A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.
Chapter 25
"First and foremost you need to know that Deacon is ok. He came through the surgery with flying colors. I want to explain to you what I did." Mike put all of her fears at ease.
"Mike, you scared the shit out of me. You had me thinkin' that somethin' went wrong." Rayna breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you. I went ahead and did the bypass surgery on him. He tolerated it really well. I was able to do it and keep his heart beatin' while I bypassed the artery and that is better for recovery time and it's safer. This repair should last him the rest of his life." Mike reported.
"That's doctor talk and I don't understand a word of it other than he's gonna be ok." Rayna looked confused.
"Rayna, he's gonna be better than ok. He will make a full recovery." Mike broke out into a smile.
Rayna hugged him. "Thank you, Mike. Somehow that doesn't seem like enough."
"Don't worry about it. It was my pleasure. Do you wanna see him?" Mike hugged her back.
"Yeah, I would love to see him." Rayna wiped a tear away.
"Well, let me take you to him then." Mike gestured for her to follow him. "Here he is fresh out of recovery."
Deacon was sitting up in the recliner with wires and tubes coming out of him.
"He looks so good. He's got all his color back. He isn't blue around the lips anymore. It doesn't look like he's struggling to breathe." Rayna gasped and put her hand over her mouth. She'd half expected for him to look swollen and pale.
"That's because he's getting oxygen now. You'd be amazed what a difference good circulation makes. His hands are even warm now. Go on in and see him. Talk to him. He should be waking up any second." Mike explained to her.
"Alright, I'll go see him. Thanks again, Mike." Rayna smiled brightly.
"You're welcome. I'll be back to check on him soon." Mike patted her back.
Rayna walked into the room and sat down next to Deacon. She took his hand in hers. "Hi, my love, I told you that you were gonna be ok. You just don't listen at all. Mike said that you did really well. And I don't think you're gonna have a big scar, so that's good."
Deacon groaned and his eyelids started to flutter open. After struggling for a moment he focused on his wife with glassy eyes. "Ray, you're here." A huge grin made its way across his face.
"Hey, babe, there are those pretty blue eyes." Rayna smiled at him.
"Come give me some sugar." Deacon puckered his lips.
Rayna kissed him. "I love you."
"I love you too. I really think this Edgehill thing is gonna be good for us." Deacon was talking out of his head.
"My lord, baby, you are stoned. They must have given you the really great stuff." Rayna laughed. "Mike," She called out for the doctor. "Hey, Michael,".
Mike came into the room. "What can I do for you?"
"Did you give my husband narcotics?" Rayna asked him.
"I just had to cut his breast bone in two of course I gave him narcotics. He wouldn't be able to stand the pain otherwise." Mike answered.
"He has substance abuse problems. And I just wanna know exactly what you gave him." Rayna ran her hand through her hair.
"I know and I took that into account. From what I understand he's an alcoholic and not a drug addict. If it makes you feel better though I will not give him Oxycodone or OxyContin and I will proscribe enough pills so that you can taper him off of them." Mike replied.
"That would be great. I know that he doesn't have a drug problem, but I worry 'bout him all the same. I've been to hell and back with this man. I'd go to hell and back again, but I really rather not have to if it can be avoided." Rayna told him.
"I completely understand." Mike squeezed her shoulder. "Hey, Deacon, how are you feeling?"
"Tired and sore as hell. What the fuck did you do to me, Mike?" Deacon slurred out.
"I fixed you. If you haven't noticed you're breathing on your own again." Mike pointed out to him.
"You're just as damn annoyin' as Vince is. I can't be havin' you both on my case at the same time. He won't shut up and then I got you lookin' all smug." Deacon groaned.
"Vince? You've been talkin' to Vince?" Rayna questioned him.
"Who is Vince?" Mike asked.
"His dead best friend. The fact that he thinks he's been talking to him worries me a little bit." Rayna bit her lip.
