Me: Hey guys and gals! How y'all doin' today?!
*Audience cheers.*
Me: Well, Like I said in the last chappy, I'm getting sick of this whole prechap shit, so on with the second half of Child Tragedies. And beware of the headless chicken! (Don't ask!)
*****
Andy's parents arrived at 6:30 PM and they stayed the night at Andy's house, taking care of Jessie, even though she was old enough to take care of herself. Les also came that night and he stayed in Lizzy's hospital room all night with Andy and Milo. The next morning Andy woke up on the floor, her head resting on Milo's lap. Les had been sleeping in one of the chairs and was already awake.
"Milo? Wake up." She shook Milo's body.
"Hey." He said back to her sleepy. After awhile of just sitting and waking up they decided to go get some breakfast. Les drove to a restaurant near by, while Andy and Milo just ate in the cafeteria since they could because they worked there. After eating the not-so-good but healthy food, they started to walk back to Lizzy's room. They heard Lu shouting at some nurses and after a few seconds realized that she was screaming for Lizzy. Andy ran to the window that looked into Lizzy's room.
"Lizzy!" Milo held her back so Lu could do her job without any disturbances. Lizzy's body strangled. It ripped through sheets and knocked over IVs and pulled out tubes. Andy shouted her name again and Les came running in when he heard her from the entrance to the clinic. Milo looked away because he couldn't stand to see it. Lizzy's body continued to thrash in different directions.
"Grab the cart and jell the zaps!" Lu ordered one nurse. "Get the oxygen tank ready." She yelled at another. Lizzy's heartbeat rang solid. (There was no heartbeat in other words.) Lu snatched the zaps and said, "Ready, clear." She zapped Lizzy's little body and checked for a heartbeat again. It wasn't there. "Again, clear." She zapped it again and her heart ticked on the monitor but it wasn't steady. Her body was now limp and still breathing heavily. "Hook her up to the oxygen tank and we need to calm her heartbeat. The only thing I can think of is life support. Hook her up to it and we will have to monitor it through." Lu looked at Lizzy's limp body and a tear rolled down her cheek. Andy was hysterical outside. They all waited for Lu's diagnosis.
"She's had a seizure, while in the comma. It's not looking too good for her Andy. If she lives, it will be a damn miracle."
"What are you saying?" Les asked from behind her. Lu's eyes watered.
"I'm saying that the chances of her living are very, very, very slim."
"No. NO!" Andy slid down the wall taking Milo with her and buried her face in his chest. He started to cry with her. Les walked away to be by himself. Lana saw them all from her desk and tears rolled down her cheeks and Lu stood there crying also and watching all of it happen.
"I'm so sorry Andy." She bent down and stroked her back. "Listen to me. I had to put her on life support to help control her heart. It might work, it might not. We're going to have to wait and see, but you and Les need to make the decision to." She hesitated. "To pull the plug if it doesn't." Andy cried even harder at her words. They sat there for awhile and cried together.
Later that day Andy sat down in her office with Les. Both their faces were blood red from all the chaos but neither were crying anymore. Andy couldn't. Her glands just wouldn't produce the tears.
"What are we going to do?" Les said after a long silence.
"You should call your mother and tell her. She has a right to know." Les's father had been dead for about 6 years but his mother was still alive and kicking.
"Yeah. You should call the house and inform everybody of what has happened."
"I will. But I don't want them to come down here now. I want them to grieve at home and then when it comes down to the final decision, they can come. I just don't think I can handle it right now."
Les looked at his feet. "Ok. I want to go see Jessie though so I guess I'll go there."
"Whatever you want." She looked him in the eyes. "It's all my fault isn't it?"
"No. It's not. It was an accident."
"Then why do I feel like this?"
"Because our daughter is an inch away from death." She took in his words. They hurt but she faced the pain. Les stood up.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to call my mom and once your done making your phone call I'm going to see my other, living, daughter." He walked out while grabbing his cell phone out of his pocket. Andy picked up the phone and dialed the house. Her mother answered and she told her what had happened and asked her to stay at the house until she called for more news, then she went back to Lizzy's hospital room and sat there watching her 11 year old daughter lay limp on the bed that Thursday morning.
It was Sunday afternoon now and Andy was still sitting in Lizzy's hospital room waiting for a miracle. Les's mother had come Friday morning and was staying in the same hotel as Les was. Dr. Jackson walked in after Les went to see Jessie again and Milo was working.
"Dr. Campbell."
"Yeah." Andy looked depressed and sluggish.
"How are you holding up?"
"How do I look like I'm holding up Dr. Jackson?"
