CHAPTER 77
The months wound around and Elizabeth and Jack were getting closer to welcoming their two new babies into the home. At 33 weeks, Elizabeth felt like she was going to explode at any moment but knew she had to keep her babies inside for at least another few weeks.
Instead of going back to work, Elizabeth used the time to begin planning what she was going to do when her youngest two were a little older. With the money her father had given them, it opened up many opportunities.
Instead of going back to teaching, Elizabeth was planning on opening her own facility for teaching disabled children. It all started from a conversation with a friend who's nephew had severe muscular dystrophy and the only school that could cater for him was a significant distance from their home.
Elizabeth had begun doing the groundwork for the school, including what qualifications she would need along with the more practical aspects such as what type of building was required, what amenities were needed for her students, licensing and funding requirements, the types of students she would be able to cater for, the student and staffing numbers and everything in between. It was a huge undertaking but she had been at it now for just two months and things were finally progressing.
At first, Elizabeth didn't think Jack would be too keen on her taking on her own business but he had told her that whatever would make her happy, was what they would do.
Elizabeth sat in her downstairs study staring at some documentation as Eve sat beside her at her own small table colouring in. She was interrupted by her phone ringing.
"Hello?"
"Elizabeth?"
"Speaking."
"It's Jenny Schumer from the school. I'm calling about Grace."
"Is she okay?"
"I'm afraid not. She had a bad fall in the playground. She has hurt her arm quite severely. We've called for an ambulance and they will be here any minute."
Elizabeth's heart began to race and she automatically placed her hand over it. "Should I meet them at the hospital, Jenny?"
"That would be a good idea. I just want to keep you on the line in case the paramedics want to speak to you."
"Okay."
Elizabeth stood up quickly. "Eve, honey, we have to go. Gracie has been hurt. Come on."
Elizabeth took her hand and despite Eve's questions, she was able to lead her to the car and get her into her seat and do up her seatbelt. Elizabeth ran back inside to grab her handbag as Jenny began to speak again over the siren that she could now hear in the background.
"Elizabeth, the ambulance just arrived. They're assessing her now."
"Alright, I'm getting in the car now. I just don't know where to go yet" Elizabeth said, getting frustrated.
"One of the paramedics wants to speak to you, hang on."
Elizabeth heard the phone change hands. "Mrs Thornton? Grace's mother?"
"Yes. Is she okay?" Tears began to roll down Elizabeth's cheeks as the stress of the situation began to overwhelm her.
"She's okay. Does she have any allergies to any medication?"
"Not that I know of."
"Alright, we're loading her into the ambulance and we will be heading to the hospital in Landerville. Are you able to meet us there?"
"Yes, I'm on my way."
Thankfully, it was the same hospital that she had given birth to both Grace and Eve so she was familiar with it and where the emergency department was. After the paramedic hung up, Elizabeth pulled the car out of the drive and headed down the street. She quickly dialled Jack on the handsfree and breathed a sigh of relief when he answered.
"Beth?"
"Jack, I'm on my way to the hospital?"
"You're in labour already?!" Jack's urgent voice filled the car.
"No! The school called. Gracie was in an accident. She's already in an ambulance on her way there" Elizabeth managed to get out before she broke down in tears. "Jack …"
"I'm coming, Beth. I'll meet you there. She'll be okay, alright?"
"How do you know that?"
"I can feel it. She'll be fine. Now don't get too upset while you're driving. Where's Eve?"
"She's with me."
"Okay, well let me call Lee or Rosie and see if one of them can meet us there."
Elizabeth sniffled into the phone.
"Stay calm, Beth. I love you. I'll see you soon."
Elizabeth mumbled out an "I love you" through her tears before hanging up the phone.
"Mommy, are you okay?" Eve said quietly from the back seat.
"Yes, I'm just worried about Gracie. They said she hurt her arm badly."
"Like Daddy did?"
