A/N: Thanks to Lawslave for her commitment reviewing this story with me step by step and taking the time to give advice.
This chapter is being posted early due to Winter Storm Jonas. If the power is on tomorrow night in my area, I will post again but if not I didn't want to miss an update. If the power is out tomorrow, the next update will be Wednesday, 1/27. If it is not out, it will be Sunday, 1/24. R/R
Chapter Ten
Over the next few days, Jamie slept nearly around the clock. It seemed whenever he opened his eyes, Eddie was by his side. He loved her nearly constant presence and how she would always have a smile on her face. That was one of the things she loved most about her.
When their children were young, he admired how she could go to bed after they had all been asleep for hours but be the first one up in the morning making bacon and coffee. If she was nervous or on edge, it never showed. When she was sick, and suffering horrible pain, she endured it all for him and their family. She was his rock.
On the third morning he was hospitalized, he woke up and she wasn't there. In her place was his father. "Hey, Dad," Jamie greeted. "Where's Eddie?"
"Lila made her go to her yearly," Frank replied. "So I volunteered to sit with you."
Jamie smiled, "No offense but this seems a little reversed."
"I was thinking the same thing, but there's a plan, Son. Always a plan, you know that."
Before Jamie could respond the door opened and his neurologist, Dr. O'Shea entered. "Good morning, Commissioner. Where is your lovely wife this morning?"
"At her own doctor's appointment," Jamie told him carefully moving his mouth so his words were clear.
"Your speech is sounding clearer today," Dr. O'Shea observed. "That's excellent news. It tells me your difficulty in that area was primarily due to paralysis of the facial muscles and jaw and is not related to your brain."
Jamie smiled, "That is good news. I'd like you to meet my, Dad."
Frank shook the doctor's hand, "Good to meet you."
Dr. O'Shea took Frank's hand, "Likewise. If you don't mind stepping back, I'm going to examine the Commissioner.
Frank stood off to the side as Dr. O'Shea put Jamie through a series of moves, requesting him to press against his hand with his face, repeat a string of complicated tongue twisters, try to keep his left arm level when the doctor lifted it, and finally sip water from a cup and swallow. Jamie completed the first task well enough, struggled through the second, outright failed the third, and battled with the last. He managed to extract the water well enough though a fair amount dripped out of his mouth and down his chin. What he managed to keep in his mouth he swallowed with only slight difficulty.
Jamie coughed on the liquid and blushed with embarrassment when Frank wiped his chin, but in spite of that he realized what he had just done.
Dr. O'Shea was smiling too. "That is a very good sign, Commissioner. In time you will more than likely regain all of your swallowing and speaking capabilities. For a stroke like yours, this is a terrific outcome."
Frank and Jamie exchanged looks then said in unison, "But…"
Dr. O'Shea sighed, "But the hemiplegia appears to be severe. You have retained some control over your fingers and your hand, but have none over your arm and your leg. You also have very high blood pressure, and while we are treating that with medication it will complicate your ability to regain use of your paralyzed limbs."
"What about my therapy?" Jamie asked. "I will work hard. I will work very hard…" As Jamie's voice rose so did the numbers on his BP monitor. Dr. O'Shea rushed to order medication while Frank moved to Jamie's side and spoke clearly and gently to his son while stroking his back, "Slow, Jamie. Breathe very deep and slow. Calm down now. I'm here…It's all okay, Focus, think, and breathe, that's the way."
Jamie's breathing slowed with Frank's direction and soothing touch. As Jamie watch his father's lips say those hypnotic words he tried in vain to match his father's calm and steady rhythm.
Jamie's breath started to even out, Dr. O'Shea's voice broke in, "Commissioner, are you feeling better now?"
"My head hurts on both sides and my body feel heav…" Jamie's speech trailed off as his eyes drifted closed. The last word he'd said had been extremely slurred.
"What happened?" Frank demanded fear evident on his face and in his voice.
"I'm not sure," replied Dr. O'Shea. "Could be he over taxed himself or it could be there's been or is about to be another event."
"How do you find out? Frank asked fearing Eddie's reaction if Jamie did suffer a second stroke on his watch.
"Well, we don't find out just now because he is not stable," Dr. O'Shea replied. "We'll do a CT scan once his pressure levels off more but for now I'm going to err on the side of caution and begin medical intervention. If there is a second event forming it should help relieve the pressure and minimize the damage."
"What if it's not a second stroke, will the medication be harmful?" Frank asked.
"Not as harmful as not using it," the doctor explained. "Your grandson, I'm sure would clarify that. This is precisely what I was trying to explain to your son. The potential damage associated with severe elevations of blood pressure could hinder his recovery. He's young, so he might make great strides in the physical aspects of therapy, but the impact on his vitals could be very negative."