"Not so good." He sat down next to her. "I'm so sorry Dr. Campbell."
"Call me Andy."
"I'm so sorry Andy." He corrected himself to make her happier but she didn't really care.
"I don't know if I should kill her or not." He looked confused but then realized that she was talking about pulling the plug on Lizzy's life support. It hadn't been working good enough for her heart so her and Les were going to have to make that one decision that would change their lives forever. "Should I put her out of her misery or let her lie there like a vegetable and wait for the day when she'll finally go." Andy hadn't cried since Wednesday because she just couldn't do it until now. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she never took her eyes off of Lizzy. Not even to look at Rob while talking to him. He didn't say anything to her. He couldn't think of anything to say. "That's my daughter. And I killed her."
"No you didn't. It was an accident. Why won't you believe that? Don't blame yourself Andy. It's not your fault." He reassured her.
"I don't know why I think the way I do." She finally looked at him. "I don't know what I'm going to do Rob. I just don't know what I'm going to do without her." After sitting in silence for a few minutes Dr. Jackson said his good-bye's and walked out of the room and to Lu and Lana who were talking at Lana's desk.
"No parent should have to bury their child." He shook his head with sympathy.
"Isn't that the truth." Lana said back to him.
"I'm going to go talk to her." Lu said while walking toward the room. She entered the room and Andy looked at her while wiping away the tears.
"Hi Delgado."
"Are you ever going to call me Lu?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Nothing could make Andy laugh right now, so Lu stopped with the jokes.
"I know this is a touchy subject Andy but you need to decide what you're going to do. Don't forget to make it with Les though.
"I won't forget." She responded. Les walked in a couple of minutes later.
"Hi everybody." He sounded depressed and sluggish also.
"Hi. I was just talking to Andy about making a decision." Lu spoke to him softly.
"Yes. We need to discuss that Andy." She nodded but didn't look at either of them. "What should we do? Pull the plug?" Andy didn't answer.
"Why don't we give it another day?" Lu suggested. "One more chance to pray for a miracle."
"Ok." Les said. They both left Andy alone in the room with Lizzy again. She walked over to her and stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry baby. I'm so sorry. I miss you so much." She started to cry again. "I miss you so much Lizzy. I want you to wake up for mommy. Wake up for me Lizzy. Live for me." She said to her unconscious daughter in between sobs. "I can't live without you baby girl. Wake up." There was no reply to Andy so she sat back down and cried herself into a nap.
~~~~~~~~~
"Mom." Lizzy stroked Andy's face. There were clouds all around them. Was it heaven? Andy didn't know for sure. "Mom. I've come to say goodbye. Take care of Jessie. Tell her that her younger sister loves her and tell Milo I'll miss his spaghetti and movies. Tell dad that I love him too and that I'll never forget him." Andy stared at her daughter's face. She was paler and was wearing her favorite outfit. "I love you Mom and don't be afraid to move on without me. I want you to live on. Tell Jessie to be careful. Tell her not to get in that car with that stranger a couple of years from now." Lizzy started to fade. "This is my fate. I'm not supposed to live past 11. I want to but I can't. I have to go Mom. I love you. Don't ever forget that. And don't blame yourself for what happened. It's not your fault, like I said it's fate...fate..fate..fate." Lizzy's voice echoed in Andy's ears as she started to disappear.
"Lizzy!!! No Lizzy don't leave. Lizzy!" Andy yelled. Somebody's hand caressed her face and shook her slightly. Her eyes darted open and she sat up.
"It was a dream." She told herself. "It was just a dream. But it seemed so real." Milo looked at his fiancée and was confused.
"What did you dream about?" His voice startled her and she jumped out of her seat onto her feet but then relaxed when she saw it was just him.
"It was Lizzy. She was saying goodbye to me." He looked surprised. "Where's Jessie? I have to tell her something before I forget it."
"She's at home remember?"
"Oh. I'll be right back." Andy ran to her office and called her house and talked to Jessie. She told her about the dream and gave her advice.
"So Jessie, don't ever, and I'm not kidding around, don't ever get in a car with a stranger. I don't care the circumstances, don't. It was a warning. She saw the future and I believe it. So don't. Do you understand me?"
"Yes Mom. I understand." After Andy hung up the phone she glanced at her watch. She had been asleep for four hours. It was now 9 PM and late. She was hungry. Milo took her to a near-by restaurant and they ate. Tomorrow they were going to decide what to do.
