Month Eight
Tring! Tring!
April groaned, grinded her teeth a little as she slept intently. As her head had hit the pillows a few hours previously, it was almost an instant release to be home and the comfort of her own Egyptian cotton. Spending the last few days sleeping in fits in starts, cocooned in the thin, worn sheets of the nearest on-call room, had seriously been causing her joints and her sleeping pattern some grief.
Tring! Tring!
"Jackson." She mumbled subconsciously, thrashing over onto her back. A simple, light sound kept penetrating her ears. Was it a dream or was it something else? Touching her husband's bare back, she groaned once more, her eyes slowly blinking as they eased open into the blackness. He wasn't going to respond, it seemed.
Tring! Tring!
This time it was almost definitely a noise that was more certainly not part of any dream.
Gaining her balance in the darkness of the bedroom, April stood from the sheets and slipped on her robe. She knew exactly where they noise was coming from. Padding across the bedroom, familiar of the route without any sort of light to guide her, April eased herself into the living area and across the apartment towards the second, smaller bedroom.
Tring! Tring!
"Yes, I'm coming." She grumbled, pushing open the door to find Catherine Avery hunched over the side of the bed, at sudden risk of any moment toppling to the floor. Dashing forwards with panic, she fell to her knees and pulled her arms around the torso of the older woman. "Catherine, please! What have we told you about trying to get out of bed yourself?"
"I've had heart surgery, April… I'm not an invalid." Catherine shot back, allowing April to ease her to a standing position. Her voice was hoarse, and every orifice of her body seemed to ache, but she was still not going to allow her daughter-in-law to label her as infirm.
"Besides, I rang four times before you bothered to answer me. Was I supposed to wait until I wet myself?"
April rolled her eyes and sighed softly, steadying Catherine's shoulders as they edged out of the bedroom towards the bathroom. "Let's just get you to the bathroom."
This had been a nightly occurrence for the past three weeks for April. Annoyingly, Jackson seemed to sleep through all sounds, including that of the shrill ring of the call bell his mother had or the sound of her shouts as she waited to be answered. Not that Catherine would have allowed him to give her assistance when he was awake, of course. For the last week, April had been busy with work, unable to be at home to assist Catherine with her daily needs. So to help, they had had to hire a nurse, despite Jackson sleeping in the next room every single one of those nights. Now she was home again, the nurse was gone and it was back to April's job, once more getting barely enough sleep to pass through the day.
The afternoon it had been decided Catherine would stay with them after her surgery, was still fresh in the younger woman's mind. It was around two weeks after the surgery, as Catherine grappled with the idea she would not be able to manage sufficiently if she returned home alone. It was at first decided a full time nurse would receive employment, but of course, Jackson was not prepared to let this happen. It was that moment the one suggestion April had been dreading, was brought loudly into the mix and Catherine confidently made her decision that this would be the best. Her supposed partner, Richard, didn't even seem to make the cut. So, April resigned herself to the belief that it was simply another way for her mother-in-law to interfere in her son's marriage.
"Can you manage?" April asked, watching as Catherine grabbled with her night shirt. Catherine simply snorted but did not respond, causing April to groan and turn to face the wall as Catherine organised herself in a graceful manner. It was clear neither of them wanted this but of course, Catherine seemed to be gaining satisfaction from annoying the hell out of April, and April was not willing to allow herself to admit defeat just yet, no matter how testing Catherine chose to be.
After some grappling, and a moment of uncertainty of her legs, April finally managed to assist Catherine back from the bathroom and into bed. Throwing the sheets back over the older woman, April mustered a small smile and dimmed the light beside the bed. "Anything else I can get for you, whilst I'm here?"
"No, I'm fine… thank you." Catherine managed. April knew the last word of the sentence had certainly been an afterthought.
With a nod, April turned and left the room, dispelling a hefty breath of air as she reached the couch in the living area. Dropping into its welcoming comfort, she pulled across a comforter and switched on the TV set, barely registering the old black and white movie as it played quietly to an uninterested audience. "Sleep." She grumbled, feeling her eyes flutter gently as her head found a spare cushion. There wasn't any point in going back to bed, too worried she might wake her husband who had surgery in the morning, and knowing it wouldn't be long before her alarm sounded anyway. It was comfy here, besides.
"April."
The soft sound of her husband's voice allowed her eyes to ease open once more. It had been barely ten minutes since she had settled. Yet she couldn't be annoyed with him, sat beside her in the gap, rubbing his eyes sleepily with the backs of his hands.
"Sorry, were you sleeping?" He asked, a little worried he had woken her. He had sensed her leave the bed but not return, so naturally felt a little worried.
"I just got your mom back to bed." She grumbled in a sleepy voice, twisting under the comforter to get a better look at him. It was then she noticed he had come to her without his shirt.
