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Distant voices in the silent night,
Call to a memory.
Someone touched me but it don't feel right.
It's only you I need.
Believe me...
When I call to your heart,
Hear me callin' to your heart.
Oh, I call to your heart.
I'm calling to you, calling to you.
Hear me call to you heart.
Your love, I've lost along the way,
But darling, I'll find you someday.
Calling to you,
Hear me calling to you.
Hear me calling to your heart
Darlin', you remember, the dreams that we had.
I'd give everything, my world, to hold you again.
And darlin', together, we can make it work out.
So stay with me baby, I need you now
Call to your heart,
I'll be calling you back again,
Can you hear all the times,
When I call to your heart.
Hear me calling to you,
calling to your...Heart
Oh I call to your heart
Oh I call to your heart.
Hear me calling to you,
Calling to your heart
...To your heart
Call To The Heart, Giuffria
Richard Sennet and Dwight Freeman had stayed conspicuous when Monica Warner entered the hospital. They would talk to Jo later. Right now, Jo needed to concentrate on Blair and DC. But neither one were going to leave for quite a while, Dennis Levine having instructed them to stay as long as they needed. Levine himself was going to be visiting later that morning.
As Monica led Blair and Bailey toward their conference with the doctor, the two men approached Edna Garrett. Neither of them had met Edna, but had seen plenty of photographs of her. They were well aware how important the woman was to both Jo and Blair, and how highly Edna thought of the two young women.
"Mrs. Garrett?"
Edna turned to see two very tall, obviously muscular young men in front of her, wondering who they were. "Yes, I'm Edna Garrett, how can I help you."
"Ma'am", Dwight began, "I'm Dwight Freeman, and this is Richard Sennet. Both of us are very good friends of..."
"Blair and Jo's friends, Richard and Dwight", she exclaimed, not meaning to cut the gentleman off, but she the names had immediately rang a bell. Edna moved up to both of them shaking their hands. "I can't believe it's taken this long for us to meet, but this is a pleasant surprise, gentlemen. I've heard a lot about both of you."
They both smiled back. "Trust me, Mrs. Garrett", Richard added, "we've heard a lot about you, all of it good. And so you know, no, we will never let Jo live down running over your flowers."
In such a desperate moment, it was good for all three to softly laugh. "I've heard the two of you have had your hands full with these two as well?"
Dwight smiled and chuckled. "They have a way of finding trouble, don't they?" Dwight became serious. "We're going to be staying here for as long as Jo and Blair need us. We didn't want Jo to know we're here right now-we drove Mrs. Warner in from Newburgh. Right now, Jo needs to focus on Blair and DC, not us."
"Both the girls said you were honorable and good men. They've done well making friends with you. They see you two as your brothers."
"Believe me, Mrs. Garrett", Richard concurred, "the feeling is mutual. It started out as just another assignment when we were just drivers, but Jo and Blair have come to mean an awful lot to us, and to our girlfriends as well. They're like sisters to all four of us. It's that whole family thing those two are always talking about."
"This 'family' just keeps growing, doesn't it?" Edna walked back up to both of them, giving them a quick hug. "And if they see you as family, so do I. Welcome to this amazing family, gentlemen."
Monica led them to the information desk, identifying herself as next-of-kin to Blair Warner and David Charles Warner. The male nurse at the desk checked Monica's identification, then immediately put a call into the physician on duty for the overnight shift. It took about fifteen minutes for the male doctor to appear.
A tall black man approached the threesome. "Mrs. Warner?" He had heavily accented but excellent English. "I'm Dr. Kamau Chidi, the Chief of ER and ICU on this shift."
"Dr. Chidi", Monica said, wanting to snipe at the fact that no information had been released about Blair or David, but knowing it wasn't this man's fault. Monica looked first at Bailey. "This is Blair's younger sister, Bailey Warner, and this Blair's...partner, Jo Polniaczek, and David's other mother."
Monica had hesitated only a moment in calling Jo a "partner" to Blair. It didn't register at all with Jo, who was still too nervous about what lay ahead.
"It's nice to meet you, ladies. If you would follow me, we can talk in a private room before you see Ms. Warner and David."
Those words alone made all three sigh in relief. They were alive. That much had been established.
Arriving in the room, a nurse was also present, the three ladies and the doctor all taking a seat.
"I won't waste any time. First of all", he turned to look directly at Jo, "I know, Ms. Polniaczek, that you've been here since yesterday afternoon. I can assure you that, if it was just up to myself and our staff, you would have given you the information. Unfortunately, the way the laws are written, we could not do that. And I sincerely apologize to you for that."
Jo nodded silently. She hadn't been mad at any of the staff-she knew they were just following the law as written. She had snapped over sheer terror in not knowing what was going on.
He turned now to generally look at all three of them. "First for little David. He suffered a broken left fibula, which was set immediately, and his leg should heal just fine. Other than that, he suffered some scrapes and bruises, but no head trauma. He's a very lucky little man."
Monica instinctively grabbed Jo's hand for support, both of them breathing a huge sigh of relief. All three knew there was a reason he had mentioned David before Blair. They waited for the hammer to fall.
