Chapter 31

It was an hour later before they heard anything from the doctors. When the man in the white coat came from the direction of the ICU and headed towards the group, they all anxiously stood up and got near each other so they could all hear about Jude's condition.

"You're all Jude Harrison's family?" The doctor said, surveying the group.

"I'm her sister and this is her fiancé." Sadie said, pointing to Tommy who stood anxiously next to her. The Doctor nodded in understanding and glanced at his chart before addressing the group.

"Ms. Harrison, for now, is in relatively stable condition. The trauma to her head has caused her to loose consciousness. We're hoping we can get her to wake up soon. The next 48 hours are going to be critical to her condition. She's weak, and we're working to keep her from slipping into a comatose state."

"And the baby?" Tommy asked, his eyes pleading.

"Is ok as well. For now. The fall did cause Ms. Harrison to begin some small contractions. We were able to stop it before she miscarried, and again, we're keeping her monitored and the next 48 hours are going to be critical to both of their recovery." The Doctor paused and waited to see if there were anymore questions.

"Can we see her?" Sadie asked, speaking what was on everyone's mind.

"Of course, but only two at a time starting tomorrow and only one of you tonight." The Doctor advised. The group looked at each other a moment and Tommy sighed.

"You go Sadie." Tommy said, looking at the blonde woman. She stared at him incredulously.

"What!" Sadie shrieked, staring at Tommy like he'd grown a third head.

"You're her sister."

"Yeah, and I know my sister would rather see you, now get your ass into my baby sisters room and you tell me how she is!" Sadie demanded. Tommy stared at Sadie in shock, momentarily surprised by her outburst. Tommy glanced at everyone else to make sure they were ok with the decision, but they seemed to share Sadie's stand. Tommy sighed and glanced at the Doctor who led Tommy to her room.

Tommy stepped into the ICU room and paused in the doorway. He glanced around, looking at each of the beeping machines before his eyes trailed to Jude's prone form. He felt his throat tighten as he looked at her. She looked so small and fragile in that hospital bed. He felt a single tear fall down his cheek as he moved closer to the bed, cautiously, as if the wrong move would throw the machines off balance and resulting in the loss of his beloved.

His eyes studied her form, her blonde head covered in stark white gauze, covering her stitches he knew that closed her head wound. She had an IV in her left hand, and on her middle finger was what looked like a clothespin clipped to it. She had an oxygen piece in her nose and a feeding tube. There were several other wires that were hooked up to various machines but he had no clue they were on her.

His hand reached over and brushed lightly against her cheek; His fingers barely grazing her soft skin as if she were made of glass and would break at his touch. The door opened and a nurse stepped into the room. Tommy started and moved away from Jude, looking like a young child about to be scolded. The nurse smiled kindly at him.

"You can hold her hand you know." She said, walking at the end of the bed and picking up Jude's chart. She took note of the machines and looked back at Tommy and smiled once again at him. "They say they can hear you, ya know."

"What?" Tommy said, looking confused. She shook her head.

"It's been said that patients, when they're unconscious, they can hear what their loved ones have been saying to them and it helps them wake up. You might want to try it." She advised, winking before walking towards the door. "Oh, and Mr. Quincy?" She said, before exiting the room. Tommy turned to look at her, not at all surprised she knew his name. "You can pull up a chair." She said, knowingly and stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her. Tommy looked down at Jude and glanced around the room. He saw a lone chair sitting on the opposite end and he grabbed it and moved it next to the bed. He sat down and watched Jude, wanting nothing more than for her to wake up and smile up at him and say everything's ok. He reached out tentatively and took her small hand in his. He slowly began to rub circles around her hand where the IV was inserted.

"Hey girl." He said softly, continuing to caress her hand, he smiled to himself and shook his head. "The nurse says talking might help ya wake up, so the sooner you wake up, the sooner I can stop rambling, kay? Just wake up and tell me to shut up and I'll never be happier." He said, feeling his throat tighten. He leaned down and kissed her hand, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. "Everyone's outside for you. Kwest, Sadie, Kat, Jamie. Hell, even Big D came by earlier, you were right, deep down, he's a big softy." He shook his head, feeling stupid, but not knowing what else to do. He looked up at her face, and he stroked her cheek lightly. She looked so peaceful, almost like she were sleeping. He sniffed lightly and continued his monologue. "You need to wake up girl. I don't know if I can keep this up without ya. I don't know if I want to." He said, feeling tears fall down his face and he didn't try to stop them. "I love you Jude." He choked out and felt a sob raise from his throat and he couldn't keep talking anymore. He leaned down, still holding Jude's hand as if his life depended on it, and lay his head on her stomach and cried.