Chapter 16
Roy and JoAnne, Hank and Emily sat on the back deck at the Stanley home talking over ideas for the reception. Hank had been able to completely explain about the window of competence and the Doctors to confirm Elise was competent to make decisions, and how it had dictated the timing of the wedding. For the first time Roy and JoAnne completely understood and no longer felt as if they had been forgotten. They also realized that John hadn't just rushed into the marriage because of Elise's medical issues.
When Roy and JoAnne heard about the wedding vows at the court house they had to agree with Hank that it wasn't a very romantic wedding. In fact they all decided the proper term would have to be a legal marriage, not a wedding.
JoAnne and Emily started mapping out the back yard and deciding how to decorate for the big occasion. Hank and Roy just remained on the deck each drinking a beer and rolling their eyes.
"Well we've got the wrong two people in charge if we're going to get a simple wedding," Roy chuckled and shook his head.
"Roy," Hank looked at him contemplatively, "do we need to make sure they tone things down for Elise, I mean with the hunk of helmet still in her head and the seizures and all?"
Roy thought about what Hank was asking for a moment and then let out a large breath, "I'm not sure what Elise needs that way, all I know about her health issues is what I've heard from John and you and none of it has included a lot of details. Not to mention I'm just a paramedic not a doctor. Maybe I should give Dix a call in the morning and get her involved with the planning committee."
"I'm sure the girls will welcome the help but I think we should go talk with them now and remind them of Elise's health before they get too carried away down there."
"You're the Captain and as usual you're right," Roy agreed and both men peeled themselves out of their chairs and into action to try and apply the brakes on an enthusiastic party train that is moving full speed ahead.
00000
Morning in the hospital starts early. Night shift trying to finish up all the charting and vitals checks before the next shift comes on, lab workers trying to get fasting blood work before breakfast is served, X-ray trying to get all the films ready for the doctor's to look at them when they perform rounds.
This morning John was awaken by the nurse coming in to change Elise's IV as he tried to slide his arm out from under young Tobias without waking him so that he could make his way to the bathroom to take care of business. As he carefully sat up on the edge of the cot he had been sleeping in John took in the sight of his sleeping wife with little Cody curled up in her arms. The many nightly checks by the nurses had frightened the children and the only way to get them back to sleep was to snuggle them.
As soon as Johnny came out of the bathroom he found young Tobes dancing around waiting for his turn. By the time he was done Cody needed to go and then Elise took her turn. Elise managed to get the children involved in watching cartoons on TV while John slipped down to the cafeteria to pick up pancake breakfasts for three, Elise's doctors were still dictating what she ate, and then to the gift shop where he managed to find matching sets of scrubs for both children and with the help of Dixie, who had just come on shift, the personal items that are worn underneath.
After breakfast was finished Elise was helped to shower up while Johnny worked to get the scrubs on the new niece and nephew. Tobes looked like a young doctor and Cody needed the help of a few safety pins to shorten her pants to the right length.
Elise was settled back in her bed with the children sitting at her feet to watch the TV when Dr. Morton knocked on the door. Sticking his head inside a partially open door, "Are you up for some company?"
Elise sat up straight with a defensive attitude about her as the door opened wider and Rachel was wheeled through the door in a wheelchair.
"Rach," Elise declared all defensiveness gone, Johnny reached up to keep her in bed as Rachel was wheeled closer and Tobes jumped into her arms.
After giving the two children quick hugs, Rachel convinced them to get down for just a moment as she stood up from the wheelchair and went to her baby sister with open arms.
"You look absolutely wonderful." Rachel declared as the two sisters wrapped their arms around each other. Then Rachel stepped back and looked her sister over good. "It really was all the drugs they were pumping into you."
"Mostly," Elise smiled back, "But they did have to install a pacemaker to get me running on all four cylinders."
Squeezing her sister's hands she looked her over again. "You look great Sis. I worried there for a while if I was doing the right thing. But now look at you." Rachel then turned Elise's left hand and looked it over good. "I did hear right through all the drugs last night. You two are married?"
Rachel was still smiling and looked excited as she shifted her gaze back and forth between her sister and John.
John was a little nervous to reply after the responses he'd received from the other sisters, but Elise just sported a sheepish smile as she lowered her head slightly and looked up at her sister through her eye lashes and nodded yes.