"And Blair?" Jo's voice was barely audible. The doctor looked at the two older ladies, not wanting to direct his gaze at the younger girl.
"Blair, right now, is in Critical Condition, ladies. She's currently in ICU, and currently, she is not stable."
Bailey started to cry, Monica hugging her reassuringly.
"Go on, Doctor", Jo nodded.
"She has suffered multiple broken bones, in her left arm, her ribs. She has multiple fractures in all the bones in her left leg, some quite severe. Her pelvis was broken. She suffered a broken jaw, and a fractured skull. The most serious problem right now, however, is that she has the most severe concussion one can sustain, and, at the moment, because of the severity of the injury, she cannot breath on her own. She was intubated immediately upon arrival, the machine breathing for her. She's also suffered severe bruising over most of her body."
Jo stood up, even though she felt faint. She had to move, covering her mouth with a shaky hand. "My God", she said sotto voce. She turned back to the doctor. "What's her prognosis?"
"Right now, Ms. Polniaczek, it's very uncertain. The next forty-eight hours are critical. Until her breathing stabilizes, and until we have more information about her brain activity as the concussion subsides and the swelling of her brain goes down, he prognosis is uncertain."
Jo turned away from the others. She had to be strong for Blair, but even more importantly, she had to be there for her son, for David. Jo had always wondered if she had the Right Stuff to be a mother. She and Blair had shared the duties together, and, if possible, it had brought them even closer together. Now Jo faced that real possibility that...she didn't even want to think it, but she had to...that Blair could not make it, and it would be up to her to raise their son in a way that Blair would be proud.
Jo turned back to face the doctor. "Can we see Blair now, doctor?"
He nodded his head. "I would advise...suggest, maybe is a better word, that, at least at first, only you, Mrs. Warner, and Ms. Polniaczek, go in." He looked down at Bailey. "I think it's important, my young lady, that they go in first."
"But why?" Bailey didn't get the import of what Dr. Chidi was alluding to.
Monica turned to Bailey. "Because, from what the doctor told us, sweetie, Blair is in bad shape, and she's not going to look like the sister you know." Monica looked at Jo, who immediately understood what her eyes were saying, Jo looking at the nurse, who left the room in a hurry. "You will get to visit Blair, honey. We're not trying to keep you from her, but Jo and I need to see first. As her mother, and Jo, as Blair's partner, it's our responsibility. I know it's hard to understand, but please, Bailey, it's important that you wait a bit."
By the time she had finished, Edna Garrett was at the entrance to the room, again Jo's eyes relaying to Mrs. Garrett what needed to be done. Edna nodded.
"But I will get to see her, you promise?"
Now Jo moved in to support Monica. "You will, kid, we both promise. Blair's my family, you're my family. We stick together, but your mom's right. I think, at least at first, this won't be any place for you to be."
"Come on, Bailey", Mrs. Garrett said softly. "I know for a fact that one Blair's best friends, Natalie Green, will be here shortly."
Bailey nodded. "You, Jo, and Blair have all told me a lot about Natalie. I've been wanting to meet her."
"And she wants to meet you, kiddo", Jo reminded her with a small smile. "Again, I promise, before the day is out, you'll get to see Blair-and sooner than that, you'll get to see DC, okay?"
Bailey hugged and kissed her mother first, then Jo, and without another word, went to Edna, departing the room wit her.
When they were gone, Dr. Chidi spoke again. "Her ICU room isn't too far away. Again, I appreciate that only you two will see Blair at first. I'm sorry if I overstepped my boundaries."
"No, doc", Jo said, "I think you're right. I don't think Bailey is ready to see what Blair looks like. Hell, I'm not ready to see it, but like Monica said, it's our responsibility."
The doctor nodded, indicating for the two women to follow her to Blair's ICU room. There was a pair of sliding glass doors at the entrance, a privacy curtain behind the doors, so no one could simply look in. The fear rose in both women as they approached the door, Dr. Chidi entering first, to make sure nothing critical was happening with Blair or the nurses constantly on watch over her.
He came back out a few moments later, and somberly nodded at both women, both of them suddenly feeling like their feet were blocks of concrete, barely able to move. Jo looked over at Monica, who was visibly trembling. Without a thought, despite their past battles, Jo softly grabbed Monica's hand, almost startling the older women. Their eyes met.
"We go in together, Monica. Whatever we see, remember, it's our Blair."
Monica squeezed her hand and nodded, not able to speak.
Jo took the first step, giving Monica the courage to do so as well. The doors opened, a nurse opening the curtain, and quickly shuttering them behind both woman.
What Jo and Monica saw was something they couldn't even comprehend. Monica wailed loudly at the sight of her oldest daughter. "Oh, Blair, my baby! Oh, my God!"
Jo couldn't speak, couldn't move for a moment her body shaking in revulsion at the site before her. Without warning, she fell to her knees, and let out an agonizing, heart-rendering cry of despair unlike any human being should ever utter or hear.
"My God, Blair..."
To be continued in Terms Of Endearment, Part 8 in the Facts Of Life: Fire and Rain series.