"So what is your solution?" Frank asked. 'He stays like this? He stays paralyzed, not my boy!"
"It is one option, yes," Sean said from the doorway. "Grandpa, it really is one that many people in Uncle Jamie's position make and live out their days in facilities designed…"
"You know your aunt will never even consider that for a minute!" Frank said firmly. "She'll be dead herself first."
"Grandpa, I know Aunt Eddie…but if Uncle Jamie does not recover his mobility, he'll need a tremendous amount of care."
Dr. O'Shea spoke up, "Sometimes the spouses, when they are still relatively young, prefer to move on…
A muted moan from Jamie deterred any further conversation and calmed the anger welling up inside Frank's chest. All three men turned to look at Jamie who lay in the bed blinking, looking around seemingly confused.
Frank hurried to the bed, "Hey, Son," he said softly, very clearly and deliberately. "You okay."
" ?" Jamie slurred the clarity he'd gained in his speech gone now.
"No, Jamie…" Frank corrected. "It's Dad. Eddie is at her doctor."
"Eddie," Jamie said again, weakly grasping at Frank's arm with his right hand. The movement were more spastic, less focused but it did not seem difficult for him. "Eddie."
"Jamie," Frank said firmly. "Jamie, look at Dad, son. Eddie is at the doctor now, she'll be back later."
"Doctor," Jamie said slowly.
"That's right," Frank affirmed. "Eddie had to go to the doctor. She had a check-up."
Dr. O'Shea joined Frank at Jamie's side. "His pressure is down we're going to take him for a quick CT and see what's going on."
Frank agreed, "When can we address the rest of the issue we were discussing? There way to handle his recovery."
"Once we determine if he did have a second event we'll know better what we're dealing with and we will set a time for the physical therapist, your daughter-in-law, and me to go over that," Dr. O'Shea replied. "For now, you can get a coffee in the cafeteria while we do the scan."
"I'd rather go with him," Frank said knowing that's what Eddie would want him to do.
"Of course," Sean said before Dr. O'Shea could protest. "This way."
Eddie sat in her oncologist's office with Lila at her side. Since she had beaten her cancer Jamie had been at each appointment. He always sat at her side and held her hand until the results were read. Today, Lila was there to do that but it wasn't the same.
"You okay?" Lila asked her keeping a warm hand on her mother's arm.
"Yeah, I'm fine, honey. Just thinking about your dad…" Eddie sighed. She didn't want Lila to know how upset she was about Jamie.
"Yeah, he's always come to this with you, but I'm really glad you asked me to come. I'm sure they'll say you are fine."
The doctor came in five minutes later, "Hi, Eddie. Where's Jamie today? Big city business?"
"Oh, no…his DCPI did a good job of squelching this but, Jamie had a stroke four days ago," Eddie replied. "He's in St. Victor's, you remember my daughter Lila."
After the introductions were made the doctor sat down, "Well, your PET scan and MRI came back clear which is great news, but your CEA-125 came back high, so I want to repeat all your test just to be sure. If you took the CEA…yes you did, it could be impacted by stress, but it's better safe than sorry."
Eddie's breath caught, "That test best be wrong, Doc because if it isn't…My husband is across town, lying in a hospital bed. I cannot be sick now, so do what you have to do. "
"We'll repeat the PET scan and the CEA-125, we'll do both tests this morning. That's why we keep you monitored every year, if there's a problem we can catch it and treat it. For now, just relax, try not to worry about his. It's probably just a false positive."
Even with the doctor's assurance, Eddie was nervous. Her hand was shaking inside of Lila's as they headed to the car after the tests.
"Dad is going to figure it out," Eddie sighed. "And he doesn't need that kind of strain."
"So don't tell him," Lila suggested. "Until we know for sure."
"No, I can't do that to him again." Eddie sighed, "Sweetie you were only four but the last time I was sick, I lied to your dad for over a week and it really hurt him and it really hurt our marriage. We got through it but I made him a promise. I can't hide from him again. I won't."
Eddie called Frank to tell him they were on their way back to the hospital. Given what had happened to Jamie a few hours earlier, Frank thought it prudent to meet his daughter-in-law and granddaughter at the entrance to Jamie's unit.
"Frank?" Eddie asked feeling instantly nervous at seeing him there. "Is he okay?"
"He's fine now," Frank replied. "He had a little setback, he got himself upset at his prognosis and the doctor was worried he had another stroke but the CT is clean. He is okay, he just ate his lunch. Erin is cleaning him up now."
