~*~ Chapter 10 ~*~
Scott watch through the window as the nurses settled Karen in her room after the surgery. He stared at his motionless daughter with tears in his eyes as he tried to make sense of everything that Tony had told him about the surgery.
"You may go in now, Mr. Baldwin," a nurse announced as they exited the room. Scott glanced at Janelle and Serena talking in the waiting room then went in and took a seat next to his oldest daughter. Trying not to cry, he took her hand in his and began to talk to her as if she were conscious and could hear every word.
"Hi honey, how are you feeling? I guess that's a stupid question huh?" he began. "Tony said that the surgery went well honey. I'm sorry Karen…I had to sign the paper. I had to let them take the baby. I couldn't let you die." Scott was holding her hand tight as her stroked her hair with the other hand as a single tear ran down his cheek.
"Your baby is upstairs, honey. You have a little girl, as beautiful as her mommy…I'm not going to lie to you Karen, it's going to be touch and go for her for a little while. She's fighting, but she's weak. They had to put her on a ventilator to keep her breathing. Her little lungs aren't fully developed yet. So you have to wake up. You have to wake up, so that you can be here for her."
As Scott held her hand and gave her all the details about her and the baby, a large circle of light, unable to be seen by Scott, appeared near the ceiling, but it reached into eternity. Karen's spirit got up out of her body, starting from her head. She was drawn by the warmth and light upward into this tunnel. The light was goodness. But for some reason she had a stronger pull towards her father. She stood behind her father and look down at her motionless body. She laid her hand on his shoulder as she hung on to every word he said.
"I called your mother. She'll be here soon. You can't leave me Karen…"he said between tears. "It isn't going to be like this. You listen to you're father and do what you're told. You are going to wake up. You're not going to leave me. I am not going through this again. It was hard enough with Dominique; I won't accept it from you…" He, then, looked up to the ceiling as if he was looking into heaven "Dominique, change their minds, don't let them take my little girl…" he said laying his head down on her bed.
"You remind me so much of him…It's hard to see him like this, isn't it?" A voice said. Karen turned to see who was behind her that could actually see her.
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"Serena!" Rhonda called as she hurried down the hallway. As she got closer, she reached out her arms to give Serena a hug. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, comparatively," Serena answered. "Dad is in with Karen, I'll let him fill you in. They just brought her into her room about 20 minutes ago." She said walking into Karen's room with Rhonda. Janelle followed them, but stopped just outside of Karen's room. She watched through the window as Scott jumped up and hugged Rhonda. Scott held Rhonda tight as she began to cry in his arms. As Serena slipped out of the room unnoticed, she turned to Janelle "C'mon, they need some time to be alone," she said to Janelle never explaining who Rhonda was.
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"Dominique?" Karen said as she turned. "Am I dead?"
"No honey… Not yet. You have to cross over before that'll happen" Dominique answered with a smile as she linked her arm with Karen's
Karen turned away from Dominique, "So did they send you to make sure that I cross?"
Dominique chuckled slightly "No, my dear, you'll have to decide that on your own. I don't think I could stop you from doing what you really wanted to do anyhow. You are a Baldwin after all." Dominique took a stance next to Karen, both looking at Scott quietly praying to himself over Karen's bed ridden body. "I came because HE asked me to. I came because he can not stand to lose another woman that he loves."
Karen looked lovingly at her parents. They were sitting next to Karen's bed. Rhonda laid her head on Scott's shoulder. Scott had his arm around Rhonda, holding her tight.
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As Janelle and Serena walked around the corner, they found Jessie in the waiting room looking for Serena.
"Serena, how's Karen?" she asked.
"She's out of surgery, but she is still on a ventilator. We're just waiting for her to wake up and breathe on her own," she answered. "I need some fresh air, Jess, let's go outside for a walk."
"So, Jess, how are you?" Serena asked as they exited the hospital and began to walk towards the park.
"I'm fine, just some cuts and bruises."
"Just some cuts and bruises" Serena repeated. "Just some cuts and bruises…my sister is in there fighting for her life. She might die, the baby might die…and you just have some cuts and bruises." Serena began to sob uncontrollably.
"Serena, calm down…it was an accident."
"An accident that happened because you had to smoke that crap!" Serena yelled.
"I didn't see you stopping me."
"Yeah, like you would have listened to me." Serena retorted. "And then you went and got behind the wheel of a car and drove me and my sister into a tree!"
"Serena, I'm sorry for the accident, I would change it if I could…but if you would have told your sister the truth in the first place, she would have taken the keys and driven herself to the hospital." Jessie yelled at Serena as she walked away from her in a huff.
Serena turned and yelled "You're the one to blame for this, Jessie, not me." Serena began to walk back to the hospital when something caught her eye. She stopped to get a better look, only to see Seth and Todd leaning in the window of a black Cadillac parked just at the edge of the park entrance. She couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like they had handed the driver a wad of money. Shaking her head and brushing off the site, she went back to the hospital to be with her family.