Elizabeth was always surprised about how intuitive her children were and the things that came out of them often amazed her.
"Yes, exactly like Daddy did. We're almost there."
Within ten minutes, Elizabeth pulled into the hospital grounds and headed straight for the emergency carpark. She hurried out of the car, as best as her huge belly would allow, before helping Eve down and rushing toward the main doors. She rushed toward the triage station.
"My daughter, Grace Thornton, was just brought in by an ambulance."
The nurse nodded and quickly grabbed another nurse in the room who came around to open the main doors for Elizabeth.
"Just through here, Mrs Thornton."
The nurse directed her through toward a section in emergency, stopping in front of a curtain, before kneeling down to Eve's height.
"And what is your name, princess?"
"Eve."
"Alright Eve. Your sister needs Mommy right now. How about we go find some toys to play with?"
Eve looked up at Elizabeth who nodded her head and gave her a tight smile before Eve took the nurses hand and allowed herself to be led away. Elizabeth immediately came around the curtain and her breath caught when she saw her little girl laying on the gurney unmoving. One of the assistant teachers was standing on the other side of the bed.
At the sight of Eve, Elizabeth's hand flew to her mouth as she tried to muffle her sob. One of the nurses came around the curtain a second later.
"Mrs Thornton?"
Elizabeth nodded. The nurse ushered her to a chair near Gracie's bedside.
"Her bad arm is the left one. You can hold onto this hand. We just sedated her because of the pain, which is why she's asleep. We're just waiting for the x-ray machine."
Elizabeth took Gracie's hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Gracie, sweetie. I'm here. Mommy's here" she whispered into Grace's ear, before brushing her hair away from her forehead slowly. "Gracie, Daddy is on his way. He'll be here soon."
Elizabeth waited but was disappointed that Grace was unresponsive, not wishing her to be in pain but just wishing she could at least see her daughter's eyes open. The teachers assistant spoke up then. Elizabeth didn't know her very well, as she had started at the school just after Christmas.
"I'm sorry about the circumstances, Mrs Thornton."
"It's Elizabeth."
The woman nodded. "I'm Mary. I was on the playground when you're daughter fell."
"What happened?"
"A few of the girls were playing tag and Grace jumped over one of those benches but tripped and fell hard. I suspect she will be very bruised elsewhere as well."
"Thankyou for staying with her."
"That's okay. I might go now. You will let us know how she is tomorrow though?"
"Yes, of course. Thanks again."
Elizabeth was left on her own but after ten minutes, she heard Jack's voice asking for his daughter and as she stood up he emerged from around the curtain.
"Jack!"
"Beth! Is she okay?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.
"She's been sedated for the time being. They are just waiting for the x-ray."
Jack bent down, kissing Grace on the forehead. "Is it this one?" Jack asked as he ran his finger gently down her arm which was now beginning to bruise.
"Yes."
"She hasn't been awake since you got here?"
"No" she said quietly, with tears in her eyes.
"Hey, it's okay" Jack said, putting his arms back around her. "She'll be fine."
"I know, I just don't like seeing her like this" Elizabeth said as she began to cry.
Jack knew it was all the hormones talking so he wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and rubbed her back gently. A few minutes later, the nurse returned with an orderly to assist her.
"We can take her through to get the x-ray now. You may as well both stay here. We won't be long."
Elizabeth nodded, but bent over to kiss Grace again before she was wheeled away on her bed. Jack made her sit down on the only available chair, his arm still resting around her shoulders. They sat there quietly, Jack asking a few questions. When he realised that Eve was at the hospital too, he left Elizabeth's side to go check on her and returned ten minutes later.
"Lee just arrived and he's taken Eve home with him. He's going to call Vi to get her to pick up Halley from school and then he will go pick her up from Vi's."
Elizabeth's mind darted to her other two children that had been absent from her thoughts at that moment, all her energy was concentrated on Grace.
