Unexpected Surprises, PART 7, "THE RESCUE"
Spoilers: "Where the hearts is" ( I think )
"Oh my God!" Luka exclaimed horrified.
"Are you okay?" Doris asked.
Luka looked around and realised it was just a dream. He was in the ambulance with Doris. Abby was laying on the gurney next to him, still breathing. "I..I ..It was just a dream. She's fine, isn't she?"
"She is. Don't worry. Everything is going her way".
"It's just that this is the second time today I almost lost her. Earlier today I got the message that she was crashing and when I came up to the ICU I heard Elizabeth call it. I thought it was Abby but it turned out to be a false alarm and the dead person was an elderly man. And in this dream I heard two doctors talk about where they were going to put her body. It seemed so real".
"It's normal to be scared when something happens to someone you love, and it seems like you love her very much".
"Yeah, I do. I didn't think I was able to love someone again after my wife died but Abby proved me wrong".
"I'm glad to hear that. What happened to her? Abby, I mean?"
"She had a miscarriage, and Malucci found her unconscious in our lounge. She was pregnant outside the uterus, so if she hadn't lost it she'd have to have an abortion anyway".
"I'm sorry".
A couple of hours later almost all the patients were divided between Mercy and St. John. The only patient left was Mrs. Parrish. Pamela Olbe and Dave had just gotten her in the ambulance when they heard a high crack. When they turned around they could see flames coming out of the ER and glass everywhere. It was the bomb.
"Noooo!" Mrs. Parrish screamed. "Nooo! My daughter!"
Dave immediately turned to the screaming woman. "What?!! Is your daughter inside?!"
Mrs. Parrish nodded while she cried. She couldn't speak; it was like her mouth was paralysed. Thousands of thoughts went through Dave's mind before he decided to do it.
Dave looked at Olbe who tried to calm Mrs. Parrish down. "Pam, can I barrow your jacket?" he asked while he watched the big flames still coming out the ER.
"Sure…" she replied, not quite aware of what why he needed it.
Olbe gave Dave her jacket. He grabbed it and put it on. Kerry, who hadn't gone to the other hospitals yet, began to understand what Dave was up to.
"Mrs. Parrish, what is your daughter's name?"
"Courtney", Mrs. Parrish managed to answer.
"Dave! Are you crazy!" Kerry yelled after him while he headed to the entrance. He decided to ignore Kerry, as he usually did. When he was about to enter the ER where the doors were suppose to be, another explosion met him and he was thrown backwards.
"DAVE!!" Kerry screamed and limped over to where Dave was lying screaming in pain. She could see that he was burned. Only by looking at his face she could see second - and maybe third-degree burns.
"OUCH! MY BACK!!! IT HURTS!!!" he screamed while trying to get on his feet.
"Pamela! Call Mercy and tell them to send another ambulance!" Kerry ordered and Pamela ran into the ambulance and called. Meanwhile was Dave at his feet again and headed to the rests of the burning and exploding ER.
"DAVE!!!" Kerry yelled but she knew it was impossible to stop him. The only thing she could do was to wait and hope that he'd come out alive. If he ever did come out of the killing flames.
At Mercy Doug was trying to see Tess and Carol. After the transmission all the patients were put in the few rooms that were available. The rest were lying in beds in the corridors through the whole hospital in their respective floors.
Both Carol and Tess were two of the most critical patients and were lucky to get a bed in the ICU and PICU.
Doug headed to the admin. desk in the ICU and PICU for some answers. "Hey! Can I get some information here?"
"Can I help you?" a nurse asked.
"I hope so. Where can I find Carol and Tess Hathaway?"
"Carol is taken to the NICU for a neurological test. The transmission wasn't the best thing for her right now. She fell into a deeper coma".
"Oh my God….. Do…do you think she will be okay again?"
The nurse shook her head. "No one knows. The possibility of brain damage is too high, so making a prognosis now would only be stupid".
"I know. Hope can be cruel".
"Exactly".
"And Tess? Our daughter?"
"Unfortunately she didn't take the transmission too well. She fell in a coma in the ambulance. It wasn't expected to happen".
Doug could feel tears in his eyes. This wasn't the way the fairytale was supposed to end. If everything had gone as he had planned it, he'd taken his princess and their two little princesses home to his castle. Instead he was at Mercy trying to see his princesses who were in a coma fighting for their lives. The only one who he knew for sure that would be okay again was Kate.
"Can I see them?" he asked while he could feel his eyes were filled up with tears.
"Of course. This way".
Doug followed the nurse. "This is the room where your daughter's lying. You can see her first because the doctors are taking some more tests on Carol right now".
Doug nodded and when they entered the room where Tess was lying without any signs of life, tears came running down his cheeks. The machines that kept his little daughter alive kept beeping, and for the first time Doug realised how annoying they were.
