Chapter 8: Waiting
8:10pm
Tony and Michelle walked into the waiting room outside the surgical intensive care unit at UCLA Medical Center. Kate thought it would be best if she waited until Tony and Michelle talked to Kim and made sure that she wanted to see Kate. Kim stood alone on the other side of the room looking out a window as the lights of the city began to shine over the dusk that now covered the region. Family members of other patients were scattered throughout the room. Some were talking quietly or reading, some were sleeping, others were pacing, still others just stared into space waiting for word on their loved one.
"Kim" Tony said just loud enough to get her attention.
Kim turned quickly at the sound of her name. "Michelle, Tony, what are you doing here? You came all the way from Seattle? Thank you so much." She ran to them and hugged Michelle hard. As she backed away she looked up at Tony. "Oh, Tony" she said just barely above a whisper. He put his arms around her as she burst into tears.
Kim had been very close to Tony since her mother died. He was there for both Kim and Jack in the days and weeks after Teri's death. He had broken the news to Teri's parents when Jack was unable to and was there almost constantly through the first few days and for Teri's funeral. As the initial shock wore off, Jack began to withdraw from everyone including Kim. For her part, Kim started to blame Jack for her mother's death. She could no longer communicate with Jack and found herself relying more and more on Tony. She could call him any time and he would listen to her. He was much like a big brother to her, so his presence here with her now was comforting. She stepped away and wiped her eyes. She took both of their hands and again thanked them for coming.
"How's you dad doing?" Michelle asked.
"They said he's holding his own. That's as much as we can expect right now."
"Where's Chase?" Tony asked. He was surprised to find Kim alone.
"He went home to put Angela to bed. He'll be back in the morning. He wanted me to come home and get some sleep. He said they'd call me if anything changed, but I feel better if I stay close by."
The three of them sat in nearby chairs. "Kim" Michelle started, "we brought someone else who would like to wait with you, if that's okay."
"Who?" Kim asked.
"Kate." Tony responded.
"Kate Warner? How did you get in touch with Kate? She left LA a couple of months ago, I have no idea where she went."
"She lives in Seattle. We ran into her there. We hope you don't mind, but we thought she should know about your dad." Michelle told her.
"That's fine, I'm glad you told her. Where is she? Tell her to come in." Tony left the room and returned seconds later with Kate.
Kim stood, her mouth gaping open, unable to speak as Kate entered the room. "Oh, Kim," Kate said as she hugged her. "I'm so sorry about your dad."
Kim pulled back and looked at Kate again in disbelief. "Kate, you're..."
"Pregnant" Kate supplied the missing word. "Before you ask..."
"No, you don't have to, Kate. I know it's my father's baby. I know you wouldn't have cheated on him. I know you wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't his baby, but he's never said a word to me about this."
Kate bowed her head and put her fingertips against her forehead. She squeezed her eyes shut not knowing what to say next.
"He doesn't know, does he, Kate?"
Kate shook her head, tears tracing silent paths down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Kim. I feel like such a fool. I didn't find out until after he left for his undercover assignment. I know should have told him when he came back, but I couldn't. I just ran away; I didn't know what to say."
"Kate, it's okay." Kim comforted her. "I know my dad didn't treat you very well in the end, but I want you to know, he still loves you. He still talks about you and he's told me that breaking up with you was one of the biggest mistakes he's ever made. I told him he should try and get in touch with you." Kim smiled wryly. "I mean, he's a spy, right? He shouldn't have any trouble finding you." Kate smiled back. "He felt you really wanted to be through with him if you were willing to leave LA, so he didn't look you up."
She took Kate's hand and drew her over toward the chairs. "Anyway, you're here now, that's all that matters."
"Have you been in to see him yet?" Kate asked her.
"Yeah, they let me in for about 15 minutes after he came out of surgery. Oh, God, he looks awful. I guess I wasn't prepared for it. He's got tubes and wires and IV lines coming out of everywhere. He looks so helpless. I've never seen him helpless before, even when my mom died. He was withdrawn, he was angry, but he never seemed helpless to me."