"Oh, do you think that will be okay? She only has a few weeks left before the baby comes."
"I'm sure it will be fine. We are so lucky to have so many people around to help us."
"Yes, we are. I'm sorry – I forgot about Halley. How terrible is that?"
"It's okay. You've had a lot going on. That's why I'm here" he said with a smile.
Grace returned shortly after, still asleep on her bed but not long after she began to stir. Jack was holding her hand when she opened her eyes, still in a daze.
"Daddy?"
"Hi Gracie."
"Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital. You hurt your arm. Do you remember?"
She looked up at him confused before she shook her head slightly.
"That's okay."
"Where's Mommy?"
Elizabeth was standing on her other side now. "I'm here, sweetie. Are you hurting anywhere?"
Grace stopped to think for a moment before nodding her head slowly. "My arm."
"Alright, I will just go grab the nurse" Jack said before he left them for a moment.
Elizabeth ran her hand down the side of Grace's face, pushing her hair back.
"You scared me, sweetie. You've been sleeping for a while" she said quietly.
Gracie continued staring up at her with still sleepy eyes, clearly still under the influence of the sedatives. The nurse returned a few minutes later and added an injection to her drip.
"This is just for pain relief this time. The results from the x-ray should be here very soon and then we will know what needs to happen."
Almost twenty minutes later, a doctor finally appeared with the nurse alongside her. Jack stood beside Elizabeth holding her free hand.
"It looks like Grace has broken her arm in two places close to the elbow. Sometimes breaks can be casted and they will heal on their own but due to the position of the break, the bone really needs surgery to have it moved back into the correct position and allow it to heal properly. This will ensure there are no long-term problems as Grace's bones continue to grow."
Elizabeth sighed disappointedly, her mind racing through the options, even though she understood what the doctor was suggesting.
"When can surgery be arranged? We don't want her waiting indefinitely if she needs sedation."
"I've contacted a paediatric orthopedic surgeon. He is on his way. If you are in agreement for Grace to have the surgery, a time will be decided on depending on the surgeon's availability and the theatres."
This time Jack was sighing disappointedly as he expected them to be stuck there waiting for surgery all day and evening. The doctor and nurse left and Jack paced impatiently backward and forward waiting for the surgeon to arrive.
"You're going to wear a hole in the floor, Jack" Elizabeth said quietly, as she sat stroking Grace's free arm. Grace's eyes had closed and she seemed to have drifted off to sleep again.
"I don't like seeing her in p-a-i-n. This could take forever" he spelt out so Grace didn't understand what he was saying if she was awake.
"She's okay. The pain meds have kicked in for the moment."
At that moment, a man poked his head into their area.
"Mr and Mrs Thornton, I presume?"
"Yes?" Jack said, turning.
"I'm Doctor Parson" the young man said as he emerged. "And this must be Grace" he said as he came to the bedside with a folder of notes in his hand. He laid the notes down and gently placed his hands on Grace's arm, raising it carefully and looking at it from different angles. Elizabeth was worried that Grace would be hurting, but her eyes remained close despite a small whimper at one point.
"I've had a look at the x-ray and I agree with the radiologist about the condition of the break. I think surgery would be the best option considering the position of the break and Grace's age. Do you have any concerns or objections to surgery?"
"No" Elizabeth said.
"Yes" Jack said at the same time.
They looked toward one another, both puzzled.
"Let me clarify" Jack went on. "I agree that Grace needs surgery but I don't want her in pain any longer than necessary. How long until she can get into surgery?"
"It looks like I can do it later this afternoon. Thankfully she doesn't have too much swelling, just bruising, which is optimal. I will make sure the nurse continues regular pain medication and once the theatre is free, she will be moved to pre-op and given anaesthetic. The surgery will be relatively quick as the breaks were clean so they will be moved back into position and pinned. The incision will be kept as small as purpose."
Elizabeth nodded in agreement but Jack was still uncertain.
