Chapter 11
She knew which room Jed was in the minute the elevator doors opened. A pair of agents was at their usual post by the door and two more were patrolling the halls.
After taking a deep breath to stabilize her emotions, she pushed open the door. What she saw startled her for a moment as she took in the paleness of Jed's skin and the whooshing of the ventilator. She quickly looked at the cardiac monitor and was relived to see the steady beating of his heart. Abbey walked over to the edge of the bed and took Jed's hand into hers, trying not to jerk away as she merged her warmth with his coolness.
"Jed, honey. I'm here."
And for the next eight hours she stayed that way. Leo came in several times and encouraged her to take a break but she always refused. Her exhaustion had finally caught up with her about six hours into the vigil and she catnapped in the chair, always within earshot of her still unconscious husband.
Finally, when he started to trigger the ventilator the doctors pulled the breathing tube. He was at last breathing on his own. Then the doctors told her to encourage him to wake up and that was exactly what she was doing at the moment.
Leaning down to whisper in his ear, she tried to place a smile in her voice. "Jed, honey, time to open those beautiful eyes."
The words finally registered in the President's brain. The voice was so familiar but his fuzzy brain was having trouble determining who was calling his name. Finally, from the depths of confusion, Jed realized whose voice was calling. Abbey! But Abbey couldn't be here. He was in Asia. And why would she asking him to wake-up? But Jed could never refuse Abbey anything so he granted her request. Struggling, he finally opened his eyes about halfway but before he could focus his lips were covered with a kiss that could only come from his wife.
After their lips broke contact, Jed opened his eyes fully and whispered, "Abbey?"
"Yes, hon. It's me."
Jed gave her a weak smile. "I was having a dream that you were calling me."
Abbey gave a small laugh. "I was. You've been unconscious now for over 36 hours."
"Oh. What happened?"
"There was a fire in your hotel in Kuala Lampur. You suffered severe smoke inhalation and you're here in Australia for treatment."
Jed thought a minute. Slowly his mind was clearing and he was remembering those horrible moments when he thought he wasn't going to make it out of the fire. "Abbey, I was dreaming about the fire at the farm. You know the one that burned the barn when I was ten."
"Yes."
"And I was reliving it. The smoke, the flames, the panic, everything. It was like I was there all over again."
"Jed, it's over. You survived both fires. Now, how about resting? I know you have to be tired."
Jed slowly let his eyes close. "Yeah. So tired," as he drifted off.
Abbey gave his lips one more kiss and straightened up as the door opened and Leo stuck his head in. "Any news?"
"Yeah. He woke for a few minutes. He's sleeping now. And I pray it will be a dreamless sleep."
The END