ABBREVIATIONS
20 minutes later, closing the door softly behind her, CJ crossed the room and put a hand to Jilly's forehead. Picking up the discarded flannel she refreshed it under the bathroom tap and returned to wipe Jilly's face. Toby came to sit at the foot of the bed. "Hey" he said softly.
She smiled at him. "You OK?"
"Yeah…I guess so. Just waiting for round two with Andi. You?" he asked, holding his hand out to her, making peace with her. She took his hand with a squeeze, releasing it to kneel on the bed, placing her hand back on his shoulder as she moved past him to sit at Jilly's side. "Yeah. I'm OK. Any change?"
"No. She's been quiet since you left. CJ…"he stopped and cleared his throat. "The bruising and marks I saw on her leg and chest…you said she had some others. Were they the same?"
"Yes. Some older, some newer. We found some on her back…two long lines running up either side of her spine...they don't look recent but they're still sore to the touch, as if they were ingrained from repeated pressure, but I can't figure out what could have caused them. All I know is that she didn't have them when she left me"
"No. Nor us. I was thinking about ...you know, way back. The nights we all sat up putting the world to rights."
"What made you think about that?" CJ asked him
"I was watching the two of you sleep. Like old times. She stirred and you caressed her back to sleep."
"I did? I don't remember"
"You didn't really wake up. Habit, I guess. I was remembering her need for touch, the comfort she could get from a simple gesture, a hand on her head, a touch on the arm."
"She was always huggable," she said with a smile. "It was a two-way thing. You got pleasure from knowing your touch brought her comfort. You know what I was thinking?"
"Hmm?" he asked
"I was thinking how odd it is that the four of us are all abbreviations. You, after all, are the wordsmith, you should have thought of it."
He looked at her puzzled, but amused "What are you babbling about?"
"We're all abbreviations. Tobias, Andrea, Jillian, Claudia Jean. And it's only our fathers that always call us by our full names. What are the odds?"
"Not as huge as they sound, considering two of the four share a father."
"Funny boy, you know what I mean. Toby, that summer…after she left me to do her finals. Why did she go back home after graduating? Why not back to me, or to you and Andi? She knew she could come to LA with me...we talked about it..."
"I don't know…I still don't know why she left you at all. She did better in the year she was with you than at any other point…"
Jilly coughed and they broke their gaze with one another and turned to her. The flushed look had left her face and she was now as pale as she had been in CJ's office. Her breathing was getting more shallow, and there was a distinct wheeze as she drew breath. She coughed again, harder this time, moving her head in discomfort. CJ placed another pillow under her head, hoping to ease her breathing slightly and began to gently rub her chest. Jilly coughed again, sharp and short and the wheezing became more pronounced. "Should we get Abbey?" she asked.
"I don't know…better wake her and try to stop the wheezing first." They leant over her, calling her name and gently shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes, but they were glassy and unfocused and the wheezing continued. She sat up and began to try to climb out of bed "No, Button, stay there, just concentrate on your breathing" Toby said, catching hold of her arms and keeping her seated in the bed. CJ began rubbing her back in an effort to relax her breathing but Jilly was beginning to panic and looked very disorientated. "Jilly…Jilly look at me" ordered Toby, but the girl didn't respond. "I'm going to get Abbey" he said getting up from the bed.
"I'm here...what's happened?" Abbey hurried into the room
"She's getting wheezy…but her eyes aren't focusing properly" Toby said getting agitated.
Abbey leant over Jilly, who was still struggling to get away from them, wheezing and with the tips of her cheeks now flushed. Holding her face still, Abbey looked at Jilly for a moment "She's getting delirious because of her high temperature, which, in turn is making her wheezy; we've got to bring the temperature under control" she said turning to Toby. Freed from their grasp Jilly stumbled across the bed, making for the gap between Toby and CJ, pulling the IV out of her hand as she scrambled away. Lunging for her, CJ caught her by the shoulders as Toby caught her round the waist. Jilly kicked out as they tried to grab her arms and bring her under control. She began to shout, but it only brought on another bout of coughing.
"I'm going to sedate her…we'll just have to take the risk" Abbey said, reaching for her bag as CJ and Toby held on tight to the still struggling figure. Quickly, Abbey pushed the needle into Jilly's arm and injected the sedative and picked the IV tubing up to re-insert it, before reaching for a second catheter from her bag. Slowly, they felt the tension slip from Jilly and she lay still, eyes still open and more focused, but still wheezing. Abbey re-inserted the IV without any trouble this time. "Sit her up Toby" she asked, as she uncurled her stethoscope and listened to the girl's failing lungs. "We have to stop the wheezing before the sedative really takes hold. I don't have a nebulizer here, but Ellie may have left an inhaler in her room, I'll check"
"Use mine"
They turned to the door. In all the commotion they hadn't noticed Andi had been standing there witnessing everything. She came forward, taking the inhaler from her bag. Abbey moved back to make room for her, but Andi held the inhaler out to Toby without touching her sister. He took it from her and tried to coax Jilly into taking it, but she turned her face away and he didn't have enough hands to hold her, the inhaler and keep her head still.
"She never would take it from me…Andi…"he pleaded with her. Dropping her bag, she sat on the bed and reached out a shaking hand to her sister, and touched her arm. "Jilly…" Struggling to keep her eyes open as the sedative took over Jilly turned her head to the voice, coughing violently, now really struggling for breath. Andi held her arms out and Toby lifted Jilly onto her knee. Tucking Jilly's head under chin, she shook the inhaler and placed it in her sister's mouth. "Jilly...after three; one, two, three" she activated the inhaler as Jilly tried to follow her command, but couldn't, coughing again. "Try again honey, just like always" she said. This time Jilly managed to inhale the medication, but lay back in her sister's arms, exhausted by the effort of breathing and the effect of the sedative. "Stay awake, honey...you've got to take another one" Andi said, gently shaking her shoulder, looking down at her. Again the wordless conversation, but this time green eyes to green eyes. Andi shook the inhaler, placed it in Jilly's mouth and dispensed another dose, before handing it to Toby. CJ placed a pillow behind Andi's back and a second under the arm that was cradling Jilly, as Andi gently rocked her sister. Slowly, the wheezing grew softer, till it was just a catch at the end of each breath. Smoothing Jilly's hair, CJ made to move off the bed, but Andi laid her free hand on CJ's arm. The two women looked at one another for a moment, then CJ leant over and kissed Andi's cheek, and Andi squeezed her arm in return, before getting off the bed and heading for the sitting room. Abbey laid her hand on Jilly's forehead for a moment, before nodding. "It's going down. She should sleep for a good 4 hours or so, but I still need to watch her blood pressure" Heading for the door, she wheeled in the tea and coffee she had requested and took it towards the sitting room. Turning to Andi she said, "Sit with her till she's asleep, then come join us."
Jilly's eyes were flickering now, but she was fighting to keep them open. Andi stroked her forehead. "Go to sleep, Jillybean. I'll still be here when you wake."
"Honest" Jilly whispered
"Honest" she replied. Jilly finally let the sedative take hold and darkness washed over her. Toby saw a tear land on Jilly's cheek. Lifting Andi's head with his finger under her chin, he saw the tears running down her face and her bright green eyes full of more to shed. He wiped her cheeks with one thumb, caressing her head with his hand. "Do you want me to stay?" he asked softly
"No…but thanks. Go through. I'll be there in a minute."
He drew his thumb under her eyes, still raining tears and replaced it with a gentle kiss, before heading to join the others.