Over The Edge
Chapter 7
Steve wasn't sure how long he had been asleep but it didn't feel like very long before he felt a gentle hand shake his shoulder and he heard a soft voice trying to rouse him.
"Wake up for me ... Come on now ... I need you to wake up for me ..." the persistent voice repeated as Steve reluctantly and drowsily opened his eyes to see the middle aged nurse from earlier standing beside his bed.
"What's ... going on? " Steve grumbled as he noticed the overhead dim light had been turned on and he closed his eyes to a bare crack to guard them against the sudden brightness as the nurse smiled and explained.
"I'm sorry dear but because of your concussion we have to wake you up every two hours and ask you two questions to check your lucidity. "
"Not ... two hours yet ... just closed my eyes ... " Steve drowsily mumbled, closing his eyes again and burying his face further into the pillow, forgetting how annoying the tortuous question procedure was after a head injury but the nurse was insistent.
"I know it feels like you've only just closed your eyes but I can assure you that you've been asleep for two hours already. Come on now. The sooner you answer the two questions, the sooner you can go back to sleep."
Knowing that she wasn't going to leave him in peace until he cooperated, Steve grizzled, turned over, rubbed at his tired and sore eyes and spoke sleepily.
"Ok ... What do you want to ask me?"
"First tell me your name, please?"
"Steve ah ... Steven Keller ... " he answered sleepily, quite pleased with himself. "What else?"
"Where do you live?"
"That's easy ... I live in ... in ah ..."
The nurse looked on anxiously as Steve seemed to struggle to remember for a moment. Steve's eyes widened a little more as he continued to mutter under his breath.
"Ah ... I live in ..."
Becoming concerned, the kindly nurse leaned over and placed a settling hand upon his shoulder.
"Mr. Keller? ... Can't you remember?"
Steve's panic filled eyes met hers briefly and he seemed to fluster a little more.
"NO ... no of course I can remember ... I live in ah ... UNION STREET ... That's it ... Union Street."
This time Steve looked more relieved than pleased with himself but sensing that all was not fully right, the nurse asked Steve to elaborate.
"Very good Mr. Keller. What number?"
Steve's face fell as he heard the question he had hoped she wouldn't ask and he looked blankly at the nurse as his memory completely failed him. It had taken longer than it should have for him to even remember the street and now he couldn't for the life of him remember the number of his apartment. "How could he possibly forget THAT? " he thought to himself as his heart started to beat a faster, panicked rhythm in his chest and he was suddenly relieved that despite the different drips and wires, he wasn't connected to a heart monitor that would have immediately alerted the nurse to his current distress. He looked away from the nurse and tried to focus his memory on the three numbers emblazoned on his front door. He saw them several times a day ! How could he not remember them? There was a two ... yes ... definitely a two at the beginning and a ... a seven at the end ... At least he thought it was a seven ... But was it? And what number came in between? He didn't KNOW! What was he going to answer?
Before he had time to decide, he felt the nurse pat his shoulder sympathetically and heard her low voice.
"That's alright Mr. Keller. It's really quite normal for there to be a little memory loss after the type of bang to the head that you sustained. Let's leave it for now and we'll talk more in another two hours, ok?"
Steve feared that his flaky answer would only appear on his chart and have a negative impact on his being released the following day and so he flustered further.
"No ... I just need a minute ... I'll ... remember ... I'm just tired that's all ... It will come to me I'm sure ... I think it's two hundred and ... something seven ... I just can't seem to remember the middle number ... It's ... it's really weird ..."
At this stage Steve was rubbing an anxious hand through his hair and looked extremely worried by his inability to remember his own address. Feeling sorry for having caused the young man such stress with the unfortunate but necessary questions, the friendly night nurse tried to calm him down.
"Please don't fret Mr. Keller. I'm sure it will come to you in due course but for now you need to stop thinking about it and get some more rest. I'll come and wake you in another two hours and things might have improved, alright? You must try to go back to sleep now ... It's the best thing for you. Do you need any pain relief? "
"No ... No thank you ... The pain is ok for now."
