Chapter 13
An hour later Elise opened her eyes and noticed John sitting at the side of her bed an open magazine in his lap but his eyes closed and leaning against the wall behind his chair. Elise smiled and then carefully reached out and stroked his arm to rouse him.
"Hi," John smiled as he opened his eyes and looked at his smiling wife.
"I bet I could scoot over and make room for you to lay down next to me," Elise offered.
John got up to give his bride a kiss and she did scoot over. With the safety rails on the other side of the bed raised Elise backed up to them and John managed to slide a pillow in behind her before he stretched out on the bed using his arm for a pillow and rolled over to face his wife.
John tenderly ran his finger along the scar at the side of Elise's face and marveled that he thought of it as a mark of courage. He knew how she'd gotten it and he loved her all the more because she shared his passion in life.
Noticing that his wife was a little restless and not being willing to be caught by a nurse in the activity that he was thinking about, John rolled over on his back with a hand behind his head and coaxed Elise to rest her head on his shoulder.
"Maybe we should see if we can find something on TV To watch," John suggested as he reached to the side bed table to retrieve the remote.
"Have they found out what Greg put in my IV yet?" Elise inquired.
"If they have they haven't told me," John answered, "It could be a little while yet depending on what was in there."
"Yeah, I know, I'm just starting to feel strong enough that this laying around in bed is getting real old real fast."
John smiled. He knew real well what she was talking about but most of all he was excited that she was feeling the way she was, because that meant the pacemaker was doing everything they had hoped that it would. "After lunch I'll see if they'll let me take you for a walk," John offered still smiling.
John was just hearing the lunch carts in the hall way when Dr. Brackett entered the room and smiled at his patient snuggling with a paramedic he considered a good friend, they were both in the same bed, although John was on top of the covers, and totally oblivious to what was on TV as they talked, touched foreheads and rubbed noses.
"Hi Doc," John acknowledged their guest. "What's the news?"
"Well we know what your brother-in-law injected into your IV this morning." Kell Brackett spoke with his hands in his lab coat.
"What was it?" Elise was the first to respond but Johnny's interest was piqued.
"It was a very high dose of a cocktail we in the medical business call happy juice." Kell started to explain.
"Used whenever you have an unwilling patient that really needs to be confined but isn't cognizant enough to give informed consent." Elise took over the explanation. "That's what they did when they stopped my transfer to the hospital in Helena and locked me in that care center. They must be trying to do it again."
"I think your right." Kell shook his head in wonder. "Since this morning I've had every written order and every visitor ran through me first. Just an hour ago a lady came in saying that she was ordered by the family to do a competency evaluation on you for a hearing this afternoon."
"Tom's trying to take advantage of the fact that the last hearing records haven't been filed yet to take control of me again." Elise lay back on her bed and raised her eyes to the ceiling while blowing out a deep breath.
"I notified my father to see if he knew anything. He said to tell you not to worry about anything he'll just make an appearance in trial and take care of everything. I hope I wasn't out of line?" Kell looked hopeful.
"Probably, but thanks anyway Doc," Elise responded then took a tight hold of John's hand. "I won't go back there, I'll die first."
"Hey, that's enough of that." John spoke firmly, "I'm not going to let them take you anywhere. You're mine now and I don't share very well." In spite of John's tone there was a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face as he put both arms around Elise's shoulders and pulled her close and held her tight.
"Hey Doc," John took advantage of the situation. "Would it be alright if I took Elise for a walk after lunch?"
"Does she feel up to it?" Kell asked with a smile in his eyes.
"Yes," Elise answered for herself. "I feel stronger than I have in months. It's driving me nuts just laying here."
"Then Yes, I'll approve it but until further notice I want either John or a nurse at your side every step of the way. It's going to take a few days for the new anti-seizure medications to build up to an effective level and I don't want you alone just in case you have a seizure. Understood?"
Elise looked at John then back to the doctor, "I'll behave."
Dr. Brackett smiled and gave a nod to John, "See to it that she does," and then left the room.
Lunch was delivered for both Elise and John and although neither of them were hungry for what was served, the promise of a stroll down the hall in each other's arms was all they needed to finish what was on their trays.
After lunch the giggling couple walked the hall arm in arm with John taking control of the IV Pole. They found the bay window and looked at the parking lot and the skyline. They talked of things they wanted to do together and happy times gone by. The nurses interrupted them twice while they were kissing but as soon as the nurse had finished the vitals they went back to it. They found a small chapel near the nurses' station and entered to offer up their thanks both feeling that there was a higher power that had helped them get to where they were and would continue to help them along the way.
When Elise was finally willing to admit that she was tired the two love birds made a slow stroll back to her room where they noticed some familiar faces coming down the hall.
John waved at his Captain and partner and their wives then continued to help Elise into her room and into bed. When Cap and Roy arrived at the door John had just lifted the side rail of the bed and was making sure the pillow between it and Elise was making her comfortable.
"Come on in," Elise welcomed them with a smile. "Hi Cap and Emily and Roy right?"
"NO memory loss," John smiled as he turned around and shook hands with Cap and Roy before claiming his spot on the other side of Elise's bed. "I'll let Roy introduce his wife."
"This is my Wife JoAnne she's been looking forward to meeting you." Roy didn't hesitate, "And Jo this is Elise Gage, Johnny's wife." Roy still had mental difficulty putting those last two words together.
"It's good to see that they have you up and around," Cap started communication while JoAnne and Elise shook hands.