Rachel let go of one of Elise's hands and placed a hand on John's shoulder, "Welcome to the family," she said with a moist smile. "I was sure because of the work you do that you'd see to it that Elise got to a doctor as soon as she got off the plane but now I know that you have really taken care of her and will continue to do so. You have no idea what a load that takes off my mind."
Rachel looked back at her sister. "I can also say that I've never seen my sister happier than she is now and considering she's in the hospital that's really saying something." "I bet the other sisters fought tooth and nail to keep this from happening."
"You could say that." John responded and then felt he should test the waters a little, "They don't seem to approve of where I grew up,"
Rachel grimaced, "Yeah they have issues with the res. It's how dad raised them, but it's their loss."
With teary eyes Rachel again wrapped her arms around John's shoulders and pulled him onto a hug as she whispered in his ear, "Welcome to the family and thank you for taking care of my baby Sis."
Dr. Morton had been standing in the back of the room enjoying the encounter but it was time to get down to business. "Uh hummm," he gained their attention, "This is a wonderful family reunion but I do have rounds to finish before I can go home and get some sleep."
Mike then lifted the two children and sat them on the extra bed in the room with their feet dangling over the edge. "I have had a talk with Rachel," he nod in her direction, "I believe she can leave the hospital this morning but she still needs to get some serious rest and she needs to go some place where things are on the quiet side. She's picked up a bit of an infection in her ear and with the ruptured ear drum that is going to slow her recovery a little. With the fluid buildup in the ear canal I'm going to say no driving for at least forty eight hours and flying is still a long way off. Is there someplace she can go that will fit that bill?"
"NO problem," John spoke up, "She can stay at my place. I've got the extra bedroom and since I'm here most of the time they can use my room too." John looked around to see if that option worked with everyone involved. "I'll call Roy to come over and help us shuttle cars and he just might be willing to take Cody and Tobes to his place for a few hours to play with his kids so that Rachel can get a good nap."
Dr. Morton looked pleased with the plan he just needed one more item. Turning to the two children who were still sitting on the bed trying not to wiggle too much, "Will you two kids take care of your mommy?" he pointed to Rachel but didn't notice her and Elise's serious cringe.
"Her not Mommy, her Dachel," young Cody corrected.
As Dr. Morton grimaced with the remembrance of his mistake Tobes laid it out, "Mommy and Daddy are with the spirits, Rachel is our care giver."
"My mistake," Dr. Morton apologized, "I'm sorry. I do need to know though; can you two help take care of Rachel? She needs you to be quiet and not yell or shout and she needs to rest a lot."
Both children were nodding their heads so energetically that they bounced on the bed as they did so.
"I can bring her juice all by myself and I won't spill and, and Tobes can make the toast," Cody reported.
John smiled, "And I'll somehow make sure that they all get more balanced meals."
"All right then," Dr. Morton replied slapping his own knees and then looking at John, "go ahead and make your calls and I'll have her release papers ready by the time the cavalry arrives."
When the cavalry did arrive it was bigger than John has expected, he had called Roy and asked him to come to help with driving and bring the kids to meet his new niece and nephew, he had claimed them the moment he met them and that is how they were going to be known to him and introduced as. When Roy arrived, he not only had his two children, he also had his wife, Captain Stanley and his wife and Dixie along.
As the new comers worked their way into the room they took in the scene before them. John and Elise were talking with a woman in a wheelchair, their faces filled with smiles but the woman in the wheel chair talked of things sounding of business and carried in her voice, that was drown out by the cartoons two small children were watching, was a sense of urgency.
Roy smiled as his young daughter walked up to the girl that was sitting Indian style near the foot of the bed slightly behind her brother. "Hi I'm Jennifer what's your name?"
"And I'm Chris," he spoke up not to be out done by his sister.
John quickly stepped up and performed the obligatory introductions making sure to add that Rachel was the Sister that rescued Elise and got her on the plane to LA. He had already explained about the ruptured ear drum that made it impossible for her to accompany her sister on the plane when he called and asked for their help.
