You'll Find Me There

Chapter 13

Sharon, overcome by the joy of having Andy awake and aware again, leaned down and engulfed his mouth in another kiss. He kissed her back and ran his hands up and down her arms as if to assure himself of her presence, that she was really there and not a figment of his imagination. Sharon pulled back and stroked his cheek with her thumb, staring into his eyes lovingly. Andy who was equally joyful at their reunion feasted his eyes on her like a starving man stares at his first meal.

"Hello, Mr. Flynn," she said in a husky voice. "You know we really need to find someplace other than hospitals for our reunions."

He barked a laugh and answered, "Hello, Mrs. Flynn. I think you are right about that." He stroked her hair and tucked it behind her ear.

"Oh, Andy. It's so good to see your eyes open and I'm so happy you know me. We weren't sure what shape your brain would be in after hitting your head so hard on those roots!"

"I'll always know you, my love," he said, his voice filled with emotion. "It takes a lot more than a fall off a horse to knock me senseless. Ma always said I was the most hard-headed, of all her children."

Sharon made a scoffing noise and said, "Well, I'd believe that except that you've been in a coma for the last three weeks. On life support no less!"

"I guess I just needed a nap. You must have worn me out on our honeymoon," he said wagging his eyebrows suggestively at her.

Sharon sputtered with mock indignation. "I wore you out? Do you even remember our honeymoon?" She asked with a smirk. "I seem to remember it was you wearing me out. In the shower, out of the shower, on the beach, in the jacuzzi. If It had been solely up to you, we would have done it in the passageways at the castles," Sharon whispered and blushed.

Andy tried hard to recall everything she spoke of, but could only remember the things he had seen when he thought it was just wishful thinking during his dream. He could remember the beach lovemaking, only because she had described it that morning, (had it been this morning or a morning long ago) he wasn't sure. He remembered hearing her voice talking within his head describing the details, wanting to get a rise out of him. The nightmare of thinking Sharon was dead was the most insistent and consistent memory however. He rubbed his forehead. "Actually, it sounds like we had a lot of great moments and… I wish I could say I remembered them all but I… I don't." He'd been about to tell Sharon about his dream but looking into her beautiful green eyes, he saw them tear up and realized she wasn't ready to hear about his nightmare. So he decided to amend his statement a bit, "I remember a few… I... think. I remember we… were walking on the beach and we stopped and kissed then turned and watched the sunset. I remember being at that castle that had the Blarney Stone and at the folk park, with Siobhan's two youngest, Aiden and Tess, and Stephen's little girl…Claire."

Sharon relaxed a little. Hearing that he did recall something of their honeymoon. "I remember hearing you talking about our time on the beach. I guess it was before we fell off the horses? I definitely wish I could remember that… time in detail," he said regretfully, but with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.
Sharon blushed again.

Andy and Sharon had been so caught up in each other and their banter they failed to realize that the doctors and nurses that had taken Andy off life support were still there in the room with them. They had stepped back to give them privacy for their reunion, but when Sharon mentioned his coma and being on life support, they started moving back to the foreground so they could do their assessment. The doctors were about to call attention to themselves again, when Sharon started talking about hers and Andy's honeymoon details, entirely focused on Andy and completely forgetting they weren't alone. They started to back away again looking uncomfortable.

Marjorie who was part of the group decided to take charge of the situation. She moved to Sharon's side to help her get out of the way. "Sharon, darlin, the doctors need to assess Andy's condition now that he's awake, they'll be awhile doin that. You've been standing bent over for a long time, you've got to be exhausted and in pain let me get you seated and I'll take you over to your bed so you can rest." With that, not taking no for an answer Marjorie reached down unlocked the braces at Sharon's knees and eased her into the recliner.

Sharon became panicked, not wanting to lose sight of Andy. "Noooo, Marjorie! I want to stay with him! Don't take me away, please! He just woke up and I've been waiting to see him awake, for what seems like forever!"

Marjorie patiently but firmly continued to move Sharon away from Andy's bed as she explained. "Sharon, you can see him from your bed. You'll be in the way if you stay where you were. The doctors need to examine Andy and make sure he's going to be okay and you young lady need rest. You have been ignoring your own needs again and you are past exhaustion. You won't be any good to Andy if you don't get some rest.

A voice from over by the window said, "she's right Mom, you need to rest." Her eldest son Ricky and her younger son Rusty said together. They moved closer to her .

Sharon looked over at her sons with her eyebrows rising into her hairline. They had startled her. She'd completely forgotten they were there. "But, I'm not tired and I want… no, I need… to be with Andy!" Sharon said. Her voice rising insistently but at the same time, trembling with emotion and fatigue, belying the statement that she wasn't tired. She was actually completely exhausted but was terrified that if she even closed her eyes for a moment, she would find it was all a dream and Andy would be dead or still in a coma.