"Was he awake at all?" Kate asked wanting to know as many details as possible.
"No, they are keeping him heavily sedated. The doctor said it was best if he doesn't wake up for at least a couple of days."
"So, how long was he in surgery, Kim?" Tony asked.
"Oh, God, it felt like forever." She sighed. "It was about five hours. They had more to do, but he was too unstable. So they did what they could and then brought him to intensive care. He's pretty much a mess." She started to explain what the doctors had told her. "One bullet passed through his liver and hit a major blood vessel. That one did a lot of damage, but they were able to repair most of it. They had to remove one kidney. When they went in, they were hoping to be able to salvage it, but they couldn't. Both lungs were hit and they collapsed. I can't even remember all that they told me."
"Chloe mentioned that one of the bullets might have hit his heart." Michelle said.
"It nicked the sac around the heart. That didn't seem to be a real big deal compared to everything else." Kim told her.
"Chloe also said there was a bullet lodged near his spine." Tony commented.
"It's still there. He was just too unstable to remove it. For now they have a special brace around his neck to keep him from moving his head at all. They said if he stabilizes in the next few days, they can take him back to the operating room to remove it. Right now he seems to be able to move both arms, but he isn't moving his legs. The doctor said that was probably due to swelling around the spinal cord caused by the bullet. They're giving him drugs to reduce the swelling and hope that they might see some signs of movement." She paused as her eyes filled with tears. "At this point I don't care about that, as long as he survives."
Kate reached over and took her hand. "He's going to live, Honey. You can't think otherwise. He's so strong. He'll fight it. I know he will. You have to stay positive. That's all we have right now." The two of them sat holding hands, united against an evil force that they were powerless to fight. Death was an enemy so cruel, so cunning that it took no shape or form. It crept up on its victims, sometimes unexpectedly, and took them from the people they loved, the people who counted on them, the people who laughed with them, the people who needed them. Only Jack could fight this villain. Kate and Kim would have to sit helplessly and watch the struggle.
9:53pm
Tony and Michelle had just come back from getting coffee for everyone. They were all sitting quietly when a young nurse stepped into the waiting room and called Kim's name. Kim stood quickly. "Right here" she said to the nurse.
"Hi, I'm Becky." The woman told her. "I'm going to be taking care of your dad over night."
"Is my dad okay?" Kim asked anxiously.
"His condition hasn't changed. I thought you might want to come in and sit with him for a little while. His nurse from the earlier shift said that he seemed to sense when you were in the room. His heart rate was better, his blood pressure was better. Some patients really do recognize family members even when they are unconscious or sedated. Your dad seems to be one of them."
"You're kidding. All I did was stand there and cry. How did he know I was there?"
"I bet you did more than that." Becky said gently. She was obviously used to talking to the family members of sick patients. "I bet you held his hand and talked to him. I'll bet you told him you loved him. Maybe you kissed him. Whatever you did, he knew you were there. He's sedated, but for all we know he can hear everything we are saying. Now, would you like to come in and see him?"
"Yeah, I'd love to." She took a couple of steps toward the ICU doors then turned and looked at Kate. "Would you like to see him?"
"Yes," she smiled and lowered her head, "the sign over there says 'family members only'. I'm not sure I qualify."
Kim walked back to her and rested her hand on Kate's belly. She could feel her half-sibling kick and move. "I think you qualify as family, Kate." Michelle and Tony were both nodding at her, encouraging her.
Kate looked up at the nurse who had taken a step back toward the group. Without asking any questions, she seemed to understand the situation. "You can come in, too, if you'd like." Kate stood and thanked her and followed her timidly through the ICU doors.
