Chapter Nine
Ephram's POV
I couldn't believe that my dad was getting married again, especially not to Linda. It was odd to see them around Everwood together. They acted like a couple of teenagers, except that unlike this teenager, they were with the person they loved. Nonny and Grandpa were actually pretty positive about the whole thing. I guess it must have been tough for them, because it meant Dad had finally moved on from Mom. But they seemed to like Linda and I started to see Linda over here more and more, just sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee with Nonny.
I don't know who it was, but someone came up with the bright idea of a ski trip over Spring Break to 'promote family unity' as Grandpa put it. It was a pretty dumb idea anyway. The only good thing was that Madison and Mac were coming too. It's not like there aren't plenty of places to ski near here, but Dad booked a week at the Snowbird resort neat Salt Lake City. Which not only meant I had to survive a week with dad, but I had to survive an eight hour drive with Mac. I was not looking forward to it. But in the end the last week of March arrived, and with it, spring break.
Madison had used the insurance money from her accident, plus the compensation from the guy who had hit her, to buy a mini-SUV. It was a pretty cool car, with a great stereo system and a DVD player in the back seat. Madison claimed that she'd got it because it was safe to drive with Mac in. And after she was allowed to drive again at the end of February, I think she drove in it every day. But for once, she let me take the first part of the drive towards Utah.
We left pretty early in the morning and by lunch I had totally had enough of driving. Madison had insisted that because it was here car, she got to choose the music. I wanted to kill myself after 4 hours of Michelle Branch and Sheryl Crowe, but at least it was better than being stuck in the car with Delia and her Britney Spears.
Madison switched from shotgun to sitting in the back after we stopped for lunch, because Mac was starting to get kind of fussy. They both fell asleep soon after that, and I turned off the music and just drove. It gave me some time to think. It had been over a month since the Valentine's Day disaster, and we were finally back where we had been. We were friends, we were parents and I wanted so much more but I was prepared to hide it. I had decided to just take what was on offer, because I figured having Madison as a friend was better than not having her at all.
When we finally got to the resort, I figured out why my dad wanted to come here. It was beautiful, with a lot of wooden buildings and as it had just gotten dark when we arrived, I could see a lot of twinkling lights through the trees. We'd had to drive up a canyon to get there and in the dark, when it had just started to snow a little, it was kind of freaky, but it was worth it. I changed my mind about this being a good vacation when Linda explained the sleeping arrangements though. Dad and Linda had one room, Nonny, Grandpa and Delia were sharing a suite with two bedrooms, which left Madison and I in the final room with Mac. At first this didn't sound too bad, but when we arrived at the room I saw there was only one bed. This was going to be a week of torture.
Madison's POV
I didn't sleep at all that first night. It was absolute hell sleeping in a bed with Ephram. I don't know who had arranged the rooms, but I think that someone somewhere was playing a cruel joke on me. All I wanted to do was curl up around him, like the one time he had slept over at my house when we were together. I couldn't though.
Things just got worse though; I woke up with a slight cold. It wouldn't have been a big deal for most people, but it meant I couldn't ski. I was supposed to be leaving Mac with a babysitter Dr. Brown had hired but as I was stuck in the lodge I just kept her with me. I headed out and found a coffee shop with some seats and a view of the slopes. It was in a good spot, so I just set up cam there. I bought a hot coco and pulled out the book I had brought with me to read.
The morning went pretty fast. Mac was really good, and I made friends with one of the assistants who agreed to watch my stuff while I went to change Mac's diaper. So I just sat there, drank lots of coco and coffee and read my book. Mac fell back asleep for a while, which was a good thing because I really didn't feel well. Even though I was just sitting there doing nothing, I felt kind of short of breath, and my heart was beating really fast. I knew that even a cold could cause me problems after the heart surgery and infection, but it was a real pain in the ass.
At lunch, Ephram called me to find out where I was and he joined me for lunch. The coffee bar had a few sandwiches, and Ephram bought a couple of those to share. I kept kind of quiet so he talked about the snowboarding lesson he had taken. He sounded like he was having a lot of fun, but at two he had to go because he'd promised Delia he'd go ski with her.
Ephram's POV
I could tell something was wrong with Madison. She was really quiet when we had lunch, which for her was really unusual. She didn't eat much either, even though I'd got her a chicken salad sandwich and a rice krispie treat, both of which I knew she loved. I wished I could have stayed with her for the afternoon, but I'd promised Delia I'd ski with her and I couldn't break that promise.