"Don't worry about that at all. The anesthetic makes people think all kinda loopy things." Mike reassured her.
"Vinny is a damn pain in the ass that's who the hell he is. He's talkin' all kinda stupid shit to me right now. He's very hard to ignore." Deacon said mostly to himself.
"Rayna, he's stoned don't pay any attention to him. He'll be alright as soon as some of it wears off." Mike laughed at him.
"Can I bring the girls back to see him yet or not?" Rayna asked.
"Bring them on back. Let him rest if he's tired, but I think it would be best for him to have some company right now." Mike replied.
"Ok, great, I will let them know. Thanks again." Rayna nodded her head.
"Stop thanking me. I was just doing my job." Mike chuckled.
"Hold on, I'm coming." Teddy rushed to answer his front door. "Hey, Maddie, this is a nice surprise. I'm glad that you came by. I've been needing to talk to you. Come in, I have something that I want you to take a look at."
"I don't have much time I just wanted to swing by and talk to you." Maddie walked in.
"Well, I have a couple different sample invitations here for you to look at and see which one you like better." Teddy held up two different invitations for her to look at.
"Teddy, I really can't even process that right now. Dad has been in the hospital since Saturday and he just out of open heart surgery probably a half hour ago. That stuff isn't even on my radar right now. I'm just thankful that he's ok." Maddie replied.
"Daphne mentioned something like that to me. I'm glad that he's gonna be ok." Teddy said somewhat awkwardly.
"He was really sick. For a minute there I didn't think he was gonna make it to see next week. He hung in there though and he kicked ass like he always does. The thing of it is him being sick made me realize a few things. Like how little time I've truly had with him as my dad. And how many things that we have missed out on together. Father-daughter dances and skinned knees and first days of school. You know we had all of that taken from us. And we just almost lost everything else that we have ahead of us." Maddie rambled a little bit.
"I'm sorry, Maddie, but I don't understand what that has to do with why you're here." Teddy was confused.
Maddie took a deep breath and then let it out. "I'm here to say the thing to you that I should have said to begin with. Teddy, I can't let you walk me down the aisle it's not your place. Dad's gonna do that it's his job. I just didn't know how to tell you that. You put me on the spot. I've hurt him enough for one lifetime and I would never be able to live with myself if I took this from him."
"How is it not my place?" Teddy's face fell.
"Because everything else that should have been his you took. And you didn't just take it from him you took it from me too. He's made his mistakes and I'm not gonna pretend like he hasn't, but he's still my daddy. It's his blood that I have flowing through me. He's where I get half of who I am. He helps me understand the crazy in my head and he knows how to help me make sense of it. I can't imagine looking over on my wedding day and not seeing him by my side. I'm sorry if this hurts you, but that's the way it's gonna be. If you don't like it you don't have to be there at all. That's what I came here to tell you and now I have to go." Maddie turned on her heel and walked out before he could reply to that.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Daddy, you no longer look like death warmed over. You got all your color back. Oh my God, I think they fixed you up better than before." Maddie stared at Deacon slack jawed.
"Hey, baby girl, there's my princess. I've been wonderin' when you were gonna come see me." Deacon's face absolutely lit up when he saw his oldest child.
"I had something that I had to do before I could come see you. And I had to go pick something up for you." Maddie replied.
"Oh, sweetheart, you didn't have to get me anythin'. The only thing that I really want is your company anyway." Deacon winked both his eyes at her.
"Still I brought you something that I know you wanted, but wouldn't ask for." Maddie dug around in her purse and pulled out a silk pouch.
"What are you talkin' 'bout, Maddie?" Deacon squinted.
Maddie took the cross that June had given him out of the pouch. "I'm gonna give this to mom to hold on to, but I wanted you to know that you're the one who is gonna walk me down the aisle."
"I knew that you'd come to your senses and you wouldn't break your daddy's heart that way." Deacon grinned goofily.