Working together to get everyone ready to move they all made their way to the elevator where Dixie and Emily offered to stay with Elise while the rest worked to get Rachael and her charges settled.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," John spoke to Elise before the two kissed hard and long. Children wrinkled their noses at the sight which the couple enjoyed watching out of the corner of their eye.
Once the door closed Dixie and Emily walked Elise around the floor a little before getting her back to bed where they talked of plans for the big and growing bigger reception.
In the parking tower, Rachel was able to lead them to her truck the back of which was loaded with boxes of stuff from Elise's house in Montana that Rachel thought might be important and didn't dare pack in the storage crate that was in storage waiting for an address to be sent to.
It was decided that Johnny would drive the truck with Rachel in the passenger seat and the children, Cody and Tobes were placed in the Desoto station wagon to follow along. Hank Stanley would bring up the rear as they moved to John's apartment wondering how on earth they were going to get a second family and all the boxes in the truck into John's apartment.
As they pulled out of the parking lot Rachel turned in her seat to look at John and spoke with urgency as he drove.
"You do know you have to make sure Tom stays away from Elise?" she asked.
"I know he is hell bent on getting her declared incompetent and keeping me out of the picture," John spoke without taking his eyes off traffic. "Is it because I'm from the reservation?"
"Oh heavens no," Rachel swatted the air in front of her face, "and don't think for one minute that he has a care in the world for what happens to Elise or what's in her best interest. All he wants is the land that she owns and even though he talks big about making sure she has the funds to be taken care of, he has no intention of her seeing a dime. If his past exploits are to be used as an example he will likely have Elise in bankruptcy in a year's time if someone hadn't have stopped him."
"You're talking about the wild horse refuge and wild life sanctuary there in Montana aren't you?" John revealed that he was aware of the fight over that land.
"That's the big prize right now but her other holdings would be welcome acquisitions too." Rachel seemed to relax as she realized John at least had some idea what he was up against. "When our father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's he used his last cognizant days dividing his estate among his five daughters. He had successfully run and truck stop and dinner for years as well as a small cattle ranch. He actually grew his own stakes. He'd also picked up some land patches in anticipation of highway on and off ramps being built. Some of them paid off and others didn't."
Rachel paused to make sure John was following and to look out the back window to make sure that the man with her children was following.
"Elise gratefully accepted a couple of small land patches that no one else wanted and before the end of the first year she had bought up several houses that had to be moved or torn down to make way for roads and other such stuff. By bartering she managed to get the land prepared, the homes moved and hooked up and had tripled everything our father had given her without touching a dime of the money. All she did was make use of the land no one else wanted."
Rachel gave a smirk and continued. "Tom has ranted for years that she didn't know what she was doing because she should have been able to get at least a fifty thousand dollars more in those transactions, but in the same length of time he managed to lose every penny I had inherited and get us as far in debt and Elise was ahead. And further more what Elise does, improves the community and the lives of the people who live there."
"I've heard about her skill in real estate but never in so much detail." John told his sister-in-law "I don't think your other sisters want me to know how much she's worth, as far as money goes. And of course Elise would never brag on herself." "I hope you know I didn't marry Elise for her money, arrangements have already been made for nearly all of her holdings to go to charity or similar organizations in the case of her death and I signed a prenuptial agreement."
"Elise has talked of you often over the years. She has a great amount of respect for you and the two of you share a passion in life." Rachel talked with emotion and passion of her own. "When I put Elise on that plane I just hoped you'd get her to a doctor in time. I never dreamed you'd do any more than that to take care of her. Now that I know you're married I'm so relieved that you're going to be there to take care of her," Rachel stopped and shook her head, "I don't think I've ever seen her so happy and I really don't think it's because of medications she taking. I'm not really surprised because every time she talked about you I could tell that she loved you, Every part of you, If she hadn't been married to that damn Emergency rescue program I'm sure she would have left Montana to be with you years ago. Don't get me wrong," Rachel responded to John's look are her last remark, "Elise did wonders for that area, countless people are still alive that wouldn't be if she hadn't have gotten involved, and things are growing in ways no one realized they could, but I don't think she was very well appreciated for what she did, not even by a lot of the people she saved."
"Sometimes it can be a thankless job," John responded with a measure of understanding, "it's a good thing we don't depend on our reviews to know we're making a difference."