I woke up the next morning at 7 because I had to open at 8. I took a quick shower and was out the door by 7:25, but I jotted down a quick note first.
Had to leave for work, didn't want to wake you.
Hope you're okay this morning.
Come see me at the Rammer Jammer when you wake up
Love, Wade
She showed up around 10 and sat at the bar.
"Morning." I leaned over the counter to kiss her and she met me halfway.
"Good morning."
"So can we talk about last night?" I asked, knowing she wouldn't want to, but I felt like I was walking on eggshells constantly now.
"Can it wait until tonight? I really have to get going to work and practically the whole town is in here." I nodded my head, knowing she was right. At least I wasn't working tonight, so I would be home at 4, an hour before she would be. We carried on a small conversation until her breakfast was ready and then she ate and left for work. The day went by slowly as usual, so I got off early. I stopped at the house first to see how progress was coming. They seemed to be fine there and so I went back to the carriage house. I changed from my work clothes into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, even though it was only 3:30 now. I was exhausted from work and the whole bottle of wine Zoe and I downed last night didn't help. I ventured into Lavon's kitchen and found him on his laptop.
"You're home early."
"Yeah, pretty slow day."
"Why do you look like you're gonna take a nap?"
"Cause I was goin' to, but then I remembered I have to either go get or make dinner tonight, so I was hoping I could make somethin' here and then come get it when it's ready?" Lavon nodded because he wouldn't be going anywhere and would keep an eye on whatever I decided to make. My mind ran through the four dishes I knew how to make and decided on mac n cheese since that would bake for two hours, giving me a nice time to nap before Zoe got home and dinner was ready.
I boiled the noodle and then combined everything together and stuck it in the pre-heated oven. I put the timer on and told Lavon that I would be in to check on it in an hour and a half, but he barely looked up from his computer.
I slowly walked back to the house and I checked to see if Penny had food, which she did, and climbed into bed. Before I fell asleep, I could feel little paws on my chest and soon she plopped down right there and napped with me.
I was awakened by Zoe, who was kneeling down beside the bed and running her one hand through my hair and the other hand was petting the cat.
"Do you feel alright? You never take naps?" She asked and put the back of her hand on my forehead.
"I feel fine, just extra tired I guess." I said as I yawned. I sat up in bed and the cat moved to sit on Zoe's lap, who was now sitting on the edge of the bed.
"See, she does like you."
"Yeah I guess she does." She said quietly. We sat in silence for a few moments.
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Oh, uh, last night I guess. You just haven't really been yourself lately, and I understand why, but I just want to know how you're feeling. You haven't really told me anything."
"I can't explain it, I just feel like there's this weight on my shoulders and I don't know what it is. I'm just tired and stressed out, and worried, and there's a lot going on. I was relieved that it wasn't positive, but there's always that small part of you that wishes that it wasn't."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. You sure there isn't anything else going on?"
"I promise," She leaned in and kissed me, "But I will be very angry if there isn't any type of food in this house." She giggled.
"Let me go get it." I got out of bed and went over to Lavon's. He wasn't in the kitchen anymore, but I grabbed the mac n cheese and left. I arrived back at the carriage house with it and placed it on the table.
"It smells great and I'm starving." She exclaimed as we sat down together. She seemed more like herself today, probably because she didn't have to worry about being pregnant like she had to these last few weeks. We ate and watched a movie and both headed to bed early because we had a big day tomorrow, Planksgiving.
We both woke up when we heard the front door slam.
"I swear to God if this is anything other than a medical emergency I'm going to kill someone." She huffed as she rolled over. I couldn't help but let out a smile.
"Big Z! Wade! Let's go! It's Planksgiving guys!" He sounded so excited, but I couldn't help but hate him at the moment.
"Lavon Hayes it is 6 in the morning! Go back to bed! Or at least get out of my house!" Zoe yelled, her eyes still closed.
"I don't think so! It is my house, technically. And I signed you two up to help set up the square with me!" He was nearly shouting and Zoe pretend to be snoring under her pillow which she had put over her head.
"Why would you do that? This is a holiday and holidays are meant for resting!"
