Series: Snapshots of the Past
Story: Endings and Beginnings
Chapter 7
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: Jed and Abbey exchanged heated words in the aftermath of Lizzie's accident; Lizzie remained unconscious with a broken nose and a deep cut on her face; Jed involved his colleagues in a proposed solution to keep the kids safe
Summary: Abbey agrees to help Jed; Lizzie opens her eyes
- - -
Quietly, Jed opened the door and peaked his head through the crack before entering the room. The dark, dreary hospital room he tried to brighten with a bouquet of assorted flowers and a giant teddy bear he had bought for Liz only seemed darker and drearier than once he stifled the bit of light escaping the halls of the corridor. He walked slowly to the bed where she lay with her eyes closed, her hand in her mother's. Abbey sat on the edge of the bed. Other than a throwing a glance in his direction, her eyes never left her daughter.
He set the flowers on the table next to them and placed the white bear against the pillow after placing a soft kiss on Liz's forehead.
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty. It's time to wake up." Nestled under his arm was the Candyland game. He pulled it out and set it down beside her. "I want you to show me how it is you always manage to win this game. I'll play as many times as you want. You just have to promise to let me win just once." He looked to Abbey when he got no response.
"She's starting to wake up. It's just taking her some time because of the medicine."
Jed's nod was the only indication that he was listening to anything other than the sounds of the guilt-driven voices that had been running through his head. He looked disheveled and exhausted. His mussed hair drew her eyes away from his stoic face and she knew he had been fighting a battle with himself all day.
He stepped away from the bed and around to the other side of the room, taking a seat in a chair in the corner. His chin rested on top of his hands with his fingers threaded. After a few moments and a deep intake of breath, he tipped his head, anchoring the top against his hands.
Abbey watched his worn body stiffen at the sound of her footsteps. It was probably an involuntary reaction, the result of their last conversation.
He relinquished his left hand when she reached for it as she sat down to next him. "My parents are on their way over."
"Good."
She struggled to find the right way to bring it up, but she repeatedly asked herself if there even was a right way. She didn't know the answer. "I said something truly awful earlier."
He didn't respond immediately. A few minutes of silence lingered in the air before he spoke. "You weren't the only one."
"I'm sorry, Jed. I'd give anything to take it back."
He glided his thumb over the soft skin on the back of her hand. "So would I."
An admission of regret couldn't erase the harsh words, but a proper reconciliation scene wasn't on anyone's priority list right now. It could wait.
"When she was a baby, all I had to do to keep her safe was to wrap her up in my arms to physically shield her from danger."
"Yeah."
"And now, when I send her off to school, I want to know that she's going to return home at the end of the day. I want to know that and I don't. I don't know it, Jed."
His fingers pressed harder into hers and the comforting squeeze was the only thing that kept her from breaking down. "None of us do."
"I know you're her father. I know we're supposed to be a team and we're supposed to make decisions together..." She paused suddenly and waited until he looked to her to continue. "...but I'm pulling her out of school, with or without your support."
A blunt declaration, indeed. But it was said out of love for her child, not her anger towards him.
"You have my support," he replied.
He gave in. He relented without any coercion, at least not from her. The best persuasive argument in the world was bottled up in a little girl lying on a bed five feet in front of him.
She was tiny, he thought. She wasn't a baby anymore, but she just looked so tiny to him. Memories of the past six and a half years flashed through his mind and each and every spark was interrupted with a silent prayer of gratitude that she was now safe and that she would eventually recover.
"Daddy?"
Like a starter pistol causing runners to spring into action, Lizzie's voice jolted the somber mood in the room. Jed and Abbey raced to her side.
"Yes, Sweetie. I'm right here."
Her lashes fluttered until her blurry vision finally made contact with Abbey. "Mommy?"
"How do you feel, Angel?"
She shrugged slightly. "I hurt."
"What hurts? What part of you?"
"My face," she answered slowly, as if not completely certain about the location of her pain.
Abbey followed her eyes down to the IV that pricked her skin. "I'm so sorry. That's going to have be in there for just a bit longer. It's putting medicine in your body so you won't hurt so badly."
"Abbey, should we..."
"I'll get her doctor," Abbey finished.
His daughter's hand in his, Jed did nothing to stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks. They were tears of jubilation, only outdone by the enormous smile that impeded their progress down the designated trail.
"Daddy, why are you crying?" Observant as always, even though she was struggling to form her words.
"Because I'm so proud of you," he answered with a laugh.
"Why?"
"Do you remember what happened? Do you know why you're in the hospital?" She shook her head only slightly, then flinched from the pain. "It's okay. Just lay still, Sweetheart," he calmly directed her as he ran his hand over her forehead. "We'll tell you all about it later, but I just want you to know that you're a hero."
Jed had asked her to be a hero when he persuaded her to return to school the night before. Intertwined with all the regrets that had swirled through his brain during the course of the day, was the fact that he didn't tell her something he should have. He never told her that she was already his hero.
