Hi guys I know you've had to wait a ridiculous amount of time for this chapter which is in fact the last installment! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing the whole story.
Four days had gone by, Connie was still bed ridden and was situated in the same place from when she woke up. Grace and Sam had visited many times in fact they'd hardly left her side which was a surprise due to the fact that she thought Grace and Sam would want to spend some quality time together. Grace had brought her home made cookies which were a god sent as the hospital food was much to be desired. There relationship had been great the last few days, they hadn't argued which was surprising with not having much to do in a hospital. Connie had begun to get frustrated with the Nurses that kept disturbing her slumber but other than thst she'd surprising stayed quite calm and relaxed, maybe it was the break she needed. Connie was brought from her thoughts by the opening of her room doors.
"How's the patient today?" Zoe asked approaching Connie with Tess, Charlie and Elliot.
"Better I think." Connie responded with a small smile. She wasn't feeling one hundred percent but she was feeling a lot better. Physically that is.
"Well your obs are improving and you've certainly got a lot of colour back in your face." Zoe stated smiling while checking through Connie's notes. Charlie approached Connie's bedside and handed her a drink of water.
"Thank you." Connie said taking the drink from his hand. He noticed the unsteadiness of her taking the glass and the way her hand shook whilst bringing it up to her mouth. He made a move to help her but she flinched away "I can manage." she stated a little louder than she expected. Charlie put his hands up defensively.
"Only trying to help." He said whilst backing away.
"I know. I'm sorry, i just want things to get back to the way they were. I want to be strong again." She said lookimg down at her injured arm.
"That will happen with time Connie. You took the biggest blow out of all of us in fact its a miracle your still alive and in one piece. You'll be back on your feet and giving out commands to all of us in no time." said Tess trying to comfort the clinical lead. Connie smiled, it was nice to know that they cared but that didn't help her heal quicker.
"Dr Spence will be down to remove your bandage on your arm to assess the damage." Zoe announced. Connie's face went pale with dread. It was soon time to find out whether she'd be able to continue working as a Doctor and Surgeon.
"In the meantime both Grace and Sam are outside I'll send them in."
Zoe had only left the room two seconds and Grace had come barging in closely followed by Sam who looked liked he hadn't slept much at all. Elliot sat on the chair next to her bed and placed an excited Grace on his knee. Charlie and Tess busied themselves checking Connie's paperwork and readings on the monitor. Sam just lingered unsure as to what to do or say.
"Zoe said that you might be able to leave today." Grace stated happily.
"I don't know about that Gracie. I cant really take care of myself at the minute, maybe in a few more days." Connie said with disappointment. She had to be real with her daughter and not let her linger on false hope.
"About you going home." Sam stated. Connie frowned slightly at his apprehension but he continued before she could interrupt. "I was thinking that maybe i take you home today and look after you. Until you get better that is. That way i can make sure that Grace is looked after too."
"Sam honestly i can wait a few more days you don't have to go out of your way to look after me." Connie replied with appreciation.
"Connie it's not out of my way. You know how i feel about.." Connie brought up her good hand to stop him.
"Sam don't." She didn't want to talk about this in front of her daughter let alone Elliot and some of her colleagues.
"Mum please come home today. It would be nice to wake up and have breakfast with both you and dad together." Grace's comments were sweet yet it filled the room full of awkwardness. Charlie and Tess didn't know where to look they'd finished the observations but didn't want to make it look like they were leaving just because of what was happening.
Connie didn't have the heart or strength to tell the girl no so just settled with the 'I'll think about it' trick, which in Grace's eyes was actually a yes. Before the conversation could continue Michael entered with Zoe.
"How's my favourite patient doing?" Michael asked.
"I just want to get this over with." She replied honestly.
"Why don't you go see Grandma in reception?" Sam told Grace.
Before she could protest Elliot lifted her up and whispered something about sweets after that she went out without a fuss.
The remaining people moved to the end of Connie's bed hoping for positive results.
Michael moved to the side of her bed and started unraveling the bandage that had been on her arm for the last 4 days. With the bandage off the group could see the extent of the damage. A large, nearly healed scar started from the top of her wrist and ended at her elbow joint. The scar was ugly the group at the end of the bed couldn't hide the horrified looks on their faces.
"Now Connie it may be painful but i need you to take my hand in your own and squeeze." Michael said placing his hand closer to her own. With hesitation at first she reached for his hand the air touching her wound felt strange but soothing. She squeezed his hand in her own as hard as she could until the pain was too great.
"Well?" Connie ask after she let go.
"Now wiggle each finger one by one." Michael instructed.
She did as he asked and waited for him to speak. Within a few moments he looked up at her and smiled. "You are one lucky lady Mrs Beauchamp. It looks like your going to be fine. Your hand is a little weak at the minute but with a few physiotherapy sessions you should get 90% of your strength back in your hand." Michael concluded his assessment and allowed Sam to come to her side.
"Does that mean i should be able to work without any problems?" Connie asked Michael.
"Yes. I don't see you having any major problems that would effect your work. Just lay off the heart surgeries for a while eh?" Connie smiled at the small joke but the relief was clear on her face. Sam however still had a worried look on his face.
"And the scar?" Sam asked. Connie wasn't really too bothered about the scar, although it didn't look pretty it wouldn't effect her work.
"I'm afraid the scar won't get much better than that. It'll fade slightly with time and I could possibly operate to make it look neater."
"No more surgeries." Connie stated bluntly. "I can live with the scar I don't want another operation that could lead to more complications." Sam nodded in acknowledgement and gave her a small smile.
"Now leave that bandage off for a while give it some air and then in a few hours if you Tess could re-bandage it for me." Tess nodded in agreement. "Well thats settled then, my work here is done."
"Thank you Michael. I couldn't have had two better surgeons." Connie said Full of appreciation. With that Michael left giving Connie a kiss on the forehead as he left. Michael was followed by Tess and Charlie after they'd given Connie their well wishes.
"So." Sam said breaking the silence. "Are you coming home tonight?" he asked.
"You know you could really do with leaving this hospital a while it'll send you mad" Zoe stated giving Sam as much back up as she could.
"Sam don't you think it's strange with our past and I don't want to send the wrong signals to Grace that your moving back over here." Connie was very hesitant in letting Sam stay at her house. They hadn't been together for long periods of time since Grace was conceived. After Grace was born they hardly talked just the odd text to arrange visits.
"About America. I'm moving back here. When I got the call about you it made me realised that America wasn't actually my home, my home is with my family, it's with you and Grace." Sam had gone all teary eyed, it was as though he'd been waiting to say this for a long long time.
"Sam what are you saying?" Connie asked in surprise. Zoe just stood there with a smile on her face taking a slight step back to give them a little more space.
"I want us to try again. We never really tried in the first place and that was probably my fault i didn't try hard enough. I want to look after you. I still love you Connie." Sam now clasped Connie's hands in his own.
"I.." Connie stuttered this was all so much of a shock to her. She knew she still had feelings for him although she wouldn't admit it out loud due to her pride. Grace was her main concern she did't want to confuse her daughter. "I suppose we could try again. But I don't want Grace knowing until we know it's going to be serious."
"Connie I promise this time we'll work." Sam stated with a wide smile. He hugged the small brunette. Although it was so long ago she remembered the smell of him all too clearly. 'I think this will work' she thought to herself 'maybe it wasn't such a bad day out after all' as none of this would have happened had it not.
And that's it! So glad I finally finished this. Now onto the next one! Please don't forget to leave a review just a short opinion about the story as a whole :)