"Because we only have a limited amount of days where I can do this anymore so I'm making them worth my while. Soon you'll be over in that mansion of yours sleeping until noon!"
"1. It's not a mansion. 2. It's six in the morning! 3. I'm awful at everything, so you shouldn't even have volunteered me." Zoe offered.
"Let's go, get up! Up at at 'em!" Lavon kept yelling. I knew we weren't getting out of this one. I sat up in bed.
"Well do you mind giving us a little privacy? I know you're all about bonding these days, but I don't think seeing my junk is gonna help!" I retorted back and he made a face and left the room. I sighed and got out of bed. I threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt and shut the door behind me. I knew she wouldn't be long, but she wouldn't appreciate it if I left it open and she heard Lavon still screaming.
"So what exactly do we have to do?" I asked as I turned the coffee on.
"You and I are on hay duty. We'll be hauling hay all day baby!" Lavon boomed. He didn't have a quiet voice on a regular day, but since it was Planksgiving, it was extra loud.
"And the girls?" I asked, putting my head in my hands.
"Who knows, probably hanging streamers or something." I murmured 'lucky' under my breath so he didn't hear me. I loved Planksgiving just as much as the next guy, but not at six in the morning.
"It's. So. Early." Zoe whined as she dragged her body out of our room.
"Big Z you're always braggin' about how you pulled 36 hour shifts in New York and now you can't even wake up at 6? Bluebell sure has changed you." Lavon scolded as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
We left the house a few minutes later, after we had all had coffee. Tucker was there with Tansy, along with Lemon, Wanda, and Tom. The Rammer Jammer was closed today due to the holiday. Annabeth arrived not too shortly afterwards and so did Peter, who had come into town to surprise Lemon. I followed the guys back to where the big truck was filled with hay while Zoe went to get her assignment from Lemon. That would be interesting, but I knew Zoe could handle her own.
As the morning stretched on, more and more people came out to help. Brick came to help and Shelby "supervised," Reverend Mayfair and his wife came, Meatball was here, along with Cricket and Stanley.
"Hey George Tucker!" Lemon called out and I couldn't help but snicker under my breath. Poor guy. He met her halfway and she seemed to be convincing him to get up on the roof of the gazebo to connect some streamers. He said he would try, so we turned around to watch. He stepped on the ladder and got to the top, but knew the roof wouldn't hold up under his weight. He apologized and climbed back down. I wonder who her next victim was going to be. I prayed it wasn't me, and thankfully, it wasn't. I would probably be too heavy for the roof too.
"Hey Zoe, since you were gone for six months and weren't here to help with the Founder's Day parade, maybe you could help us out and climb up there and do this." Lemon said with the fake sweet voice of hers with the condescending tone.
"Uh, sure, I guess." Zoe said and she took a step back to size up the gazebo. Even though I knew she was reluctant to do it, she was the perfect person for it since she was so tiny. If she wouldn't be able to do it, Wanda would be our last hope.
Lemon held the bottom of the ladder while she climbed it with the streamers in her hands, which I gotta say, seeing my girlfriend climbing a ladder was pretty sexy. She got to the top and slowly put her foot on the roof to test her weight. It held her fine and she moved towards the center. Lemon threw the tape up to her and Zoe connected all of the streamers to the center, coming out in all different directions. She stood up to see her work and nodded in approval. She went to gather the tape and streamers, but lost her footing. It seemed like everything was in slow motion as she tried to regain her footing on the roof. She failed though and her body started to fall backwards. Before anyone could register what was happening, she hit the ground with a loud thud, not even having time to scream.
I didn't move. I don't think I could have moved if I wanted to. Lemon was the first one at Zoe's side and Brick rushed over.
"Don't touch her!" He warned and knelt down beside her. He pulled out his phone and called someone, I could only presume an ambulance. She was just lying there, unconscious, not moving at all. I heard Brick yell for someone to find me, but I knew what had happened. I saw it all happen, but I couldn't move. It was then that I realized Lavon next to me. He had been talking to whole time, but I hadn't heard a word.
"WADE!" Suddenly, my brain started working again and my head whipped towards him.
"What?"
"Did you see what just happened? Man, get over there!" He yelled at me and I blinked a few times before running over there. My brain was making up for lost time and was now in overdrive.