"I will give you some time to discuss the operation and I will send the nurse in with the consent form if you're happy to go ahead."
"After the surgery, when can Grace come home?" Elizabeth asked.
"If everything goes to plan she could be out of here by tomorrow. It really just depends on her recovery from the anaesthetic and her overall pain level."
"Great. Thank you, Doctor."
Dr Parson left the room then and Jack turned to Elizabeth.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"There's nothing to think about. She needs the surgery for the best outcome" Elizabeth spoke determinedly.
"I guess, you're right."
"What's going on Jack?"
"I just hate hospitals. I find them very … confusing."
Elizabeth smiled. "That's understandable. She'll be okay, Jack. There really is no other option."
"I guess not."
By the time the nurse returned with the consent form, they both signed immediately.
Five hours later, after a tense two hours while Grace was in surgery, Grace was wheeled into her room for the night where Jack and Elizabeth were waiting. After seeing Elizabeth's condition, one of the nurse's had found a spare room with space for two beds and had encouraged Elizabeth to lay down while she was left waiting. After a lot of persuasion from both the nurse and Jack, Elizabeth had finally relented and when Grace was finally wheeled in, Elizabeth sat up a little too hastily. While the nurses were refitting all Grace's leads to the machines in the new room, Jack had noticed Elizabeth swaying before she tried to stand and he had moved to her side to make sure she didn't pass out.
"The surgery went well" Dr Parson addressed them. "The sedative should wear off in the next hour or so. We will bring her some food then and will try and get her to eat something but she will remain quite sleepy for the rest of the night probably."
"Great. Thankyou Doctor."
Dr Parson turned to look at them and obviously noticed Elizabeth still swaying from her seated position.
"Mrs Thornton, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine" she answered automatically.
Dr Parson moved closer and put his hand out to hold her shoulder.
"How about you move back on the bed for a moment so I can make sure?"
"I'm fine" Elizabeth said adamantly, while Jack was seeing that she was struggling.
"Beth, baby, how about you do as he says? We don't need you admitted to hospital right now as well."
Elizabeth glanced at him and reluctantly moved back on the bed and Jack helped move her legs up and helped her to rest back on the pillows.
Dr Parson moved the blood pressure unit from the side of Grace's bed to where Elizabeth was and began strapping the blood pressure cuff on her upper arm.
"Is that necessary?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well you look pale and unsteady and you were only sitting down. We don't need you having a fall in your condition. How far along are you?"
"33 weeks" Jack replied.
Dr Parson looked from the cuff to Elizabeth's abdomen. "33?" he asked curiously.
"It's twins" Jack said as he caught on to what the doctor was implying.
Dr Parson nodded and began pumping up the blood pressure cuff while he held his stethoscope on the inside of Elizabeth's arm. He stood there deflating it as he looked at his watch. He checked the result on the gauge.
"Your blood pressure is a little high, Mrs Thornton. I'm going to send the nurse in to check you over fully."
"Really, I feel okay now."
"When did you last eat or drink something?"
"A few hours ago" Elizabeth said, dismissing it.
Jack glanced sideways at her, knowing it was more than a few hours.
"Alright, how about we get you some food as well to help the dizziness, but I'm still going to send the nurse in, otherwise I will just have to admit you" Dr Parson said, staring straight at her.
Elizabeth sighed in annoyance but knew there was no point arguing. Dr Parson left the room and then a new nurse entered, who was way too bubbly for Elizabeth to deal with at that moment.
"Mrs Thornton. Dr Parson filled me in. How about we check everything over while we wait for some food to arrive for you and Grace?"
Elizabeth nodded and allowed the nurse to move around, prodding and poking her. She wrote everything down in a new folder and when she had finished she left it on the end of the bed. Jack noticed that it had Elizabeth's sticker on the cover, all ready to go. They must have looked up her file.
"They're not going to admit me are they?" Elizabeth said worriedly.
