Evaluating Lesley's condition, Monica had just gotten her Labs and her EKG back seeing that the medication protocol had stabilized the arrhythmia where Monica was thrilled that Lesley was able to be taken off the transplant list as well as Monica was able to take her off the ventilator as well after Lesley had been transferred to the ICU floor.
" She's coming to." Monica said " Lesley can you hear me… It's Monica and Rick is right here. Do you know where you are?" Monica added
" I'm in the hos...hospital… Why am I here? What hap...happened?" Lesley tried to get up but Rick stopped her from getting up
" Lesley everything is okay and you will get better… you had a heart attack while you were at home…. Do you remember anything from when you were at home?"
" I remember that I was home and I was with the kids…. But som….some of it is alittle bit of a blur."
" It's alright Sweetheart… right now I just want you to rest. Later I'm gonna call the kids to check on them and I'm gonna see if Audrey would be up to bringing them by." Rick gave Lesley a kiss and stepped aside with Monica
" She's very very lucky Rick…. But she's nowhere out of the woods. The slightest upset or stress can do more damage where she will need a second transplant."
" I will handle things when she goes home and I will handle the situation with what Genesis pulled that caused where Lesley had to be rushed in."
" Rick, we don't know that her situation was the resulting factor to anything having to do with one of the girls. Her condition could've turned to become critical even just out of nowhere." Monica pointed out
" That is a good point…. But it doesn't change or exclude that she called here very upset which no doubt had her blood pressure up very high where she could hardly breathe."
" Rick, you're a cardiac surgeon yourself and you know that patients that are transplant recipients can have problems even with a new organ. Lesley has had a few setbacks since the transplant. And that's not counting from the last time she was attacked and was nearly murdered before you found and brought her back here." Monica argued back
" You make a good point. I guess I better head home and apologize and talk with my daughter."
" Rick, don't belittle yourself… you are doing the best you can as a parent, a husband and a doctor….. What's important is Lesley is stable, she's starting to respond to the medication protocol."
Rick stepped in to spend alittle time with Lesley for the evening before he decided to go home to talk to Genesis who was still upset and didn't want to talk to Rick after some of the things he had said.
" Thank you Jessie for watching the kids… Um would you take Jess and Riley upstairs or so… I think I need to set and make things right with Genesis."
" I think you should too…. She's really upset or rather she feels hurt..."
" I know Jessie and as Monica pointed out to me I was wrong… I just hope that I can make it right."
After heading home, Rick asked Alice to give him and Genesis alittle time to talk even though she didn't really want to talk to him after what he said.
" Genesis I know you are angry and hurt… but it's important that I say what I need to say to you." Rick stopped when Genesis challenged back
" You already said enough when you said that I caused mom's latest medical problem. I'll never let that go or forget that you said that." Genesis snapped
" Yes Genesis I said that okay and I was angry… I was not thinking of the complications that your mother has had to face since the transplant she had after you and your sister were just 8 weeks old. I didn't look at the situation as a doctor.. I looked at it as a spouse and you will not be able to understand that as you're too young but one day you will." Rick sat next to Genesis on her bed
" Genesis I didn't come here to yell at you or say anything further about the situation… I came to talk to you because I want to say to you that I am sorry. I am sorry that I said and implied it was on you that your mother is in the hospital again. It is not your fault. And both Jessie and Monica gave me hell about it."
" When is Mom coming home…." Genesis asked.
" Hopefully soon. I don't know exactly when she'll be well enough to come home yet. Genesis I meant what I said. I am sorry that I implied and said what I said earlier. What happened with your mother is not your fault, she could've had her attack anywhere anytime."
" It's alright Dad, I know you were just mad. We all say things when we're upset or angry. You had every right to be…. I snuck out to see someone that was alittle bit older than me and I thought that i could handle it by proving that I'm a big girl now." Genesis admitted
" We will have to talk about that… but let's just try to focus on making sure things for your mother go easier for her."
Rick tucked in the kids for the night and called to check in on Lesley's condition before he decided to try to get some sleep of his own.