"Wade, good, you're here. She fell from the top of the gazebo. We think she hit her head." Lemon told me as I pushed through the crowd that had formed. I knelt down beside her and watched as Brick continued to shine a small flashlight in her eyes and check her pulse and breathing. I was at a loss of what to do, I recalled hearing Brick say not to touch her, but surely pushing her hair out of her eyes wouldn't be an issue. I softly put my fingers to her face and pushed her bangs out of her eyes.
The paramedics arrived shortly and came running from their ambulance.
"Give them some space!" Lavon yelled and everyone backed up a bit, but not much. I stayed on the ground with Brick and Zoe.
"She fell from the gazebo, possible brain and spinal trauma, limited pupillary response, blood evident in the nose, but pulse and breathing are normal." Brick recited. Two paramedics had a long board with them and started unstrapping the Velcro.
"How old is she sir?" The other paramedic turned to me. It was when I went to speak that I realized I had been crying. I hadn't noticed before.
"She's 28."
"Okay, any history of a head injury or spinal injury?"
"Uh, not, not that I know of."
"Any pre-existing medical conditions?"
"No."
"Any allergies to medicines?"
"No."
"Any chance she's pregnant?"
"No."
"Alright, let's get her strapped in first." He ordered the other paramedics. The one who had questioned me put a big brace around her neck before they touched her.
"Alright, slowly on three…" He led and the other paramedics seemed to know what he meant. The two of them slowly rolled her over a bit while the other one slid the board under her. They tried not to move her and quickly strapped her to the board. They put these big foam pieces on either side of her head and strapped that down too. Once she was all strapped down, they wheeled the stretcher over and lowered it.
"One, two, three." The paramedics repeated together as they lifted up the board she was on and put her on the stretcher. Two of them wheeled her to the ambulance while one of them walked back over to me.
"Sir, would you like to ride along? It usually helps, especially if she wakes up in the ambulance. I nodded and followed them to the ambulance, but Brick pulled me aside first.
"Wade, if they ask, you're her husband. If you don't, they won't tell you anything." I nodded to that and hopped in the back of the ambulance.
"We're right behind you Wade!" Lavon yelled. They shut the back door and soon it was just Zoe, a paramedic, and I in the back. He was taking her blood pressure and her other vitals while we drove to the hospital. I grabbed her hand through all of the Velcro that kept her strapped down.
About ten minutes into the ride, her eyes rolled open, but she didn't say anything. She didn't look panicked, or worried. I wasn't even sure if she knew where or who she was, but it was obvious that she didn't know what was going on. She didn't say anything, and her eyes drifted closed again, despite the efforts by the paramedic to keep her awake.
"Okay, you can come with us for the time being, sir." One of them told me when we arrived at the hospital. They wheeled her bed into a room, but kept her on the backboard for the time being. A doctor followed them in and one of the paramedics gave her all of the information.
The doctor gave me a sympathetic smile and then checked Zoe over.
"Alright, I'll order a CT scan and MRI, but keep her on the board for now in case there is a spinal or neck injury." The doctor ordered and left the room. A nurse came in a few minutes later and wheeled her down to get those tests done. I left the room and checked my phone to see the time. It was almost noon already and was nearly an hour since the accident happened. I sat outside the room and heard the radio playing from the nurse's station.
She's sitting at the table, the hours get later
He was supposed to be here
She's sure he would have called
She waits a little longer, there's no one in the driveway
No one's said they've seen him
Why, is something wrong?