"Maddie, your daddy is stoned right now, but he will appreciate this later. I can't tell you how much this means to me though. I think you made the right choice." Rayna beamed at her.
"I think it took me too long to make the right choice and I'm sorry for that." Maddie kissed Deacon's cheek. "You look good, handsome."
"Doesn't he? He doesn't need the oxygen or the albuterol to help him breathe anymore. He is doin' so good. I'm so proud of him." Rayna couldn't help herself she had to kiss on Deacon's cheek.
"Ya'll act like I did somethin' special. I just made it through surgery that's all I did. You would think I solved world hunger or somethin'." Deacon grumbled.
"He's really cranky." Daphne observed.
"This is Deacon when he's sick or hurt. He turns into a complete and total jackass." Rayna informed her.
"I'm thirsty damn it." Deacon toyed with the clip on his finger that was monitoring his blood pressure.
Rayna grabbed his cup for him and bent the straw to make it easier for him to get a drink. "Don't play with that you need it. Here get a drink."
Deacon took a sip of his water and some of it dribbled down his chin.
Rayna grabbed a napkin and wiped him off. "There you go. I thought I was over this stage when Jack learned how to handle a real cup. That's ok though, I don't mind cleaning you up at all, cutie. I'm just glad that you're here and you're better." She kissed his dimple when he half smiled.
"We are all glad that you're here and you're better, daddy." Daphne told him.
"My girls, I love my girls so much. Ya'll are so pretty." Deacon mumbled. His pain medication was starting to take effect again.
"And you are so handsome, but for right now close your eyes and get some rest. Your four little babies are gonna wanna see you soon. Your wife needs to go get something to eat and she can't do that unless she knows that you're all settled in." Rayna kissed the top of his head.
"Mom, go get something to eat. I will sit with him for a little while." Maddie volunteered.
"Don't make him talk just let him sleep. Daph, get on outta here. You've been here all day. I appreciate it, your daddy appreciates it, but go home and get some sleep. He's not gonna be lucid for a while." Rayna tried to reason with her.
"You sure? I can stay." Daphne asked.
"I'm sure you can come back later around dinner time and see him. Hopefully he'll be a little more like himself then." Rayna rolled her eyes at his behavior.
"Alright then, I will get going." Daphne agreed.
"I'll walk you out. Maddie, make sure that he doesn't pull on any of those tubes and wires. If you don't watch him he'll have it all disconnected." Rayna warned her.
"I've got an eye on him. He will be fine, mom. He knows how to behave without you right here to watch him." Maddie assured her.
"Ok, ok, ya'll stop givin' your momma a hard time. You know how much I love him and how worried I've been about him." Rayna kissed Deacon's head one last time.
"Daph, get her out of here. He needs some breathing room." Maddie laughed.
"Bye, daddy, I love you, feel better." Daphne pecked his cheek. "Come on, mom." She guided her mother out of the room.
"Hey, let me grab my purse at least." Rayna protested.
"Mom, this is for your own good. I have money that you can have." Daphne kept her moving.
Deacon cracked his eye open. "I thought she'd never leave. She's been fussin' over me since I woke up."
"She was really worried about you. I know better than anyone that she can come on strong though." Maddie replied.
Deacon held his hand out to her. "Hold daddy's hand, baby girl."
Maddie reached over and took his hand. "I love you and I know that I you may not remember this conversation later, but I'm really sorry I didn't pick you right away."
"It's ok I knew that you just needed a minute to think 'bout makin' the right choice. I always had faith in you." Deacon squeezed her hand.
"How do you do that? How do you have blind faith in me when I've let you down over and over again?" Maddie was amazed at her father's ability to believe in her.
"You're my baby girl. I have to have blind faith in you. I trust you to always make the right choice in the end." Deacon smiled at her.
A nurse walked in at that moment. "Well, look at you breathing well and having all your color back. You're even more lucid than you were earlier. I have a couple things to go over with you if you feel up to it." She told him.
"Sure, hit me." Deacon replied.
