Chapter 37:
Jebb snapped his head back toward his wife when he felt her hand twitch. "Kira?"
"What's wrong?" Bo stepped forward to stand beside his cousin as he spoke.
"She moved her hand," Jebb brushed his wife's hair back as he asked her to move it again. He waited several moments and was about to believe that he'd imagined the movement before he felt an ever so slightly twitch once more. This time it was followed by the sight of Kira's eyes fighting to open. When he saw the slightest whites of her eyes Jebb felt a large grin crack his own face.
"Come on, Sis, wake up." Bo reached for Kira's other hand and gave it a squeeze. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to respond with the tube still down her throat from when she had been intubated the day before, he used their unusual link to ask her how she was feeling.
Kira worked hard to try to put her thoughts in order. She wanted to tell her brother that she wanted to go home and see her boys. She was so tired and confused, though, and her thoughts were muddled. She could only get a few words together.
'Go home... see boys.'
"I think she's telling you to go take care of the boys," Bo chuckled. "She must know you haven't been home since Friday."
Kira wanted to tell Bo that he had it wrong but she was just too tired to do so. Without fully waking up, Kira drifted back off into healing sleep.
Jebb rolled his eyes at his cousin and asked him to get a nurse. This was the first time since Kira had gone into cardiac arrest the day before that she had shown any improvement. That had to mean that she was getting better.
Bo left and returned only a moment later with a nurse in tow who checked Kira's vitals. She didn't note any change from the last time that she'd come in so she went on to explain that if Jebb had felt any movement it likely was just a reflex before saying that she'd be back to check on her again in a few hours.
"A reflex," Jebb sat back in his chair while letting out a heavy breath.
"That nurse doesn't know everything. We know she was coming around for a minute or two there," Bo said as he tried to comfort his cousin. "And Kira did have a point. You need to go home and see the boys."
"I don't think-"
"Jebb, them boys don't have a clue about what is going on. They just know that they haven't seen you or Kira in more than two days. Go home and see them. Besides, the baby's supposed to go home tomorrow, too. Don't you think you should prepare them a little?"
Jebb looked down at his unconscious wife and knew that despite not wanting to leave her, he did need to take care of their children. Reluctantly, he agreed to go home to see his boys and to get some sleep before returning to the hospital. By the time he got home the twins were cleaned up from the day and his mother was preparing to put them to bed. He told her that he'd finish taking care of them so Pauline left her son to bond with the boys.
Jebb walked them toward his bedroom and helped them up on the bed. He never could sleep alone. Not since getting married. Anytime he and Kira were separated for whatever reason he had long ago started to let the boys climb into bed with him. As he helped the boys get settled, the obvious questions that he knew would come started.
"When Mumma come home?" Jay snuggled between his father and brother as he spoke.
"I don't know. But your little sister will be coming home tomorrow. It's going to be a busy day so we need to get some sleep." Jebb reached across and made sure that both boys laid back to get some sleep. He just hoped that when he returned to the hospital that there would be more news about Kira, or maybe she'd even be awake and could see their children tomorrow.
~01~
The next morning, Bo waited as his wife examined his sister after he told her of Kira's brief moment of semi-consciousness the night before. When Kim gave a slight shake of her head to indicate that she didn't see any change in Kira's condition Bo spoke up.
"I tell you, she was communicating with me last night. She told Jebb to go home and be with the boys."
"That may be but I can't exactly put that she and you have a strange connection in her medical file as a way to explain the change of her prognosis." Kim walked over to put an arm around Bo and gave him a hug. "At least you know she's trying to wake up. Though to be honest, it may be best that she didn't wake up all the way last night. It'd be easier on her if she waits until she's taken off of the ventilator. That way she won't fight it. I'll see if we can try taking her off later today. Until then, let me know if you hear anything else from her."
Bo nodded and sat back down in the chair next to his sister as his wife left out to head back down the hall toward her office. He knew that someone else from the family would be in soon to sit with Kira so he could go home and get some rest and then tend to the farm chores. Until then, he just waited beside his sister and hoped that he'd feel some change in her condition before he left.