Fussing with his covers, she then tucked them back around him and plumped his pillow before turning off the overhead light and plunging the room back into semi-darkness, lit only by the light from the outside corridor streaming through the door. She then picked up his chart on her way out and left the room quickly. Steve tried to settle his frayed nerves but they wouldn't settle. Why couldn't he remember his address and what ELSE had he forgotten? Would it be permanent? ... What if he couldn't remember parts of cases he worked on? ... It could affect his job ... There were too many worrying thoughts floating around his sore head for sleep to come back easily. Knowing that Mike had left around ten and going on the fact that the nurse said he had slept for two hours he figured it must be around midnight give or take. It was going to be a long and arduous night by the looks of it.
He licked his dry lips and suddenly felt very thirsty. He thought about calling for the nurse to come back but decided in the moment he would just try to get a drink himself. Surely he could manage a simple task like that without annoying the busy night nurse?
Very slowly turning back onto his left side, he managed to gingerly prop himself up on his elbow but even that careful movement caused a slight dizziness. He tried to see the bedside locker but the light from the door didn't grace that area of the room and he couldn't make out what was on it in any useful detail. Knowing he was going to have to try and turn the dim overhead light on in order to successfully find a drink of water, he once more very slowly reached up his right hand towards the side of the wall where he had seen the nurse switch something when she had turned it off.
Feeling his way along the wall careful not to move too quickly to aggravate his annoying vertigo, his fingers alighted on a double switch. But which one was it? Not sure ... he took a chance and pressed the first one but the main room light came on instead and temporarily blinded him, the intense light hurting his eyes and making him withdraw his hand abruptly to cover his eyes and curse under his breath at his poorly made choice. His vision blurred and he blinked his eyes to clear it, keeping them half closed to guard them from the glaring overhead, florescent glow. Opened just a crack and with his vision slightly off, Steve saw the plastic tumbler of water on the edge of the bedside locker but with his vision off kilter and his head starting to throb, he misjudged the distance to the tumbler and in his haste, he knocked the tumbler and its contents flying down to the floor.
Attempting to grab it and prevent his clumsiness only caused the room to tilt and he groaned loudly and abandoned his rescue attempt as he allowed himself to fall back against the pillows to try and restore his equilibrium as he heard the plastic tumbler bounce off the tiled floor and the slosh of water that accompanied it. Uh oh ... Now he'd done it! The nurse would NOT be best pleased with his attempt at independence. As the dizziness abated a little while he lay perfectly still, just then he heard the door to his room open and knew he was in for a telling off about not calling for assistance. Speaking, still with his tired eyes closed shut from the glaring brightness, he mumbled apologetically to try and stave off the nurse's annoyance.
"I'm sorry ... I was just trying to get a drink of water ... I ah ... I'm afraid I knocked it over ... Sorry about the mess ..."
Steve heard the person's footsteps hurry across the tiled floor but heard a different voice than before.
"Oh dear! Let me help you with that ..."
He heard someone fussing to his left and tried to open his eyes to see if there was a different nurse than before in the room but the minute he tried to open them, the light blinded him again and made his head spin. Breathlessly, he pleaded with his unknown helper.
"Excuse me ... Could you please switch off that light for me and turn on the dimmer one instead? It's ... really hurting my eyes ..."
"Oh ... oh of course ... Just a minute ..." the different voice replied and Steve heard the two switches click as they were pressed one after the other.
Feeling it was finally safe to open his eyes fully again, Steve sighed with relief at the dimly lit room that met his sight and didn't cause any painful reaction this time. He looked to his left to thank his helpful visitor but the woman was bent over on the floor mopping up the spilled water and retrieving the fallen cup so he merely caught sight of her back and the back of her head that was strewn with dark blonde hair that seemed to cascade down around her face. Something was different about this woman and he tentatively spoke to her.
"Thank you ... Sorry for the trouble ..."
"Oh it's the least I can do ..." she nervously replied as she finally stood up and then nervously fumbled with the fallen tumbler and the water soaked paper towels that she had dried the floor with as Steve's eyes alighted on and took in the sight of Ruby's mother standing now beside his bed.
He hadn't meant to look so shocked but she had been the last person he had been expecting to see. His jaw had dropped and only made the woman's nervousness increase.
"Oh my ... I'm sorry for calling so late ... I guess you hadn't expected to see me, had you?"
Steve recovered from the shock and spoke in a fluster.