"I have this teddy bear for you. You're gonna need to cough to keep your lungs clear and you're gonna cough anyway from your pneumonia. When you do that's gonna really hurt since you got your breast bone cut in half. So when you have to cough you're gonna hug this bear to your chest and that's gonna help it not hurt so much." She explained to him.
"I can do that." Deacon sat the bear in the chair next to him.
"You need to use this breathe once every hour. This is gonna keep your lungs clear." She sat it down on his bedside table.
"We will make sure he does it." Maddie replied.
Rayna blew on a soup spoon to cool it down. "Here you go, open up. One more bite."
Deacon opened his mouth and accepted the food. "No more, that tastes like crap."
Rayna wiped the food off his chin. "One more. Just one more. You need to get your strength back."
"No more, Ray. It tastes like shit. I want some good food." Deacon didn't feel like eating anyway and he certainly didn't want food that tasted like ass.
"I won't force you to eat this. Here, you have some ice cream. How 'bout you try that?" Rayna knew to pick her battles at the moment.
"I don't want any damn ice cream." Deacon shook his head.
"Tell me what you do want then. If they don't have it here I'll have someone bring you whatever you want. Just eat somethin' for me, babe. You ate five bites of the soup and that ain't gonna cut it." Rayna tried to get him interested in eating.
"I ain't hungry, Ray. I don't want anythin'." Deacon turned his nose up.
"Well, I'd ask how he's feeling, but from that response I can tell that he's gonna be fine." Tandy walked in to check on her sister. She was worried that Rayna was going to over extend herself.
"He's sore and crabby." Rayna informed her.
"He's right here and can talk for himself." Deacon glared up at her.
"His mood aside he looks really great. He hasn't looked that good in a while. He's been sick for longer than we realized." Tandy leaned down to kiss Deacon's cheek. "You don't get to scare us like that ever again. For a minute there I was afraid that I wasn't gonna have you to argue with over your expense account anymore. You look great."
"Thanks, Tandy. And thank you for bein' here for your sister." Deacon smiled a little.
"Always, you know that I will always be here for my sister and my nieces and nephews." Tandy said like he should have thought of that.
"I can't believe you're bein' so nice to me right now. I remember when you used to hate my guts." Deacon replied.
"I still hate your guts. I just tolerate you to be with my sister and those kids." Tandy couldn't help herself.
"You haven't tried to get her to divorce me or keep any kids from me in a while I'll take that as progress." Deacon arched his eyebrow.
"If you're gonna be cranky you're gonna need to press your button for more pain meds. You're in pain, babe, don't be a hero." Rayna told him.
"In other words she wants you to take more pain meds so you'll pass out." Tandy added.
"Oh no, he won't pass out and shut up. He gets stoned and starts talking out of his head. You're gonna love this part he's been talking to Vince." Rayna clued her in.
"No part of that sentence was ok. Not ok at all. I remember what a pain in the ass Vince was. I remember how bad they were together." Tandy nodded her head.
"Hey, Tandy, can you do me a favor? You're the only one I can trust with this." Rayna asked hopefully.
"I'll do whatever you need." Tandy replied.
"I need some clean clothes and underwear. I can't have those girls digging around my underwear drawer for reasons that I'm sure you don't even wanna know." Rayna explained to her quickly.
"You can't have in your underwear drawer what I think you have in there. You sleep with all four of your kids when he's out of town." Tandy raised an eyebrow.
"You're such a pervert. I don't keep that in my underwear drawer. What you're thinkin' of is in my nightstand. It's my lingerie that I rather they didn't see." Rayna corrected her.
"What the hell are you two talkin' 'bout?" Deacon was confused and totally out of the loop.
"Nothin', babe, absolutely nothin'." Rayna laughed.
"You don't want your husband to know that you have a vibrator?" Tandy asked her.
"My God, Tandy, you aren't supposed to say the thing that I didn't want you to say." Rayna blushed.
