Chapter Nine
Eddie tossed her head, "He promised me," she moaned. "He said..."
"Ssh, calm down," soothed Lila. "I'll go check and see if he's back from…where he went to. Maybe he is and not one told him you were finished in surgery."
Eddie nodded, and closed her heavy eyes. Jamie would be here soon. He'd promised. She held tight to Joey's hand hoping Jamie was okay, that he didn't make himself sick. Joey bit his lip praying his father had returned in those few minutes.
Lila returned a few minutes later. "Mommy," she said. "I looked all over this floor, and he's not here. I'll check again soon, maybe he went outside to use the phone or something. Don't you fret, we'll find him."
"But I..." Eddie sighed. "I need him here. I...it..."
"It'll be okay, Mom," Joey assured Eddie. "Just rest."
"Can I..." Eddie began. She was so tired and so sore it was hard for her to speak.
"Can you what?" Lila asked ready to go out and drag her father back to the hospital by his tie.
"The pain," she sighed. "He knows...always knows..."
"Let me go look this time," Joey offered. "I'll be right back. How's your pain? Do you need anything?"
Eddie nodded, closing her eyes again. "I need Jamie."
Danny flashed his retired detective's badge and Commissioner's courtesy card then practically jogged to the elevator. When it let him off on the 14th floor he shoved his way past two of the guards outside grabbing Jamie's closest bodyguard. "I need my brother…the Commissioner now. Eddie's done in surgery and he promised to be with her when she woke up."
The detective stepped inside where Jamie was still calmly pressing the witness to say that she never saw Erin anywhere near the kidnapping site, nor did she know Erin at all. The traumatized girl kept identifying Erin's voice from recordings but could not pick out her picture. Jamie's heart sank…
"Commissioner," the young detective broke in. "Your brother is here, Sir. Your wife is out of her operation."
Jamie felt the adrenaline hit his body, what had he done? Had he really been gone…four hours?! "I have to go now honey," Jamie explained. "We'll talk again when you are feeling better. I'm so happy you are safe." He gently patted the girl's arm leaving Meyers to set up another questioning sessions with her parents. "Is she awake?" Jamie asked as he and Danny sprinted to the SUVs.
"By now, probably, the kids are in with her but…"
Jamie nodded, "I promised her, Dan. I promised her it was going to be all right again!"
"Maybe she'll have been so groggy he didn't notice," Danny offered Jamie a slight bit of hope. Jamie commanded his detail to sprint to Lutheran hospital with every capability.
"I'm sure Dad is fine," Lila soothed. "I think he had to sign something before a notary public by the end of business for the Union," Lila lied. "You know how that can go. I'm sure he'll be right back if you just rest."
Joey and Lila had been trying to convince Eddie that Jamie had not suffered another stroke and would be at her side as promised any second. Both children prayed for sleep, then they could fib around the time lapse and blame it on Eddie's post-surgery fatigue.
The traffic made it so Jamie didn't arrive at the hospital for nearly an hour after Danny went to retrieve him. Jamie hurried inside finding Dr. Brady speaking to Linda.
"Jamie, we've been looking for you," Dr. Brady greeted.
"Doctor, I'm sorry, I stepped away for what was supposed to be an hour and…Is Eddie out of surgery? She is, isn't she? Is she okay?"
"She's fine, medically," Dr. Brady replied. "She's asking for you, has been."
"How…Did it work?" Jamie asked anxious to know if his wife's condition would be improved by the procedure.
"Given the amount of work I did the open the vessels and how much cleaner she is now than at any other time, I'd say she should except of course for the lingering lymphedema left over from her cancer surgery she should be much better," the doctor explained.
"And what about the consistency of her blood? Will that be fixed by this operation too or…?" Jamie asked fidgeting with his ring.
"Yes and no, but what isn't fixed can be managed with medication. We'll have to monitor her carefully to find the correct balance of medications. Her risk of pulmonary embolism, heart attack and stroke are still high and her blood vessels themselves especially in her arms hve been weakened as you know by the cancer and the treatments she's endured over the last nineteen years. We'll do our best to give Eddie as easy a time as possible. Get in there, being stressed and being upset is not good for either of you."
"On my way, doctor," said Jamie as he turned and headed for his wife's hospital room.
The door to Eddie's room opened and her eyes opened, "Jamie?"
"No, Mommy, it's just me," Joey said apologetically. "I just saw Dr. Brady in the hall and he said that Dad is on his way up here."
Jamie arrived at Eddie's room almost ten minutes after he'd parted ways with the doctor. He felt horrible for not being there when Eddie awakened, like he'd sworn he'd be. When he walked into Eddie's room and saw she was asleep, he tossed his jacket over the back of the chair and pulled it alongside the bed facing the angry faces of both his children.
"She's been asking for you for over an hour!" Lila hissed. "She thought you had another stroke, we kept calling and calling!"
"I know, Kitten," Jamie sighed. "I know, I had to talk to a witness that needed very special attention…she might be able to clear Aunt Erin…"
"I don't care, let them arrest Aunt Erin! This is your wife…" Lila, who was always close to her Godmother, was shaking she was so angry.