"I'll leave you two alone and when Carol's finished, an other nurse will come and get you".
"Thank you".
The nurse left Doug alone with Tess. When he looked at her, it looked like she was sleeping. He lifted his hand and touched the little girl's hand. It was so warm and soft. Just by looking at the little chest that went up and down very fast made him cry. He couldn't lose her now. He'd already lost 5 months and if she died he wouldn't have gotten another chance to make that up. When he thought back at the day when Carol had told him about the twins for the first time, he could remember how scared he first was. But now, a year later, he realised how happy he was to have two daughters. The thought of being a father had terrified him a little because he didn't think he'd be a good one but now he couldn't wait until he finally was a father to his girls. He wanted both of them, not only one, but there wasn't anything he could do now than pray.
As the hours went by Doug was sitting by Tess' crib while Luka was with Abby in an other room. Luka took his hand and touch his pocket where the little box still was lying awaiting for Abby to wake up. Suddenly he felt someone squeeze his left hand and when he looked at it he could see Abby's hand on the top of it.
"Abby?" he whispered. "Abby, honey, can you hear me?"
He was waiting for another squeeze but when he didn't feel anything, he assumed that he was just dreaming or something. Very disappointed he put Abby's hand in his and squeezed it carefully, and then he felt Abby return the squeeze again.
"Abby….Abby! Abby! Squeeze my hand, Abby!"
To Luka's relief Abby squeezed his hand back and then she managed to open her eyes. "Oh my God….Abby….Abby…..I can't believe it", he said with tears in his eyes but also with a calm happiness. He could remember the last time he was this happy. He closed his eyes while he said "thank you" over and over again quietly. When he opened his eyes he could see that Abby was looking around in the room unaware of where she was. She didn't recognise the rooms. The only thing she knew for sure what was, was Luka. She wanted to speak, to tell Luka how much she loved him and how much she'd missed him. To her, being in a coma, didn't make much since right now, but instead she'd been having this long dream without Luka in it and she'd felt so lonely. But something that was stuck in her throat was preventing her from speaking.
"Don't try to speak. You're intubated". Luka could see that Abby was confused, which was quite understandable. "You are at the hospital. Do you remember what happened?"
Abby shook her head. "You…..You…", Luka began trying to find a way to tell Abby about her miscarriage. Just knowing that it would break her heart wanted him to tell her that everything was okay and that nothing had happened to her.
"I'll get your doctor to extubate you and then I've got to talk to you".
Luka left Abby and tracked down her doctor. When Abby was extubated her throat was soar but she was able to speak, and Luka knew he couldn't postpone it much longer. She had the right to know why she was in the hospital, not as a nurse but as a patient. "Did you know that you were pregnant?"
"Pregnant?" she repeated quietly.
Luka nodded while he looked at her with sad eyes. "Yeah, you fainted in the lounge. Malucci found you".
"Is everything okay?"
He could see tears in her eyes and he could feel them coming in his too. "No, I'm afraid not. You had an ectopic pregnancy".
Abby starred at Luka before she looked down at her hands; they were shaking and sweaty. And then she looked up at Luka again. "The baby died, didn't it?"
"Yes, it did", Luka said. "And we nearly lost you too. You scared me Abby".
Abby smiled between the tears. "I'll try not to repeat it".
"You better not", he laughed.
"So…", Abby hesitated, afraid of the answer she possibly would get but also needed to know. "..am I…Is….How….Have…have I lost the ability to have…to have other children?"
Luka shook his head and smiled. "No, dr. Benton and dr. Corday were brilliant. They stopped the bleedings in time so they didn't have to do a hysterectomy. It was very scary but you were strong".
Suddenly Abby began to cry and Luka sat down next to her at the bed and put his arm around her. "Hey….Everything is okay now. You'll be fine".
"Yeah, I….I know. It's just that I might have something to do with what happened".
"What do you mean? An ectopic pregnancy is not something you can control. It just happens".
"I know". Abby whipped away some tears. "Luka, I…I had an abortion two years ago, and I'm…I'm afraid that I can't have children because of that. I've always been so sure that I'll never have kids".
"Why not?"
"Because of my mother".
"Your mother?" Luka didn't understand what she was talking about. "What is she to decide whether you should have children or not?"
"She didn't exactly decide. My mother has bipolar disorders and I can give it to my kids. I've always thought that I wouldn't take that risk but now, after the thing that has happened today or whenever it was, made me realise that I want to take that chance after all".
"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. I'd be more than happy to help you to take that risk", Luka said smiling childishly.
"I love you", Abby said simply and Luka knew exactly what she meant.
"I love you too". This is the time Luka said to himself and then he took the little box out of his pocket.
