Susan stirred in the hospital bed and Chuck stood up. He leaned over the safety rail and smiled grimly as he smoothed her hair from her forehead. Susan's eyes fluttered open and she tried to focus on his face.
"Hey there," Chuck said softly and leaned down to kiss her cheek gently. "You gave us quite a scare." Susan looked up at the IV pole and then lifted her hand to see where the tube ended.
"What happened?" she croaked and grimaced at her dry throat. Chuck reached for the cup of ice water and held it to her lips so she could take a sip with the straw. He put the cup back and then took her hand in his.
"It was an ectopic, Sus," he said. "...and it ruptured."
"I lost the baby?" she whispered.
"Yeah...we did," Chuck nodded. He kissed her hand and sighed.
"There's more," he said softly. "You lost a lot of blood, babe, and they couldn't stop the bleeding so..."
"A hysterectomy..." she sighed sadly. She squeezed her eyes shut and a tear rolled down the side of her face. She held tightly to Chuck's hand and he swallowed as he studied her face.
"It's okay, hon," he said softly. "It's okay." Still holding her hand, Chuck reached behind him and dragged his chair closer to the bed. He sat down and laced the fingers of both of his hands around her's. Susan opened her eyes and took a deep breath as her eyes met his. Chuck smiled wanly and then tears welled up in his own eyes.
"I almost lost you, Susan," he said softly and kissed her fingers. "I almost lost you." He pressed her fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes. Susan closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.
She came awake with a start and her eyes opened wide as she suddenly remembered more.
"Where's Cosmo?" she asked. Chuck came to her side and squeezed her hand.
"Beth has him, honey," he said. "He's fine. In fact, he is more than fine." Chuck grinned as he rubbed his finger against her cheek.
"When he came inside and saw that you had fainted, he covered you up with the blanket from the couch and called 911. Can you believe that?" Susan closed her eyes and managed a smile.
"Pretty cool kid," Chuck nodded proudly. "And the other cool kid is on her way home from camp with Abby." Susan grimaced.
"Aw, she's coming home early?"
"I told her to stay but she wants to come home. Personally, I'll be glad to see her. I've missed her." Susan grimaced and stretched her neck uncomfortably against the bedding.
"Are you okay?" Chuck asked. "I'm supposed to let someone know if you need some more pain meds." Susan nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. Chuck reached over and pressed the nurse call button. Almost immediately the door opened and a nurse appeared with a syringe.
"It's about that time," she said calmly and inserted the needle into Susan's IV line.
"Thanks, Janie," Chuck said as Susan began to relax again. He sat back in the chair next to the bed and held onto Susan's hand.
"Remind me to thank people for the wonderful drugs," Susan murmured. Chuck grinned and relaxed himself. She was going to be fine.
Abby glanced into the rearview mirror of the car and smiled slightly at Heather's sleeping face in the back seat. She was leaning to the side as if she'd been watching Lauren asleep in her car seat. She looked over at Susie in the passenger side of the front seat. Her eyes were wide and she sat rigidly straight as she stared straight ahead.
"She's fine, Susie," Abby said softly. "Chuck told you that on the phone. He didn't even think you needed to come home from camp." Susie looked at her and nodded. She turned her head back to the road ahead.
"Why didn't they tell me?" she asked softly.
"About the baby?" Susie nodded.
"Well, she didn't tell me either," Abby said. "I don't think it was something that they even knew about for very long. I can't imagine Susan keeping it a secret. Not from us." Susie glanced over and smiled slightly.
"Yeah..." she sighed. She sighed and folded her arms tightly across her chest as a tear slipped down her cheek. She hiccuped and then cringed as more tears fell. Abby reached down and pulled a tissue from the small box they kept in the pocket of the driver's side door. She handed it to Susie. Abby drove in silence, her heart breaking for the young girl beside her, as Susie quietly sobbed.
"I was scared," Susie finally managed to say.
"I know," Abby replied softly.
"I can't lose Aunt Susan."
"You're not going to lose her, Susie. Not now. Not ever." Abby kept one hand on the wheel and reached over to squeeze Susie's hand with the other.
"She is always going to be a part of who you are. You know that." Susie nodded slowly and tightened her grip on Abby's hand. Abby smiled softly.
"Okay," she said brightly. "If I am going to be spending a couple of days with you, we need to get something straight." Susie looked at her with a worried frown on her face.
"Who is going to do the cooking? Because I don't cook." Susie giggled and shrugged and Abby smiled.
Susie opened the door to the hospital room and peeked inside. Chuck was asleep in the chair next to Susan's bed. She slipped in and shut the door carefully. She sidled up to Chuck's chair and rested her eyes on Susan, who was asleep in the bed. Susie nudged Chuck and he opened his eyes with a start. He blinked and looked up at her and smiled.
"Hey, kiddo..." he said softly. Chuck stood up and wrapped his arms around her in a close hug. "I'm glad you're home." He walked her to the side of the hospital bed and leaned down.
"Susan," he said softly. "Susie's here." Susan's eyes opened and she turned her head toward them.
"Hi," she said quietly and held up her arms. Susie's lips quivered and she pressed herself carefully into Susan's embrace.
"Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you." Susan asked. "I'm sorry that you came home from camp early."
"Heather was homesick anyway," Susie said quietly. She straightened and held Susan's hand.
"Where's Abby?" Chuck asked.
"She's feeding Lauren in the family room." Susan squeezed Susie's hand. "Heather's there too. We came right here."
"I need to have you go home and be with Cosmo," she said. "Can you do that for me?" Susie nodded.
"I'm fine, sweetie, really," Susan said. Susie nodded again without smiling. Susan held up her arms and hugged her carefully again. She kissed her cheek and blinked back tears. "Thank you for coming home." Susie nodded and straightened. She turned to hug Chuck again and then smiled at them as she left the room.
"Cool kid," Chuck nodded as he sat down in the chair and reached for Susan's hand.
The front door of Heather's house flew open when Abby pulled the car into the driveway. She popped the back end and got out to help Heather with her camp luggage. Susie headed up the front walk and grinned as Cosmo came flying off the front porch. He was wearing just his Superman underwear and no shoes.
"Susie!" he hollered and jumped into her arms. Susie laughed and hugged him tight.
"You're a real super hero, Cos!" she said. 'You called the paramedics all by yourself?" Cosmo's grip on her neck tightened and he wrapped his legs around her waist.
"Mommy wouldn't waked up," he said. "You weren't there."
"I know," she said. "But I'm home now and Mommy is okay. I just saw her at the hospital." Susie sat down on the porch and held him in her lap. Heather's mother came out the door and patted the top of Susie's head. She headed down the walk with a smile and hugged Heather.
"Come on in. Dinner is on the table," she said to Abby. Abby and Susie exchanged glances and grinned.
"Thanks, Beth," Abby laughed. "This could definitely work out."