"I don't know but we're in the best place for you right now."
"Are you going to stay?"
It was already 9 pm and Jack had been hoping to get back to Eve and Halley but now hearing about Elizabeth's condition as well he didn't think he should go too far.
"No. I will go home once I know you're okay."
"I'm fine, Jack."
"You said that before and your eyes were almost spinning in you're head. I will wait a little longer. I will just go and call Lee though and give him an update."
The nurse checked Elizabeth over an hour later and found that her blood pressure was still high but not unusually so. After eating she was no longer having vision problems, and although she didn't admit it out loud she didn't feel as nauseous any more. The nurse said she was free to go and Jack had wanted to drive her home and ensure that she got a good night's rest in her own bed but Elizabeth refused to leave Grace's side, despite Jack's protests.
"Beth, you should really be sleeping in your own bed right now."
"I'm not leaving my baby girl."
"I understand, but you need to look after yourself and the twins right now."
"I am not leaving her."
"Why can't you go home and sleep in a proper bed while I stay here with her?"
"She needs her mother, Jack" she said to him firmly.
Jack knew he wasn't going to get anywhere. Elizabeth was being stubborn and there was no changing her mind right now, despite the exhaustion that he could see on her features. Jack let out a sigh.
"Fine. I'm going home now. I will be back in the morning. Call me if anything changes."
Elizabeth nodded and settled herself back on the bed. Jack just shook his head as he came over, bending down to press a kiss to her cheek.
"Take care of yourself. Try and sleep. I love you."
"I love you too" she said softly as he left the room.
Jack got back to his car and called Rosie. She picked up straight away.
"Hi Jack. How is she?"
"Okay, Grace still hasn't woken up yet. I'm just leaving now so I'll be at your place in 20 minutes."
"Alright. See you soon."
Jack pulled up into their driveway and swung his body out of the car, his whole body drained from the stress of the day. If he wasn't worrying about Grace, he had been worrying about Elizabeth and now the fatigue had all of a sudden hit him. He walked up to the front door slowly and knocked.
"Jack!" Rosie said as she answered the door.
"How are the girls?"
"They're fine. Eve fell asleep about two hours ago but Halley is still going."
Jack smiled. "No surprises there."
Jack walked into the house, following behind Rosie, heading for their theatre room. Sure enough, Eve was curled up into a ball on the couch with Halley beside her. Halley glanced over to them as they stood in the door.
"Daddy!" Halley said as she jumped up, running to Jack and throwing her arms around him.
"You ready to go home?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, go get your things and I will carry Eve to the car."
She nodded before bounding off to get her school bag. She was wearing dark blue pyjamas which was a change to her favourite bright pink unicorn ones obviously borrowed from Will.
"They've both had a shower and are borrowing pyjamas off the boys" Rosie added.
"Thanks Rosie. You've been such a great help."
"No problem. Anytime Jack."
Jack went over to the couch, scooping Eve up gently in his arms. She barely moved except to snuggle closer to him. Jack took her out to his car and had her buckled in just as Halley appeared. Jack took her bag off her, putting it on the front seat, before helping her into the seat. He gave Rosie a quick hug before climbing into the driver's seat and reversing the car, turning it toward home.
By the time he pulled into their own drive, Halley was asleep as well. It took ten minutes to carry both girls inside and put them to sleep before he was able to collapse onto his own bed. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking to make sure he hadn't missed any calls from Elizabeth before he plugged it into the charger.
"I'll just stay here for a minute" he said as he relaxed back onto the bed and his eyes drifted closed.
Elizabeth was woken in the early hours of the morning by a little voice.
"Mommy."
Elizabeth stirred and looked sideways to see Grace was trying to get her attention.
"Hey Gracie. How are you feeling?"
"Okay."
"Are you hungry?"
Grace nodded. Elizabeth moved off the bed, slower this time and was grateful when she didn't see stars again like earlier.
