Chapter 34
The elevator ride was silent. All the good feeling that had surrounded Don and Terry with their admission of feelings was gone knowing what they may be facing. Marlene waved to the nurse, Barbara, behind the desk who was busier trying to get the intern to leave her alone more then paying attention to the newly arriving people. Don saw the sign of the waiting from the end of the hall. Marlene kept glancing at Don and Terry willing them to say something. However, they stayed silent until they opened the door to waiting room
"Charlie?" Terry called out softly. Charlie was sprawled out on the chairs staring unblinkingly at the ceiling
"Has it been an hour already? I was only at two thousand sixty three seconds, must have started counting at the wrong point…" Charlie answered still staring at the ceiling
"No, I just got off early" Marlene answered his question. Don walked over and nudged him to sit up so that Don could sit next to him on the left, Terry on the right, and Marlene in a comfy chair across from him.
"Oh. I'm surprised that Mary isn't here yet" Charlie replied quietly STILL staring at the ceiling
"I'm sure she'll be here soon, but um how about we get a cup of coffee?" Terry said placing a hand on Charlie's shoulder. Charlie's eyes went wide at the suggestion, and then he stood up and stared out the window not answering her. Don's eyes followed Charlie slightly worried, than something clicked and looked back at Terry who looked embarrassed, confused, and worried, seemingly not understanding a person's reaction for the first time in a long time. "What did I say?" Terry whispered. Marlene moved in, she was curious
"Terry, think. How did this whole ordeal start?" Don said quietly more out of habit then trying to keep what they were talking about from Charlie. I doubt he would hear me even if I stood next to him screaming the conversation across the room
"I wanted to find out how their date went?" Terry spoke
"Are sure you didn't get brain damage from that cut?" Don poked fun at her. She should have figured it out before he did and now she seems to be trailing behind by a mile. Don's answer came in the form of Terry hitting him. "WHERE did you go to find out about the date?"
"The…coffee shop" Terry finished realization dawning on her face, quickly replaced by the look one gets when they realized they put their foot in their mouth. She stood up and walked to Charlie and stood next to him "I'm so sorry" Terry said softly trying to express everything she was feeling at that moment in those three words. She had already admitted her guilt to him but that hadn't made it go away. In fact it increased with the realization of sitting in the waiting room had brought.
"You don't have to say sorry Terry. We've already done this" Charlie finished out softly. Not that he didn't appreciate the support but at this very moment he just wanted to be left alone to remember Amita the way he wanted. All the talk of blame was making him remember her lying on that gurney, jerking up off the table every time they shocked her
"Done what?" Don asked
"Laid blame. Terry already said she blamed herself, I already told her I blame no one but the man that shot her"
"But I took her there!" Terry exploded. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She had grown to be friends with Amita. They had gone out shopping, dancing, and even the occasional drinking when Terry had had a really bad day. For some reason they had kept their friendship a secret, never told Don or Charlie about it. Now, she may have lost her only true friend she had left, and no one was letting her express her guilt
"But you didn't shoot her! Terry, I understand how you feel. There were many opportunities I could have taken to send her home but I didn't. There are too many 'if only…'s Terry, you can't go through every one it will eat you up inside" Charlie took her hand and lead her back to the chairs. They sat there silently staring at the floor for a moment then they looked at each other. As Don watched, understanding seemed to pass between them, than Charlie and Terry wept. Don was startled at this sudden change of emotion. He was prepared for the collapse of Charlie but not Terry. He looked desperately at Marlene, who looked just as surprised as Don. As Don looked back at the two of them hugging and crying, he felt completely out of place, so did Marlene
"Don, how about we um get some food to bring up here? I'm sure you guys haven't eaten since breakfast" Marlene said feebly, grasping at straws, anything to that relieve her and Don from the awkwardness and give Terry and Charlie privacy
"Yeah that sounds good" Don said standing quickly. Terry and Charlie didn't seem to have acknowledged them leaving so Don quickly scribbled a note and then left hastily with Marlene
"I don't think I've cried that hard in years" Terry said after both Charlie and Terry stopped crying. There were no tears left
"The last time I cried that hard was at my mother's funeral" Charlie answered, picking up the box of tissues from the table. Terry smiled taking one realizing how strange this scene was: Her and Charlie wiping their eyes with tissues after they had both had a good cry on each other's shoulders
"Where did Don and Marlene go?" Terry asked scanning the room just realizing they were alone
"They went downstairs to get food and 'liquid'. Guess coffee is never going to be the same for any of us" Charlie said throwing out the note. He sat back down next to Terry in silence. Both contemplated what to say next but they were spared when Don and Marlene walked back through the doors
"Do you um feel better?" Don asked handing Terry a cup of herbal tea and Charlie a cup of coffee (all the while silently praying in his mind not to upset them again)
"Much. I think we both just needed to get that out of our systems" Terry answered taking her tea and giving Don a smile to reassure him that she wasn't going to suddenly break down into tears again
"I um have to go. My daughter called but I wanted to just let you know that I talked to the surgeons, or rather the OR nurses, and they said the surgery would be another about another two hours. I'll be back tomorrow. What's Amita's last name so I can find you guys when I get back here" Marlene said at the door. She was hoping that her fake optimism would appear real and rub off on the other members of the party
