Chapter 11

When Liz told her sisters about their father's progress, they broke into big smiles and left immediately to see him.

Liz went over to her mother's bed and touched her arm. "Dad's going to be fine, Mom. How about you come back to us? Then we could celebrate together." With a slight movement, Abbey's hand moved.

Liz thought she saw the slight movement, but wasn't sure.

"Mom, do it again. Move your hand again."

There it was. She wasn't imagining it. Liz hit the call button and grabbed her mother's hand.

The nurse flew into the room. "Yes?"

"My mom's hand just moved. I asked her to do it again and she did."

The nurse got the same response. She picked up the phone and asked the operator to page Dr. Harris to the room stat.

It didn't take long for Dr. Harris to arrive.

"Mrs. Bartlet, open your eyes. Try real hard to open your eyes."

Abbey's eyelids fluttered for a few seconds, and then finally her green eyes came into view.

"Oh, Mom," Liz started to cry. "Thank God."

"Mrs. Bartlet, I'm Dr. Harris. You can't speak because of the tube in your throat, so don't try. Just relax. We're going to perform some tests and then I'll let you know what the plans are. Do you understand?"

Abbey blinked her eyelids and nodded her head in agreement.

"Mrs. Westin, if you'll step out, I'll let you know when we're finished."

Liz kissed her mom and left the room. She couldn't wait to tell her sisters the good news.

Ellie and Zoey arrived shortly after. They were ecstatic that both parents were now awake. Hopefully, they had turned the corner and would get better.

The sisters waited for thirty minutes for the doctor finish his assessment. It seemed like forever.

Finally, Dr. Harris came out and motioned for the girls to follow him. Ellie was wondering why they were being taken to a private conference room.

"What's wrong, Doctor? Is our mother going to be okay?" Ellie worriedly asked Dr. Harris.

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry. I think she'll be fine. I just wanted to ask you a question and I thought it should be in private."

Now the sisters were all confused. What was he going to ask?

After closing the door to the private conference room, he turned around to face the girls.

"I know this is strange, but since I can't ask your father, I need to know something from you. Do you know if your mother is taking illegal drugs, street drugs?"