The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Chapter 7

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Bosco walked out to the hallway, stretching his back as he tried to work the kinks out from sleeping in the chair alongside Jennifer. He was lucky they let him do that. Normally, you were only able to visit for a few minutes and then leave while patients were in the ICU. But, because she was the only one in the room at the time, and because Dr. Samuels had told them it was okay, they'd let him stay the night. Someone had even thrown a blanket over his shoulders.

She hadn't stirred at all and never did grip his hand again after that second time. But, the doctor came in and checked on her when he'd called. He told Bosco that she seemed stable and that she was scheduled for another CT scan at 7:00 a.m. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 6:45. The staff on the floor was gradually coming to life to start the day in the hospital and he watched as two orderlies came toward Jennifer's room with a stretcher.

He stepped aside and watched as a nurse came in to help get Jennifer moved over to the stretcher without jarring any of the IVs or monitors lose. The nurse then told him he might as well go get something to eat because Jennifer would be up in the CT room for about an hour or so.

Bosco watched as they wheeled Jennifer out of his sight. He couldn't help but feel helpless as he watched her round the corner. He decided that he'd head home and check on the kids to make sure everything was okay there while Jennifer was upstairs. Grabbing his jacket and stopping at the nurse's station to make sure they knew where he was and had his cell phone number in case of an emergency, he walked to the elevator. As he exited the elevator on the main floor of the hospital, he stopped by the coffee shop and grabbed a coffee on his way out.

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Kathy and Peter awoke to the sound of Jordan calling for Jennifer.

"Mom?" she called out frantically. They could hear her footsteps coming down the hallway. Kathy was the first out of the bed in the spare bedroom downstairs, off the living room - the place where Bosco had first slept when he was recuperating from the injuries he sustained in the crash while transporting the prisoner from Albany to the City.

"Mom!" the call was more frantic now and the footsteps quicker as she saw that her mother's bed was empty.

"Peter, go check on Jason while I calm Jordan down," Kathy told Peter as he threw on his jeans. Kathy threw on a robe that she'd borrowed from Jennifer's room last night. They both exited the room at the same time, Peter going by Jordan to the stairs to check on the baby, while Kathy gathered a frantic Jordan into her arms at the foot of the stairs.

"It's okay, Jordan. It's okay," she said, holding tight to the panicked child.

"I want Mommy," she said, starting to cry now. "Where's Mommy? Is she at work?"

"No, honey. Mommy got sick yesterday, remember? She's at the hospital to get better," Kathy explained to her.

"Why can't she get better at home?" Jordan asked.

"I'm sure she'll be coming home as soon as the doctors say its okay. Remember, just like Daddy was in the hospital when he broke his leg in the car crash. He couldn't come home until his doctor - Mommy - told him he was well enough," Kathy told her.

"Where is Daddy?" Jordan asked, as Peter came down the stairs with Jason.

"Daddy's with Mommy right now," Kathy said. "He said he'd come home this morning to tell us how Mommy's feeling. He just wanted to stay with Mommy for the night in case she needed anything."

"I really want to see Mommy," Jordan said, starting to cry again. Her brother decided he'd join in and started to cry also - even though he was crying because of the empty feeling in his stomach.

"Why don't you help me make some breakfast for Jason and Uncle Peter," Kathy said, trying to take Jordan's mind off of things a little.

"Daddy'll need something to eat too when he gets here," Jordan told her Aunt.

"Right. We'll make something for Daddy too," Kathy answered as they heard the key turn in the front door.

Jordan looked over just as Bosco opened the front door. Unlike Kathy and Peter, the little girl was so happy to see him that she didn't notice the stubble from not shaving since early yesterday morning and the tired, worried look in his eyes. "Daddy!" Jordan called as she ran toward him.

Before he could get the keys out of the door lock she was on him. He bent down to scoop her up and the grip around his neck by her almost choked him. "Hey, Jordan. How's my girl?" he asked, grateful for the tight hug from her.

"I miss Mommy, Daddy. Is she getting better?" Jordan asked him.

"Yeah, honey. She's getting better all the time," he said, looking at Kathy and Peter. "How's Jason doing?" he asked, walking over toward where Peter stood with him.

"He's hungry," Kathy said. "We were just going to make some breakfast, weren't we?" Kathy said, taking Jordan from Bosco so he could hold his son for a moment.

"Hey Big Guy," Bosco said, taking the boy from Peter. "You get bigger every day," he said, chuckling as Jason tried to grab his lip as Bosco leaned his head over to give his son a kiss.