"Lil, take a walk," Joey said gently. "Take a walk, we don't want sour milk or the kiddos. I'll call you in a little bit okay? Go home, check on Grandpa, feed the twins, I have it."
"But…" Lila sputtered.
"Lila..." Joey held his sister's arms. "We have to try to cover this up, okay sis? We have to, for Mom and you being like this…it's not going to help her. Please go home and I'll call you." Joey hugged Lila and ushered out the door. "Call me later Dad." He had no desire to be there when it all came down.
Eddie stirred and hour later and opened her eyes slowly, "Jamie?"
"Hey there pretty girl," he said, leaning in to take a hold of her hand.
She smiled softly, "Where were you?"
"I, uh..." He didn't want to tell her flat-out; he didn't think it'd be smart after all she'd just been through. "I had some calls to make and a I uh…lost track of time."
"Yeah," Eddie sighed and looked over at Jamie.
"Yeah," he said. "Just needed some fresh air. Dr. Brady told me you'd be under for a while, so I went and stepped out for a bit." That was true, all of it.
"You're doing it again," Eddie sighed the strength returning to her voice as she fought the anger and pain.
"What am I doing?" he asked, fear instantly welling up inside.
Tears started to spill out of Eddie's eyes as she managed, "You're lying to me."
"I'm, no...I'm..." Jamie didn't know what he should say.
Eddie nodded and sniffled, "You are. You are, you are lying to me."
At that moment, he realized that he had to come clean; that she was in no position to get this upset. With a deep breath, he began to speak. "I did go outside, and I did need some fresh air, but I got the fresh air on the drive to 1PP to assist in an interview of a young victim that might have evidence that will get Erin's name and the family name out of the mud.
"And you stayed with her and left me here alone, to wake up alone, when you promised to be here. If the kids weren't here…" Eddie finished for him in tears. "Get out."
"Eddie, please," he said, his eyes pleading with her. "I didn't mean to be gone so long, but she was in such a state of shock…"
Eddie's voice choked. "You lied to me again. You said you wouldn't do that."
"I didn't lie as such," he insisted. "Okay, I guess I did lie in a sense, but I didn't think you needed to get this worked up. This is exactly what I was trying to save you from, baby!"
"You could have told me the truth that you planned to go to work while I was out of your hair," Eddie sighed.
"You aren't in my hair, you are my wife…"
"It doesn't matter," Eddie sighed. "It doesn't even matter you went. What matters is…" Eddie sighed, She shook her head, "Jamie, you lied to me. Again and your broke a promise again. Two promises. I...I thought we were going to be honest with each other. I thought you were going to stop keeping me in the dark!"
"We were," he said. "But you weren't honest with me about the pain or about how bad you blood counts were. We can point fingers at each other, Eddie."
"I was trying to protect you," Eddie shot. "You were trying to protect yourself and your sister. You know how I feel about your family. I love them all but Erin and I…You were thinking it's easier for me if I lie to my fat old lady."
"No, no, no..." he said, his voice calm yet firm. "I was thinking about you, Eddie. I didn't want you upset over this right now. I was going to tell you when you were feeling better."
"That's the mentality you adopted when it comes t work now Jamie, I'll just tell her tomorrow, then you lie to me," Eddie sighed. "And...Jamie, I can't do this. I can't."
"Precisely why I wasn't going to tell you today," he said, trying to get a hold of Eddie to comfort her.
"That I could have handled," Eddie sighed. "I can't handle the lies Jamie. I can't handle them and I can't forgive them. God knows I tried."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, trembling inside.
Eddie's face fell and tears began again, "It means I'm done. I can't do this anymore. Not now. I'm tired and I hurt and I really would like for you to go."
"You don't mean that," he said. "You can't mean that, Eddie."
"I do mean that," she said softly. "I'd like for you to leave. Get out."
"No, I'm not going to leave" he said, rising from his chair and moving to sit on the edge of her bed. "I won't leave you alone like this. I know you're upset, but I'm not leaving."
She said it again, louder this time. "Get out Jamie."
He sat in place and uttered not a sound.
Eddie covered her face with her hands, "Please. Please. Please. Please."
She didn't say this to him, she said it to anyone else who'd hear her tiny whisper.
"Eddie," he said, his voice cracking as the sight of her in so much pain. "Please. I want to stay. I'm sorry."
"I don't want you to stay," Eddie replied. "I don't...Get out."
"But...I..." He couldn't fight her any longer; he knew she wasn't up for it. "Okay. I'll go, but I'll be back tonight so we can talk."
"No," Eddie told him. "No. I need time, please don't come back."
"Eddie, we have to talk," he said. "We've come too far to let this ruin everything. Thirty years of marriage… Please, let's talk later. You don't feel well right now, but later..."
"Goodbye, Jamie," Eddie said and turned her face to the wall.
A/N: Jamie really blew it. I know some of my readers, one "guest" in particular feels Eddie is being childish…I'm sure that sentiment is going to come out tenfold now, but anyone who has been through this particular kind of surgery or has seen a loved one go through it, will understand.
Next Update – August 9th – Eddie gets discharged and Jamie tries to heal the rift in his marriage.