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In disbelief, Chris hurried down the hallway toward Karen's room still dressed in his surgery scrubs. As he reached her room, he stopped short at the door. He peered in the window to see that his worst fears had come true. His disbelief turned to shock as he slowly entered the room and made his way to Karen's beside. After Rhonda greeted him with a hug, he reached for Karen's hand and sat down next to her bed. Scott moved behind Chris and laid his hand on his shoulder for a minute then turned to Rhonda "C'mon Rhonda, let's go check on Serena and the baby," he said taking her hand in his.
Chris remained silent as tears gently rolled down his cheeks.
"What are you doing, Karen?" Chris finally said. "Well…I know what you're not doing…you're not going to die on me. We have a little girl to raise…did you see her Karen?...she's beautiful. She looks like you. Come on Karen, you have to wake up. You have to get through this. I can't raise this little girl on my own…"
"Is that Chris?" Dominique asked of Karen.
"Yes…"Karen said as a smile came across his face.
"I bet it was love at first site, right?"
"Hardly, when Chris and I first met, we couldn't be in the same room together without getting into an argument."
A smile painted Dominique's face as she began to laugh, "Wow, now that sounds familiar," she said.
"What…why?" Karen questioned confused.
"When your father and I first started working together, all we did was argue."
Karen looked at Dominique with a surprising look. Was this the same Dominique that was Scott's one and only true love; she thought to herself.
"Really? To hear dad tell the story, he would have you believe that you two fell deeply in love the first time you laid eyes on each other."
"Well it was anything but that. We first started working together at Deception. He was quite the businessman. Somehow, he and Julia Barrett had convinced me to be the 'face of Deception.' Scott and I ended up fighting everyday with Julia trying to be the moderator between us."
"When did everything change between you?" Karen asked with obvious interest in Dominique's version of the story.
"One day, Scott came to work in his brand new red sports car. He had no interest at all in working that day. He was so excited. He asked Julia and I to go for a test drive, but Julia declined. I on the other hand…I was willing to take an hour and have some fun before a day of make-up and photo shoots. We got in the car and began to drive. The next thing I know, we were waking up in a hotel room in Las Vegas…I had no memory at all of what happened. Then I found the marriage certificate with our names on it. Horrified, I went over to him and kicked him to wake him up…"
"You kicked him?" Karen asked enjoying the story.
"I kicked him, handed him the certificate and asked him to explain. Our argument quickly turned to a fight, ending with me walking out of the room. About an hour later, I came back to room and Scott handed me a videotape and asked me to watch it. He went for a walk while I watched the video. As I watched the tape I began to realize my true feelings. Especially, when I reached the vows. Did Scott ever tell you what he said, when he recited his vows?"
Karen shook her head.
"He said 'Please, promise me that you'll never, ever leave me; because I hate being left'. After that, we drove back to Port Charles in silence, but we were both thinking the same thing... 'Wouldn't it be nice…?' But when we got back I asked him to start the divorce proceedings immediately and he did. While we waited for the divorce papers to go through, he began to work on me to stay married. He had begun to open up to me and the more I learned about him, the more I fell for him. Finally, one night he came over for dinner and the next thing I know, he was waking me up with breakfast in bed. Chipped beef on toast." She said with a smile. "It was all over from there."
"And to think of the grief that he gave me when I married Chris..." Karen started shifting her attention to watch Chris as he talked to her still body.
"He's not Chris' biggest fan, I take it?" Dominique asked.
"No, far from it." Karen answered as she moved behind Chris and hugged him from behind. Chris moved his hand up to his shoulder as if he could feel her arms around him.
"No one will ever be good enough for one of Scott Baldwin's daughters. But he will accept it, none the less, as long as they're happy." Dominique reassured her with a smile.
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"Hey…" Janelle said walking into Karen's room to find Chris and Rhonda engaged in a light conversation. Janelle set a bag of clothes on the bed as she turned toward Chris. "We took a ride to the firehouse to freshen up a little. Scott thought you might like a change of clothes, so we stopped at your place as well."
"Thank you…that was very thoughtful. Where are Scott and Serena?" he asked looking over her shoulder for them.
"Oh…they went across the street to pick up some sandwiches for everyone…they'll be back shortly."
Chris finally arose and stretched his legs a little. He leaned and gave Karen a gentle kiss on her forehead before taking the bag of clothes. "I'm going to the on-call room to take a hot shower, I'll be back soon," he told Rhonda as he left.
An uncomfortable silence fell in the room, until it was finally broken by Janelle. "How's Karen doing?" she asked Rhonda.
Rhonda let out a sad sigh. "The same" she answered followed by a long pause. "I'm sorry, I don't believe that we have been formally introduced…I'm Rhonda…Karen's mother. And you are…"
"Oh…I'm Janelle, I've been living with Scott for months now." She said with a demeaning tone. "I was under the impression that Scott's wife was dead. So where do you fit into the puzzle?"
"Well, I don't feel the need to explain my relationship with my daughter and her father to you…especially since Scott never mentioned that he was even seeing somebody…" Rhonda retorted.