"Why don't we go get things started in the kitchen, Jordan?" Peter said, wanting to leave Bosco and Kathy alone so they could talk without Jordan overhearing things just yet.

Jordan gave her Uncle a skeptical look and then took his hand. "I don't know, Uncle Peter. Mommy says men are useless in the kitchen," Bosco and Kathy heard her say on their way out of the room.

"She does, does she," Peter said, making a note to talk to Jennifer about that when she came home.

"So, how is she?" Kathy asked when Jordan was out of earshot.

"She's still unconscious," Bosco reported, sitting down after feeling the full weight of Jason while he was so exhausted. Kathy sat down next to him.

"What do the doctors say?" she asked.

"She appears stable, but we just have to wait. She's having another scan right now. They said she'd be a little while so I thought I'd come home and check on the kids. How's Jordan?" he asked.

"She's scared. She woke up and Mommy still wasn't home, so she panicked. We were just getting her calmed down when you came home. You look like hell," she noted.

"Thanks. She squeezed my hand last night - or this morning - I'm not even sure what day it is," Bosco said.

"Really? Well, that's good, right?" Kathy asked him.

"The doctors seem to think so. It was so weak though. But, I think she knows I was there," he said, looking his sister-in-law in the eye as they heard Jordan come back in.

"Uncle Peter says that Jason's food and bottle are ready," Jordan said as she came into the room.

"I'll take him and feed him. You can talk to Jordan a little," Kathy said, taking Jason from his arms. The boy fussed slightly, but not too much.

"So, how're you doing?" he asked Jordan, pulling her into his lap. "You sounded pretty scared when I talked to you on the phone last night."

"I'm okay. Is Mommy going to be okay?" Jordan asked.

"Well, I think she is, but we just have to wait. She's sleeping right now and we have to wait for her to wake up to tell us how she feels," Bosco explained.

"Why can't you just shake her or yell at her to wake her up?" Jordan asked.

"Well, it's not that kind of sleep. You see, you know how when you fall down and scrape yourself or something, you bleed sometimes?" Bosco asked and she nodded.

"Well, Mommy has a scrape inside her head," he said and was interrupted.

"You mean from when she fell on the floor over there?" she asked, pointing to the foyer.

"Yeah, from that," he said, not knowing how to tell her that she was bleeding in her brain before she fell down. "Anyway, because the blood is inside her head, it's making her sleep really deep. She may want to wake up, but she can't yet. We have to wait for the blood to go away - you know, like your scrapes - and then hopefully she'll wake up," he explained.

"Oh. Well, how long will that take?" Jordan asked.

"I don't know, Honey. You know how Mommy always says everybody's different and they heal in their own time? Well, that's the same thing with Mommy. But, as soon as she's awake, I'll take you to see her, okay?" he finished as Kathy came back in.

"Breakfast is ready," she called to them.

"Okay," she said, giving Bosco a hug before jumping off his lap to go eat.

"So, you want to eat, shower or crash first?" Kathy asked him, putting a hand on the top of his head as she came around from the back of the couch.

"Whew, I'm not sure what to do. I need to get back to the hospital pretty quick. I'll guess I'll grab a shower and head back over," Bosco said, rubbing his chin and feeling the stubble that was there. "Jen hates me with a beard," he said.

"Well, why don't you get something to eat, grab a nap and take a shower. I'll run over to the hospital for a while. You can't let yourself get run down. Jen and the kids are going to need you. Did you call work?" she reminded him.

"Yeah. I mean, no. I talked to Faith about 4:00 and she's gonna talk to the boss. She said she'd take care of it. I've gotta call my Mom though," he said and Kathy caught the catch in his voice.

"Bos?" she said quietly, looking over her shoulder to see that Jordan was still in the kitchen. "What's wrong? Is it worse than you're telling me?"

Bosco shook his head as he regained his composure. "No. Its just, she's got to be okay, Kathy. You know? I don't know what I'd do," he said, looking at her with red-rimmed eyes.

"She will be. We have to believe that. Now go eat and talk to the kids while I get dressed. After I leave, Peter will take them to the park for a little while so you can get some rest. I'll stay until you get back to the hospital and I'll call if there's any change," she told him, standing up and pulling him to his feet.

"Okay, but I'm not staying home long. Thanks, Kathy. For taking care of the kids and everything," Bosco said.

"It's the least I can do for the guy that brought my sister back to life after Jeff died," she told him, giving him a hug. "She's loves you so much Bosco," she whispered to him and tightened her grip on him.

They let go of each other and he headed off to the kitchen. He'd eat first then call his Mom.

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TBC...