V
What can I do
Pictures of you still make me cry
Trying to live without your love
It's so hard to do
Some nights I wake up
I look at your pillow
Hoping that I'll see you there
But I get up each day
Not much to say
I've nowhere to go
Loneliness fills me up inside
'Cause I'm missing you
So if you'll give us a chance to remember
The love we had once together
Wait and see-time is all that we really need
I'm praying you won't say no
I mean to tell you
Don't let it end
Baby we could have so much more
Don't let it end
Honey please don't walk out that door
I'm telling you baby, I've made my mistakes
But I'll make you this promise to do what it takes
I'll be there to protect you and hold you tight
You got my lovin' baby every single nightmares
Don't let it end
I'm begging you, don't let it end this way
Don't let it end
I'm begging you, don't let it end this way
Don't Let It End, Styx
Thirty Minutes Later
Jo was emotionally spent after watching the medical staff successfully re-start Blair's heart after her sudden cardiac arrest. Her Princess was still being evaluated and was back on constant watch. Fortunately, since that time, her heartbeat had been steady and strong.
The orderly who had assisted her earlier had called Monica at the residence, who rushed over the moment she heard. When she arrived, Jo was still on pins and needles, but one look at her was evidence that she badly needed to shut her eyes for at least several hours.
Monica drove Jo and DC back to the Peekskill house, and laid the law down to the other woman. "You're going to sleep, uninterrupted for about six hours, Joanna. For once, we aren't arguing about this. You need to get some serious rest."
Jo was in no mood to argue. After making sure David was good, she barely had strength to make it to the bedroom. The fact that Monica was more than holding the truce didn't cross her weary mind. She went to the bathroom, then stripped down to her bra and underwear, and in minutes was sound asleep.
The Next Morning
Jo startled awake, not sure at first where she even was. Finally recognizing the bed in the Peekskill home, a wave of panic swept over her. "Oh, my god, David! David?"
Jo ran from the bedroom not realizing she was in only her bra and underwear. Her only thought was that she had abandoned DC all night and...
As she bounded into the living room, there was David, playing with Grandma Warner, Jo stopping dead in her tracks, her mouth falling open like a codfish.
"Really Joanna", Monica said, not being able to hold back a smirk on her face, seeing Jo Polniaczek in almost all her glory. "You could at least put a robe on, dear."
Jo barely heard the woman, instead collapsing in a pile on the couch, Monica suddenly worried at how she looked. "Jo, are you all right, can I get you anything?"
Jo sat up, tears again welling up as well. "I thought I'd forgotten DC overnight, that I had neglected..." She couldn't finish the sentence.
"It's okay, Jo", Monica said softly. She had learned far more in the last few days seeing Jo in her most vulnerable state that she had all the years they were feuding over Blair. The video of she and Blair singing; Jo's reaction to Blair's cardiac arrest the day before, and now her near-panic at thinking she had forgotten DC. The contrast of how she had easily sent Blair, then later Bailey to Eastland wasn't lost on Monica this time. She didn't know if she could ever fully accept Jo as Blair's partner-for-life, but she was gaining more respect for the woman. "I didn't wake you because you needed the rest. I kept in touch with the hospital, and had they given me any news, I would have waken you."
Jo nodded and rose again. "I apologize for barging in here like...this...Monica. Let me go throw on a robe."
In a few minutes, Jo had returned, she and Monica both giving lots of love and attention to little David.
Monica herself needed a break, so that evening, Rose and Charlie were at the "house with the revolving door", as Edna Garrett had called it. There was almost always someone there, even
Tootie trying to make time to visit, even as she was rehearsing for a new play that would start in a few months.
One thing that Jo had not had was much, if any alone time with just Blair in Blair's hospital room. Monica departed the house just after Rose and Charlie arrived, going to a hotel to get some time to herself, and if at all possible, sleep for about twelve hours.
That night Jo was back in the room, just she and Blair, and whoever the nurse on duty was. Jo spent a lot of time simply talking to Blair, catching her up on their friends and family, as if there wasn't a care in the world.