Spoilers: "Where the hearts is" ( I think )
"Oh my God!" Luka exclaimed horrified.
"Are you okay?" Doris asked.
Luka looked around and realised it was just a dream. He was in the ambulance with Doris. Abby was laying on the gurney next to him, still breathing. "I..I ..It was just a dream. She's fine, isn't she?"
"She is. Don't worry. Everything is going her way".
"It's just that this is the second time today I almost lost her. Earlier today I got the message that she was crashing and when I came up to the ICU I heard Elizabeth call it. I thought it was Abby but it turned out to be a false alarm and the dead person was an elderly man. And in this dream I heard two doctors talk about where they were going to put her body. It seemed so real".
"It's normal to be scared when something happens to someone you love, and it seems like you love her very much".
"Yeah, I do. I didn't think I was able to love someone again after my wife died but Abby proved me wrong".
"I'm glad to hear that. What happened to her? Abby, I mean?"
"She had a miscarriage, and Malucci found her unconscious in our lounge. She was pregnant outside the uterus, so if she hadn't lost it she'd have to have an abortion anyway".
"I'm sorry".
A couple of hours later almost all the patients were divided between Mercy and St. John. The only patient left was Mrs. Parrish. Pamela Olbe and Dave had just gotten her in the ambulance when they heard a high crack. When they turned around they could see flames coming out of the ER and glass everywhere. It was the bomb.
"Noooo!" Mrs. Parrish screamed. "Nooo! My daughter!"
Dave immediately turned to the screaming woman. "What?!! Is your daughter inside?!"
Mrs. Parrish nodded while she cried. She couldn't speak; it was like her mouth was paralysed. Thousands of thoughts went through Dave's mind before he decided to do it.
Dave looked at Olbe who tried to calm Mrs. Parrish down. "Pam, can I barrow your jacket?" he asked while he watched the big flames still coming out the ER.
"Sure…" she replied, not quite aware of what why he needed it.
Olbe gave Dave her jacket. He grabbed it and put it on. Kerry, who hadn't gone to the other hospitals yet, began to understand what Dave was up to.
"Mrs. Parrish, what is your daughter's name?"
"Courtney", Mrs. Parrish managed to answer.
"Dave! Are you crazy!" Kerry yelled after him while he headed to the entrance. He decided to ignore Kerry, as he usually did. When he was about to enter the ER where the doors were suppose to be, another explosion met him and he was thrown backwards.
"DAVE!!" Kerry screamed and limped over to where Dave was lying screaming in pain. She could see that he was burned. Only by looking at his face she could see second - and maybe third-degree burns.
"OUCH! MY BACK!!! IT HURTS!!!" he screamed while trying to get on his feet.
"Pamela! Call Mercy and tell them to send another ambulance!" Kerry ordered and Pamela ran into the ambulance and called. Meanwhile was Dave at his feet again and headed to the rests of the burning and exploding ER.
"DAVE!!!" Kerry yelled but she knew it was impossible to stop him. The only thing she could do was to wait and hope that he'd come out alive. If he ever did come out of the killing flames.
At Mercy Doug was trying to see Tess and Carol. After the transmission all the patients were put in the few rooms that were available. The rest were lying in beds in the corridors through the whole hospital in their respective floors.
Both Carol and Tess were two of the most critical patients and were lucky to get a bed in the ICU and PICU.
Doug headed to the admin. desk in the ICU and PICU for some answers. "Hey! Can I get some information here?"
"Can I help you?" a nurse asked.
"I hope so. Where can I find Carol and Tess Hathaway?"
"Carol is taken to the NICU for a neurological test. The transmission wasn't the best thing for her right now. She fell into a deeper coma".
"Oh my God….. Do…do you think she will be okay again?"
The nurse shook her head. "No one knows. The possibility of brain damage is too high, so making a prognosis now would only be stupid".
"I know. Hope can be cruel".
"Exactly".
"And Tess? Our daughter?"
"Unfortunately she didn't take the transmission too well. She fell in a coma in the ambulance. It wasn't expected to happen".
Doug could feel tears in his eyes. This wasn't the way the fairytale was supposed to end. If everything had gone as he had planned it, he'd taken his princess and their two little princesses home to his castle. Instead he was at Mercy trying to see his princesses who were in a coma fighting for their lives. The only one who he knew for sure that would be okay again was Kate.
"Can I see them?" he asked while he could feel his eyes were filled up with tears.
"Of course. This way".
Doug followed the nurse. "This is the room where your daughter's lying. You can see her first because the doctors are taking some more tests on Carol right now".
Doug nodded and when they entered the room where Tess was lying without any signs of life, tears came running down his cheeks. The machines that kept his little daughter alive kept beeping, and for the first time Doug realised how annoying they were.