" Lesley is stable and she's resting… she woke up alittle while ago asking about you… I told her that you love her and you'll be back in the morning to see her." Jessie answered Rick's question.
" Jessie, thank you for watching out for Lesley. I appreciate it." Rick spoke up
Rick went to bed for the night and later got up early in the morning to get to the hospital to get some work done before he spent the rest of the day with Lesley. Waking up the following morning, Rick got up early to head into the hospital for work but to also find out from Steve if he was going to be able to take Lesley home.
" Steve, I'm glad I caught you."
" So was I Rick. I wanted to talk to you about Lesley's release care and all of that for when Monica thinks she is stable enough to be able to go home." Steve walked over to the lounge with Rick.
" Steve, I have already made arrangements for things when she goes home. I'm gonna take a couple weeks to make sure she recovers and to make sure she does okay before she comes back herself to work."
" She's made real progress with her recovery Rick…. But she's in no shape to come back to work right now, especially with her heart condition. It's quite possible that she unfortunately may have to give up her job here with General Hospital." Steve pointed out
" That can't happen Steve…. She has to be able to keep her career….. it's her life."
" That isn't in question Rick. Medicine is both of our lives too but we have to look at this as doctors when it comes to her health and the bottom line is she may need to resign from the hospital for health reasons." Steve pointed out.
~~~
After getting Lesley settled at home, Rick made sure she was comfortable before going back to the hospital to finish his shift and he also wanted to talk to Monica
" Rick….. what's wrong? I see that there's something on your mind."
Rick sat by Lesley's side. " Everything is okay…. You're home where you belong and that's all that matters." Rick gave Lesley a kiss before making sure she was settled.
" What are we gonna do about Genesis and her sneaking out?." Lesley asked.
" I took care of it and she and I had a talk…. She promises that she won't do it anymore."
" Shouldn't you be on your way to the hospital?"
" I am going right now but first I have to make sure you are taken care of."
" Get going Richard. You have patients that need you… I'll be okay while you're not here." Lesley insisted when she hugged Rick tightly.
" Only if you promise me that you will relax and take it easy."
" I'll be okay… I promise." Lesley kissed Rick and shortly after she finally got him to leave the house to get back to the hospital for the rest of his shift.
Rick left for the hospital to finish his rounds and to look in on a patient that was in CICU but reminded himself that he had to be home at a decent time so he could be there if Lesley was to need him for whatever reason only when the next emergency came in he wasn't expecting for what it was gonna be.
" GSW to the chest and head. BP is 65/30 respiration is shallow and was intubated on scene." EMT's explained
" Nurse... have Dr Earl Martinson paged stat and have Monica paged as well." Rick ordered as he started to assess
Hearing who the victim was, Monica immediately put the O.R on standby but was stopped from having Steve paged
" Rick, we have to tell Steve." Monica barked
" And just what do you think I should tell him? He's gonna be of no help and he'll only be in the way while we're trying to save her life. We have to attend to the patient first then we page and talk to Steve." Rick ordered
" I don't agree Rick... Steve needs to know especially if Audrey doesn't make it."
" Monica the only thing you need to do right this moment is your part to save her life."
Monica called Steve's office anyway and told Steve to meet her in her office. " Monica, where are you going, you are needed here." Rick barked
" I'm sorry Rick but I'm not keeping this from Steve. So since you won't have him paged, I will tell him in my office." Monica walked away.
Rick, Mark and Martinson took Audrey into immediate surgery hoping that they could save Audrey's life. Rick requested for Cunningham to be on standby while Rick focused on the wound to the chest.
" Where is Audrey now?!" Steve looked Monica in the eye.
" I have no doubt that right now they've gotten her into immediate surgery." Monica answered.
" I want you to be on standby. And update me every so often."
Monica went up to the O.R while Steve went about his business and was waiting for any updates hoping that things weren't gonna go south and that Audrey was gonna be in recovery within the next few hours.
~~~
Genesis and Jesslyn later got home to get their chores done and later they chilled out in their room until Rick had gotten home to make sure Lesley was doing okay after her first couple days home from being in the hospital.