Sensing the cause of his mother's anxiety, Ricky knelt in front of Sharon. He took her hands in his and looked her in the eye. "Mom, Andy isn't going anywhere. This isn't a dream. He's really awake and you made it happen. You were amazing, Mom! You brought him back by the sheer strength of your will and your love for him but the doctors need to assess him in a timely manner and if you stand beside him you'd be interfering with that. Listen, Mom, you've been completely focused on Andy, to your own detriment, since Rusty and I got here! You haven't eaten or had anything to drink for hours. You blew off rehab and you've been standing over him for a lot longer than you are usually able to stand when you have actually been to rehab. You're not taking care of yourself Mom! We need you and Andy needs you, so please let us take care of you for once. Just for a little while until you're able to take over the reins yourself again," Ricky said sternly.

Sharon made a face. "Enough with the horse analogies please, Ricky. It's riding horses that got us in this mess, to begin with!"

Ricky swallowed his desire to laugh, he knew his mother hadn't meant to be funny and was not in the mood for levity at the moment. "Sorry, Mom, that aside though you need to let us help take care of you and Andy. Will you cooperate with us, please?" Sharon looked down at her lap and nodded almost imperceptibly.

During this exchange, Andy had become aware that all was not right with Sharon. When the doctors tried to ask him questions he held his hand up to Indicate he needed a moment. "Sharon, Babe? You were hurt? How bad is it?" he asked with concern.

Sharon closed her eyes, she had been dreading this moment. The moment when she had to tell Andy of her injuries. She decided to hold it off for awhile longer. "Well, as you can see I'm definitely a bit the worse for wear ,Andy but let the doctor's do their assessment and then we'll talk. I promise."

"But Sharon!"

"Andy, please, let them do what they have to do then we'll talk." He looked at her for a long moment and then nodded. The curtain was pulled around Andy's bed for privacy and the doctors proceeded with their assessment.

Marjorie made a noise of approval and rolled Sharon toward the bathroom. After her needs were taken care of there, she lifted Sharon into bed with help from Ricky. As her back hit the mattress, she let out an involuntary moan. A mixture of relief and pain. Marjorie looked at her watch and realized Sharon was way overdue for her pain relief meds.

They all, including Marjorie had been so focused on the drama of Andy returning to consciousness, that she had been remiss in sticking to the medication schedule. She pulled the curtains around Sharon's bed for privacy. Then she gently turned her on her side and gave her two inter-muscular pain shots, one in each hip. Sharon held tightly to the railings and swallowed her cry of pain. The shots causing almost as much agony as the injuries themselves. Marjorie hooked her back up to the IV that would administer hydration and nutrition. Sleep was the most pressing need for the moment.

Once all her physical needs were met and Sharon was made comfortable, Marjorie removed her braces and covered her. Then she pulled up the railings up on each Side of the bed and patted her arm. "Now, you go to sleep, Darlin. Yer man will be busy for quite awhile with tests and such. You did good, Sharon, now rest." Sharon's eyes fluttered closed, the meds and the exhaustion having taken their toll.

Several hours later Andy woke up with a start. The first thing he noticed was that he was in a different room, then he noticed that Sharon's bed was there but it was made up. Panic set in and his heart rate accelerated. "Sharon! Where are you? Where's my wife? Sharoooon!?"

Suddenly a familiar calming voice could be heard, along with a comforting pat on his shoulder. Delia stood up so Andy could see her. "Calm down, Baby. She's in rehab. She finally agreed to go once she woke up, had some breakfast, was assured you were sleeping naturally and were not back in a coma. She asked me to stay with you and watch over you until she got back. She should be back soon but she'll probably need lunch and a rest before you're able to spend time together," explained Delia who was again sitting in a chair by his bed.

"Are we in a different room?" Andy asked as he looked around the unfamiliar room.

Delia nodded, "Yes, Baby, they brought you down here to this new room last night after your tests."

Andy wondered, "Wait, waking up from the coma and having those tests done was yesterday? All that happened yesterday?"

"Yes, Baby, you were exhausted from the tests they put you through. You've been asleep since after dinner last night. They moved Sharon while you were gone, she slept through the move. As a matter of fact, Sharon slept through the afternoon, evening, and night. When you got here, Rusty and Ricky were awake and waiting but Sharon was so exhausted she slept through your arrival. Rusty helped you eat your food and then you slept too."

"What happened to her Delia?"

"The same thing that happened to you, Baby. You were both thrown from your horses. I can't tell you about her injuries though that's something she'll have to tell you herself."

"Is it permanent?" He asked concerned.

"Andy, Baby, I told you I can't talk about it," Delia said sternly.

He was a little upset as he said, "but I'm her medical power of attorney."

"It doesn't matter. She asked me not to discuss it. Sharon wants to be the one to talk to you about it."
Andy was frustrated. He remembered what Delia had said before he had woke up from the coma. "How many health crises are too much for you?" She had asked.

Did everybody believe he would cut out on Sharon because she had an injury she had sustained because of something he had caused? "That must mean it's bad. Poor Sharon. It's all my fault. If I hadn't suggested we go horseback riding…"

"Baby, don't go there, it was nobody's fault. It was a freak accident that could have happened to anybody. Nobody could have predicted it. Sharon doesn't blame you. In fact, she blames herself."