Just as Kim had said about her first visit with Jack, Kate realized that she was not at all prepared for what she was about to see. She gasped as she walked into his room and held the door frame for a few seconds for support. She was instantly assaulted by the sights and sounds around her. She expected the room to be quiet, like a church with a few hushed whispering sounds coming from the machinery around Jack's bed. But she was wrong. She found the room noisy, incredibly noisy with constant repetitive sounds: the sound of the air going in and out of the ventilator that was keeping Jack breathing, the bubbling of the water in the two chest tubes that were trying to reinflate his collapsed lungs, the beeping of the monitors, and the hum of the IV pumps. The lighting was harsh and bright. Jack lay in the middle of the room, his eyes closed and his color pale, surrounded by equipment that was all meant to keep him alive, but seemed like so many robotic monsters. All had tubing and wires attaching themselves to his body like arms holding him down, keeping him in this world. One connected to the tube in his mouth, another in to the tube his nose; still others attached to the monitor leads on his chest and IV lines in his neck and his arms.
Becky was a few steps ahead of Kate and Kim. She squeezed Jack's shoulder and spoke lightly to him. "Mr. Bauer, I have a couple of visitors for you. I'm going to step out for a few minutes and do some paperwork while they spend some time with you. I'll be back in a little while"
Kim already seemed used to the situation and walked unflinchingly around the bed. She took her father's hand and squeezed it. "Hi, Daddy" she said as she stood on tiptoe and craned over the bedrail to kiss his forehead. "I love you." She stroked his blond hair. "Your nurse says your doing okay. Everybody is worried about you. I'm calling Chloe every couple of hours to give her updates so she can let everyone at CTU know how you're doing. Tony and Michelle were so worried that they came all the way from Seattle. They're in the waiting room." She kissed him again. "Daddy, I have someone else with me who came to see you. It's Kate. I knew you'd want to see her." Kim nodded at Kate, who stood a couple of feet back from the bed on the other side, to tell her to talk to him.
Kate stepped forward and carefully touched his hand, almost afraid that she would hurt it. She, too, leaned over the bedrail and kissed his forehead. "Hey Sweetie" she whispered near his ear. "Jack, I love you so much. You have to fight this, Jack. I know it's hard, but you have to fight. Kim and I will be here to support you. We both love you. We just want you to get better."
They were able to spend about a half hour with him before returning to the waiting room for the all night vigil. Kate protested, but Kim insisted that she go back to Bob Warner's house and get some rest. "My dad wouldn't want you to be taking any risks with your health or the baby's." Kim assured her. They finally agreed that Kim would spend the night at the hospital. Kate, Tony and Michelle would get some rest and return early the next morning and allow Kim to go home for a while.
Jack's condition remained critical but he stabilized over the weekend. He was certainly not out of danger yet, but everyone was less anxious. By Sunday afternoon Tony and Michelle decided that they would return to Seattle. Kate would stay behind until Jack had shown some improvement. Before they left, Tony and Michelle asked if they could see Jack for just a few minutes. His nurse agreed and the two spent just a couple of minutes with their close friend offering him words of encouragement. As they left the room both of them feared that, although he had stabilized, they may never see him again.
Kate and Kim became cautiously optimistic and the doctors seemed satisfied with his progress over the next few days. His heart rate and blood pressure had improved. He had not regained consciousness yet, nor was he moving his legs. He was still breathing with the help of a ventilator, but the doctors said that was to be expected.
One week later
9:07am
On Friday, a week after the shooting, Kim walked into Jack's room. His eyes were closed and all of the tubes and wires were still in place. She had gotten used to all of that and barely took notice of it. His color is better, she thought. He almost looks comfortable for a change. "Hi Daddy" she said as she squeezed his hand. "You look better this morning." She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "How do you feel?" As if to answer her he weakly squeezed her hand in return.
"Daddy!" She gasped. "Oh my God! Daddy. You heard me. Can you open your eyes for me? Please, please, open your eyes."
It was much later that day before Jack really woke up. By then Kate was at his side, too, kissing him and holding his hand and encouraging him. He seemed to recognize both Kim and Kate but it was hard to tell since the breathing tube in his mouth prevented him from talking.
Jack drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the weekend. By Monday evening he was fully awake and clearly understood what was going on around him. Despite being unable to speak, he attempted to communicate with hand signals and he spelled words by tracing the letters onto Kim's or Kate's hands. The doctors were elated with his progress and decided to schedule the surgery to remove the remaining bullet for Friday morning, just two weeks from when he was shot and his life hung so tenuously in the balance. Until the surgery he would have to continue to lie flat. From that position, Kate knew he could not see her ever growing abdomen.
