Chapter 25
Before the ambulance had pulled out Roy was administering the Oxygen that had been prescribed by Rampart. John held Elise's hand and watched her as she fought the sedative.
"It's okay; you're never going to go back there." John spoke as he rubbed her hand, "Just relax."
"Got 'a go back," Elise slurred, "not be burden, won't be ball and chain."
"You could never be a ball and chain, you're not a leach," John talked remembering the hurt that came from Chet Kelly that morning. "Now you just relax there and let Roy and I take care of you."
Before they arrived at Rampart the sedatives had won and Elise lost consciousness. John nearly shoved Roy out of the way so that he could monitor her vital signs himself.
When the ambulance backed into the emergency bay all four of Elise's doctors were waiting for them. John quickly rattled off the latest vitals while one doctor checked her pupils and another was listening to her breathing with his stethoscope.
All right we've got it from here," the third doctor announced as the gurney started moving down the hall.
As John set to follow he felt an arm around his waist holding him back. Turning around he found that arm belonged to Dr. Bracket who was pulling him in the direction of his office. Roy was there to make sure John didn't bolt for it so John gave in and allowed himself to be taken to Dr. Brackett's office.
"How bad is it Doc?" John refused to sit down.
"Bad enough but it should all be over in a few hours. All of Elise's doctors have gotten together and we all agree the best thing to do is to let her sleep it off. There is a risk of her going into respiratory arrest so we're going to move her up to ICU as soon as they've prepared a bed for her."
"If that's a risk isn't there something you can give her to counteract the drugs?" Johnny challenged not liking a risk being taken when he wasn't sure it needed to be.
"It's the drugs that would be used to counteract that are the highest risk. They will react with the anti-seizure drugs and could throw her into a repetitive grand mall seizure or worse cause that aneurism she has to rupture, that could easily cause permanent brain damage or death, in our minds adding more drugs to her system right now is riskier than riding out the sedatives. We're all fairly certain that she should be through the worst of it in about two hours, and that she should be able to go home with you when you're off shift in the morning." Brackett could tell by the relaxed shoulders that John was beginning to understand the situation.
"She's not going back to that place," John made his stand, "I'll take a leave of absence until the next surgery."
"I think we've both heard Elise's opinion on that and know she won't go for it." Dr. Brackett spoke, and just when John was about to argue Kell Brackett held up his hand. "You're not the only one who doesn't believe she belongs in that facility or any other like it. All four of her doctors, her Lawyer and one creative nurse are working on an alternative. Can you give us a day or two to tie up all the loose ends and make sure we can get it approved by her disability councilor?"
"She's not going back to that place!" John repeated his stand.
"She's not going back to that place," Bracket agreed, "We may have to have you bring her back in here if we can't pull things together before your next shift but I think something more desirable will work out before then. Just don't go running back to the station and start filling out paperwork; I'm sure we can work something out that both you and Elise can live with."
John sat breathing in and out deeply in thought, Kell was about to go to his closet for a paper bag for him to breath in when John looked at him and asked. "What am I supposed to do now?"
"Now that I know you're not going to start yelling and upset my patient I guess you can go sit with her for a while. I'm sure they've got her hooked up to every monitor there is by now." Brackett casually walked toward the office door in preparation to open it.
"Is all that necessary doc?" Johnny asked.
"It's just a precaution, Johnny, Just a precaution. You wouldn't want us to be careless with her now would you?" Kell interjected some Humor.
"Absolutely not," John spoke firmly.
With a hand on his shoulder John was led from the doctor's office as Kell said something about not knowing him anymore. Marriage had really changed him
While John was in Brackett's office Roy and Dr. Early got on the phone to the station and talked with Captain Stanley, John and Roy were allowed to remain in service at the hospital until Elise was out of the woods.
During the next three hours John and Roy responded to an auto accident where the mother was distracted by the fighting children in the back seat and ran into a parked car on the side of the road.
They also picked up a drunk who had passed out in the park and then a boy who wrecked his bike trying to jump over a bunch of boxes and probably broke his leg in the process. Then there was the baby choking on her big sister's candy. It was a good thing they were at the hospital when that call came in because they wouldn't have been able to get there fast enough from the station.
When the baby was turned over to the doctors to give her a good looking over John was able to head up and spend a few moments with Elise, She was still groggy but had good color and was breathing on her own and she was able to squeeze John's hand in response to his voice. She even managed to open up her eyes but it was clear to John that she had to work at it.
"Sleep," John whispered in her ear after giving her a kiss on the cheek. "If you're real good for them they'll let me take you home in the morning, and they promise you won't have to go back to that place."
John gave her another kiss then tucked her in and waited for her to calm in her sleep before turning to leave, giving the nurse instructions to call him for anything what so ever even if she just wanted to hear his voice.
When the squad backed into the bay they could smell dinner going on the table. "I'll be there in a minute Roy I just want to go wash my face and hands first." John announced as he went one way and Roy went the other.
"How's Elise?" Hank called from his seat at the table as soon as Roy stepped into the kitchen.
"She's fine," Roy answered, "probably going to have trouble sleeping tonight after sleeping all day but other than that all looks good, Johnny should be able to take her home tomorrow and their promising she won't have to go back to that place."
"Well that's good to hear, now how's John?"
"You mean besides livid, and scared," Roy started response. "He's had a lot dumped on him today alone starting with that box he found, then leaving her at that nursing home, Chet's tirade this morning didn't do him any good either, not to mention what that nurse said when she didn't know who he was."