"I'll leave you two alone and when Carol's finished, an other nurse will come and get you".
"Thank you".
The nurse left Doug alone with Tess. When he looked at her, it looked like she was sleeping. He lifted his hand and touched the little girl's hand. It was so warm and soft. Just by looking at the little chest that went up and down very fast made him cry. He couldn't lose her now. He'd already lost 5 months and if she died he wouldn't have gotten another chance to make that up. When he thought back at the day when Carol had told him about the twins for the first time, he could remember how scared he first was. But now, a year later, he realised how happy he was to have two daughters. The thought of being a father had terrified him a little because he didn't think he'd be a good one but now he couldn't wait until he finally was a father to his girls. He wanted both of them, not only one, but there wasn't anything he could do now than pray.
As the hours went by Doug was sitting by Tess' crib while Luka was with Abby in an other room. Luka took his hand and touch his pocket where the little box still was lying awaiting for Abby to wake up. Suddenly he felt someone squeeze his left hand and when he looked at it he could see Abby's hand on the top of it.
"Abby?" he whispered. "Abby, honey, can you hear me?"
He was waiting for another squeeze but when he didn't feel anything, he assumed that he was just dreaming or something. Very disappointed he put Abby's hand in his and squeezed it carefully, and then he felt Abby return the squeeze again.
"Abby….Abby! Abby! Squeeze my hand, Abby!"
To Luka's relief Abby squeezed his hand back and then she managed to open her eyes. "Oh my God….Abby….Abby…..I can't believe it", he said with tears in his eyes but also with a calm happiness. He could remember the last time he was this happy. He closed his eyes while he said "thank you" over and over again quietly. When he opened his eyes he could see that Abby was looking around in the room unaware of where she was. She didn't recognise the rooms. The only thing she knew for sure what was, was Luka. She wanted to speak, to tell Luka how much she loved him and how much she'd missed him. To her, being in a coma, didn't make much since right now, but instead she'd been having this long dream without Luka in it and she'd felt so lonely. But something that was stuck in her throat was preventing her from speaking.
"Don't try to speak. You're intubated". Luka could see that Abby was confused, which was quite understandable. "You are at the hospital. Do you remember what happened?"
Abby shook her head. "You…..You…", Luka began trying to find a way to tell Abby about her miscarriage. Just knowing that it would break her heart wanted him to tell her that everything was okay and that nothing had happened to her.
"I'll get your doctor to extubate you and then I've got to talk to you".
Luka left Abby and tracked down her doctor. When Abby was extubated her throat was soar but she was able to speak, and Luka knew he couldn't postpone it much longer. She had the right to know why she was in the hospital, not as a nurse but as a patient. "Did you know that you were pregnant?"
"Pregnant?" she repeated quietly.
Luka nodded while he looked at her with sad eyes. "Yeah, you fainted in the lounge. Malucci found you".
"Is everything okay?"
He could see tears in her eyes and he could feel them coming in his too. "No, I'm afraid not. You had an ectopic pregnancy".
Abby starred at Luka before she looked down at her hands; they were shaking and sweaty. And then she looked up at Luka again. "The baby died, didn't it?"
"Yes, it did", Luka said. "And we nearly lost you too. You scared me Abby".
Abby smiled between the tears. "I'll try not to repeat it".
"You better not", he laughed.
"So…", Abby hesitated, afraid of the answer she possibly would get but also needed to know. "..am I…Is….How….Have…have I lost the ability to have…to have other children?"
Luka shook his head and smiled. "No, dr. Benton and dr. Corday were brilliant. They stopped the bleedings in time so they didn't have to do a hysterectomy. It was very scary but you were strong".
Suddenly Abby began to cry and Luka sat down next to her at the bed and put his arm around her. "Hey….Everything is okay now. You'll be fine".
"Yeah, I….I know. It's just that I might have something to do with what happened".
"What do you mean? An ectopic pregnancy is not something you can control. It just happens".
"I know". Abby whipped away some tears. "Luka, I…I had an abortion two years ago, and I'm…I'm afraid that I can't have children because of that. I've always been so sure that I'll never have kids".
"Why not?"
"Because of my mother".
"Your mother?" Luka didn't understand what she was talking about. "What is she to decide whether you should have children or not?"
"She didn't exactly decide. My mother has bipolar disorders and I can give it to my kids. I've always thought that I wouldn't take that risk but now, after the thing that has happened today or whenever it was, made me realise that I want to take that chance after all".
"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. I'd be more than happy to help you to take that risk", Luka said smiling childishly.
"I love you", Abby said simply and Luka knew exactly what she meant.
"I love you too". This is the time Luka said to himself and then he took the little box out of his pocket.