One week later
8:41am
Kate and Kim sat silently in the waiting room as Jack was wheeled back into surgery. Neither of them spoke much, both hoping that the doctors would come back with good news, but fearing the possibilities. The best case scenario would be that he would regain full function of both legs; the worst, that he would regain none or even that in the process of removing the bullet, they would do additional damage and cause even more extensive paralysis. Reality probably lay somewhere in between.
11:30am
Almost three hours later the neurosurgeon walked into the waiting room to talk to the two women. He was happy with the results of the surgery. Jack had been stable throughout and could be expected to wake up later in the day. They hoped to be able to take him off of the ventilator in the next day or so let him breathe on his own. They would keep him lying flat with his neck immobilized for another three or four days. Then they would let him sit up. It would be several days before they would know how much, if any, function he would regain. They were relatively sure they had not caused any additional damage.
Kim and Kate felt somewhat relieved. There were no guarantees, but at least the surgery was over, Jack was stable and he could move toward getting well regardless of his level of disability. They decided to go out and grab a quick bite to eat. They sat at a nearby deli both enjoying thick sandwiches. Kim sipped at her soda and looked across the table at Kate. "So, when are you going to tell him about the baby?"
"I guess I have to tell him soon." Kate answered vaguely.
"Kate, I have a favor to ask you. I'd like you to tell him before he sits up and can see for himself. I think you've kept it from him long enough."
"I promise, I will tell him once the breathing tube is out of his mouth and he can talk. I guess it's not fair to spring this on him when he can't even respond. I guess I have to give him a chance to yell at me." Kate said smiling wryly.
"He's not going to yell at you, Kate. He loves you too much. I think he's going to be happy about it." She paused to take another bite. She chewed slowly. Kate could tell she wanted to say something else. "He's going to want to get back together. How do you feel about that?"
"Let's take this one step at a time. I can't think past how I'm going to tell him that he's going to be a father again." They finished their lunch in silence then walked back to the hospital.
8:10pm
Tony and Michelle walked into the waiting room outside the surgical intensive care unit at UCLA Medical Center. Kate thought it would be best if she waited until Tony and Michelle talked to Kim and made sure that she wanted to see Kate. Kim stood alone on the other side of the room looking out a window as the lights of the city began to shine over the dusk that now covered the region. Family members of other patients were scattered throughout the room. Some were talking quietly or reading, some were sleeping, others were pacing, still others just stared into space waiting for word on their loved one.
"Kim" Tony said just loud enough to get her attention.
Kim turned quickly at the sound of her name. "Michelle, Tony, what are you doing here? You came all the way from Seattle? Thank you so much." She ran to them and hugged Michelle hard. As she backed away she looked up at Tony. "Oh, Tony" she said just barely above a whisper. He put his arms around her as she burst into tears.
Kim had been very close to Tony since her mother died. He was there for both Kim and Jack in the days and weeks after Teri's death. He had broken the news to Teri's parents when Jack was unable to and was there almost constantly through the first few days and for Teri's funeral. As the initial shock wore off, Jack began to withdraw from everyone including Kim. For her part, Kim started to blame Jack for her mother's death. She could no longer communicate with Jack and found herself relying more and more on Tony. She could call him any time and he would listen to her. He was much like a big brother to her, so his presence here with her now was comforting. She stepped away and wiped her eyes. She took both of their hands and again thanked them for coming.
"How's you dad doing?" Michelle asked.
"They said he's holding his own. That's as much as we can expect right now."
"Where's Chase?" Tony asked. He was surprised to find Kim alone.
"He went home to put Angela to bed. He'll be back in the morning. He wanted me to come home and get some sleep. He said they'd call me if anything changed, but I feel better if I stay close by."
The three of them sat in nearby chairs. "Kim" Michelle started, "we brought someone else who would like to wait with you, if that's okay."
"Who?" Kim asked.
"Kate." Tony responded.
"Kate Warner? How did you get in touch with Kate? She left LA a couple of months ago, I have no idea where she went."