The next morning Andy and Les sat down again and discussed what they were going to do. They both decided on pulling the plug. Andy didn't tell him about the dream, she just said that Lizzy loved him and he knew that already. Andy's parents came to the hospital with Jessie that afternoon to see Lizzy one last time. Before anything happened they took Milo aside and had a talk with them. He thought it was amazing that they even cared to get to know him at a time like this. Andy's mother, Sarah loved him but Andy's dad, Joe wasn't so sure. He said that he would have to get to know him even better after everything settled down again. Milo agreed with him, kind of disappointed but understanding. At 3 PM everybody stood in Lizzy's hospital room, most of them crying waiting for Lu to pull the plug.
"You're sure about this?" She asked before she did anything. Les and Andy nodded while tears rolled down their faces. Andy grabbed Jessie and held her tightly as Milo stroked her back for comfort. Lu reached for the plug and pulled. Lizzy's heartbeat rang solid and Andy sank to the floor, Jessie still in her arms. Lu couldn't help but cry also.
"Time of death, Elizabeth Campbell, 3:01 PM." Lu said. But right after she did the monitor started to beat steady again and Lizzy's eyes opened. Andy heard them and jumped up surprised.
"Mommy." Lizzy said gently.
"Oh my god." Lu said. She checked the monitor. "She's alive. And awake. Oh my god."
"It's a miracle." Milo said while hugging Jessie and then Andy.
"Lizzy!" Andy bent to hug her. Lizzy was still weak but her heart was healthy again.
"Mom. I had a dream that I was saying goodbye to you and telling you to tell everyone that I loved them. And in the dream as I was fading away, two angels came to me and told me to go back and that it wasn't my time yet. One looked like Lu and the other looked like Grandpa Mitch." Andy's wide eyes stared at Jessie and Jessie stared back.
"We had the same dream. Hers went on though, mine didn't because Milo woke me up. If he hadn't, she would have come back. She wasn't supposed to die." Nobody knew what she was talking about except for Jessie. "You're right Milo. It's a miracle." After everybody hugged Lizzy and she was ready to sit up and talk to people, Andy explained to everybody about her dream and that it was fate. Lizzy lived and everything was ok. That night, Lizzy stayed at the hospital for observations and Andy went home with Jessie. Andy's parents left Tuesday after Lizzy got home safely. Les stayed a few weeks and his mother went home Wednesday. Lizzy was all right and Andy was much happier.
*****
Me: Isn't that just peachy??!!!
Audience: ^_^
Me: Never mind, just review!
*Audience cheers.*
Me: Well, Like I said in the last chappy, I'm getting sick of this whole prechap shit, so on with the second half of Child Tragedies. And beware of the headless chicken! (Don't ask!)
*****
Andy's parents arrived at 6:30 PM and they stayed the night at Andy's house, taking care of Jessie, even though she was old enough to take care of herself. Les also came that night and he stayed in Lizzy's hospital room all night with Andy and Milo. The next morning Andy woke up on the floor, her head resting on Milo's lap. Les had been sleeping in one of the chairs and was already awake.
"Milo? Wake up." She shook Milo's body.
"Hey." He said back to her sleepy. After awhile of just sitting and waking up they decided to go get some breakfast. Les drove to a restaurant near by, while Andy and Milo just ate in the cafeteria since they could because they worked there. After eating the not-so-good but healthy food, they started to walk back to Lizzy's room. They heard Lu shouting at some nurses and after a few seconds realized that she was screaming for Lizzy. Andy ran to the window that looked into Lizzy's room.
"Lizzy!" Milo held her back so Lu could do her job without any disturbances. Lizzy's body strangled. It ripped through sheets and knocked over IVs and pulled out tubes. Andy shouted her name again and Les came running in when he heard her from the entrance to the clinic. Milo looked away because he couldn't stand to see it. Lizzy's body continued to thrash in different directions.
"Grab the cart and jell the zaps!" Lu ordered one nurse. "Get the oxygen tank ready." She yelled at another. Lizzy's heartbeat rang solid. (There was no heartbeat in other words.) Lu snatched the zaps and said, "Ready, clear." She zapped Lizzy's little body and checked for a heartbeat again. It wasn't there. "Again, clear." She zapped it again and her heart ticked on the monitor but it wasn't steady. Her body was now limp and still breathing heavily. "Hook her up to the oxygen tank and we need to calm her heartbeat. The only thing I can think of is life support. Hook her up to it and we will have to monitor it through." Lu looked at Lizzy's limp body and a tear rolled down her cheek. Andy was hysterical outside. They all waited for Lu's diagnosis.
"She's had a seizure, while in the comma. It's not looking too good for her Andy. If she lives, it will be a damn miracle."
"What are you saying?" Les asked from behind her. Lu's eyes watered.
