain is still a great mystery to us in many ways. Andy's brain was shaken during the crash but every sign tells me that it is healing, but she needs time."
"I can't tell you if it will be four hours of four days before she wakes up. What I can tell you with some certainty is that she will come out of this and that her brain scans are consistent with the scan she had six months ago."
Anna Stern knew Miranda was a smart woman and judging by her rapt attention Andy's mother was following the conversation just fine. Then Mrs. Sachs surprised her by asking a question about Andy's intracranial pressure. Dr. Stern answered the question in a way that appeared to satisfy Ellen. Anna gave her a questioning look as Ellen let out a long breath in apparent relief.
With her curiosity peaked, Anna asked, "Do you have medical training Mrs. Sachs?"
Miranda looked at her mother-in-law with a raised eyebrow as Andrea had never mentioned that her mother had studied medicine.
Ellen looked a little sheepish before she spoke, "I dropped out of my last year of medical school after I got pregnant with Andy."
"I had every intention of going back but it just never happened."
Anna felt an instant bond. She had been faced with a similar decision when she was pre-med. She had chosen to abort rather than risk losing her life-long goals. Miranda's opinion of Andrea's mother ticked up another notch as she concluded that she had held back this story to avoid making her daughter feel guilty. At a similar age, Miranda knew she wouldn't have let anything get in the way of pursuing her dreams. She also realized that she would make a different choice now. If Andrea or their girls needed her too she would walk away from Runway without a backward glance. The fact that her legacy in fashion was cemented would make it much easier to walk away whenever the time came.
Anna felt an unexpected pull towards Ellen, which compelled her to share the choice that she made in a similar situation. She did not regret the decision but she felt the need to connect to the other woman. She was surprised when Ellen reached out and touched her arm in an attempt to provide comfort. The kind gesture touched her deeply. Miranda noticed the interaction between the two women but decided to file the information away for later analysis.
In the end, both women had been satisfied with Dr. Stern's explanation that Andrea really was getting better. They also knew they would need to be patient. After Dr. Stern left the room, Miranda excused herself so she could call her girls and check in with her Runway staff. Ellen sat next to her daughter and held her hand regretting the distance that had come between them and hoping Andy would give her a chance to make amends.
As Miranda reentered Andrea's room she stopped short and observed Ellen's interaction with her unconscious daughter. The woman clearly was emotional but Miranda thought that guilt was the emotion driving her at the moment. She turned around to give her mother-in-law, she supposed she would have to get used to thinking of the woman in those terms, some private time with her daughter. She opened her phone and arranged for dinner. Contrary to popular opinion Miranda was very capable of doing such things for herself, she simply did not usually waste her precious time on such mundane activities. She found a place that her wife had always raved about and talked them into delivering some of Andrea's favorite dishes, assuming that her mother had similar tastes. She walked back into the room and could see Ellen had been crying but it looked like it had helped.
"I ordered us dinner from Ray's," Miranda said quietly.
Ellen looked up surprised and commented, "But they don't deliver."
Miranda chuckled lightly at the look of surprise on a face so reminiscent of her Andrea's.
"I can be very persuasive at times," Miranda commented dryly. That drew a genuine laugh from the other woman.
"Yes, Andy told me stories about your methods of persuasion," Ellen responded.
Miranda fought the urge to defend her prior actions. She was willing to let this woman into her and her family's life because of who she was to Andrea but she would not explain or defend her relationship with Andrea either working or personal. The two women sat in relative silence while waiting for the food to arrive.
After the food arrived, Ellen was surprised to see some of her favorite dishes spread out before her. That is when she realized that these were also Andy's favorites. The thought triggered another wave of longing and regret. She missed Andy so much and she should have never let anything come between them. She also noted that Miranda loved her daughter enough to know what her favorite restaurant was here and what she would order for herself.
After dinner, Ellen shared stories from Andy's youth. Miranda was thoroughly charmed hearing these stories from Andrea's childhood. She knew a few of the stories from Andrea's perspective but hearing Ellen tell them made her think of her twins when they were younger and her youngest who looked so much like the pictures of Andrea at that age. That thought prompted her to pull out her phone, select the correct folder, and hand it over to Ellen. Ellen looked at the first picture, grinned, and began swiping through the pictures of her daughter's family. In everyone there were so many smiles, everyone was so happy and Ellen knew that she wanted to be in some of those pictures moving forward.
After Ellen stifled a yawn, Miranda told her that she needed to get some rest. Then she did something completely unexpected.
She handed over a hotel room key card then explained, "My assistant booked a suite at the hotel across the street, room 412."
"Miranda, I couldn't" Ellen began before being cut off, "You can and you will."
The look on the editor's face made it clear that there would be no further discussion.
"I have some work to do this evening so you can relieve me in 6 hours," Miranda said.
Ellen grabbed her things and was about to leave then turned to the other woman, "I know that I've said this a lot today but thank you."
Miranda nodded her head and mentioned, "I believe they have a 24-hour cleaning service if you require it."
"That won't be necessary, I have extra clothes in my car," Ellen said and hoped that Miranda would let it go at that.
The raised eyebrow on the other woman face told her otherwise. She gave a mental shrug then explained: "I left Jack."
"I was moving some of my things out of the house when I got the call about Andy's accident."
Miranda found herself feeling one more level of connection to this woman. She had felt the bitter disappointment at failing at marriage. Those feelings had led her to over-focus on work and made her a miserable person at the time. It all changed when Andrea had come back into her life and changed everything. Ellen was further surprised when Miranda reached out and touched her hand. The look of sympathy and understanding were more powerful than any words that could have been spoken.
Without another word, Ellen left Andy's room. Miranda retrieved her Ipad pro and pulled up the digital version of "the book." "The Book," was a page by page mock up the current month's edition of her magazine. Never being one to miss out on new technology Miranda had embraced receiving a digital version of the book that she could access anywhere in the world with a cell signal or secure wifi. She absolutely loved the current editing software that allowed her to edit the original high-resolution photos right from her tablet. She could also leave notes for her team, and even edit copy. Miranda figured the switch to digital shaved twenty percent off the time it took her to review and approve an edition without sacrificing her normal high standards. Somehow she had failed to mention the time savings to her staff but she was grateful it gave her more precious time with Andrea and their girls.
Miranda looked up surprised to see Ellen walk into the hospital room looking clean and refreshed. A quick check of the clock revealed that it had been exactly six hours since she left. Miranda had lost track of time but she had been very productive and with her edits and the notes she left for Nigel, Emily, and Serena she felt the magazine could go to print without her needing to review it again. Miranda wanted to be able to dedicate all of her time to getting Andrea home and healthy again.
Ellen was surprised to see Miranda awake and alert, she passed the key but Miranda told her to keep it because she had another. Miranda stood and gave Ellen a slip of paper with her cell phone number neatly written on it.
"Call me if there are any changes to Andrea's condition."
With that done, Miranda slid on her heels, grabbed her bags, and left Andrea's room. She slipped into the hotel and quickly went through her nightly routine. She set a timer for four hours and was asleep within seconds of laying her head on the pillow.