"Ramanujan" Charlie answered sipping the coffee seemingly not tasting it. The look on the seemed to imply that he didn't actually want the coffee but rather drinking it for the feel of doing something normal
"Ok. I'll see you all tomorrow" Marlene said turning. When she was far enough away she whispered, "I hope"
The silence was almost too much for Charlie to bear but to sit there drinking coffee and watching T.V. felt too normal to fit what was really happening: Amita was in a surgery to save her life, and he felt wrong going on pretending life is normal. He wanted to do something, anything that seemed appropriate to the situation but there was nothing to do. Cry? He had cried himself dry. Scream? That wouldn't work, as much as he felt like screaming it would do nothing but scare Don and Terry and leave him with no voice. There was nothing left to do but sit and wait. The seconds seemed like hours, minutes like days. Time was elastic. It felt like days and then mere seconds. It was torture to Charlie. Don and Terry had curled up on the chairs: Don against the arm, legs stretched out, and Terry in between his legs leaning against him. Charlie's mind played tricks on him and for a moment he saw that it was he and Amita leaning on the couch in a love without a care. Though when the vision ended he saw that while yes Don and Terry were with each other they were far from blissful. Don looked exhausted and Terry's supposedly waterproof makeup she had worn had run down her face leaving small black lines in its wake. Charlie was surprised that she hadn't wiped it off, and was even more startled when something started beeping
"Two hours have passed" Don said simply pushing the button on his watch. That means that the surgery, assuming there were no complications, should be over
The room fell silent again as the group waited for the doctor to come find them. However, to their disappointment and great worry at least another half hour passed and still there was no news. The group gave up their vigilant poses and returned to the more comfortable positions they were in before Don's alarm went off
"Why do you think it's taking so long?" Charlie asked the silence. Don and Terry looked at each other, both seeming to form words to answer him. Terry found her words first
"There are many things they need to do during surgery. They need to prep the patient, put her under anesthesia, the doctors take a good twenty minutes getting washed and changed. Then it depends on what kind of damage the bullet did" Terry finished as strongly as she could. She hated saying those words, being so blunt with Charlie. Charlie however blinked as the truth in her words sank in and nodded
"Charlie, its too quiet recite the numbers to something" Don mumbled
"You want me to recite numbers?" Charlie asked relaxing a little
"Yeah. It'll relax all of us" Don said closing his eyes, Terry following suit
"Ok. The numbers of Pi- three point one four one five nine two six five three five eight nine seven nine three two three eight four six two six four…three three eight three two seven nine five zero two…eight eight four one nine seven…one six…nine three…nine… nine…three" Charlie trailed off falling asleep. The day had finally caught up with him. However there was no one to wake him up for Terry and Don had fallen asleep too.
"Barbara, where is the family or next of the kin for the gunshot wound?" Dr. Peters asked the nurse behind the desk
"The last time I checked Marlene had left them in the waiting room" Barbara responded not looking up from her book
"Thanks" Dr. Peters mumbled. Tired from a one and a half hour surgery that had somehow stretched to three, he wasn't in the mood to deal with the nurses. He pushed the doors open to the waiting room and smiled. The family was sprawled out over the chairs, one member mumbling numbers. He coughed loudly and everyone awoke with a start "Are you here for news about a Dr. Amita Ramanujan?"
"Yes" Charlie said standing and walking closer to the doctor in what seemed like one quick movement to Dr. Peters' tired eyes. As the man approached closer, her noted the concerned expression in his eyes and he knew it best to give the news now
"She's made it through surgery" Dr. Peters spoke and waited. Charlie stood stunned while Don and Terry smiled
"I'm sensing a but" Charlie said softly, knowing that while yes she had won the battle of surgery, the war for her life was not over
"A very large one at that. She made it through surgery, but she had lost a lot of blood before we got her and then from somewhere she hemorrhaged and lost another eight units, which on top of what she had already lost, I was surprised she made it through. The bullet nicked a vein, a very small nick mind you but there was a nick all the same. Left a nice sized hole in her scapula. She will be put in a cast to immobilize her shoulder, and she'll have to attend physical therapy. We'll have to monitor her in the surgical ICU but I'm optimistic that she'll be out of here soon" Dr. Peters finished and gave the party a smile to reassure them all
"Can I see her?" Charlie asked with a small smile, happiness in his eyes, and the worry lines already disappearing from his face
"Of course. Mind you that you can't stay long" Dr. Peters responded holding the door open and leading the group to where Amita's room. They stopped outside the unit though "I'm warning you now that she still looks very pale and there is a lot of gauze but she's there" Charlie rushed in, Terry after him. Don paused "Here's my beeper number in case you need anything"
"Thank you so much doctor. I'm sorry my brother and girlfriend didn't appear to more appreciative-"
"Stop. You don't have to apologize. I know they care about her and I didn't expect to get a thank you…until morning at least" The doctor added a joke to make Don a smile
"Thank you again" Don said walking through the doors, taking a breath and thinking the worst is over
I was tempted so many times to leave you guys hanging but then I knew you'd beat me. I know I've said this before, but I'm only planning to have two or three more chapters though I don't know where my writing will take me till I write…did you guys really think I'd kill her!