Chapter 10
Jed entered the ICU to see a person unrecognizable as his wife.
Pale skin against the white sheets told him that all was not well.
As he touched her arm for the first time, his hand recoiled at the coolness of her skin. She was breathing by mechanical means and every orifice looked like it had a wire or tube coming from it. A bag of blood hung from IV hooks over the bed, along with two bags of fluid. IV and cardiac monitors beeped, giving him the only hope that she would live.
He sat down by her bedside and the only words he knew came to his lips. "I love you, Abbey." Tears tried to form in his eyes, but he forced them back down.
He sat there for the next few hours, never moving from her side and always praying for her recovery.
The staff came and did their checks, but there was no change.
Jed only sat there and stared at Abbey, wondering why she had not called him.
Surgery of any kind was serious and he still had no clue why she didn't call him.
When he talked to Millie on the plane, all she said that Abbey had not wanted to worry him.
Hell, she was his wife and he her husband. Spouses worried about each other and were there for each other. That was just the way things were supposed to be.
The girls arrived from Manchester later that night. All of them had been together for Doug's birthday and had to wait to come until arrangements could be made. When Jed had talked to them on the plane back from Florida, they had become very upset. Zoey especially had realized that something was wrong with her mother and she had expressed her feelings to her sisters. But they had no clue about her plans either.
In the middle of the night, Liz came to her father and tried to persuade him to leave Abbey's side. "Dad, you need to rest. There's nothing that you can do for Mom right now."
"Yes, there is. I can stay here and pray for her recovery. I'm not leaving her until she wakes up."
"You're stubborn, did you know that?"
Jed smiled. He knew that the girls were only thinking of his wellbeing but he was not going to leave Abbey until she woke up. "Liz, I'm fine. Your mother needs me right now."
Sighing, Liz paused while she thought of a new argument. "What if Aunt Millie stayed with Mom? Would that satisfy you enough? The last we need is for you to get sick as well. You know Mom would be really mad if she knew you were pushing yourself so hard."
Jed knew Liz was right. Abbey would really be pissed if he ruined his health in his worry over her. "Okay. You go get Millie and I'll leave for a few hours."
"Great! She's right outside."
"Hey! You tricked me."
Liz smiled. "I learned it from the master. Now come on."
Reluctantly, Jed stood, kissed Abbey's forehead. "I love you Abbey. Please get better." He then turned and walked out of ICU with Liz. "I love you too, Liz, in spite of your little tricks."
Liz only smiled. Like she told her father, she had learned from the master.
Jed spent the rest of the night in the Presidential Suite, catnapping, worrying. He got up almost every two hours to check on Abbey, but still no progress.
The ventilator was removed in the early morning. At least some progress was being made. But due to her extreme blood loss, she remained unconscious.
All of them were waiting on one person.
Abbey.