"She lives in Seattle. We ran into her there. We hope you don't mind, but we thought she should know about your dad." Michelle told her.
"That's fine, I'm glad you told her. Where is she? Tell her to come in." Tony left the room and returned seconds later with Kate.
Kim stood, her mouth gaping open, unable to speak as Kate entered the room. "Oh, Kim," Kate said as she hugged her. "I'm so sorry about your dad."
Kim pulled back and looked at Kate again in disbelief. "Kate, you're..."
"Pregnant" Kate supplied the missing word. "Before you ask..."
"No, you don't have to, Kate. I know it's my father's baby. I know you wouldn't have cheated on him. I know you wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't his baby, but he's never said a word to me about this."
Kate bowed her head and put her fingertips against her forehead. She squeezed her eyes shut not knowing what to say next.
"He doesn't know, does he, Kate?"
Kate shook her head, tears tracing silent paths down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Kim. I feel like such a fool. I didn't find out until after he left for his undercover assignment. I know should have told him when he came back, but I couldn't. I just ran away; I didn't know what to say."
"Kate, it's okay." Kim comforted her. "I know my dad didn't treat you very well in the end, but I want you to know, he still loves you. He still talks about you and he's told me that breaking up with you was one of the biggest mistakes he's ever made. I told him he should try and get in touch with you." Kim smiled wryly. "I mean, he's a spy, right? He shouldn't have any trouble finding you." Kate smiled back. "He felt you really wanted to be through with him if you were willing to leave LA, so he didn't look you up."
She took Kate's hand and drew her over toward the chairs. "Anyway, you're here now, that's all that matters."
"Have you been in to see him yet?" Kate asked her.
"Yeah, they let me in for about 15 minutes after he came out of surgery. Oh, God, he looks awful. I guess I wasn't prepared for it. He's got tubes and wires and IV lines coming out of everywhere. He looks so helpless. I've never seen him helpless before, even when my mom died. He was withdrawn, he was angry, but he never seemed helpless to me."
"Was he awake at all?" Kate asked wanting to know as many details as possible.
"No, they are keeping him heavily sedated. The doctor said it was best if he doesn't wake up for at least a couple of days."
"So, how long was he in surgery, Kim?" Tony asked.
"Oh, God, it felt like forever." She sighed. "It was about five hours. They had more to do, but he was too unstable. So they did what they could and then brought him to intensive care. He's pretty much a mess." She started to explain what the doctors had told her. "One bullet passed through his liver and hit a major blood vessel. That one did a lot of damage, but they were able to repair most of it. They had to remove one kidney. When they went in, they were hoping to be able to salvage it, but they couldn't. Both lungs were hit and they collapsed. I can't even remember all that they told me."
"Chloe mentioned that one of the bullets might have hit his heart." Michelle said.
"It nicked the sac around the heart. That didn't seem to be a real big deal compared to everything else." Kim told her.
"Chloe also said there was a bullet lodged near his spine." Tony commented.
"It's still there. He was just too unstable to remove it. For now they have a special brace around his neck to keep him from moving his head at all. They said if he stabilizes in the next few days, they can take him back to the operating room to remove it. Right now he seems to be able to move both arms, but he isn't moving his legs. The doctor said that was probably due to swelling around the spinal cord caused by the bullet. They're giving him drugs to reduce the swelling and hope that they might see some signs of movement." She paused as her eyes filled with tears. "At this point I don't care about that, as long as he survives."
Kate reached over and took her hand. "He's going to live, Honey. You can't think otherwise. He's so strong. He'll fight it. I know he will. You have to stay positive. That's all we have right now." The two of them sat holding hands, united against an evil force that they were powerless to fight. Death was an enemy so cruel, so cunning that it took no shape or form. It crept up on its victims, sometimes unexpectedly, and took them from the people they loved, the people who counted on them, the people who laughed with them, the people who needed them. Only Jack could fight this villain. Kate and Kim would have to sit helplessly and watch the struggle.
9:53pm
Tony and Michelle had just come back from getting coffee for everyone. They were all sitting quietly when a young nurse stepped into the waiting room and called Kim's name. Kim stood quickly. "Right here" she said to the nurse.
