Chapter Five: Lucky
"This is all my fault," Manny said softly. Tears were falling down her cheeks.
"How can you say that?" Jimmy asked her, surprised. "Manny, this is not anyone's fault."
"I should have stayed with her. I knew something was wrong when she didn't want to go to the hospital." The two were sitting in the hospital room, next to a comatose Paige. She still had the breathing tube in, and was attached to as many monitors as her daughter was. The doctors were able to stop the bleeding and stitch her up. Paige also had a blood transfusion when they finished because she lost too much blood. The doctor told Manny that they would just have to wait and see what happened.
"Manny, you may have saved her life," the nurse told her. "The paramedics said that if you had called 911 any later, she would have been dead by the time she reached the hospital. You did a good thing."
"Yeah, we'll have to see if that's true. She might not ever wake up," Manny said, and burst into tears again. Jimmy rubbed her back to comfort her. The twins were still in their car seats, and they were fast asleep. The door opened and Chris came in. He had just gotten off from work.
"I'm so glad you're here," Manny said and ran to him. He swept her up in a loving embrace. Jimmy could tell that they still loved each other a lot.
"I better get going," he said, pretending to be concerned about the time.
"You don't have a way to get home though," Manny pointed out.
"That's okay. I'll walk or take a cab. See ya later," Jimmy said, walking out.
"Hey Jimmy!" Chris said before he reached the door. Jimmy turned around. "Thanks for taking care of the twins."
"No problem man," he said and left.
"Chris, I don't know what to do," Manny cried.
"The doctor said that we just have to wait," he told her.
"I know, but what if she doesn't wake up." For the first time since he had walked in the room, Chris really looked at Paige. All the machines and tubes and IVs made him uneasy.
"She will." Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Manny said softly. Dr. Mason came into the room.
"How is she?" the doctor asked Manny.
"Stable, but she's in a coma," she informed her. Then Manny realized why Dr. Mason would be there. "What's happened to Avery?" she asked, worried.
"This morning, I came into work, and she…" Manny interrupted the doctor.
"Oh no! I can't lose both of them," she cried.
"Manny, please let me finish," she said sternly. "I came into work and Avery's fever was down. Throughout the day she got better, and now the fever is gone completely. But by the looks of it, she can't go home," Dr. Mason finished, looking over at Paige.
"Where's my daughter?" they all heard someone screaming from down the hall. Manny rushed out the door to see Paige's mother.
"She's in here Mrs. Michalchuk!" Manny yelled to her.
"Is she okay? What happened?" she asked frantically as she ran to the room. "Oh my poor baby," she cried as she saw Paige. She immediately rush to Paige's side and grasped onto her hand. "Mommy's here Paige. I'm right here." Hearing all of the commotion, Dr. Anis came into the room. "What happened to her?" Paige's mom screamed at the doctor. "Somebody tell me!"
"Manny, Chris, could you give us a moment?" Dr. Anis asked them. They left the room, but watched through the glass window. They saw Paige's mom collapse in tears into the doctor's arms when she found out what her daughter had done to herself. After a few minutes of comforting Mrs. Michalchuk, Dr. Anis motioned that the two of them could come back into the room. "Now, I have to discuss something with all of you. We don't know how long Paige is going to be here, and that's a problem. Avery will be ready to go home tomorrow, but she has nowhere to go. I was thinking that you would like to take her home," he said to Paige's mother. She was now sitting down in the chair next to Paige's bed, her head in her hands.
"I can't do that," she said, shaking her head back and forth. "I'm not leaving her. What if she's awake by tomorrow? Then we can all take Avery home together."
"Mrs. Michalchuk, let me explain something to you. By the way things are going right now, Paige will most likely not be awake by the time Avery needs to go home. Even if she were, we would not be allowed to put Avery back into her care," the doctor informed her.
"Why not? She's Avery's mother!"
"Social Services will not sign to let Avery return home with Paige because she is psychologically unstable. They would be afraid that if she is willing to hurt herself, she may hurt the baby as well."
"She would never do that! She loves her daughter with all her heart and would do anything to protect her," her mother argued.
"Even if that is the case, they will not allow it. If there were someone who is able to kept constant watch over the baby and Paige, we would allow her to take Avery home. However, that is not the case, and if there is no one to take Avery out of the hospital, Social Services will be forced to take her and put her in a foster home."
"I'll take her home with me," Manny said all of a sudden.
"Oh Manny, thank you so much!" Mrs. Michalchuk cried.
"Now, Ms. Santos, do you realize that taking care of Avery as well as your two children will be a great deal more work? And, we do not even know when Paige will wake up, so you could have the baby for a very long time," the doctor told her.
"Yes I realize that. I'm prepared to do anything to help Paige. She's like a sister to me. Avery is my goddaughter as well," she answered.
"I have to also let you know that when Paige does wake up, she will not be able to take Avery back home right away. She will have to see a psychologist and go through test and treatments to make sure she is completely stable. We believe that she suffers from post partum depression, and the depression manifested itself when Avery got sick. However, she could have a more severe form of depression, in which case, you could have Avery for months, even years."
"I don't care. I want to have her with me," Manny said.
"This is a very noble thing you are doing, and I'm sure Paige will appreciate it greatly. I know I do," her mom told Manny, hugging her.
"If you'll follow me Ms. Santos, I will show you where to fill out the paperwork. It will be sent to a judge, who will decide whether you are fit to take temporary custody of Avery. People will come to your home and check everything out to make sure that you are the best possible solution to this. It will not be a quick and easy process, so I want to make sure that you really want to do this," the doctor explained as they walked down the hall.
"I'm positive, Manny stated. "As I said before, I'll do anything to help."
The next day, someone came over to inspect the Daniels' house. The woman told her that it looked like a good environment for Avery to stay in. She also said that Paige is lucky to have a friend like her. Two days after the inspector came, (it was Saturday) Manny got a call from a man who told her that she was granted temporary custody of Avery Michalchuk.
"Come on!" she yelled to Chris as she hung up the phone.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To pick Avery up from the hospital." She strapped the twins into their car seats and put them in the truck. Chris followed with the diaper bag. Manny drove to the hospital, excited to bring Avery home. She wasn't sure why she was so excited; she already had two babies to take care of.
"What can I do for you?" the receptionist asked.
"I'm here to pick up Avery Michalchuk. I was given temporary custody of her until her mother is better," she said, handing the woman the papers. Chris stayed in the truck with the twins.
"Okay, follow me," she said. Manny had picked up Avery's car seat from Paige's house. She went to the nursery where Avery was staying. Once she got better, she couldn't be taking up a bed in the NICU, so they brought her there.
"Hi honey," Manny said to the baby as she picked her up out of the bed. She strapped her into the car seat. "Thanks," Manny said to the receptionist and nurse who helped her. "Come on Avery, let's go see mommy before we leave." Manny made her way to Paige's hospital room. Her mom was asleep in the chair next to the bed. "Oh Paige," she whispered. "You have to get better for all of us." She fixed Paige's hair that was across her face and left.