The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Chapter 9

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Bosco pulled his car into the parking lot of the hospital, now on a first-name basis with the security guard who'd ooohed and aahhhed over his blue mustang convertible on that first day. The man had made Bosco promise to tell him first if he ever decided to sell the car - not that Bosco ever would. That had been four days ago and it seemed that the man had saved the spot right next to his guard shack for Bosco every day - so nothing would happen to "his" car.

"Hey, Matt. How goes the day so far?" Bosco called to the guard as he locked up his car and headed toward the hospital. He handed Matt a Dunkin' Donuts coffee and sweet roll he'd picked up on the way over for him.

"Can't complain, Bosco. Nobody listens anyway," Matt called back. "Thanks," he said, as he took the coffee and roll.

"I hear that," Bosco joked back. "See you later."

"Tell the Doc I said hello. I got a good feelin' about today, Bosco," Matt called back to Bosco as he reached the front door of the hospital.

"I hope you're right!" Bosco waved over his shoulder and disappeared into the building.

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Bosco got off the elevator and said hello to the nurses that were just changing shift and giving report to the oncoming staff.

"Good morning, Ladies," he called, giving them a wave as he strolled by.

"Hey!" came a man's voice from the group.

"Sorry!" Bosco called back. "How's it goin' Rocco!" he said to the male nurse that was working today.

"Doc's in with her right now," Rocco called back.

Bosco waved acknowledgement and walked down the hallway to the hospital room door. He had to admit that he was in a good mood today. For some reason he just woke up that way. He was late this morning because, as he'd promised Jennifer before he left her last night, he'd spent some quality time with the kids this morning. Took them out for a breakfast on a beautiful sunny morning and let them play in the yard for a while as the sun warmed up the day.

Emily had been great. She'd kept everything running smoothly at the house - the kids were happy and healthy, and she'd even insisted - despite Bosco telling her not to worry about it - to do some housekeeping and laundry - so that he could spend all his time with Jennifer. He'd told her he didn't want her to wake up without him there and Emily had understood - she remembered how good it was to see her parents when she woke up in the hospital after her run-in with the Special K. She told him not to worry about anything - that she didn't have to be back to school until after the weekend because Monday was a holiday as well.

Now, he stood at the doorway as the doctor finished his examination. He was a bit unnerved at the sight of so many people in the room. There were two nurses and a couple of residents along with the doctor. He took a few steps into the room as the doctor finished up by giving the residents some orders. The neurologist turned to head out of the room and saw Bosco standing in the doorway. He noticed the scared look on his face.

"What happened?" was all he could say.

The doctor took some steps toward Bosco and smiled, trying to reassure him. "Nothing bad. It looks like she may be starting to wake up," he said and before he knew it Bosco was around him and at Jennifer's bed.

"Jen? Can you hear me? I'm here," he told her. With his hand in hers he turned back to the doctor. "How do you know? When? Nobody called me."

"It just happened. I was doing my rounds and doing the normal examination. I noticed her eyelids flutter slightly as I touched her. She's reacting to painful stimulus now too - when I rub hard on her sternum, she flinches a little," the doctor explained.

"That's good, right?" Bosco asked.

"Yes, that's good, Bosco," the doctor told him. "I'm going to have some more tests done throughout the day, but with any luck, she may be waking up in the next couple of days. But, bear in mind that we don't know if there's been any damage from the bleed yet," he cautioned.

"Yeah, I know," Bosco said, not really wanting to think about that now. He was just glad that it looked like she was finally waking up.

"Well, I've got more rounds. I'll be in and out today as will some other doctors doing some tests," the doctor said, leaving Bosco alone with Jennifer.

Bosco turned back toward Jennifer and just watched her, hoping to see what the doctor had seen. Nothing.

"Jen, can you hear me?" he said, putting a hand on the top of her head and playing with her hair. "Please, open your eyes. I need you to come back."

He felt a slight squeeze of his hand and drew in a sharp breath. "Jen! I felt that. Do that again," he asked her and she did.

"Great! Now, can you open your eyes. I really want to see your eyes again," he said, almost begging. He only felt her grip his hand again, but this time it was weaker.

"Okay, you're tired. That's okay. Get some more rest, but I'm not going anywhere, okay? I'll be right here," he told her. Bending down, he kissed her and felt her lips move slightly beneath his own as if she were trying to kiss him back. Without letting go of her hand, he reached behind him and pulled the chair up to the bedside.

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TBC...