"Hi, I'm Becky." The woman told her. "I'm going to be taking care of your dad over night."
"Is my dad okay?" Kim asked anxiously.
"His condition hasn't changed. I thought you might want to come in and sit with him for a little while. His nurse from the earlier shift said that he seemed to sense when you were in the room. His heart rate was better, his blood pressure was better. Some patients really do recognize family members even when they are unconscious or sedated. Your dad seems to be one of them."
"You're kidding. All I did was stand there and cry. How did he know I was there?"
"I bet you did more than that." Becky said gently. She was obviously used to talking to the family members of sick patients. "I bet you held his hand and talked to him. I'll bet you told him you loved him. Maybe you kissed him. Whatever you did, he knew you were there. He's sedated, but for all we know he can hear everything we are saying. Now, would you like to come in and see him?"
"Yeah, I'd love to." She took a couple of steps toward the ICU doors then turned and looked at Kate. "Would you like to see him?"
"Yes," she smiled and lowered her head, "the sign over there says 'family members only'. I'm not sure I qualify."
Kim walked back to her and rested her hand on Kate's belly. She could feel her half-sibling kick and move. "I think you qualify as family, Kate." Michelle and Tony were both nodding at her, encouraging her.
Kate looked up at the nurse who had taken a step back toward the group. Without asking any questions, she seemed to understand the situation. "You can come in, too, if you'd like." Kate stood and thanked her and followed her timidly through the ICU doors.
Just as Kim had said about her first visit with Jack, Kate realized that she was not at all prepared for what she was about to see. She gasped as she walked into his room and held the door frame for a few seconds for support. She was instantly assaulted by the sights and sounds around her. She expected the room to be quiet, like a church with a few hushed whispering sounds coming from the machinery around Jack's bed. But she was wrong. She found the room noisy, incredibly noisy with constant repetitive sounds: the sound of the air going in and out of the ventilator that was keeping Jack breathing, the bubbling of the water in the two chest tubes that were trying to reinflate his collapsed lungs, the beeping of the monitors, and the hum of the IV pumps. The lighting was harsh and bright. Jack lay in the middle of the room, his eyes closed and his color pale, surrounded by equipment that was all meant to keep him alive, but seemed like so many robotic monsters. All had tubing and wires attaching themselves to his body like arms holding him down, keeping him in this world. One connected to the tube in his mouth, another in to the tube his nose; still others attached to the monitor leads on his chest and IV lines in his neck and his arms.
Becky was a few steps ahead of Kate and Kim. She squeezed Jack's shoulder and spoke lightly to him. "Mr. Bauer, I have a couple of visitors for you. I'm going to step out for a few minutes and do some paperwork while they spend some time with you. I'll be back in a little while"
Kim already seemed used to the situation and walked unflinchingly around the bed. She took her father's hand and squeezed it. "Hi, Daddy" she said as she stood on tiptoe and craned over the bedrail to kiss his forehead. "I love you." She stroked his blond hair. "Your nurse says your doing okay. Everybody is worried about you. I'm calling Chloe every couple of hours to give her updates so she can let everyone at CTU know how you're doing. Tony and Michelle were so worried that they came all the way from Seattle. They're in the waiting room." She kissed him again. "Daddy, I have someone else with me who came to see you. It's Kate. I knew you'd want to see her." Kim nodded at Kate, who stood a couple of feet back from the bed on the other side, to tell her to talk to him.
Kate stepped forward and carefully touched his hand, almost afraid that she would hurt it. She, too, leaned over the bedrail and kissed his forehead. "Hey Sweetie" she whispered near his ear. "Jack, I love you so much. You have to fight this, Jack. I know it's hard, but you have to fight. Kim and I will be here to support you. We both love you. We just want you to get better."
They were able to spend about a half hour with him before returning to the waiting room for the all night vigil. Kate protested, but Kim insisted that she go back to Bob Warner's house and get some rest. "My dad wouldn't want you to be taking any risks with your health or the baby's." Kim assured her. They finally agreed that Kim would spend the night at the hospital. Kate, Tony and Michelle would get some rest and return early the next morning and allow Kim to go home for a while.