She looks back to the window
Suddenly the phone rings
A voice says something's happened
That she should come right now
Her mind goes to December
She thinks of when he asked her
He bent down on his knees first
And he said
I want you forever, forever and always
Through the good and the bad and the ugly
We'll grow old together
Forever and always
She pulls up to the entrance
She walks right to the front desk
They lead her down a million halls, a maze that's never ending
They talk about what happened but she can barely hear them
She tries to keep a straight face as she walks into the room
She sits by his bedside, holds his hand too tight
They talk about the kids they're gonna have and the good life
The house on the hillside, where they would stay
Stay there forever, forever and always
Through the good and the bad and the ugly
We'll grow old together, and always remember
Whether rich or for poor or for better
We'll still love each other, forever and always
Then she gets an idea and calls in the nurses
Brings up the chaplain and he says a couple verses
She borrows some rings from the couple next door
Everybody's laughing as the tears fall on the floor
She looks into his eyes, and she says
I want you forever, forever and always
Through the good and the bad and the ugly
We'll grow old together, and always remember
Whether happy or sad or whatever
We'll still love each other, forever and always
Forever and always, forever and always
She finishes the vows but the beeps are getting too slow
His voice is almost too low
As he says, I love you forever, forever and always
Please just remember even if I'm not there
I'll always love you, forever and always
I thought that it was a pretty sad song to be playing at a hospital. Aren't hospital songs supposed to be happy? This one just made me even more worried.
Trying to distract myself, I figured Lavon was here and went to check the waiting room. I was surprised when I saw most of Bluebell there.
"Wade! Did you hear anything?" Lavon asked when he spotted me coming around the corner.
"Not yet," I put my hand on the back of my neck, "But they're taking her down to have an MRI and CT scan right now." Everyone in the waiting room quieted down to hear me talk.
"Is she still unconscious?"
"Yeah, still unconscious, but she opened her eyes in the ambulance. She didn't say anything though."
"Oh. Listen, if you want me to clear them all out of here, I can." He offered, but I shook my head.
"No, it's sweet. Unless the nurses have a problem with it, they're fine." I answered and thanked him for being here before heading back to her room. I stopped at the receptionist's desk first though.
"Sorry about all of them, if they're being bothersome just let me know and I'll kick them out."
"Oh no, they're great actually! And they brought all of this food to share!" The receptionist laughed at the spread that they had set up in the waiting room, inviting nurses, doctors, receptionists, even patients to join them. I went back to see that Zoe's room was still empty.
They wheeled her back in a few minutes later and told me the doctor would be in shortly.
"Here, I hope you don't mind they let me back here, I just thought you might want something to eat?" Lavon offered as he showed me a cafeteria sandwich and a water bottle. I smiled at him and he went to leave.
"You can stay if you want." I told him and he smiled. He took the seat next to me and we sat beside her bed. We were silent until the doctor came in.
"Hi, I don't think we had a chance to meet earlier, I'm Dr. Bradshaw." She extended her hand. I grabbed it and smiled.
"Hi, I'm Wade, and this is Lavon." Lavon stood up to shake her hand.
"So before I can release any information, I need to know your relation to the patient?" She looked up at me quizzically and I gave Lavon a quick glance.
"I'm her husband." I said confidently. Lavon nodded, as if confirming.
"Alright, and you're fine if he's in the room?" I nodded when she gestured towards Lavon.
"Okay, when she hit the ground she seems to have suffered a pretty massive blow to the back of the head. Her brain has swelled a bit, so we are going to give her a heavy sedative to put her in what we call a medically induced coma. This will just give her brain time to recuperate without distractions and let the swelling go down. Luckily, there seems to be no spinal damage, just some bad whiplash. So when the swelling in her brain goes down and she is taken off the sedative, she will be pretty sore. When she wakes up, we will be better equipped to figure out the extent of her head injury. We checked for a brain bleed and the CT showed up negative, so that's a good thing. But it does seem that she may have a hairline fracture in her skull, but we will run all of these tests again when she wakes up, which may stretch anywhere from a few hours to a few days." I thanked the doctor and she left, a nurse came in after her to unstrap Zoe from the backboard and put her in a hospital gown. They kept the neck brace on her though, just to be safe. Lavon updated everyone in the waiting room and told them all to go home and promised that he would keep them updated. Everyone was gathering their things when Lemon pulled me aside.
"Wade, if she wakes up, tell her how sorry I am. I wasn't the nicest person earlier and then asking her to climb the gazebo was a bad idea. I never meant for her to fall or anything!" Lemon truly felt bad, and a part of my heart felt bad for her.
"Lemon, it's okay. It was an accident and accidents happen. Don't blame yourself, alright? Now head home, you're opening the Rammer Jammer for me tomorrow." She nodded and left. I made my way back to Zoe's room where they had set up a small cot for me to sleep in for the night.