Ch. 4
AUTHORS NOTE: So, I know it's been a while since I updated, but I had a bad case of writer's block, plus been a little anemic and just tired. Also, as this is my first every story, I kind of wrote myself into a corner.
Silence. As she stood under the hot water, she allowed the silence to swallow her up. She just stood there. Down the hall Henry was waiting for her, but felt off. He had wanted to go with her, but thought at the time that she needed some space. Now, though, he felt he was wrong. As he walked out into the hallway, he saw an elderly nurse at a desk.
"excuse me, my wife just left to get cleaned up, but I need to speak to her. Can you point me in the right direction?"
The nurse smiled up to him with a knowing look, "Your wife that pretty blond?"
Henry blushed for reasons he didn't understand. "Yes Ma'am."
"Well it's about time. I was wondering when you would figure out, she needed you." She shook her head as she spoke in a heavy southern accent. "Men, young and old! I swear to God they are either saying somethin' stupid, or doin' somethin' stupid!" she laughed up at Henry. "I mean no offence. My name is Gretta. I have six children, all boys. Them plus my Ronnie. I feel I have a PHD on the male species. When your woman came out of that room I knew if you didn't go after her in about half an hour, I was gonna have to come and grab your ear and drag you to her." She told Henry directly.
Henry just stared at her. She reminded him of his own mother. She was about his mother's age. He smiled at her and said "I guess I have to take your word for it. Thank you. Everyone here has been so great about making sure both my son and my wife are taken care of. I'm not really used to being treated this way. Is it a southern thing?"
Gretta laughed "it may be a southern thing, I don't know. I've never left the south to find out. Born and raised here in Memphis/Bartlett area. Never left. Never wanted to (She shrugged). All my boys have though. They spread out all over the place."
Henry replied "I have four. Two girls and two boys." His voice caught when he said boys. It was not lost on Gretta.
Gretta patted his shoulder and said in a low voice "I know you feel helpless now. But just know that you will not be that way for long. Your boy is a fighter. I can tell. They told me my Charlie wouldn't survive after he was born. But he did. Every day I would wake up and he was still here. That is the power of God. All of my boys. They are my proof of God's grace. It may not give you much solace now, but know it will later." She turned to him as they got to a door. "You are gonna have to be the strong one. I could tell when your wife came in that she was holding on by the skin of her teeth. You let her breakdown. If you need to you can always come find me. I will be here for the next twelve hours."
Henry was touched. He reached out and gave Gretta a hug and whispered "Thank you so much." She smiled and rubbed his back. After about five minutes, he let go of her. She cupped his face and looked into his eyes, and said "You are a strong man. You are what she needs. You are her rock. Don't let her forget that." Then she was gone. Henry was filled with a determination he forgot he had. He then wasted no time opening the door.
Susie raised her head from the textbook she was reading. She then jumped up. "Dr. McCord. I'm sorry did you need something…" she nervously asked.
He smiled at her and said "Please call me Henry and no, I was just going to check on Elizabeth."
Susie smiled back and pointed in the direction of the showers. He nodded his head and said "Thanks."
"my wife has not eaten since noon. Is there any way you can get her something to eat? We will stay here until you come back." Henry told the young woman.
"Sure Sir. Any food allergies?" she asked. He replied no, just no tuna.
As she left, he walked into the shower room and saw her sitting in the shower with her knees drawn up. She had shut down. Henry stripped down and got in the shower with her.
"Babe…come on stand up for me" he said softly. As she stood up with his help, he sent a silent thanks to God she was at least responding to commands. "alright babe. Let's get you clean" henry then proceeded to have a one-sided conversation with Elizabeth ash he cleaned her body of blood and dirt. For her part, Elizabeth just stood there with her eyes closed. When he finished getting all the blood off, he helped her out of the shower and wrapped her in two towels and sat her down on the bench as he got dried off and dressed again. He then began drying off his wife. Her eyes were open but she was not really present.
"babe, raise your arms. Good, now pick up you left foot, now you right. Ok, now stand up for me. Ok, now you can sit back down. As he was putting her socks on, she finally looked at him and smiled. "thank you, Henry, for always taking care of me." He looks at her in the eye and says "Always and anywhere." Then he put on her a pair of tennis shoes and tied the laces.
"Ok, I heard Susie get back a minute ago. She has you some food and after you eat, we can go see Blake." Henry said and then cut her off as she went to say she wasn't hungry. "No, you will eat. Doctors' orders." They both grinned. She replied "You're not that kind of doctor…but fine."