"No ... Not really ... I ah ... thought you were a nurse ... Is ... this about Ruby? " Steve asked in a panicked tone as he suddenly worried that maybe something awful had happened to the little girl to cause her mother to visit him. "She's ok isn't she?"
"Oh no ... she's fine ... Don't worry ... I ah ... I waited until she was settled and asleep to come here ... I ... guess you're wondering why I'm here, huh?"
Steve's brain felt tired and sluggish and it was getting very annoying that it was taking him longer than usual to register simple things. His first feeling was relief that the little girl was alright and it took another few awkward seconds before her question finally filtered through his fog covered brain. Smiling nervously, he slumped back against the pillows and licking his dry lips, he answered this time a little more croakily.
"Yeah ... I guess ... you could say that ..."
Noticing his discomfort, Maria Andrews placed the items in her hand onto the over the bed tray and then searching the locker she found a paper cup and filled it with some water from the jug and reached it out towards him.
"Here, let's get you some water first ..."
Taking the cup gratefully, Steve lifted his head from the pillow and sipped the liquid through his lips, savoring the welcome moisture. He took several sips before he handed it shakily back to his visitor.
"Thanks ... I needed that ..."
Maria smiled at him and felt a little more at ease in his company.
"You're welcome ... I ah ... I was very rude to you earlier today when ... when you brought Ruby back over to me ..."
Steve shrugged his shoulders carefully.
"That's ok ... I get that a lot ... It kind of comes with the job ... You kind of get used to it ..."
That answer made Maria look even more ashamed of her earlier behavior and she reddened in the face as she shuffled her feet on the spot and looked down before continuing.
"No ... No it's not ok and you shouldn't have to get used to something like that. I ... I just felt that you were judging me as a bad mother ..."
"Ma'am, I never said that ... exactly ..."
"No ... No, you didn't. You were too polite to but ... you thought it ... didn't you?"
It was Steve's turn to feel ashamed at the bad thoughts he had had about this strange woman he knew very little about as she called it right. Looking away too at his bed covers he mumbled apologetically.
"Yeah ... yeah I guess it crossed my mind ... Sorry ..."
Maria looked back up at Steve and in that moment admired his honesty.
"Don't be ... I guess sometimes I am a bad mother ... But I have to explain some things to you Inspector ..."
"Ma'am ... You don't have to explain anything to me ... I'm just glad that things worked out as well as they did today. "
"YES ... I ... I do ... You see, my husband ... Ruby's Dad left us when she was only three months old ... He couldn't handle it, he said ... " she said in a sneering tone before pulling her feelings purposefully back into check and asking quietly. "Do you have kids of your own, Mr. Keller?"
Steve shook his head very gingerly.
"No, Ma'am ... I don't."
"Well they're hard work Inspector and being a single parent is NOT an easy thing to be. I'm a photographer. That's what I do best and it's what I do for a living and today I was working up at Battery Spencer on a photo shoot for a magazine. It's what pays the bills. The lady who usually minds Ruby for me was sick so I ... I brought her with me ... I brought my sister along to help me watch her but ... well as much as I love my sister Inspector, she is not very good with kids and tends to spend most of her time looking for a new man in her life."
Steve couldn't help but smile at that statement as he remembered what Ruby had told him her Aunt had said about him and the way she had eyed him up and down uncomfortably before finding out that he was a police officer so what Ruby's mother was telling him certainly seemed to ring true.
"We took our eyes off her for just a second Inspector and ... when I saw her fall I ... I ..."
Ruby's mother seemed to struggle with that image that would no doubt be emblazoned in her memory for the rest of her life and Steve heard her hold back her tears with a stifled sob. He reached out a hand in sympathy and gently touched her arm.
"Hey, hey ... Ruby's ok ... remember?"
Maria wiped at her eyes and smiled gratefully at the young man in the hospital bed.
"Yes ... yes she is Thank God but in that awful moment I ... I thought I'd lost her and ... suddenly all the struggles I've gone through didn't seem so bad or ... even important anymore. I ... realized almost too late Inspector that she means everything to me and ... I ... I couldn't even begin to imagine life without her ... I've gotten a second chance to make everything right and to be a better mother to Ruby and I intend to grab it with both hands. I'll NEVER endanger her like that ever again ... And I ... I wanted you to know that ..."
