~*~ Chapter 12 ~*~

Chris lifted his head when he heard the gasp. He stared at her for a minute almost in disbelief. Karen moved her head from side to side, although still asleep. Chris, finally being able to move, began to check her vitals.

"Karen…" Scott said. "Come on Karen, time to wake up."

"Don't push her, Scott…she started breathing and she is responsive. She'll wake up soon enough," Chris encouraged. "I'll be back in a minute."

Chris walked over into the waiting room where Rhonda, Serena, and Janelle were sitting anticipating the arrival of bad news. He paused in the doorway for a minute, to see Serena lying on the couch with her head on Rhonda's lap. Rhonda tucked Serena's hair behind her ear with one hand as she tried to hold her own head up with the other.

Serena slowly sat up when Chris walked in and stood in front of them. When Serena moved, Rhonda also looked up expressionless at Chris, expecting the worst. A smile slowly crept over Chris' face, "She's responsive and breathing on her own…" he said. Overjoyed at the news, both Serena and Rhonda jumped up and hugged Chris so hard that he almost fell over. "You can both go in…" he said and followed them through the door towards Karen's room.

"Dad…" Serena said as she and Rhonda entered.

Scott jumped up as the saw them. "Come in, come in…" Serena sat down next to Karen and held her hand as Scott and Rhonda stood behind her. He looked at Rhonda and smiled, "she's going to be just fine." Rhonda smiled as she rested her head on Scott's shoulder.

Janelle stood outside of Karen's room peering through window at the close-knit family.

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Scott was alone, with Karen, slouched in a chair next to her bed. Now that she was off of life support and responsive; everyone tried to bide their time while anxiously awaiting for her wake up. Rhonda and Serena walked to the park to get some hotdogs for everyone from the park vendor; while Chris took a brief break to check on some patients and Janelle went to the cafeteria to get Scott some coffee.

Karen began to stir in her sleep as she moved her head from side to side again. "Dominique…" she whispered although still sleeping. Scott sat up quickly and reached for her hand. Karen's eyes fluttered and soon opened completely. She looked over to see Scott sitting next to her.

"Dad…" she said.

"Yeah…" he said smiling and leaning close to her. "How's my little angel?"

"Sore." She said with a smile turning to confusion as she began to look around the room for the baby. A look of panic came across her face. "Daddy…" she said with fear as she began to cry.

Scott quickly jumped up and hugged her gently. "It's okay, honey…shhh…it's okay, she's upstairs…"

Karen was sobbing too hard to listen to Scott. "Daddy, my baby…Dominique said she would be okay."

He pulled away from her to look her in the eyes. "Dominique?" Scott repeated puzzled. "Karen, listen to me…"

"Daddy, what happened to my baby?" she continued.

"Karen…listen to me…" he said again finally getting her attention. "The baby is upstairs. She's fighting, honey. She's small, but she's a fighter."

Finally hearing what Scott said, she calmed down a bit, but began to try to get out of bed. "I've got to see her…I've got to go to her."

"Whoa. Hold on there, Karen. You need to rest. She is being taken care of. I promise you, honey, as soon as you are strong enough to get up, I will take you up to see her. But right now, you need to rest."

Karen looked at her father and finally accepted what he was saying. "Is she okay?"

"She will be honey. She's very fragile, they have her on a ventilator and they are giving her something to help her lungs develop. She's in an incubator," he explained trying to comfort his daughter.

Karen laid back on her pillow and turned her head away from Scott. She closed her eyes and tried not to fear the worst.

"Hey," Scott said curious. "Why don't you tell me about that dream you were having."

"What dream?" she asked confused.

"You were dreaming in your sleep, honey. You were talking about Dominique."

Karen sat up again and began to look around the room. "What are you looking for?" Scott asked.

"She was here." Karen explained. "She was right here."

"Karen, are you okay?" Scott was starting to get worried. "What do you mean she was here?"

"Dad, she stood right there and told me that everything was going to be okay." She looked deep into her father's eyes and smiled. Scott hung his head down, as thoughts of Dominique came flooding back to him. "It was a dream Karen…" he said with sorrow in his voice.

"She said to tell you that she never left." Karen started placing her hand on his.

"What?" he asked looking up at her.

"Your wedding vows." Karen said as matter of fact. "You told her to promise that she would never leave, because you hate being left. She never left, Dad. She said that she loves you…always…everywhere."

Scott looked at Karen with confusion filling his body. "How do you know all of that? I never told you any of that."

Scott and Karen exchanged a look that needed no further explanation. He pulled her close to him and hugged her. He kissed her head and looked up to toward heaven. "Thank you, Dominique…"he whispered. "Thank you."

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Rhonda and Serena entered the hospital returning from their walk to the park. Rhonda saw Janelle walking around the corner seeming to be yelling at someone on her cell phone. She handed the hotdogs to Serena, "Take those to your Dad. I'll be up in minute." Serena nodded and took the bag. Rhonda was beginning to have suspicious feelings about Janelle. As she approached Janelle to confront her and maybe put her suspicions to rest, she overhead Janelle's part of the conversation.

"I'm telling you, don't worry about it…His daughter has been in a coma for days, he has been a bit preoccupied…No the kids won't be a problem either."

Rhonda turned and headed back to Karen's room, before Janelle could realize that she was there. But it seemed that Rhonda's instincts were more accurate that she had originally thought.

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"Hey, look who's awake!" Rhonda said entering Karen's room. She went straight to Karen to give her a hug. "How do you feel?"

"I hurt." She said point blank then smiled. "But, I think I'm going to live. Dad, was just sitting here telling me some stories of years gone past."

"Oh. Great. I don't think that I'm going to ask," she said shaking her head then turning to Scott. "Scott, can I speak with you a minute outside?"

As Scott and Rhonda exited the room, Serena looked at Karen, "I wonder what that's about," she stated.

Karen eyed her parents with suspicion, "I don't know," she replied.

"What's up, Rhonda?" Scott asked.

"Scott…um…how much do you really know about Janelle?" she hesitantly asked.

"Where is this coming from?"

"Scott, I know I have no business interfering in your life, but there is something about that woman that isn't right."

"Your imagination is working overtime, there, Rhonda?" he began when his cell phone rang. "Baldwin…okay Mac, I'll be there soon." He said pushing the end button on his phone. "I've got to go to the police station. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay…"Rhonda nodded. She turned to enter Karen's room when she almost walked into Serena who was nervously standing in the doorway listening to Rhonda and Scott's conversation. "Oh, I'm sorry, Serena." As she looked closer at the girl, she couldn't help but to inquire "Are you okay?" Serena nodded and let her pass into the room.