I'd finally had enough at about five and thank God so had Delia. We'd taken the cable car right to the top of the mountain and skied all the way down. It had felt kind of odd to be back on skis after I'd spent the morning trying snowboarding. I made the excuse to myself that this was the reason why Delia had dusted my ass on the slopes. Of course, it was really because she was way better than me, but no big brother ever wants to admit that.
The whole family had dinner together, even Mac, who sat in my arms and gurgled at all the attention she was getting. It was almost eight when we were done, so Madison agreed to go put Mac to bed and then stay and look after her. I felt kind of bad about leaving her, but she insisted and Delia asked me to come see a movie with her. I knew I hadn't been much of a big brother since Mackenzie was born so I agreed to go. When I found out I was going to be stuck watching the Lizzie McGuire Movie I wished I'd said no.
I got back to the room about eleven, but Madison was fast asleep already. I headed into the bathroom to change into my pajamas and then I slipped into bed beside her. I resisted the temptation to pull her into my arms and wrap myself around her and I fell asleep quickly.
I don't know what it was that woke me up. Mac was still fast asleep and when I checked the clock it was only 4.30 and so it was still really dark and silent. It was so quiet that I could hear every breath Madison took beside me. Something was bothering me though. Instead of the deep even breathing I remembered from when I'd spent the night with Madison before, it sounded like every breath was hard work. That wasn't right. Suddenly I went from half-asleep to wide-awake.
I switched on the lamp next to the bed, and leaned over to look at Madison. What I saw almost gave me a heart attack. She was pale, way too pale, and her lips had kind of a purple/blue tint, like she was really cold, but the room was warm.
I shook her. "Madison, Madison. Come on, Maddy wake up!" I was starting to panic now. I shook her again, but there was no response.
Her breathing sounded more and more difficult, and even though I kept shaking her she still wouldn't wake up. "Madison, come on. Wake up! I know you can hear me."
I didn't know what to do. There was nothing I could do. I grabbed the phone from the table by her side of the bad. Still shaking her and trying to wake her, I dialed 911. I got through to the resort's paramedic station.
"Please help. It's my girlfriend." By this time I didn't exactly care about accuracy. "She's not waking up! Her lips are kind of blue and she's not breathing properly."
"Hey, ok. You have to keep calm," came a voice from the other end of the phone. "Has she taken anything, or has she drunk any alcohol tonight?"
"What?" I didn't know what was going on. "Oh, no! She has a cold, but she had heart surgery about five months ago. She went to bed early. Come on, please help."
"Ok, I'm sending someone right now. What's your room number?"
"I'm in 274." I don't know how I remembered that.
"Ok, they're on their way. They should be there in a couple of minutes. I want you to open your hotel room door and just wait. Keep trying to wake her up though."
The voice on the other end disappeared, but I did what she said. I rushed to the other side of the room and opened the door. But when I got back, Madison had stopped breathing completely. I don't exactly remember what happened then, it was all kind of a blur. I remember trying to start artificial respiration, like I'd learned in junior high. I don't know if it was doing anything though, I don't even know if I was doing it right. All I could think was that this time I was going to loose her for good and she didn't know how I really felt about her.
I don't know how long it was before the paramedics arrived. It felt like hours, but it was probably just a few minutes. They swept in the door and took over from me.
"I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the way sir." "I'm bagging her, and setting up the monitor." "Hey, what's her name?"
I heard myself answer them, but I don't remember speaking.
"Madison, Madison, can you hear me?" "She's unresponsive." "Pulse-ox 91, that's not good. Pulse, thready and weak. We have to get her to the ER, now." "I've lost her pulse."
I rushed forward when I heard this. I didn't even think, I just reacted.
"Oh, God. Madison, you have to wake up. Come on, please." I could feel the tears running down my cheeks, and I could hear my voice cracking. "Please Madison, I need you. Mac needs you. Oh, come on, please wake up. Please don't die, I love you, please don't die."
"Sir, you have to get out of the way for us to help her." One of the paramedics pushed me out of the way, not roughly, but firmly. They put Madison on a gurney, and rushed out of the room. I just collapsed on the floor, in shock. I could hear the paramedics' voices floating down the hall.
"Man, it's so sad when they're so young." "Did you see the baby in the corner?" "Yeah, God, she's so little she's not even going to remember her mom."