"She would," Andy said broodingly. "Look, is she worried I won't love her because she can't walk?"

Delia's eyebrows raised into her hairline. "Um, well… well, first of all, you didn't hear that from me! What makes you think she can't walk, Baby?" Delia asked, trying to find out how much he'd figured out.

He frowned then said, "Well, it's obvious, isn't it? Yesterday I saw Marjorie unlock Sharon's braces and lower her into the chair."

Delia, who hadn't been there at that time, yesterday nodded her understanding. "I see and how would you feel if it was… um… permanent?"

"I'd be infinitely sad for her, for us but if she thinks I'd abandon her or that I would stop loving her because of it, I can assure you, nothing could be further from the truth!"

"I'm very glad you feel that way, Baby. Although I'm not sure that Sharon feels that way."

"Delia, I haven't told anyone this yet, especially not Sharon but I had a dream or it was actually more like a nightmare while I was in the coma. I dreamt that Sharon died; she had something wrong with her heart. The doctors called it Cardiomyopathy. In the dream, I came to Ireland to "see Ireland" for her after she died since we had planned to come here for our honeymoon. It was an elaborate dream, very clear and linear. I've never dreamt in that fashion before Delia. My dreams are usually disjointed and don't make sense. This dream was sooo real. You were in it and Siobhan from Cliff View. Sharon's cousin Christine was in it too. Everybody from our Major Crimes team. The two of you said on two or three occasions, "all was not as it seemed" but at first I was in so much pain, emotionally I couldn't make sense of what you were trying to tell me. When I went to sleep in that reality I would wake up here. I'd hear her voice smell her perfume, feel her touch but I couldn't open my eyes or speak. This reality seemed to be as much of a nightmare as the other only in a different way but I preferred it to the unrelenting grief I was feeling. It wasn't until just before Sharon brought me back by kissing me that I put it together, and even then I needed your help."

Andy paused In deep thought for a minute then continued. "Looking back, one of the things that should have clued me in that it was a dream was that the team asked Sharon if it was okay to bring the suspect into her office to wait while her son was being interviewed. They knew it wasn't her son that did it, that it was her and on the night Sharon was supposed to be leaving on extended medical leave no less! That would not have happened if it were real. They did it even knowing her condition! Hobbs was pushing for more proof! Then Sharon started screaming at the suspect and collapsed. She seized three times and they got her back twice. The third time they couldn't bring her back!" Andy's face was awash with tears as he relived the nightmare. "I can't believe I didn't realize it was a nightmare then. Sharon's always eaten healthy and exercised but she had the flu, which supposedly led to the Cardiomyopathy. I should have realized it was a nightmare and forced myself to wake up! I've wasted so much time, while I was in that coma."

She tried to calm him down by saying, "Baby, don't beat yourself up, you were meant to let the dream play out. There were lessons to be learned from it."

"What lessons, Delia? Are you saying, I had that dream to prepare me to deal with this thing with Sharon? To prepare us for this?"

"I'm sure of it. Knowing what it feels like to have lost her, will help you to help Sharon understand what she means to you and to her family. Her living through the nightmare of you being in a coma will bring that understanding home to her in a way that might not have happened had the two of you not experienced those things."

"Knowing Sharon, she'll think she's going to be too much trouble and try to convince me I'm better off without her in spite of the fact that we recently exchanged vows that said, 'in sickness and in health. Till death do us part.'"

Delia smiled. "You know her well."

"I do and I love her with everything I am and everything I have. I just have to convince her of that." Andy said as he scratched his chin and then rubbed the back of his neck.

"It may not be as difficult as you think it will. She loves you with everything she has. I'm sure you'll convince her eventually." Delia said patting his arm.

"I hope so…," Andy said with feeling. He was about to say more when a pretty red headed nurse named Vanessa came into the room.

She wore navy blue and white scrubs that had ships anchors on them , and she was carrying his breakfast tray. "Here you go, Mr. Flynn. Here is your breakfast. Once you are finished you will be taken down to rehab," she said and smiled at him.

He smiled absentmindedly back at her and looked over her shoulder for Sharon. Vanessa was a beautiful woman with long curly red hair pulled up in a loose French twist and startlingly vivid dark brown eyes. At one time he would have been interested but as beautiful as she was she wasn't his Sharon. She was happily married to her childhood sweetheart and no more interested in him than he was with her. She had seen the reunion between him and his wife and almost cried seeing the love between them. Knowing whom he was looking for, she assured him. "She'll be here soon Mr. Flynn. She's finishing up in Occupational Therapy but… unfortunately, she'll be hungry and tired by the time she gets here and you'll be in rehab," Vanessa said with an apologetic shrug to her slender shoulders.

Frustrated by the conflicting schedules that seem to be trying to keep he and Sharon apart, Andy huffed and looked over at Sharon's bed and the construction of it. An idea began to form in his head and he caught Vanessa's attention as she was about to leave the room. "Listen, Vanessa, could you do me a favor?"

TBC...

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