Elizabeth moved to the side table where some sweet biscuits sat beside an apple juice. She moved the table closer to Grace and opened the biscuits for her.
"How about you try these while I go find some sandwiches?"
Grace nodded and after Elizabeth made sure Grace was propped up and ready to eat a little, she left the room. The nurses looked up from the station outside of the room and one of them stood to help her. After finding some more food for Grace, the nurse returned with Elizabeth to see how Grace was going.
Ten minutes later, Grace was wide awake so Elizabeth set up both the TV on some cartoons and her phone on a puzzle app and laid back down. She drifted off to sleep almost immediately and didn't wake again until early morning to the sound of voices.
She opened her eyes to see Jack, Halley and Eve crowded around Grace's bed. She had a giant pink teddy bear sitting next to her and they had what looked like McDonald's pancakes spread out in front of them and they were talking quietly.
"What's going on here?" Elizabeth asked.
"Your daughter put in some requests this morning" Jack said with a smile.
"What do you mean?"
"I called as soon as I woke up to make sure everything was okay and this one answered the phone and told me she was starving" Jack said with a smile and Grace giggled as Jack spoke.
"So you brought her McDonalds?"
"That was Halley's idea, but yes."
Elizabeth looked at Grace to see the broad smile and not a hint of any pain, which she was more than thankful about.
With the help of some light pain medication, Grace was released from hospital later that day. With her arm in a full elbow cast and sling, Jack helped manoeuvre her into the car carefully, propping her arm up once inside so the sling didn't pull on her neck and shoulders. Jack kept glancing at Elizabeth as they drove home.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he took her hand in his.
"Yes. Just tired."
She had messaged Rosie and Vi as they were leaving hospital and her phone pinged with replies. Elizabeth pulled her phone out and replied to each of them, thanking Rosie profusely for helping them out the day before.
"How did you manage to get the day off today? I thought you had that big training thing starting today?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah, they continued to go ahead today but I will just join them tomorrow instead. I wasn't supposed to do Saturday but that's okay. I will make it up."
When they got home, Jack helped Grace out of the car and got her situated on the sofa while Elizabeth made her way slowly upstairs. She had been looking forward to a nice warm shower all day and finally when the water hit her back she felt the tension in her shoulders finally depart.
The family spent the rest of the day lazing around. The girls watched a movie and Halley and Eve ran around doing whatever Gracie asked. Elizabeth and Jack chilled out too and when dinner came around, Jack ordered pizza to be delivered. They ate their dinner together and then Jack helped Grace take a bath without getting her cast wet.
They had bought a bunk bed specifically for Grace and Eve to share and Grace had moved into it only a week before but now with the state of Grace's arm, both Jack and Elizabeth knew it was too risky to have either Eve or Grace up there. After little convincing, Halley ended up excitedly climbing into Grace's bed and Grace moved into Halley's room instead.
When Jack and Elizabeth finally climbed into bed, despite their lazy day they were both exhausted.
Jack woke early and left for his training exercises after a quick kiss to Elizabeth's cheek and a glance in at Grace. She appeared comfortable so Jack let her be.
An hour later Elizabeth woke. Honestly, she felt weird. She wasn't quite sure what to pinpoint the feeling as but she just felt off. She had a shower and dressed for the day before waking Grace and helping her downstairs to give her some medicine with her breakfast. Elizabeth sat and had a piece of toast with a cup of tea but she still couldn't shake the weird feeling.
Halley and Eve filtered into the kitchen and she made them both breakfast too. As Elizabeth was standing at the sink, rinsing and washing the dishes from breakfast and stacking the dishwasher, she felt a cramp in her abdomen. Immediately her hands went to her stomach as she breathed through the sudden overwhelming pain. It stopped a minute later and she stood there, one hand resting on the counter, hoping that it was just the one.
Just five minutes later, another one hit. Realisation all of a sudden hit her.
"Halley!"