Henry knew after 30 years of marriage to just take the win. He led her to the next room where Susie had brought two dinner trays.
Susie saw them come in the room. "You look much better Madam Secretary. Dr. McCord had me get you some dinner and I figured Dr. McCord would also need dinner so, I brought him some too. This isn't what the patients get, it's a little better. If you want something else, I'm sure I can get that…" she was nervously rambling. Elizabeth smiled over to Henry who smiled back. she walked over to the young woman who was still rambling about cafeteria hours. She stopped her by wrapping her in a hug and said "Thanks Susie. It's perfect. Thanks for all your help. Now, from my understanding, we are going to be spending a lot of time together, so please I am Elizabeth and this (pointing to the right) is Henry.
Susie took a deep breath and let it out fast. "Ok. Elizabeth." They both smiled. Susie then watched as they sat down to eat and took up her spot back on the couch with her textbook.
When they were finished eating, Susie walked them to a set of heavy doors that said SICU. Henry turned to Susie and asked what the SICU stood for. She told him it was the surgical intensive care unit. That Blake would stay here until he could be safely moved to the CCU or the Cardiac Care Unit. She went on to say that unlike the standard areas, where one nurse has between three and eight patients; in the SICU's and the CCU's every patient has his/her own nurse who is assigned to them. As they walked into the unit, the lights were low. Susie explained that they keep the lights dim at night to help with not throwing off the patients Circadian Rhythm or their sleep cycle. She went on to explain that the Circadian Rhythm influences body temperature and other important bodily functions such as the production of blood cells and fighting infection. Both Elizabeth and Henry listened intently as Susie explained everything to them before they really had to ask for clarification. As they got to the last glass cubical whose doors were flanked by two DS agents, Elizabeth realized that she had lost track of Matt. And that never happened. She turned around and sure enough, there he was about six steps behind her. She smiled at him and let go of Henrys hand. she walked up to Matt and pulled him into a tight hug that he returned. He then cleared his throat and pushed her back gently. No words were needed. It was understood.
Henry watched this happen and smiled to himself. His Lizzie had always had the ability to disarm even the roughest, toughest of people. As she came back to his side, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. When they entered Blakes room, they saw him just lying there. Just like all those years ago, except so much worse. He was ghost white. He had tubes and lines and wires coming from everywhere.
Elizabeth just held his hand tighter and whispered "oh, my baby…" Henry could do nothing but silently agree.
**Flashback December 22nd 5am**
As they walked into his room, both Elizabeth and Henry were struck by how small he looked in the bed. He was so still and had the tube coming out of his mouth and the mechanical sound of the respirator breathing for him. It was heartbreaking. As Elizabeth walked over to his left side and grabbed his hand, Henry did the same on the right side. They both sat in silence just holding his hand.
The next day at about 6pm, the doctors decided to ease the sedation. It was almost midnight when Blake began to fight the respirator. Once his eyes were open, Elizabeth spoke to him to calm him while Henry went to get the nurse. It felt like an eternity before they had the tube removed and had him sitting up. He was still breathing hard, so they left him with a nasal canula. The day before had seen both Henry and Elizabeth contact Dr. Sherman who agreed to take Blakes case. She told them to call her day or night whenever Blake was extubated. So, as Elizabeth sat with Blake, Henry went to call her. Blake was not making eye contact but, knew he would have to face the music. She turned to Elizabeth and saw the pain he had caused, and as a tear fell, he rasped "I'm so sorry. I didn't think anyone would miss me. But I can see now that that's not true."
Dr. Sherman had just walked back into the room with Henry and said "That's good. We can work with that. Hi, my name is Dr. Kinsey Sherman. Now a few things Mr. Moran. First, you have been placed on a mandatory 72-hour psych hold. That means that for the next 72 hours you cannot for any reason leave this room or be left alone for any reason. Now, can I assume you have no problem with Henry and Elizabeth being a part of this process?" Blake just shook his head and held Elizabeth's hand tighter. "Ok, that's wonderful. Next, you are now my patient. Over the next three days, we will be taking a lot. Do you agree with me being your therapist?" again, Blake just nodded. "Ok, perfect. Now, Blake, Henry and Elizabeth have given me an overview of the circumstances that have led us here today. So, now that we are all on the same page, I am going to have Elizabeth and Henry say their goodbyes. They can come and see you the day after Christmas to pick you up. ok. Now as its almost 1:30 am, would you like something to help you sleep?" asked Dr. Sherman.
