Kate was in the kitchen, making a pot of tea when she heard the doorbell chime. Wondering why Caroline didn't just let herself in, she made her way to the front door, assuming she must need help carrying in groceries from the car. She smiled to herself, thinking about how Caroline always bought more than what was on the list and assumed that was what delayed Caroline in returning home to get their honeymoon restarted now that they had the house to themselves.
The flashing lights on the police cruiser cut through the dense rain-soaked air. The only words the earnest officers said that registered with the new bride were 'Caroline' and 'accident'. What followed was a manic drive to hospital where a waiting game had to be played. As she sat in the hallway outside the operating theatre, yearning for a hopeful update, she felt utterly lost and alone.
The first hour, she sat patiently, hands folded in her lap like she was trying to earn a best behaviour prize in school, praying she'd hear something at any moment. The second hour, convinced news really would come instantly, she paced, trying to keep her fear from magnifying further with each passing minute.
She didn't want to worry the boys and after Gillian's odd text that morning, she wasn't comfortable reaching out to her. She thought about calling Celia but wasn't sure if that was what Caroline would want. Celia's continual disappointment was a repeated flash point for Caroline and it seemed that the elder Dawson's selfishness the day before took that mother-daughter relationship to a point of no return and it was a line Kate didn't have the strength to cross at that moment. Kate convinced herself she should wait to call until there was something positive to report.
Caroline was the moon to her ocean. She felt a pull to her like she'd never felt to anyone else. The in sickness and in health, until death do us part, from their vows was playing on an endless loop that threatened to unravel her. She couldn't remember ever feeling so utterly adrift.
Half way into the third hour, the door she'd been watching opened and a scrub-clad doctor emerged. The exhausted expression on his face gave nothing away as he introduced himself and lead her out of the hallway to a more private spot for a chat. She instantly felt nauseous as she braced for the worst type of report given the flat affect in his voice. He explained that although the surgery had been successful, the next 24 hours would be critical. The laundry list of all the team did for Caroline that he relayed washed over her. In the end, she clung to his early spoken assurance that Caroline stood a good chance of recovering.
A few hours later, a benevolent nurse, concerned about her, brought Kate a tray of food and some tea. Despite having no appetite but concerned about their baby, she consumed it at Caroline's bedside. The only noise in the room was from the monitor tethered to Caroline; the steady beep providing a modicum of comfort while mocking her at the same time. She still hadn't called anyone. She'd put off calling William and Lawrence because she knew they would tell Celia and she wasn't ready to deal with her. The longer she sat by her wife's side in the sterile room, feeling on display thanks to the glass wall facing the nurses' station, the more her own anger at the matriarch grew.
Realizing she shouldn't put it off much longer, and recognizing that once Caroline did wake, she wouldn't want to leave her side long enough to reach out to the boys, she pulled out her mobile and called William. A nurse entered to check on Caroline as the call ended. Kate reached for a tissue to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.
"Didn't mean to interrupt, Love." Kate recognized the pity in the nurse's eyes. She'd noticed the same look on every staff member who had entered throughout the long day.
Flashing her as brave a smile as she could muster, she said, "It's fine. It was Caroline's oldest. I promised him updates. Anything positive I can report?" She clutched the mobile to her chest, willing the nurse to tell her what she wanted to hear.
"Her vitals are stronger and her fever is down," came the quick response. The nurse moved to a closet and pulled out a thin blanket. "Why don't you close your eyes for a bit? This will be a marathon, not a sprint. That chair reclines if you wish to stretch out. I'll wake you the minute she wakes."
Exhaustion overtook Kate at the suggestion. As much as she didn't want to close her eyes, she knew she needed to rest for the baby's sake. She was on the brink of nodding off a few minutes later when Celia rang her mobile. Her first reaction was to not answer. Her second was to send a response that she couldn't talk right now. But she knew neither of those actions would stop Celia from persisting.
"Celia," she said in a flat, clipped tone.
"Kate. William said I wasn't to call but I knew you wouldn't mind. We'll come right over. What room is she in? How is she?"
"Celia. Don't." The exhaustion in her voice was lost on the upset mother.
"If we leave now we should be there in an hour. Gary said he'd drive us. Can we meet with the doctor when we get there?" Celia's presumptuousness instantly angered the battle-weary Kate.
"Celia. Don't come. She's in good hands," she said in a quiet, exasperated voice.
"She's my daughter. I have to be there. What if there are decisions to be made," she said unthinking. Kate could hear Celia telling Alan and Gillian they had to go quickly.
Hearing Celia cross that line and say the unthinkable broke something deep inside Kate that had been building since they first met. "She's my wife. I said don't come. If she wants to see you when she wakes, someone will let you know," her voice growing firmer to get the message through to the myopic elder.
"We're leaving now. I want to be there when she wakes. What did the doctor say? I need to talk with him," Celia persisted, oblivious to Kate's deeper meaning.
"Celia, I don't know how to be clearer. I'll instruct the staff that you are not to be admitted." She glanced at her wife, hoping this sad conversation wasn't registering with her. "I want her as calm as possible and you really upset her yesterday. Don't come."
"Don't be silly. I need to talk with her doctor," Celia said, undeterred.
"No, you don't. It's not your place anymore," the tone in her voice was more forceful than ever. Recalling her wife's tears from the night before, Kate doubled down, "As her wife, I will make any decisions needed. If I weren't here, it would be William to decide now that he's an adult. Stay at the farm, I don't even want to see you at the house."
Celia couldn't hide her sniffles on the other end of the phone. But before she could respond or protest further, Kate unceremoniously hit the red button to end the call. Kate surprised herself; she'd finally been able to push back and put Celia in her place. She thought she might regret it later but didn't think she was anymore disrespectful than Celia had been to her and she was resolute to continue doing what she thought Caroline would want her to do.
In an attempt to put the call behind her, Kate scrolled through the wedding photos on her mobile, pleased she'd asked William to take lots of snaps. Silent tears began to fall again as she remembered looking into Caroline's baby blue eyes that seemed to sparkle more during their intimate ceremony than Kate had ever seen. She drank in the memory of the embarrassed hitch that crept into Caroline's voice as she publicly pledged her life to her, and closed her own eyes in an attempt to stay in that happy memory as she fell asleep under the scratchy hospital blanket.
"Kate, wake up." Dulcet tones cut through the new bride's restless sleep and brought her gently to the surface of wakefulness. She felt a soft caress on her cheek as a soft kiss landed on her lips. Shocked by the intimate contact, she instinctively pulled back and opened her eyes, not sure who or what she'd find in Caroline's ICU room.
"Sorry to startle you darling, " Caroline responded from where she was kneeling beside the small sofa. It was then that she noticed dried tear tracks on Kate's cheeks. Concerned, Caroline leaned back over for another kiss to help chase away whatever dark clouds had caused them.
When the kiss ended, Kate blinked a couple of times, taking a long look at Caroline before noticing a couple of bags of groceries on the kitchen counter waiting to be put away.
"How about I make us some lunch while you tell me why you've been crying?" Caroline suggested as she pushed herself up off her knees.
"I guess it was just a bad dream," Kate explained, trying to convince herself that she wasn't still dreaming as she too stood up. Following Caroline up the steps into the kitchen, she pulled out a stool to sit and watch Caroline's fluid movements as she pulled the milk carton from one of the bags and turned to put it in the fridge.
"I was afraid my mother did something to upset you."
Not able to stand even the smallest distance between them, Kate rose from the stool and enveloped Caroline in her arms. Just before their lips met, she reassuringly said, "Nope. I think I can handle her now that we're married."