~01~
Daisy climbed out of bed as she heard her son cry from down the hall to tell her that he was awake and ready for a diaper change and his next feeding. After making her way to the room next to hers, the one that the fellas had set up for Jimmy's nursery, Daisy glanced around the room briefly to take it in. It was hard to believe that she was back home on the family farm. It was both strange yet felt natural at the same time.
After changing the newborn, Daisy headed downstairs with him to get a bottle for him. As she walked into the kitchen she saw Jesse pulling a fresh bottle from the pot of water that he'd been warming it in.
"Thanks, Uncle Jesse."
"I heard someone was hungry and knew you'd be down in a minute. Here, let me feed him." Jesse reached forward and took the baby so that Daisy could eat some breakfast after her long night of feedings every two hours.
"Gladly." Daisy sat at the table and put her head down from exhaustion. It only took a moment for her to feel sleep beginning to pull at her.
"Daisy, why don't you head back to bed? I've got Jimmy. You need to make sure you take care of yourself."
"I'm alright."
"I'm sure you are but there's no reason to push yourself. Especially when there's a whole family here to help you."
"I'm not the one who needs the whole family's help." Daisy wiped a hand across her face while trying to wake up a bit more. "I'm not the one lying in the hospital three days after giving birth."
"Now, don't feel like you can't ask for help. Jebb's folks are in town to help with the other kids, too. That means that there's more than enough help to go around. Now you go on back upstairs and get some more sleep. I'll finish feedin' Jimmy and put him back down when he's ready."
Daisy nodded and stood back up. Truth be told, she felt like the walking dead and sleep sounded great to her. "Alright, Uncle Jesse. And thanks."
Jesse smiled as he watched his niece head back upstairs. He loved the fact that even as tired as she was she was more concerned about her ailing cousin than she was about taking care of her own needs. He then returned his attention back to the infant in his arms. It felt so good to be needed.
~01~
Pauline walked through the halls and made her way to the nursery. She knew that Jebb and Kira's little girl would be going home today; even if her mother wasn't. Pauline was still annoyed that Jebb wouldn't tell anyone the baby's full name. He did, however, decide to share her first name since she couldn't exactly go home with everyone only referring to her as the baby. She knew that Bo and Kira's mother would have been honored to have a namesake; especially since she'd never gotten the chance to know her daughter after she was kidnapped.
When she got to the nursery, she found that Bo's wife was already there and holding the small and newest Duke in her arms in a rocking chair. One perk about working in the hospital was that Kim could come down to the nursery to see her niece anytime things were slow elsewhere. When Kim noticed Pauline, she offered to get up so that she could hold her grandchild.
"You go ahead and stay where you are," Pauline said as she walked over and saw that the newborn was asleep after having finished a bottle. "I forgot you were working today."
"I volunteered since Kira was here. That and this little girl," Kim added as she smiled down at her niece.
Pauline sat down in a nearby rocking chair and watched the younger woman tend to the infant. She liked the picture in front of her and had a hard time accepting that Kim would never be able to hold a baby of her own like that.
"You seem to be a natural. I remember the first few times that Kira held the boys, she looked like she was afraid she'd drop them."
"She seemed to get used to having kids around pretty fast." Kim mentally got an image of her sister-in-law being intimidated by such small bundles and tried hard not to laugh. Kira always tried to act so strong, not only as a way to handle her childhood but also as a front to cover up just how fragile her health really was. Health that had only gotten worse with each pregnancy.
"That she has." Pauline agreed. After spending a few moments watching her nephew's wife, she had to ask, "Did you want kids... You know, before your ex-husband?"
Kim swallowed as she looked down at the sleeping infant. She nodded slowly but didn't speak up for a moment. "Even when I was married to Ted, I couldn't wait to have a baby of my own. I was so excited every time I learned I was pregnant."
"Every time?"
Kim answered sadly, "There were a few."
"Maybe you could try again."
"No," Kim shook her head. "It wouldn't be fair to even try. I know Bo would make a great father but I wouldn't be able to watch him get his hopes up just to be disappointed."
"You talk like you're sure you can't have any children." Pauline reached over and dabbed a bit of drool escaping the tiny infant's mouth.