Ruby's Mother's words came straight from her heart and seemed very genuine and as he watched a grateful tear roll down her cheek, he couldn't help but feel touched by her words. Feeling an emotional lump at the back of his throat, he spoke softly and with a degree of difficulty.
"Well ... I'm glad to hear it ... I ah ... I think you two will be just fine ..."
Again Maria smiled at the obvious compassion in the young Officer's words and she inquired emotionally.
"There's something else that I've wondered about. I mean ... I'm extremely grateful to you for climbing down to help my daughter but I wondered ... why you did it? I mean you didn't have to ... It was so dangerous ... You could have waited until help came ... So why did you?"
Steve stared at the woman and once more shook his head slowly and she could have sworn she saw moisture building in his eyes in the dim overhead light streaming down on the top of his wavy brown hair.
"I guess ... I felt a little responsible because ... I brought her over there you know ... near the edge ..."
Maria reached out this time and touched his arm lightly in the same way he had with her earlier and she spoke animatedly.
"Inspector, you had nothing to feel bad about. You put Ruby's hand straight into mine. I'm the one that let go of it. NOT you ..."
Steve looked down and responded slowly.
"Yeah ... Yeah I guess ... I don't know exactly except that ... I didn't want anything bad to happen to her ... It's why I became a cop. To help people ... To try and make the world a better place I guess or at least to do my part ..."
Maria stared even more admiringly at the young Officer and smiled through her glistening tears.
"Well what do you know? A cop with a heart. You must be a pretty rare find Inspector ..." she said in more of a playful manner than a sarcastic one.
Steve took the comment in good spirit and smiled back.
"There's more of us than you think ... Maybe you shouldn't judge us by first looks either, huh?"
Maria blushed.
"Touché ...You know I think you're right and I promise not to be so quick to judge in future."
"Me too ..."
"I ah ... I'm also sorry about the rock fall that you got hurt in ... I got a little hysterical and went a little too close to the edge."
"YOU caused that?"
Maria blushed even redder.
"I'm afraid so ... They said you got hurt because you covered Ruby to stop her getting further hurt by the rocks that fell ... "
Seeing the padded bandage jutting out behind Steve's right ear against the pillow she winced and added softly.
"Ooh! I'd say that really smarts ... I'm really sorry ... I really can't ever thank you enough for what you did for my little girl. "
Steve grinned wider.
"Oh I think you already have by turning off that light a while ago and cleaning up the mess I made so that I won't get into trouble with the night nurse." he said humorously to avoid any more awkwardness.
Accepting compliments and accolades had never been his strong point. Just then the door to the room opened and the nurse's unhappy voice echoed into the room.
"WHAT ON EARTH? ... Miss, you shouldn't be in here. This patient is on strict bed rest. No visitors allowed. Didn't you read the sign on the door?"
"That's ok ... She wasn't doing any harm ..." Steve began defensively but the nurse silenced him immediately.
"Mr. Keller? You are SUPPOSED to be sleeping, remember?"
Steve rolled sympathetic eyes towards Maria as she flustered and jumped in to the conversation to apologize.
"Yes, I know Nurse ... I'm very sorry. I only needed a quick moment ... I'm leaving now."
Then turning back towards Steve, she smiled and took his right hand in hers and shook it gently.
"Thank you Inspector Keller for everything and ... for listening ... I had better get back up to Ruby now in case she wakes and looks for me. You know ... she calls you the man with the cold hands but ... they feel very warm to me. I hope you feel better real soon. Goodbye."
"Thanks and goodbye ... Tell Ruby I was asking for her, will ya?"
"Sure ... Take care ..." Maria said as she weaved past the unimpressed looking nurse and exited the room hastily.
Steve watched the nurse anxiously as she crossed the room to stand over him before repeating softly.
"You know she really wasn't here that long and I don't think she meant any harm. She was just a little bit upset ... "
"Who was she? Do you know her?"
"Yes. She's the mother of the little girl ..."
The nurse's face fell and she seemed undoubtedly sorry for her outburst.
"The little girl you climbed down to today Mr. Keller?"
"Yeah ..."