"I'm saying that the chances of her living are very, very, very slim."
"No. NO!" Andy slid down the wall taking Milo with her and buried her face in his chest. He started to cry with her. Les walked away to be by himself. Lana saw them all from her desk and tears rolled down her cheeks and Lu stood there crying also and watching all of it happen.
"I'm so sorry Andy." She bent down and stroked her back. "Listen to me. I had to put her on life support to help control her heart. It might work, it might not. We're going to have to wait and see, but you and Les need to make the decision to." She hesitated. "To pull the plug if it doesn't." Andy cried even harder at her words. They sat there for awhile and cried together.
Later that day Andy sat down in her office with Les. Both their faces were blood red from all the chaos but neither were crying anymore. Andy couldn't. Her glands just wouldn't produce the tears.
"What are we going to do?" Les said after a long silence.
"You should call your mother and tell her. She has a right to know." Les's father had been dead for about 6 years but his mother was still alive and kicking.
"Yeah. You should call the house and inform everybody of what has happened."
"I will. But I don't want them to come down here now. I want them to grieve at home and then when it comes down to the final decision, they can come. I just don't think I can handle it right now."
Les looked at his feet. "Ok. I want to go see Jessie though so I guess I'll go there."
"Whatever you want." She looked him in the eyes. "It's all my fault isn't it?"
"No. It's not. It was an accident."
"Then why do I feel like this?"
"Because our daughter is an inch away from death." She took in his words. They hurt but she faced the pain. Les stood up.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to call my mom and once your done making your phone call I'm going to see my other, living, daughter." He walked out while grabbing his cell phone out of his pocket. Andy picked up the phone and dialed the house. Her mother answered and she told her what had happened and asked her to stay at the house until she called for more news, then she went back to Lizzy's hospital room and sat there watching her 11 year old daughter lay limp on the bed that Thursday morning.
It was Sunday afternoon now and Andy was still sitting in Lizzy's hospital room waiting for a miracle. Les's mother had come Friday morning and was staying in the same hotel as Les was. Dr. Jackson walked in after Les went to see Jessie again and Milo was working.
"Dr. Campbell."
"Yeah." Andy looked depressed and sluggish.
"How are you holding up?"
"How do I look like I'm holding up Dr. Jackson?"
"Not so good." He sat down next to her. "I'm so sorry Dr. Campbell."
"Call me Andy."
"I'm so sorry Andy." He corrected himself to make her happier but she didn't really care.
"I don't know if I should kill her or not." He looked confused but then realized that she was talking about pulling the plug on Lizzy's life support. It hadn't been working good enough for her heart so her and Les were going to have to make that one decision that would change their lives forever. "Should I put her out of her misery or let her lie there like a vegetable and wait for the day when she'll finally go." Andy hadn't cried since Wednesday because she just couldn't do it until now. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she never took her eyes off of Lizzy. Not even to look at Rob while talking to him. He didn't say anything to her. He couldn't think of anything to say. "That's my daughter. And I killed her."
"No you didn't. It was an accident. Why won't you believe that? Don't blame yourself Andy. It's not your fault." He reassured her.
"I don't know why I think the way I do." She finally looked at him. "I don't know what I'm going to do Rob. I just don't know what I'm going to do without her." After sitting in silence for a few minutes Dr. Jackson said his good-bye's and walked out of the room and to Lu and Lana who were talking at Lana's desk.
"No parent should have to bury their child." He shook his head with sympathy.
"Isn't that the truth." Lana said back to him.
"I'm going to go talk to her." Lu said while walking toward the room. She entered the room and Andy looked at her while wiping away the tears.
"Hi Delgado."
"Are you ever going to call me Lu?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Nothing could make Andy laugh right now, so Lu stopped with the jokes.
"I know this is a touchy subject Andy but you need to decide what you're going to do. Don't forget to make it with Les though.
"I won't forget." She responded. Les walked in a couple of minutes later.
"Hi everybody." He sounded depressed and sluggish also.
"Hi. I was just talking to Andy about making a decision." Lu spoke to him softly.
"Yes. We need to discuss that Andy." She nodded but didn't look at either of them. "What should we do? Pull the plug?" Andy didn't answer.
"Why don't we give it another day?" Lu suggested. "One more chance to pray for a miracle."
"Ok." Les said. They both left Andy alone in the room with Lizzy again. She walked over to her and stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry baby. I'm so sorry. I miss you so much." She started to cry again. "I miss you so much Lizzy. I want you to wake up for mommy. Wake up for me Lizzy. Live for me." She said to her unconscious daughter in between sobs. "I can't live without you baby girl. Wake up." There was no reply to Andy so she sat back down and cried herself into a nap.
