Chapter Twenty – Five
In Steven's hospital room, Lila walked over to Steven's bedside and touched his hand, ever-so-gently. He didn't look good by any means, but he could have looked a lot worse.
"I'm here, babe," she said quietly, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes. "Please wake up. I need to hear your voice, Steven. Talk to me." Steven didn't respond. Lila took his hand in hers, and began to pray again.
"Please, God, don't let me lose him, not now, not ever…"
Once Steven's family and the rest of the Reagan clan were informed and Jamie and Eddie were sure Lila was all right for the time being, they headed home to change clothes and check up on Frank. They planned to return to the hospital as soon as they had a short rest. Joey would stop by to check on his sister. The morning shift of nurses were made aware of that Lila had shown signs of stress and kept their eyes on her. "Are you okay, Mrs. Tenney?" Lila jumped at the sound of the nurse's voice.
"Sorry," said Lila. "I didn't mean to fall asleep." Lila pulled a chair up close to Steven's bed so she could hold his hand, and had at some unknown point laid her head down on the edge of the bed and dozed off.
"It's quite alright, ma'am," said the nurse, a different nurse than had been in before. "You need your rest."
"Yeah, I do," replied Lila. She leaned slowly back in the chair, her back scolding her for sleeping in that awkward position.
"When's the big day, ma'am?" asked the nurse.
"Eight more weeks" answered Lila, "Early-to-mid September."
"You must be so excited," said the nurse. "Is this your first baby?"
"Yes, it is" said Lila. "And we're very excited. It's twins."
"If you'll let me sneak by you here, ma'am," said the nurse. "I'll get Mr. Tenney's vitals and then I'll leave you two alone for a while."
"Of course," replied Lila as she got up from her chair and went around to the other side of Steven's bed. "Has there been any change in the last couple of hours?" she asked the nurse.
"None to speak of, ma'am," said the nurse as she watched the blood pressure machine give the latest reading. "He's no better, but he's no worse either. We're all hoping for the best."
"He's going to be fine" said Lila, caressing his forehead with her finger. "He's too stubborn not to be."
The nurse finished checking what she needed to, and made the appropriate notes in Steven's chart. "Alright, Mrs. Tenney, he's all yours until shift change."
"Thank you," said Lila. She moved back to the opposite side of Steven's bed, took a hold of his hand and began talking to him about everything that came into her mind.
"Hey babe," she whispered. "I'm still here, still waiting to hear your voice. The doctor said you need to wake up within another few hours or else he'll have to check your head again. I know you don't want that, so how about you save us all the trouble and wake up for me, okay?"
No response.
She felt the tears coming, and knew she was powerless against them.
"Oh, Steven. I love you so much, and I need you to come out of this!"
She was consumed with emotion until she heard a knock at the door. Managing to somehow get herself together, she looked up and saw a familiar and friendly face.
"Oh, hi Joey." Lila stood up and embraced her brother. "Mom and Dad sent you."
"I got here as soon as I could," Joey replied. "Dad called and told me, where else would I go when my little sister needs me. I was sweating a perp downtown and I couldn't get here until just now."
"It's okay," said Lila. "I've been here since an hour after it happened and I spent most of the first few hours in the waiting room thinking he was dead. You didn't miss much."
"How is he, Lila?" whispered Joey, a look of great concern on his face.
"He's holding his own," replied Lila. "But I'll feel a lot better when he comes out from under this stupid coma."
Joey slid his arms around Lila's shoulders, "How long before the doctor will want to run more tests?"
"A few more hours," Lila sighed. "I don't want him to have anything else done. I just want him to wake up."
"Have you gotten any sleep?" Joe asked Lila, "You look exhausted."
"I dozed off for an hour or so a while ago," replied Lila. "Then the nurse came in to check his vitals and I've been awake since then."
"Why don't I sit with him?" asked Joe. "And you go get comfy in the recliner over there and sleep for a while?"
"I guess it would be a good idea" said Lila. "My back is giving me fits for sleeping hunched over on the side of the bed, and I really am tired. You'll wake me if anything happens, understood?"