"Trying to climb out of bed again?" He asked, well aware of the demands his mother seemed to be placing on his wife. The limits of her patient astounded him.
April nodded. "She wanted to use the bathroom."
"I'm sorry she's still here, still keeping you awake." He told her, his expression filled with concern at the obvious signs of tiredness in his wife's features. "I think we should get the nurse back full time…. Or I'll have to help. You have to work tomorrow, it's not fair."
April shook her head against the pillow and rubbed her left eye. "She won't hear of it… the nurse or of you helping her. I think she's doing it to test me, see how far I'll go before I snap."
For once Jackson did not protest at this explanation of his mother's character. The fact she had taken permanent residence in their apartment for the last few weeks, had been a real eye opener to her son. The first thing he had done was apologise to April about what had happened in the OR the day Catherine had taken ill; he could see now just what his wife meant about his mom's feelings towards the younger surgeon. She didn't seem to be making it any less obvious now she was living under the roof, and being taken care of full time by April. Although, he still did not of course, have the heart to ask when she planned on leaving.
"I couldn't ask for a better wife, you know." He told her instead, offering a warm smile filled with the love he felt toward her. In the dim light, without make up and with the after effect of little sleep, he could still not help but notice how beautiful she looked to him.
"Better nurse made you mean." She retorted, although a slight teasing faltered in her voice. Tonight she could not even continue to be mad at him for agreeing to his mother's stay in their home. He took her breath away with each lingering moment they spent like this.
"No, seriously," He coaxed, easing his hand across the divide between them and resting it lightly on her covered thighs. "You have been amazing since mom came to stay. I mean it… look at you. Its god knows what time and you're half asleep on the sofa, having helped her to the toilet for the third time tonight. You have surgery in the morning, need to be awake at 6am and you won't moan… you don't make a sound."
April smiled, taken by his words that were filled with such tenderness. For a change, it felt nice to hear verbalised feelings of how wonderful she was to him. They seemed to have petered a little recently, not that she really could blame him. The last few months of marriage had been tough by anyone's standards, now even more so considering the anguish and uncertainty of the last few weeks. Yet it was nice to be here now, in this moment alone, languishing over just how much they still adored and loved one and other.
"I do these things because I love you, Jackson." She told him, matter of factly. It was true, of course, no matter how riled Catherine had her.
"And I love you." He replied. "I have no idea how I would have gotten through the last few weeks without you."
April had, indeed, been his tower of strength and support. The events of that day in surgery were long forgotten in the moment he had come to tell her about his mother. How could she remain cold toward him when he needed her the most? Even her feelings towards Catherine softened a little at the sight of her in the hospital bed, connected to this machine and that drip. It was the one of those few times in her life she knew she needed to step up. No longer was the news of her miscarriage or Catherine's need to interfere in her's and Jackson's marriage, of any meaning. It almost reminded her of the only other notable moment in her life she had felt such need to forget everything else, to only focus on the one thing that felt most important over everything else.
"Jackson, I want you."
"April, you're getting married."
"Unless you can give me a reason not to."
"You're getting married."
That time in her life seemed so distant. Not that it should considering it had all lead to this, to her marriage to Jackson. It was the first time, however, she knew she had ever felt so powerful and filled with clarity. Just how she had felt the moment Jackson had come to her, tears in his eyes, in need of her support when he was faced with the possibility of losing the other most important woman in his life. All she had had to do was see him, and imagine just how different and yet the same it would have been, if it had been her in his shoes.
Smiling, she eased herself forward and pressed the lightest of kisses to his left cheek. "You'' always have me to count on… you know that, right?"
Jackson's lips curved into a deep smile and he nodded, his hands now reaching for April's cheeks with a need to continue their closeness. "And me for you."
"We'll be happy and we'll be together always, right until we're one hundred and one, with no teeth and grey hair." She grinned, lit from within at the thought of the life that stretched before them. Catherine in their home, interfering in the marriage would soon be a thing of the past she knew.
Tring! Tring!
April groaned, pressing his forehead against his, as Jackson supressed a small laugh. "Again?"
After a moment, Jackson took to his feet leaving April a little unsure. "I'll go… you need to sleep."
"Jackson, she won't like it."
He shrugged, reaching down to organise her pillow and the comforter. "Sleep. She'll get over it."
Tired, and worn down just from the gleam in her husband's eyes, she nodded and allowed him to leave her side. It didn't take long for the fluttering to return to her heavy eyelids, listening to the light noise coming from the bedroom. She knew Catherine was protesting, and she knew Jackson was telling her he wasn't going to listen, that April needed to sleep and he was capable of doing whatever his wife could do. Not that, for a change, April was really interested.