~~~~~~~~~
"Mom." Lizzy stroked Andy's face. There were clouds all around them. Was it heaven? Andy didn't know for sure. "Mom. I've come to say goodbye. Take care of Jessie. Tell her that her younger sister loves her and tell Milo I'll miss his spaghetti and movies. Tell dad that I love him too and that I'll never forget him." Andy stared at her daughter's face. She was paler and was wearing her favorite outfit. "I love you Mom and don't be afraid to move on without me. I want you to live on. Tell Jessie to be careful. Tell her not to get in that car with that stranger a couple of years from now." Lizzy started to fade. "This is my fate. I'm not supposed to live past 11. I want to but I can't. I have to go Mom. I love you. Don't ever forget that. And don't blame yourself for what happened. It's not your fault, like I said it's fate...fate..fate..fate." Lizzy's voice echoed in Andy's ears as she started to disappear.
"Lizzy!!! No Lizzy don't leave. Lizzy!" Andy yelled. Somebody's hand caressed her face and shook her slightly. Her eyes darted open and she sat up.
"It was a dream." She told herself. "It was just a dream. But it seemed so real." Milo looked at his fiancée and was confused.
"What did you dream about?" His voice startled her and she jumped out of her seat onto her feet but then relaxed when she saw it was just him.
"It was Lizzy. She was saying goodbye to me." He looked surprised. "Where's Jessie? I have to tell her something before I forget it."
"She's at home remember?"
"Oh. I'll be right back." Andy ran to her office and called her house and talked to Jessie. She told her about the dream and gave her advice.
"So Jessie, don't ever, and I'm not kidding around, don't ever get in a car with a stranger. I don't care the circumstances, don't. It was a warning. She saw the future and I believe it. So don't. Do you understand me?"
"Yes Mom. I understand." After Andy hung up the phone she glanced at her watch. She had been asleep for four hours. It was now 9 PM and late. She was hungry. Milo took her to a near-by restaurant and they ate. Tomorrow they were going to decide what to do.
The next morning Andy and Les sat down again and discussed what they were going to do. They both decided on pulling the plug. Andy didn't tell him about the dream, she just said that Lizzy loved him and he knew that already. Andy's parents came to the hospital with Jessie that afternoon to see Lizzy one last time. Before anything happened they took Milo aside and had a talk with them. He thought it was amazing that they even cared to get to know him at a time like this. Andy's mother, Sarah loved him but Andy's dad, Joe wasn't so sure. He said that he would have to get to know him even better after everything settled down again. Milo agreed with him, kind of disappointed but understanding. At 3 PM everybody stood in Lizzy's hospital room, most of them crying waiting for Lu to pull the plug.
"You're sure about this?" She asked before she did anything. Les and Andy nodded while tears rolled down their faces. Andy grabbed Jessie and held her tightly as Milo stroked her back for comfort. Lu reached for the plug and pulled. Lizzy's heartbeat rang solid and Andy sank to the floor, Jessie still in her arms. Lu couldn't help but cry also.
"Time of death, Elizabeth Campbell, 3:01 PM." Lu said. But right after she did the monitor started to beat steady again and Lizzy's eyes opened. Andy heard them and jumped up surprised.
"Mommy." Lizzy said gently.
"Oh my god." Lu said. She checked the monitor. "She's alive. And awake. Oh my god."
"It's a miracle." Milo said while hugging Jessie and then Andy.
"Lizzy!" Andy bent to hug her. Lizzy was still weak but her heart was healthy again.
"Mom. I had a dream that I was saying goodbye to you and telling you to tell everyone that I loved them. And in the dream as I was fading away, two angels came to me and told me to go back and that it wasn't my time yet. One looked like Lu and the other looked like Grandpa Mitch." Andy's wide eyes stared at Jessie and Jessie stared back.
"We had the same dream. Hers went on though, mine didn't because Milo woke me up. If he hadn't, she would have come back. She wasn't supposed to die." Nobody knew what she was talking about except for Jessie. "You're right Milo. It's a miracle." After everybody hugged Lizzy and she was ready to sit up and talk to people, Andy explained to everybody about her dream and that it was fate. Lizzy lived and everything was ok. That night, Lizzy stayed at the hospital for observations and Andy went home with Jessie. Andy's parents left Tuesday after Lizzy got home safely. Les stayed a few weeks and his mother went home Wednesday. Lizzy was all right and Andy was much happier.
*****
Me: Isn't that just peachy??!!!
Audience: ^_^
Me: Never mind, just review!