Abby suddenly raced from her father's room and into the hall of the hospital, yelling for help. Upon hearing her, Nigel, Kate and Woody raced to their friend's room, unsure of what was happening.
"folks, you are going to have to wait out here," Dr. McCourt informed them as he rushed to Garret Macy's side. A nurse in the room forced Jordan out the door as well.
"Get your hands off me!" Jordan screamed at the nurse who just ignored her. She tried to push past the doctors to get back to Garret's side, but two strong arms belonging to Woody grabbed her from behind and practically carried her back to the waiting room.
"Jordan, let them work on him." Woody said sternly.
"I need to be in there, Woody. Let me go!"
"You can only get in their way. They are the best doctors in this state, if not the country. Give them space to work." Jordan, at an unusual loss for words, just collapsed into tears as Woody helped her to the couch. Nigel lead a distraught Abby to the couch as well and together, the four just sat huddled together as Kate stood outside her boss's hospital room, watching what was unfolding inside.
"So I never got answer," Bug said, his voice slicing through the quite car as the couple, along with Madelyn made their way home.
"I'm sorry Bug. A lot happened in there," Lily replied.
"Yeah, I know. It wasn't the best time for me to ask, Lily, but as I told you, this is our time. I love you and I love Madelyn and I want us to be together forever." He pulled the car into the driveway and parked it, then turned to look at Lily. "I want to build a life with you and Madelyn. I want to give her a baby brother or sister, a part of you and me. I want to give her a big backyard and a play set and a dog. I want to give you and your daughter everything I can. You two are my world." He took her hand in his and looked into her eyes. Lily wiped away a tear that had trickled down her cheek. She took her free hand and placed two fingers on Bugs lips to quite him.
"Yes, Bug. I will marry you. I guess I should say that we, Madelyn and I, will marry you. We love you too." She smiled as Bug just stared at her until finally a he let out a loud cheer, something that surprised her as she had never heard that reaction from him before. She laughed and cried at the same time, just very happy for the first time in a long time. A few minutes later, the family walked arm in arm, with Madelyn safely in Bugs arm, into their living room. Lily fed and put her daughter into bed when Bug's cell phone rang. She could tell by the look on his face that it was serious. He told the caller that he would be right there and hung up.
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"That was Nigel. Dr. Macy had a set back. He had some sort of seizure. Nige wasn't really sure what happened but…well…I need to go back."
"Of course, Bug, go. Madelyn and I will be fine," she wrapped her arms his waist in a quick hug. "Just call me as soon as you know anything, okay?" Bug nodded and headed back out the door.
"So it was some sort of reaction to the medication?" Jordan was asking Dr. McCourt.
"Yes, he had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics we gave him to reduce his risk of infection. That's what caused the seizure. We have taken him off the medication and he is stable again."
"Thank you, Doctor." Kate said. Dr. McCourt nodded and left.
"There, you see, he's going to be fine." Woody said, not sure if he was trying to convince his friends, or himself.
"I'm going to go call my mom and give her an update," Abby said as she headed outside to use her cell phone. Woody turned to Jordan.
"How about you and I go get some air?" Jordan shook her head
"No, I need to be here for him,"
"You will be. I'm not talking about leaving. Let's just go take a walk outside. Nigel and Kate will call us if there is any change. Please come with me Jordan? You need to step away from this for a minute." Reluctantly, Jordan agreed and followed Woody to the elevator. They took it down to the lobby, and then made their way outside of the hospital. Woody put his arm around Jordan's shoulder as the two walked.
"I don't know what I will do if he doesn't make it." Jordan said as she kept her focus straight ahead.
"Well, luckily for us, that won't be a problem because he's going to be fine." Woody said.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Look, Jordan," Woody said as he turned her to face him. He put both his hands on her face in an effort to get her to look directly into his eyes. "You said it yourself that Garret is the strongest person you know, right? He made through the cold with no food, for God knows how long up there on that mountain, all the while bleeding inside. He didn't survive all that just to die in some hospital. He's going to be fine." Jordan's lower lip quivered but she nodded.
A short time later, Woody and Jordan rejoined Kate, Nigel, and Abby in the waiting room, along with Bug who had arrived a few minutes earlier.
"Any change?" Woody asked.
"No, he's stable, but he's still unconscious. Doc said he might be for awhile because of the sedatives."
"Can we see him?" Jordan asked.
"Not yet because they're still working on changing his meds, but they said we could maybe a half hour or so."
Just then, the elevator doors opened, and in walked a familiar face that none of them expect to see, in particular Jordan.
"Dad?" she called out to the man who stood just a few feet from her.
"Max? What are you doing here?" Woody asked, just as surprised as Jordan was.
"What do you mean, 'what am I doing here?' My daughter was in a plane crash. This is where I need to be…that is, if you want me here?" he said with tears threatening his eyes.
To be continued….