" How long has your mother been asleep?" Rick asked after getting home
" Not very long…. Me and Jesslyn made sure Riley had something for dinner. We were gonna see if she wanted one of us to help come upstairs to go rest but we thought maybe we should let you do that when you got home." Genesis answered.
" Did you girls make sure your homework is finished?"
" Yeah we did it just alittle while ago…. Dad, is everything okay?" Jesslyn asked.
" I will let you know when I get a chance later. Right now it's getting late and you have school tomorrow. So let's get ready for bed. I'm gonna make sure your mother is okay."
Rick went downstairs where Lesley was asleep on the couch to see that she was okay and to hopefully get her upstairs to bed for the night.
" Lesley…. Sweetheart I just want to make sure you're okay but I also think it's time to get you up to bed."
" Hmmm… Hi..." Lesley replied in spite that she was tired and was still more asleep than awake
" I know you're not feeling well but that's okay because I'm home to make sure you're okay and well I miss my special little bug. Honey, would you like for me to bring you upstairs?"
" Will you come to bed too?" Lesley asked after Rick picked her up from the couch
" Course I'll come to bed too…. The whole purpose is to be with you for the rest of the night…"
Later during the night Rick and Lesley finally were able to get some sleep that was until the hospital called for Rick to return when Audrey had a setback and had thrown a few dangerous blood clots.
" Was that the hospital?" Lesley said while she was slightly awake
" Everything is okay Les…. Go on back to sleep and I'll call you to check on you when I can." Rick gave Lesley a kiss before leaving to get to the hospital for an emergency.
~~~
Rick got to the hospital in time to get in control of the situation and to further stabilize Audrey before he would've been too late and later sat Steve down to talk to him about where Audrey's condition stood.
" Steve… Audrey couldn't be in better hands than with Monica and myself. Now we're on top of her condition every minute."
" I know that Rick. But it's just not easy to think of anything else or to do my own work when the knowledge of Audrey in CICU fighting for her life is burning to the back of my mind every minute." Steve bit his tongue.
" Believe me Steve I know how that feels in the personal sense. I'm the same way every single time Lesley is here critically fighting for hers."
" How is Lesley?" Steve asked
" She's doing okay….. she wanted to come with me but I told her to stay home and rest for right now. She doesn't know yet about what happened and about Audrey's condition."
" You think she shouldn't?" Steve asked in regards to Lesley's condition.
" Honestly Steve I don't know if I should or not…. Lesley alone is a worrier when it comes to the people she loves dearly and to hear that Audrey is in CICU right now critical… I'm concerned she could just end up back there herself if I tell her. On the other hand though she might be mad at me if I don't tell her and she hears about it from someone else or somewhere else."
Rick and Steve continued to talk for alittle while now until Rick had a window to call home to check on Lesley and the kids before he had surgery come up later that afternoon.
" I'm okay Rick, honest…. I'm feeling good actually…. Later I was thinking to call Steve and see about when I can return to work."
" Les I think maybe you should wait at least another week in case of anything. I don't want you to push yourself."
" I know Rick and you're right…. Are you gonna be working late?" Lesley asked hoping to make surprise arrangements for herself and Rick
" I hope not but I'll let you know when I call you again later to check in…. I love you bug… they're waiting for me in surgery."
" Rick, I love you very much…. Now go and make me proud." Lesley barked as she heard Rick being paged to the O.R.
Rick quickly headed to the O.R when they brought up the patient for emergency surgery and Steve stayed in CICU at Audrey's side hoping her condition decides to change for the better.
After around 7:30 in the am, Rick finally was able to check out and head home but not before he stopped by CICU to check on on Audrey's condition before he left to head home
" Steve, maybe you should head home to get some sleep….. Monica is gonna be monitoring Audrey at a constant and we have Cunningham on standby in case of any problems. Audrey is stable. I think maybe it's time that you get some rest."
" I'll sleep when Audrey is out of CICU and in regular ICU…. It's difficult enough as it is to sleep with her here even if she is stable."