Yet Blair still was in a deep sleep.
"Ya know, Princess", Jo said, holding Blair's hand, and looking at her still-bruised face. Fortunately, the bruises were healing, and she could again see some of the Blair she loved so much, "I don't know how it's happened, but me and your mother are starting to see things more eye-to-eye these days. Maybe it's a mirage", she said with a chuckle, stroking Blair's cheek with the back of one of her hands. "But I gotta admit, she's come through for me and DC in the last few days."
Jo moved to look out the window for a moment. It was a gray, dull day in New York State. A cold rain was falling, most people wishing that it would be a little colder and snowing. Cold rain always seemed to get deep in your bones, not matter what you had been wearing, and even sitting in front of a warm fire didn't always chase it away. Jo smiled at the memory of how often she and Blair had pulled out some blankets by the fire, and made love after such days. That chased the chill away faster than any fire.
Sitting back down, Jo became more contemplative again. "You know how much I miss your voice, blondie? Just hearing you talk has always thrilled me. Seeing your eyes shine back at me, or when you'd give me that smirky or sultry smile dependin' on your mood, or feeling your arms around me, making me feel like the luckiest damn woman in the world for having you. I miss kissing you, and seeing you smile back at me."
Jo sat down in the chair next to Blair's bed. "I know you're in there, Princess. Keep fightin', baby." Jo let out a sudden, large yawn, making her laugh at herself. "Well your mom has DC to night-I heard Tootie might be by tomorrow." Jo rose one more time, moving over to Blair. "I love you to the moon and back, Blair." She kissed Blair's cheek softly. "Come back to me, my love. I'm gonna take a siesta next to you. Good night, baby."
Within five minutes, Jo was in a deep sleep.
No one woke her overnight, but despite the nearness of her cardiac arrest, sudden changes were starting to bring Blair closer to the living world.
Around 9am the next morning, Jo called everyone she could think of with the news Dr. Chidi had just given her: the swelling in Blair's brain had gone down appreciably overnight, and the medical staff was going to see if Blair could breathe on her own for any amount of time. It was the first hopeful sign since the accident a month and a half ago.
By that evening, Charlie, Rose, Bailey, Edna, Monica, DC, and Dwight were at the hospital getting an update from Dr. Chidi.
"The swelling came down rapidly in the middle of the night, which means that it's possible that the brain is starting to heal and beginning to function more and more. It still must come down quite a bit, but it hasn't stopped shrinking since we noticed last night."
"What about Blair's breathing?" Monica was looking intently at the doctor, Bailey sitting next to her.
"Mrs. Warner, she was able to breathe on her own for one hour this afternoon, then we put her back on the ventilator. We don't want to over-tax her system, but tomorrow, we plan to extend that to two hours. If her breathing holds, we'll continue to extend the time she's breathing on her own."
"You mentioned brain activity, doctor", Charlie noted, "and that it had increased. Is that because of the decrease in the swelling?"
"Yes it is, Mr. Polniaczek. The injury Blair sustained was severe, and it's taken time for her brain to start healing. People confuse a concussion with a brain contusion. A concussion is the brain being moved about in the skull. A contusion is an actual bruise or injury to the brain. The concussion subsided within a matter of days, but the contusion on the brain has been slow to heal. The decreased swelling and the increase activity in Blair's brain aren't coincidence."
"But we don't know what she'll be like if and when she wakes up", Jo said, looking right at the man. "Do we, doctor."
There was silence for an extra long beat. "That is correct, Joanna", the man said kindly. He had become very impressed with the young woman who was simultaneously holding vigil over the love of her life while trying to take care of her son and get him through his own injury. She was tough and resilient, and not afraid to be direct with him. "The brain activity looks pretty good for an injury that occurred over a month ago, but there's no telling if there is any short or long-term damage that's been done. We won't really know until Blair becomes conscious again."
"And there's no timetable on that", Edna said softly, the doctor agreeing. Yet despite the unknowns, everyone felt a surge of momentum in the right direction. Later that evening, Jo called Natalie in Denver to update their friend.