"Oh… I'm sure that there is probably a lot that Scott has never mentioned to you."
"Well then, I guess we could call it even." Rhonda said as Scott walked through with a bag of food. He barely got the word "hello" out of his mouth before Janelle wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately.
"Wow…"he said "we'll save that conversation for later on."
Dominique turned to Karen with a disgusted look on her face "Do you really want to leave your father alone to fend for himself with these two woman?...For the rest of his life?" she asked.
"Good point," Karen said returning the repulsed look. "THAT was just…EEW."
"Hey lover boy…" Rhonda said with an amusing chuckle getting Scott's attention "where did your youngest child disappear too?"
"Huh…oh yeah…she ran into Jessie downstairs, I told her we would let her know if there was any change." He pulled a sandwich out of the bag and tossed it to Rhonda, "Here have a sandwich."
"No thanks…I can't eat…I'm not hungry."
"Now Rhonda…" he began as his cell phone began to ring. "Oh…what now. Baldwin…what…now…I'm in the middle of…Oh alright, I'm on my way." He said finishing a conversation with Mac. "I have to go to the police station, I'll be back soon. Call me if there is any change," he said to Rhonda as he left.
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Serena had finally caught up to Jessie outside around a remote corner of the hospital.
"Jessie…" she called "what are you still doing here?"
"I'm waiting for my mother to get off of work…I thought you were mad at me?" she questioned pulling another joint from her pocket and lighting it.
"What the hell are you doing, Jessie? After everything that is happened, you're going to smoke another one?"
"Oh, stop it with the 'holier than thou' attitude, Serena. You're not entirely innocent in all of this" Jessie said taking a puff.
"No, I'm not, but I am smart enough to stay away from this stuff now."
"Well then, I guess you're not interested in having the last one," Jessie said as she pulled another joint from her pocket.
"The last one? I thought there were four? How many have you smoked?"
"This is only the second," Jessie said as she started to feel the effects. "I must have dropped the other one somewhere. Here Serena, take it, it'll make you feel better."
Serena swiped the last joint from Jessie's hand and held it up between her thumb and index finger. She began to rub her fingers together crushing the joint and spreading the contents all over the ground. "THAT…is what I think of your last one," she said with anger as the walk away.
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Scott walked into the police station looking for Mac, when he saw Seth and Todd sitting next to a desk in handcuffs. He was about to question them as Mac came through the door.
"What are these two doing here?" he asked Mac.
"We just picked them up for possession" he answered.
"Possession? Possession of what?"
"This" Mac said throwing a bag of Marijuana on the counter. Scott stared at the bag for minute and then looked at the boys.
"Get 'em outta here, I'll deal with them later," Scott said sitting down with a thud next to a desk. He held his head up with his hand as he rubbed his forehead.
"These boys may be able to provide us with a lead on this new stream of drugs coming into town." Mac suggested sitting down next to Scott. When Scott didn't respond, he looked at him a little closer. "How is Karen doing?" he asked.
Scott finally broke from his expressionless stare "The same, we're still waiting for her to wake up."
"What about he baby?" Mac asked.
"The baby is so small. 1 pound 9 ounces. She is on a ventilator and they are giving her steroids to help her lungs develop faster. She's in an incubator, you can't hold her, or touch her, or anything. They say that we can't compromise her immune system," he explained visibly disturb by the turn of events.
"They'll be okay, Scott. The world can't stand to lose such a great person and doctor" he tried to reassure Scott. "There is something else bothering you. What is it?"
Scott shook his head and turned away from Mac trying not to show his emotions. "Where did you pick those boys up at?" he asked trying to get his mind on something else.
"The corner of Oakdale and Wilna Streets," Mac answered.
"Oakdale and Wilna? That is on the other side of Charles Street. What were they doing over there?" he asked. "That isn't anywhere near their houses…" he commented as he sat and thought a minute. In that moment, it hit him "but that is about a half of block from the Thompson's…" he said aloud to himself. "Mac, I want you to search Jessica Thompson's car."
"We'll have to get a warrant for that…it's on private property"
"No, not the new one…the car she was driving when the accident occurred," Scott explained.
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"Karen," Dominique said linking her arm with Karen's once more, "it's time for me to go. You need to make your decision. Karen, if you decide to stay, will you give your father a message? Will you tell him that 'I never left. I'll love him…always…everywhere?"
Karen nodded as she looked into Dominique's eyes.
"Follow your heart, Karen. You will make the decision that is right for you." Dominique said as she disappeared into a bright, tranquil light. Karen gave both her mother and Chris a gentle kiss as she walked over to her bed and placed her hand on her still body.
Dr. Jones entered Karen's room with a somber look on his face. "Chris," he said, "it has been 24 hours with no response and she is still on life support." Tony paused a moment before he continued. "I'm sorry Chris, but she has a DNR on file."
Chris let out a small sigh. "I know," Chris said as he looked at Rhonda. As tears ran down both of their cheeks, Chris gave Karen one last kiss. "Turn it off," he said to Tony as he walked out the door.