Blake liked her. She was no nonscience. She was warm and kind. So, he looked at Elizabeth who smiled at him and then at Henry who did the same and answered in a clear voice "Yes please."
Dr. Sherman smiled at the young man. This was going to go easy. She stood back as first Henry and then Elizabeth gave Blake hugs and told him how much they loved him. Then watched as the sedative took effect and Blake went into a peaceful sleep.
Once in the hallway. Elizabeth gave Kinsey a hug and said "Thanks for helping. We will get you whatever you need. Just let us know what it is." Henry was behind her agreeing with everything she said.
"Well, to be honest. You are what I am going to need. For the next three days, I am going to force him to confront all of his pent-up trauma. But from you I will need the understanding that once he is released, that he not be alone. It will be a while before I am comfortable with him being alone. Are you both up for that?" asked Dr. Sherman. Both Henry and Elizabeth said "Yes" together. "Well" said Dr. Sherman, "that is all he and I will need. From this point forward, he will have to be forced to talk to one of you. He can't be allowed to internalize. I have worked with more of these young people than I care to admit, the trauma is worse than what you experienced in Iraq and worse that Desert Strom for you Henry. Rather than have an event haunting him, he is the event. His existence is haunting him. I don't usually judge people, but the parents who subject these kids to this kind of abuse should be lined up and shot. Its horrific. But anyway, I will see you both on the 26th."
Both Henry and Elizabeth said their goodbyes to Dr. Sherman and went home. When they got home, they noticed the lights were still on. Once inside, they found out why. All three kids were passed out on the couch together. Stevie stirred first.
"Oh, my God how is Blake?" she quickly asked once she noticed her parents.
They both smiled sadly. Elizabeth responded, "He's going to be Ok, but he is going to need us."
The other two kids awoke to Elizabeth's response. Jason was the first to say anything.
"Well of course he has us. He's like this cool older brother. I like Blake, he's awesome. Is he going to be staying with us now?" asked Jason. Allison followed up by saying "Yeah, I never really thought about it before, but he is like an older brother. When he comes to get you clothes sometimes, we would talk about the latest trends and fashion. I really like Blake. And I'm glad he is going to be ok and that he has us to help him."
Elizabeth and Henry both said silent prayers of thanks to God for giving them these three amazing humans. Elizabeth told the kids that yes, Blake was going to be ok, and that he would be staying with them for the foreseeable future. That he was going to be moving in the day after Christmas.
**end flashback**
Henry and Elizabeth slowly approached the bed and Susie began to explain all of the equipment and what if was for. She explained that he was on the respirator which was breathing for him, not because he could not breath for himself, but because this would help the body to heal faster not having to worry about breathing. It meant his body would have more energy for other things like producing clotting factors that would help heal the internal injuries. Next, was the tube in the side of his chest. She explained it was a chest tube and that even though the surgeon repaired the internal damage, the ooze of blood was still draining and to keep it from building up like before and stopping his heart, they would leave the tube in until it no longer drained. Then she explained the IV lines and the Blood transfusion machine known as a cell saver. That while during surgery, as they were giving Blake blood, he was constantly losing it, so it was having to be replaced again. Then she explained the heart monitor and that the normal range was between 60 and 100 beats per minute and that Blakes was at 72 which was very good. Then she showed them the O2 saturation reading which was one of the things they were worried about. She went on to say that with Blake being on a respirator, he O2 sat should be between 98 and 100, but it was holding at 91. It was due to the damage to his pulmonary artery and they would keep him on the vent until it came up to 98 or higher.
"Ok, guys. I would suggest that you both call it a night. He is stable. I will be staying here with him. I believe your security is also staying. I would suggest you both go to the Hotel. I will call you personally if there is any change. And I do mean ANY change." Said Susie.
While neither one wanted to leave, they both knew they needed to. So, they agreed. After thanking Susie again, they began the long walk back to the entrance. Elizabeth was so tired that once inside the SUV she leaned over to Henry and fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. Henry could not fault her and just sat in the SUV while they drove to the streets of downtown Memphis heading to the Hotel. He was more than happy to be her pillow. As long as she was ok and Blake was on the mend. He spent the less than 10-minute drive in silent prayer. He tanked God for his family, for sparing his wife and for keeping his son alive. He knew tomorrow was going to be tough. News was going to break and when it did, he was going to have a very upset family. Especially one particular daughter.