Eddie pushed past Frank hurrying to Jamie's side. Erin was washing his face for him and his hands like she did when he was sticky at five years old. "I'll take it from here, thanks," Eddie said moving to the side of Jamie's bed taking the cloth in her hand even as Erin moved it to wipe Jamie's right arm.
"Oh, it's fine, he's my little brother. That lunch was really good too, tuna salad and a cup of chicken broth. Jamie did very well swallowing that, didn't you?"
Jamie smiled, "I passed that test already. Good to eat something substantial."
"I'm sure it was." Eddie sat on the bed and kissed him. "That felt good. I think your lips are coming back." She didn't want to discuss anything further in front of Erin. "Did you eat by yourself?"
Erin spoke up for him, "Oh he was too tired for that so I helped him."
"He's supposed to be feeding himself, he's right handed and his right side is not affected," Eddie sighed. "Jamie, you know you won't get your strength back at all if you don't use your good side. I know the stroke weakened it but you have to try. I need you to try."
Jamie caught something in her eyes, "Erin, can you go and get Eddie some tea but from the shop she likes on Madison?"
"Jamie, that will take over a half hour…" Erin caught her brother's stern look. "Sure, I'll get you a cup of vanilla mint too." Erin kissed Jamie's head and left he and Eddie to talk.
"I heard about what happened," Eddie sighed. "Are you okay now?"
"Yeah…I had a hard time breathing and I blacked out but…they said I didn't have another. I'm okay." Jamie lifted her hand and kissed it. "Tell me…"
Eddie looked down at their joined hands, "You are already having to face so much. I don't want to add more to it but…I saw today and my blood tests, the CEA, it came back high."
Jamie shut his eyes and took a breath, not again. "Oh, baby…" He kissed her hand again and again. "I wish I was there for you. I'm sorry. What did he say?"
"We did another blood panel and another PET scan. The scan was clean so he's looking to see if the blood panel is wrong or if the PET scan is wrong. We'll know in a few days. I didn't want to stress you out any more but I didn't want to betray you…"
"Ssh," Jamie hushed her. "I'm glad you told me. I promise you, Eddie. Those doctors be damned, I'm walking again and I am holding you tight all night again too. Screw my blood pressure, I am going to work so hard. I will walk our girl down the aisle and if you are sick I will nurse you through just like before."
Eddie knew Jamie meant well but she also knew that he was overreaching. The chances of him ever walking again unassisted were slim. She remembered back to the talk with his doctor the night he had the stroke.
Eddie sat down in a leather chair. Sean had paged the top neurologist at the hospital to oversee his uncle's case. Dr. Aiden O'Shea was the best in the business. He spoke calmly and quietly confirming Sean's diagnosis of stroke.
"Will he be all right?" Eddie asked. "I mean, will he be able to recover any…"
"Mrs. Reagan, as much as we know about stroke and the brain's ability to relearn and readapt after these attacks, we still can't judge how an individual person will respond…" Dr. O'Shea replied. "The first step in any stroke case is seeing the patient through the critical hours, normally the first 72 hours. If they pull through that…"
"Whoa, wait a minute," Eddie interjected. "Are you saying Jamie might die? That he could be dying now while we sit here?"
"Mrs. Reagan, please calm down," Dr. O'Shea tried to soothe her. "With any stroke caused by sever spike in blood pressure there is always a risk it can reoccur. We are trying to manage that with medication to make sure it doesn't happen again. Overall, the risk of recurrenc in the first 72 hours is under 35% with TPA and other drugs. He's in good hands."
"Everyone keeps saying that," Eddie sighed. "Do you know the extent of the damage? Sean mentioned his motor skills…"
"That's correct, and that will present a few problems. With his blood pressure issues, his ability to rehabilitate will be limited. He may not be able to withstand the level of physical therapy he'll need. He's experiencing complete hemiplegia on the left side and likely he'll have some speech and swallowing problems but I'm hope those will be mechanical more than anything. The recovery rate depends a lot on the individual patient and as I'm sure you know on the support of the caregivers."
"If love and support could heal my husband, doctor, he'll be ready to go home tomorrow," Eddie sighed. "I'd like to go back to him."
Eddie squeezed Jamie's hand, "I love you so much." She took his left hand in hers, he wore his ring on his finger even though the hand was swollen. She kissed the gold, "For better or worse, for richer or poor, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live. You reaffirmed those vows to me when I was sick, it's no different now. No matter what you need, if you need care for the rest of your life, I will be there. I am all in, no matter what."
Jamie reached up and touched her face, "Me too. If we are going again, I am in. I am all in." He leaned in and offered a long sweet kiss.