"I am sure," Kim sighed. When she was younger she'd wanted to have a whole houseful of children of her own. Maybe it stemmed from growing up alone in the house with only her uncle without any other kids her own age to play with. Still, Kim knew that any pregnancy would end in the second trimester thanks to her damaged womb. She couldn't bear to lose another child after hearing its heartbeat and learning if she was going to have a boy or girl to grieve.
Pauline thought about prodding Kim further when she didn't say any more but bit her lip. She remembered that Bo had told her that Kim couldn't have kids due to the many beatings that she'd taken at her ex-husband's hands. She'd hoped that it hadn't been true but one look at Kim's face told her that the woman had given up all hope on being a mother.
Feeling the awkwardness of the moment, Pauline changed the subject. Instead, she asked about her daughter-in-law.
"She's been taken off of the ventilator and is breathing on her own. Hopefully, she'll wake up today."
Pauline nodded. Yes, hopefully she would. "Jebb's bringing the boys later. They miss their mother terribly."
"It's got to be hard on them, not knowing what's going on. They were told their mother was just coming to the hospital to have their sister and now the baby is going home but Kira isn't."
"Not to mention, Jebb's been away from the house, too. At least he came home last night, thanks to Bo."
Kim nodded. "Just wait until they have to start getting used to sharing their parents' attention with this little girl."
"They'll get used to it," Pauline said.
She remembered when she first brought Jebb home. His sister, Karen, was about the same age as the boys now when he was born. She had been the only child in the family for nearly three years and having to share the attention with a new baby hadn't been on the top of her list of things she wanted to do. The boys, however, have already shared their parents' attention with each other and less than a year ago Faith was brought into the family. So it wasn't quite the same.
For the next half hour, Pauline shared some stories from when she'd first brought Jebb home and Karen had tried to figure out a way to be the only child once more. One method had been to throw all of her toys into the crib with the baby to hide him under the stuffed animals. After all, to a three year old, if you can't find something, it must not exist anymore; right?
Then there was the time she'd managed to somehow, at three years old, take a four month old Jebb out to hide him in the barn in one of the empty stalls. It had taken Pauline more than an hour of panicking to find her son. If he hadn't woke up and started screaming the animals in the barn wouldn't have started to make a terrible racket which is why she'd gone out there in the first place. It seemed that for the first year of Jebb's life, every time Pauline turned around, Karen was trying to get rid of her baby brother.
Looking back, it was amazing that Jebb ever survived infancy.
~01~
Hours later, Jebb sat with his boys in the nursery of the hospital and watched as they each curiously approached their new baby sister. Mikey, as always, was more outgoing and gave his finger to the baby and giggled when she latched onto it. Meanwhile, Jay stood several feet away and watched on from the doorway.
"Come on over, Jay. Come see your baby sister."
"Want see Mumma."
Jebb sighed. Normally children weren't allowed in the wing that Kira was being treated but Kim said she'd see to it that the boys were able to see their mother for a few minutes before the family went home. Still, he'd hoped that Kira would have woken up by now.
"We'll go in a few minutes. But remember what I told you, your momma is asleep so we'll have to be real quiet when we go see her."
"Go now." Jay crossed his arms and pouted. In response, Mikey seconded his brother's request to go see their mother.
Giving in, Jebb put the newborn back into the small cradle and picked his boys up and headed down toward Kira's room. Once there, he put each boy on the bed beside her while trying to look like there was nothing wrong with the boys' mother.
"See, I told you. She's asleep," Jebb whispered as if he was afraid he'd wake his sleeping wife.
Jay nudged his mother with both hands, "Mumma, wake up."
"Jaybird, I told you, she needs her sleep. She's really tired."
"Wake up and go home." Jay crossed his arms and looked up at his father. "Now."
"Sorry, bud. Maybe she'll wake up later."
Jebb told the boys that he'd bring them back the next day to see their mother again. He then brushed Kira's forehead with a kiss before gathering up the boys to head back to the nursery to get the baby and get ready to go home. It wasn't exactly the way he'd imagined taking his daughter home for the first time. He just hoped that his wife would be joining them soon.