"What the hell do you have vibrator for? You don't need one when you have me." Deacon frowned.
"Honey, I love you and you know that I do, but sometimes I want things without havin' to deal with you." Rayna replied.
"Great that's just great." Deacon mumbled.
"Do you see what you started?" Rayna asked her sister.
"Don't blame this on me. You didn't have to say what you said to him. It's true and I know that as well as anyone. You just voiced it out loud." Tandy covered her mouth to hide a smirk.
"How the hell is a man supposed to get better with his wife tellin' him that she rather get herself to the finish line than deal with him?" Deacon pouted.
"Baby, that don't happen often. You go out of town sometimes and that's why I have it more than any other reason. You know how damn much I like bein' alone with you." Rayna kissed his forehead to temper the blow she had just dealt him.
"Ok, guys, before we go in and see daddy I want to prepare you. He's a little out of it, but he will be able to talk to you. There are wires and tubes, but he is so much better than he was before. He's really sore, so you have to be gentle with him." Rayna told her kids before she would take them in to see Deacon.
"Ok, momma." Deac acted as the group spokesman as usual.
"Let's go in and see him then. He's very excited to see you guys." Rayna ushered them into the room. "Deacon, looks who's here to see you."
"There are my babies. Hi, I'm so happy to see you." Deacon smiled at them. He was in a pretty good deal of pain, but he was holding off on his pain medication until he'd visited with his children for a little while.
"Daddy, you're all better." Charlie smiled at him.
"You didn't die." Jayme exclaimed.
"Hi, daddy." Jack waved at him.
Deac hung back a little bit.
"Deac, do you have something you want to say to daddy?" Rayna prompted him.
"I'm glad you're better, daddy." Deac mumbled.
"Everybody come give daddy some sugar." Deacon encouraged them to come over to him.
With the exception of Deac they all trooped over and kissed his cheek.
"Deac, what is wrong with you, son?" Rayna asked him. This wasn't like him at all. He was a daddy's boy.
"Nothin'," Deac looked down at the floor.
"It sure seems like somethin'." Rayna crossed her arms over her chest.
"It's nothin'." Deac maintained.
"Ray, I ain't gonna force him. If he doesn't wanna kiss me he ain't gotta." Deacon spoke up.
"That's the problem he doesn't wanna kiss you. That's not like him at all. He worships the ground that you walk on." Rayna argued with him.
"It's fine." Deacon assured her.
"Why do you have a bear, daddy?" Jack asked him.
"Dr. Mike had to hurt daddy to fix him. So now if he has to cough he has to hug this bear so it doesn't hurt." Deacon explained to him.
"Look at this. It's almost the whole Claybourne posse." Mike walked into the room to check on Deacon.
"What do ya'll say to Dr. Mike?" Rayna asked them.
"Thank you for fixin' daddy." The answered in chorus.
"All of you are welcome. I figured that you needed him along for a while longer." Mike winked at them.
"What are you doin' back in here so soon?" Rayna asked him.
"I didn't give you the full run down on him earlier. He's still on the high dose antibiotics to clear up the pneumonia. And he's not on a restricted diet because when we did the cath on him his arteries looked really good. They are pretty clean for a man of any age. I have patients younger than him with worse blockages." Mike reported.
"That's good to know. Now if only I could get him to eat somethin'." Rayna sighed.
"If he doesn't wanna eat don't try to force him to eat. He'll be hungry soon enough. You don't have to worry about him." Mike reassured her.
"Ok, I'll just keep an eye on him then. Thanks for being so great with him." Rayna smiled.
"He's one of my favorite patients. He's not much trouble at all." Mike replied.
"He's a cranky asshole, but thank you for lying." Rayna laughed. She looked at Deacon with the kids standing around him and she smiled. She was so thankful to have him better.
A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Deacon is finally out of surgery and on the road to recovery. Maddie has come to her senses at least. Now it appears that Deac is having a little bit of an issue. Until next time please review.