Jack's condition remained critical but he stabilized over the weekend. He was certainly not out of danger yet, but everyone was less anxious. By Sunday afternoon Tony and Michelle decided that they would return to Seattle. Kate would stay behind until Jack had shown some improvement. Before they left, Tony and Michelle asked if they could see Jack for just a few minutes. His nurse agreed and the two spent just a couple of minutes with their close friend offering him words of encouragement. As they left the room both of them feared that, although he had stabilized, they may never see him again.
Kate and Kim became cautiously optimistic and the doctors seemed satisfied with his progress over the next few days. His heart rate and blood pressure had improved. He had not regained consciousness yet, nor was he moving his legs. He was still breathing with the help of a ventilator, but the doctors said that was to be expected.
One week later
9:07am
On Friday, a week after the shooting, Kim walked into Jack's room. His eyes were closed and all of the tubes and wires were still in place. She had gotten used to all of that and barely took notice of it. His color is better, she thought. He almost looks comfortable for a change. "Hi Daddy" she said as she squeezed his hand. "You look better this morning." She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "How do you feel?" As if to answer her he weakly squeezed her hand in return.
"Daddy!" She gasped. "Oh my God! Daddy. You heard me. Can you open your eyes for me? Please, please, open your eyes."
It was much later that day before Jack really woke up. By then Kate was at his side, too, kissing him and holding his hand and encouraging him. He seemed to recognize both Kim and Kate but it was hard to tell since the breathing tube in his mouth prevented him from talking.
Jack drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the weekend. By Monday evening he was fully awake and clearly understood what was going on around him. Despite being unable to speak, he attempted to communicate with hand signals and he spelled words by tracing the letters onto Kim's or Kate's hands. The doctors were elated with his progress and decided to schedule the surgery to remove the remaining bullet for Friday morning, just two weeks from when he was shot and his life hung so tenuously in the balance. Until the surgery he would have to continue to lie flat. From that position, Kate knew he could not see her ever growing abdomen.
One week later
8:41am
Kate and Kim sat silently in the waiting room as Jack was wheeled back into surgery. Neither of them spoke much, both hoping that the doctors would come back with good news, but fearing the possibilities. The best case scenario would be that he would regain full function of both legs; the worst, that he would regain none or even that in the process of removing the bullet, they would do additional damage and cause even more extensive paralysis. Reality probably lay somewhere in between.
11:30am
Almost three hours later the neurosurgeon walked into the waiting room to talk to the two women. He was happy with the results of the surgery. Jack had been stable throughout and could be expected to wake up later in the day. They hoped to be able to take him off of the ventilator in the next day or so let him breathe on his own. They would keep him lying flat with his neck immobilized for another three or four days. Then they would let him sit up. It would be several days before they would know how much, if any, function he would regain. They were relatively sure they had not caused any additional damage.
Kim and Kate felt somewhat relieved. There were no guarantees, but at least the surgery was over, Jack was stable and he could move toward getting well regardless of his level of disability. They decided to go out and grab a quick bite to eat. They sat at a nearby deli both enjoying thick sandwiches. Kim sipped at her soda and looked across the table at Kate. "So, when are you going to tell him about the baby?"
"I guess I have to tell him soon." Kate answered vaguely.
"Kate, I have a favor to ask you. I'd like you to tell him before he sits up and can see for himself. I think you've kept it from him long enough."
"I promise, I will tell him once the breathing tube is out of his mouth and he can talk. I guess it's not fair to spring this on him when he can't even respond. I guess I have to give him a chance to yell at me." Kate said smiling wryly.
"He's not going to yell at you, Kate. He loves you too much. I think he's going to be happy about it." She paused to take another bite. She chewed slowly. Kate could tell she wanted to say something else. "He's going to want to get back together. How do you feel about that?"
"Let's take this one step at a time. I can't think past how I'm going to tell him that he's going to be a father again." They finished their lunch in silence then walked back to the hospital.