Chapter Eleven: Getting Her Back
Kay gasped and burst into tears when she saw her daughter. She was hooked up to all kinds of machines and had a tube down her throat to help her breathe. Her skin almost looked blue and she looked so helpless. Jack put his arms around Kay to comfort her. A doctor walked in to talk with them.
"Is she going to be okay?" Kay asked the doctor before he could even say anything.
"When Maria came to us, she was unconscious and wasn't breathing. Her pulse was weak and she was freezing. Staying in the water for so long almost killed her," Dr. Stewart explained.
"Just tell us if she's going to live," Jack said harshly. He wasn't sure that he wanted to hear all of these details. Dr. Stewart gave him a look and went back to talking.
"Right now Maria can't breathe on her own. However, her body temperature has been brought up and her pulse has strengthened. I have no reason to believe that she won't fully recover, but for now, we just have to wait. Right now she's unconscious, but if you talk to her, she might wake up. Give it a try and come find me if you have any questions or if she wakes up." He left the room and Kay went over to her daughter, pulling a chair up next to her bed. Jack did the same.
"Hey honey, Mommy's here now," Kay said to her and brushed some hair out of her face. "Daddy's here too." Jack grabbed Maria's hand in his and held it.
"We're waiting for you to wake up baby. We're here for you," he said to her.
"You're gonna do this to your little brother?" Miguel yelled as Luis closed and locked the cell door.
"You did this to yourself Miguel!" Luis yelled right back. Miguel was going to be kept in the cell until his trial, and then would most likely be moved to a prison in Boston.
"We can talk this over bro. Make a deal," Miguel pleaded.
"I can't make a deal with you. Look, you're my brother, but you messed up. I'm just doing my job here," Luis explained. He turned around and walked away, leaving Miguel all alone with the exception of the guard patrolling the room.
Miguel sat down and buried his head in his hands. Maria has to be okay, he thought. She has to! This is all my fault. What was I thinking? He lay down onto the hard, cold, bed in the cell and began to cry.
"Jack! I think her hand moved!" Kay yelled. Jack jumped and woke up. He was so tired that he had dozed off, but Kay couldn't sleep. "Look! It moved again!" Jack rubbed his eyes and looked at Maria, who wasn't moving at all.
"I think it was your imagination," he told her. Then he was surprised when he saw Maria's eyes open. "She's awake!" he yelled.
"Maria! Mommy and Daddy are here!" Kay yelled to her daughter. All Maria could do was cry. "What's wrong with her?" Kay asked Jack.
"I'll go get the doctor. I think it's the tube," he said. A minute later he returned with Dr. Stewart.
"Okay Maria," the doctor said to her. "When I count to three, I want you to blow with your mouth as hard as you can," he said and demonstrated. "Do you know what to do?" he asked her. Maria nodded as best as she could. "1…2…3."
Maria blew as instructed, and Dr. Stewart pulled the tube out of her mouth. She began coughing but stopped crying. Jack and Kay smiled. They knew she was going to be alright.
"When can we take her home," Kay immediately asked.
"I'd like to keep her here one more day to make sure that she has fully recovered. I'll come back and check on her later." Dr. Stewart left the room and both Kay and Jack hugged their daughter.
Three days later, Miguel pleaded guilty to his charges and was now standing in front of a judge, waiting to hear his sentence.
"Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald," the judge began. "You are sentenced to ten years in a medium security prison without parole," she finished.
He wasn't even given any time to say goodbye to his family. Pilar, Theresa, Paloma, and Luis were all there, tears in their eyes. Sam was there as well, but with a huge smile on his face. He smirked and waved to Miguel. As soon as he was taken away, everyone had to leave. Sam hurried to Kay's house to see his granddaughter.