"Yeah, I'm finally running on all four cylinders again, hopefully I'll get out of here in a few days." Elise continued to feel optimistic, "At least for a little while."
"That's good to hear," Cap continued.
"We brought you some flowers," Emily spoke up as she handed a vase of beautiful peace roses.
"Thank you," Elise accepted them and gave them a good sniff.
"And we brought some cookies," JoAnne handed over a container, "Their Johnny's favorites and our daughter helped bake them especially for her Uncle Johnny."
"Oh yeah my competition," Elise perked up with a bigger smile. "Jenny right? And your son's name is Christopher, I would really like to meet them someday." "John's told me all about the cookies she makes for him with stars and smiles on them. And John also tells me that you," Elise pointed to the Captain, "make a fabulous clam chowder, I make a pretty good chowder myself, what do you say when I get back on me feet we have a cook off."
"OOooo," both John and Roy laughingly sounded off together.
"I'll tell you what, you've got a deal," Hank accepted the challenge.
Now since Elise had revealed that she knew a few things about them, both firemen felt as if they needed to show they knew a little about her.
"Johnny tells us that you're one of us and worked rescues in the field back in Montana." Roy started to show he had been listening.
"In the thinnest form of the term," Elise responded with a short chuckle, "You two probably make more runs in a single day than I did in a year, And the only time I've ever touched a fire hose is when John came up to help us learn how to handle a stokes on a mountain side and ended up trying to teach the fire department how to fight a fire."
"You did what?" Cap inquired with a smile but still the authority of a captain that would get his man to tell him what he wanted to know. The women were invited to sit in a chair and Cap rested his legs by sitting on a cabinet against the wall while Roy leaned against the wall behind his wife.
"Well," John started with a smile for Elise, "After we finished the mountain rescue training there wasn't any time spent on working with a stokes stretcher so Elise's group contacted me and offered to pay my way and a little extra if I'd go out there and teach them a thing or two. Elise put me up in her spare bedroom and before the group could get together I walked over to the fire house there to look over their equipment. Anyhow while I was there they got a call and I decided to go along and offer them a hand." While Cap and Roy were waiting on the rest of the story John looked at Elise with a smile and shook his head.
"It was a simple trash can fire on the outside corner of an old garage, but the crew went in with a two and a half inch hose charged to full pressure in a jet and blew the whole garage to pieces with the hose pressure." Johnny started to laugh at the memory as both Cap and Roy had their mouths wide open in disbelief.
"You've got to be joking," Cap spoke up first.
"Nope he's telling it like it happened." Elise confirmed his words. "So after he worked with the six of us that were trained to repel and showed us how to hook up a stokes and raise and lower it on a cliff. He got together with the fire department and showed them a few tricks of how to work a hose and adjust the water pressure at the truck. Since John was my guest of course I had to go along, it was the best water fight I've ever had in my life."
"The biggest problem was their fire engine cap, It was so old and broken down they could only get the water to come out in two pressures, I'm afraid I wasn't able to help them much." John ended his story on a down note.
"You helped more than you know," Elise jumped in. "after you were done explaining how an engine should work and why Jake Melburn, the best mechanic in the county figured out how to build us a new one."
"He what?" John gave her a questioning stare.
"Did you say someone built a fire engine?" Cap was just as disbelieving.
"Yeah, I've got pictures of it, I'll have to show you. It took him over a year to get it done but it's really something."
"I'd really like to see those," Cap looked astonished and amazed.
"Well my sister is shipping my belongings to me so when they get here I'll show you." Elise responded with a smile of pride in her team back home.
"Well the women here have an idea they would like to present to you two," Cap changed the subject. "Why don't we turn the floor over to them."
Emily and JoAnne shared smiles with each other then Emily began to speak. "Jo and I have been talking and we think that you two need to have a wedding reception. We'd like to put one together in our back yard," she indicated her and her husband.
"You don't need to do that," Elise was quick to feel they were doing too much.
"Now before you say no," Cap spoke up, "It will go a long way to ease the tension at the station and the guys feeling like they were left out. Not to mention all the firefighters who don't know yet."
"I know a guy who could come in and perform the blanket ceremony," John added remembering what had been said between Elise and her sisters that morning.
"That's an idea," Cap spoke up again. "Your wedding was legal and everything but it wasn't exactly romantic."
Elise looked at John and he shrugged his shoulders, "It would help ease things over with the guys, and it would be nice to have them take part a little now that things are stabilizing."
"Okay, okay, but let's keep it simple nothing extravagant," Elise conceded and the next thing they knew a cafeteria worker was standing at the door with two stacked food trays for John and Elise.
"Well it's time we made our way out," Cap helped his wife to her feet. "I was noticing that there's another four day break about four weeks from now. I thought that might be a good time to have a big gathering. If that's alright with you two?"
John Looked at Elise who shrugged her shoulders. "Sounds good to me cap." John responded.
The four visitors said their goodbyes and walked together toward the elevator. Once the doors closed behind them Roy had a question for Cap. "What kind of wedding did those two have that wasn't very romantic?"
As the group got off the elevator and headed toward the exit Cap was describing the wedding as a business merger and contracting who would pay for what and who was responsible for what. "The worst part was where the judge spelled out that John would be responsible to make the decision in pulling the plug on Elise's life support if things don't go well in her surgeries. He made sure that Elise accepted John's judgment and that John accepted the responsibility. Not something I would ever want as part of a wedding ceremony."
As the foursome exited the building a woman was standing at the information desk asking where she could find Elise Holbrook and she wasn't taking 'no visitors allowed' as an answer.