"Of course I will, Lila," said Joe. "Now go get some rest."
Lila stood up from the chair she'd pulled beside Steven's bed and went across the room to get settled into the recliner. "They couldn't make these things any more uncomfortable if they tried," she thought to herself. After a few moments, she found a semi-comfortable position, and covered up with a blanket the nurse had left for her earlier. As she closed her eyes, she felt the babies move a few times. "Hey, little ones" she whispered. "Mommy's going to take a nap, how about you join me?" Almost as if the babies understood, they settled down and allowed Lila nearly 2 hours of peaceful sleep.
She woke up shortly before 10:00 a.m. As she promised, Joe was sitting at Steven's bedside, keeping a close watch over him.
"No news, huh?" asked Lila as she sat the recliner up.
"Nope," said Joe. "The nurse popped in to see if you were alright and was pleased when she saw you sleeping."
"I'm still beat" replied Lila, "but I know any sleep is better than none."
"Indeed, especially in your condition," Joe agreed.
Lila nodded her head. "I'm going to run to the restroom, then I'll be back so you can head home if you'd like."
"I'm in no hurry" said Joey. "Really. I'd like to stay here until Mom and Dad get back. Grandpa was wheezing so they had to wait for Aunt Linda to come over first.
"Okay, I'll be right back, I have to pee again, one of them is on my bladder."
Joey laughed, "When you get back, I think I'll go find a coffee machine."
"That's fine," Lila nodded. Joey could be annoying but he was a great big brother.
A couple moments later, Lila returned and Joe went in search of coffee. Lila once again stood at Steven's bedside and talked to him, knowing in her heart he could sense her presence.
"Okay, Smokey, this coma stuff is getting really old really fast, so why don't you wake up for me, okay? I know you can hear me, Steven, I know it. Now, prove it to me and wake up."
Nothing.
"Damn it, Steven, don't do this to me!" cried Lila. "You have to wake up, do you hear me? I'm trying to believe that you're going to pull through this, but the longer I stand here and have to listen to the incessant beeping of these monitors instead of the sound of your voice, the more scared I get!"
She paused for a second to calm down and catch her breath, still believing that he could hear her and that he knew she was upset. The doctor had said it wasn't good for him to know she was upset, so she had to try and control her emotions, which by that time had far more control over her than the other way around.
She took a deep breath and continued to talk to him.
"I'm thinking back on our honeymoon in California, but I should know by now that you're all about surprises."
Still no response, but she kept talking.
"Do you remember our walk along the beach that Saturday night? Gosh, you looked so handsome in that shirt we bought on the boardwalk. I'll give you credit, you've got good taste in clothing. I'll never forget that night, Steven. Just you and I, alone on that gorgeous beach. You stopped walking after a while and when I asked you why, you said it was so you could kiss me underneath the moon. Do you remember that, babe?"
Still nothing.
"One minute we're kissing underneath the moon, and the next we're laying in the sand with half our clothes off. It just happened. No planning, no forethought, it just…happened. That's one thing I'm learning to love about you more every day we're together - the way you make so many wonderful things 'just happen.'"
The baby kicked, just hard enough to get Lila's attention. Still nothing from Steven. Nothing. She couldn't take it anymore.
"You listen to me, Steven Andrew Tenney!" she yelled. "I can't imagine living life without you, and I can't imagine having these babies without you being right by my side, like you promised you'd be! You always say you've never made a promise you couldn't keep, so I'm holding you to it, do you understand me! Oh, oh God…"
"Sorry it took me so long" said Joe as she walked into Steven's room. "The machine on this floor was broken, I had to go two floors up to fi- oh my God!"
A/N: Uh-oh. Lila's doctor has been warning her about being calm and relaxed, but her Reagan temper is out full force. Thank goodness Joey returned when he did. Will this be what it takes to bring Steven around?
Next Updated – May 31st – Joey calls for help, Frank is frustrated with his limitations.