Liz gave him a tight smile. Her hand reached up to touch the white bandage that wrinkled against the sliced skin of her cheek. "What's this?"
If only Abbey was there to answer that question. He looked to the door and realized it was completely up to him. "You have a little cut."
"It hurts."
He would stab himself in an instant if it would take away Liz's pain. But it wouldn't. Nothing would. Even time doesn't heal all wounds. The ones etched on a person's heart just can't be repaired. His daughter was strong, he knew that. But for a little girl as innocent as Elizabeth Bartlet, he was convinced the ordeal would have immeasurable affects, both physically and emotionally, some of which were still unimaginable.
It wasn't long before Abbey returned with Dr. James. She stood next to her husband, with one hand extended to rub Liz's shoulder in vertical motions, just as she did when she rocked her to sleep as a baby.
"I'm going to stay here with her tonight," she whispered to Jed. "Can you take care of Ellie?"
"Of course. And at some point, I'd like to discuss..."
He cut himself off when a nurse opened the door, precariously handing him a large vase crowded with flowers. "These are for you."
"Not my daughter?"
"They were addressed to you."
Abbey ripped the card from his hand teasingly. "Did you go out trolling for women when you left here?"
"Abbey..." It was a lighthearted warning, said with a chuckle as she handed the card back to him.
His eyes narrowed when he read the note.
"What is it?"
He glanced up at her then sighed and read it aloud. "Jed, I want to send Elizabeth my warmest wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery. From now on, I'm sending them through you." His lips curled under and he turned away to discard the plastic. "They're from my father."
"That's nice."
"It is. He must have heard it on the news and called the hospital."
"Are they for me, Daddy?"
"They certainly are, Angel. I'm going to put them on that table right there for you."
Abbey moved her hand to give the doctor better access to Liz and signaled Jed to follow her to the other side of the room. Both of them leaned against the wall, but kept their eyes focused on Liz.
"Seriously, I never asked you. Where did you go?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I went to the university. I want to ask you something."
"What?"
"Would you be all right with Lizzie being schooled by the professors on campus?" She turned her body to face him directly as he continued. "It would be at night. It wouldn't just be her. We'd like to propose that parents who pull their kids out of the public schools have another option."
"We?"
"My colleagues and I. I'd be teaching fifth grade. Roger Wilkinson would teach Lizzie and the other first graders." He couldn't gauge her reaction. Her facial expressions were his only barometer.
"It would be open to everyone?" she asked after a brief pause.
"They would be integrated classrooms, yes."
She nodded as she lowered her head in apprehension, knowing the question she was about to ask might just start another disagreement. "Jed, don't think I'm against integration, but what's to stop protesters from invading the campus?"
Her concern was valid though he wished it hadn't been expressed with such trepidation. "Campus security and trespassing laws. Besides, we would be with the kids. No busses, no children walking to class on their own. It would have to be a joint effort between parents and the universities."
"Universities?"
"Yeah. We want to make it available throughout the city. I could use your help, actually."
Through the momentary confusion, she felt relieved that he was asking her to be part of whatever he had planned. "What can I do?"
"You still have contacts at Boston U.?"
"Yeah."
"And now that you're studying at Harvard, I figured..."
"Whatever you need. I'll talk to the professors, get you some names, maybe help you build your network."
This was what he loved most about her. Her passion. Even in a whisper, a glimmer of fervor defined her every word. The fire in her eyes that had been extinguished before by a feeling of helplessness, was reignited and this time, the flame was too bright to ignore.
"That would be great." She wanted to help. He wanted her help. They always made such a wonderfully productive team. He had no doubt Abbey would move mountains for this cause.
So why, she wondered, did she sense an ambiguous inflection in his tone, possibly due to the dismay she recognized in the way he tilted his head away from her. "But...?"
"I just know you have a lot on your plate right now with commencement coming up and interviews for residency, internship. My point is, if you don't have the time..."
She silenced him with her raised hands. "I'll make the time."
His smile was an attempt to the alleviate some of the awkwardness between them. It didn't work. "Abbey, I'm sorry, for not listening to you about Lizzie, for sending her back to school, for what I said to you before, for everything. I'm sorry."
She shook her head at his apology. Of course he felt guilty. But he wasn't the only one. "I shouldn't have lashed out at you. It wasn't your fault."
Whether she meant it or not, he needed to hear that. He replayed the words several times, but the sentiment was lost somewhere in his subconscious. He wondered if that was such a bad thing, at least for the time being. While they waited for Lizzie to open her eyes, his prayers were consumed with anger towards the vengeful God that would allow this to happen to innocent children. But that anger was clouded with something much more sinister. He found out quickly there's no emotion more powerful than remorse.
It was his guide to a solution and it would be his guide to the end of a journey he had just begun.
TBC