" Steve, you're not gonna make things better for neither yourself or Audrey by not getting some sleep. Now I'm insisting that you are to get some sleep before you end up joining Audrey. Don't have me get Jessie on you because she'll tell you the same." Rick insisted
" I'll sleep later." Steve responded
" Don't tell me that I'm stubborn…. Just take care of yourself so when I release Audrey once she's better, you'll be able to make sure she's taken care of like I continue to do for Lesley."
" Give Lesley my best and tell her I want my best diagnostician back on her feet in 2 weeks because she is missed around here."
" I will Steve and I'll call later tonight to check on things."
Rick left to head home so Lesley wouldn't wait up like she likes to do some of the time after she puts the kids to bed because then when Rick gets home they'd have the rest of the night to relax.
" Alice thanks for staying overtime with Lesley until I got home. I have never liked to leave her home alone by herself with her medical condition and the obstacles she's had to face."
" It's no problem Dr Webber. Just as long as she continues to do well." Alice answered
" She'll be alright Alice…. I've made it a point to make sure she's taken care of."
Rick went up to look in on the kids and later went into the bedroom to find Lesley asleep. Hoping not to wake her, Rick gently pulled up the blanket so Lesley wouldn't be freezing incase she woke up and was cold.
" Hmm." Lesley shifted slightly into Rick after he got settled to lay down for the night.
" I didn't mean to wake you up…." Rick snugged Lesley alittle closer to hold her for alittle while.
" It wasn't you….. I think it was sensing that the man I love was finally home… I missed you alot."
" Well I'm home now and I'm not gonna go anywhere…." Rick kissed Lesley " How'd surgery go with the emergency.?" Lesley asked
" Lesley I think it's time that I fill you in on what's going on but first, I need you to promise me that you won't panic or get too upset…. I don't want to have to see you back in CICU as a patient." Rick sat up.
" Rick, you are starting to scare me…. Is there something wrong?"
" Lesley it's about who my emergency patient is…."
Lesley looked at Rick " Rick what are you trying to tell me. What's happened?!"
" Lesley….. Audrey was shot yesterday afternoon… I operated right away and then early this morning when I got a call from Jessie I had to rush her back into surgery."
" What are we still doing here…. We should be there at the hospital." Lesley started to try to get up but Rick was reaching to keep her in the bed.
" Lesley it won't be of any help. All we can do right now is wait and watch. Cunningham is on standby incase she has another setback and Martinson is also monitoring Audrey. Right now you need to take it easy and rest.."
" Rick I can't rest. Audrey is like a sister to me…"
" Hey." Rick started. " Audrey is gonna come out of this. I know that because I will see her through myself. I am not about to let her die. C'mere Les….." Rick pulled Lesley in for a hug.
" Lesley I promise you Audrey will be alright…. Also something else I wanted to tell you, Steve also sent me home with a message from him for you..."
" Oh…. What is it that Steve wanted me to know.?" Lesley asked with alittle curiosity and confusion.
" He asked me to tell you that he wants you to focus on your recovery and I will quote him." Rick took a second " I want my best diagnostician back on her feet in 2 weeks because she is missed around here."
" I miss being back myself…." Lesley leaned in for a hug. " I want to go up tomorrow to see her.. Audrey I mean…. I want to go see her, Rick."
" I think I can try to arrange for that. I'll talk to Martinson tomorrow about it. He may not be okay with it."
" Sweetheart calm down….. everything's gonna be okay. I want you to get some sleep." Rick slid the comforter up alittle bit more so Lesley could get comfortable
" Will you come to bed…..?" Lesley asked
" Course I will my bug… I'm just gonna get a shower and then I will climb into bed to be with you for the rest of the night." Rick kissed Lesley and made sure her oxygen is on right.
" I love you Rick.." Lesley reached for Rick's hand.
" I Love you very much little bug." Rick kissed Lesley before he went to step into the shower.
Later in the night Lesley and Rick were asleep when Riley had woken up in the middle of the night for the first time in a long time which Rick had gotten up and made sure everything was okay and he assured Lesley when she asked if Riley was okay.
" Is Riley okay?" Lesley asked and rose her head slightly