"Oh I see ... Well I'm sorry if I seemed a little harsh with her but YOU are my responsibility Mr. Keller and strict bed rest and NO VISITORS means just that I'm afraid. Dr. Robinson would NOT be impressed if I let the rules slide and your condition deteriorated Mr. Keller."
Realizing that the nurse was just following orders, Steve smiled warmly at her.
"Fair enough. I'll behave ..." he added, raising his hands in mock surrender just as the nurse turned and spotted the items on the over the bed tray. Looking back with a questioning look, Steve blushed and spoke in a flustered manner.
"AH! I can explain those ... You see I was thirsty and well ... I didn't want to bother you for something so trivial so ... well I tried to put on the light but I ah ... pressed the wrong switch and the main light came on see ... so ... well it hurt my eyes and then I tried to reach for the tumbler and misjudged the distance ... and then it ... well it sort of fell and hit the floor ... I mean I tried to catch it but then I got a little dizzy ..."
Steve stopped mid-sentence as he saw the nurse's stern look return briefly and he mumbled weakly.
"I think I should probably stop relating this story about now, right?"
The young man's flustered account was such that the nurse found it hard to find the incident anything other than amusing. Shaking her head and holding back a chuckle she asked humorously.
"Yes, I think that's probably a good idea Mr. Keller ..."
Steve smiled and ventured tentatively.
"At least it's all cleaned up."
"Yes, so I see ... And is that your idea of "behaving" Mr. Keller?"
Seeing the nurse's faint smile made Steve relax a little and smiling now back at the nurse he chuckled weakly.
"Ah ... I guess not. Sorry.
"Mr. Keller what AM I going to do with you? You know I have patients in other rooms that ring their bell every two minutes for no reason at all and then I have you who won't ring that bell even if your life depended on it. Please Mr. Keller ... if you really want to behave for me ... USE the BELL. Ok?"
"Ok ... " Steve chuckled.
He felt very tired again all of a sudden and he rubbed at his sore eyes and yawned involuntarily. Noting her patient's sudden slump she picked up his wrist and lifted her watch from her uniform as she proceeded to question him tentatively.
"You look very pale Mr. Keller. How are you feeling?"
"Just a little tired that's all " he answered wearily.
Checking his pulse, she glanced up every now and then to study him closely. He looked worn out and yet even if he fell back to sleep she knew she would have to wake him in another two hours for more questions.
"Well that's why we have a no visitor rule in place Mr. Keller. They will just wear you out at the minute I'm afraid."
Frowning and dropping Steve's wrist back onto bed, she responded in a worrying tone.
"Your pulse is a little bit fast. Did you get some water to drink earlier?"
"Yeah, yeah I did thanks."
"Ok, let's just check your dressings then, shall we?"
Turning his head slightly to expose his dressing more, he waited and winced as the nurse probed it and then the one on his hand.
"Ok, they seem fine. Right so. Off to sleep with you now, ok?"
"Are you going to wake me in another two hours again?" Steve half grumbled.
The kindly nurse smiled.
"Well Mr. Keller, I'll make you a deal. You behave yourself and try to get back to sleep and I'll leave it for three hours this time. How does that sound?"
Steve grinned from ear to ear.
"That sounds good. You've got yourself a deal."
The nurse reached up and turned off the light again and spoke once more in an authoritative tone.
"And if you need anything Mr. Keller before then or after you MUST promise to ring the bell for me. Ok?"
"Absolutely ... Scouts honor " Steve replied mischievously.
The nurse laughed and fixed his covers before turning and heading for the door.
Just as she reached it, she looked back across at her patient, now barely visible, snuggled down beneath the covers, the top of his head just visible from where she stood and from the streaming light from the door.
"Mr. Keller?"
"Yeah?" came the somewhat drowsy, muffled reply.
"Were you ever even IN the scouts?"
A soft, drowsy chuckle emanated from the direction of the bed as Steve's muffled voice came again.
"Ah no ... Sorry ..."
"That's what I figured ... " she said as she burst out laughing. "Sleep well Mr. Keller."
Steve snuggled into the pillow and yawned again noisily. Maria's visit had at the very least taken his mind off his annoying memory loss and the humorous banter with the nurse had helped too so it didn't take too long this time for peaceful sleep to claim him.