"I'd say he really needs some kind of a pick me up." Roy finished spilling what was on his mind. "At least he knows she'll be taken care of at Rampart and her brother-in-laws are out of reach."
When John came in after washing up the crew quickly informed him they were glad Elise was going to be okay as they placed warm dinner on the table in front of him. Hank managed to place the fork in his hand as the conversation turned back into how to make a home out of a fire station. It was a topic that was still new and had so many avenues unexplored.
"What are you going to do with the hose tower?" Marco questioned before suggesting things like a swing set of children's jungle Jim.
"The hose tower was taken to one of the new stations they're building. Elise just let them have it saying she had no use for it and I have to agree with her." John responded, "We're going to dig up most of the back parking lot and put some lawn in and do something with the front drive apron I think but most of the heavy remodeling I want to try and have done while she's in the hospital for her next surgery so that she doesn't have to suffer through the construction with all the dust and loud noise and everything.
"So when are you thinking about moving in?" Hank inquired still unable to visualize living in a fire station.
"The lights and phone will be on tomorrow and the moving van from Montana is supposed to be there tomorrow afternoon sometime. I figure we'll move in then and work on getting the stuff from my apartment moved out after the next shift." John commented with a sort of distant tone to his voice. "As soon as Elise is released from the hospital I think we'll head out there and try and decide where to put everything when it arrives.
"So what time do you want us all there to help unload the moving van?" Mike spoke up, "since Roy has your keys we can load my truck up with all those boxes and all your clothes and stuff so that you can settle in at least."
John didn't say a word he just looked around and his shift mates and marveled at their willingness to help, Even the new guy covering for Chet was eager to help them move in. "Thanks guys I really appreciate it. You know it's not at all like Chet was saying this morning, I really love Elise and she loves me. We've been friends for years but we both had responsibilities in different parts of the world."
Without saying another word John got up and started collecting the dishes to be washed and started the water running.
Once the dishes were done and put away John was invited to play cards with the guys but didn't feel like it. Instead he poured a fresh cup of coffee and wandered out side to feel the night air. His arms felt so empty without Elise in them but his memories were full. Leaning against the building John thought back to after he taken her to Rampart and got her started on her medical treatment. It had been a long night by her side as she woke with a start often and then held his hand as if her life depended on it until he could calm her down.
As the effects of the drugs wore off and she became more alert and more herself she started gently massaging John's hand with her thumb and she nearly drove him crazy. He wanted her so bad, but they had set the ground rules when she came out for the mountain rescue training. They were special friends who shared an understanding and philosophy about emergency rescue that he couldn't find anyone else to understand. Even Roy had a slightly different understanding which is why John was in situations where he got hurt more than Roy was. Roy was pretty close to thinking the same as he did but not as close as Elise.
When morning came so did the family from Montana, accusing him of kidnapping her and demanding he be arrested. "She's not capable to making her own treatment choices," they had declared, "We're taking her back to Montana where she belongs." It was Brackett that triggered one of the alarms in ICU so he had an excuse to chase everyone out. He then explained to John what would need to be done and gave him the contact information for his father before he left the room to distract the family while Dixie helped John slip Elise out a back way.
In his office Dr. Brackett declared that there was nothing in her file that declared her incompetent to make her own decisions and that he wouldn't release her to them against her will without proper documentation. By the time they had given up on convincing Dr. Brackett to see things their way John had Elise in Mr. Brackett the Lawyers office, and he was explaining the process of declaring Elise competent and his secretary was on the phone making appointments with all the people they would need to talk with to achieve that. With the need for a pacemaker those appointments and court hearing were crammed into three days, with Elise becoming more and more alert each day. Accept for when her heart was skipping beats or her seizures sent her for a loop.
Each night he sat with Elise for at least an hour before she fell asleep telling her how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She would list all the things that were still uncertain with her health and well being and all that could go wrong with the brain surgery where most of her fears lay.
Still John talked, gradually he convinced her that whatever time she had left whether it be two days or a life time he wanted to spend it with her at his side. When the Judge went over all of the transcripts from the doctors and listened to all of the arguments of Elise's extended family he found her competent to make her own decisions and declared that anything she set in place in writing that day would stand pat even when she was less than coherent. They were relieved, Elise could now set up a treatment plan agree to surgeries and not have her choices taken away from her later.
It was after the judge ordered all of Elise's family held in contempt of court and there was a brief recess before they took on the job of getting all the paperwork put in order to be signed. Elise was given a small room off the women's rest room to rest till they were ready for her and it was there that John slipped in and knelt at the side of the lounge she was resting on.
"Elise, if I were going to die would you want to be with me?" he had asked bringing a stunned response to Elise's face.
"I would treasure every moment we could share and be at you're side every moment that you allowed me." Elise answered.
"I want the same," John spoke. "There's hope now, the treatment you're going to get should give you most of your life back and allow you to live in happiness for many years to come. I can't promise you that you'll be able to go back to the rescue work you are so good at but you can be happy. I want every second of that time, every moment that you can be with me. Elise Rose Holbrook will you marry me? Will you please share your life and whatever comes with it, with me?"
John still remembered the tear falling down her face as she strained to sit up and face him. He could still feel her hand wiping the tears from his cheeks as she then held her hand at the side of his face. "I don't want to hurt you." She said.
"Then say yes. Let us be together for however long the spirits grant us. Hours or decades let's not waist what time we can be together."
"If I say yes you have to let me do all that I can to be worthy of this offer I don't want to be a burden to you, I want to take care of you too and make you happy." Elise still held her hand at the side of his face and as he thought about it he could still feel her hand there even thought they were apart.
Standing at the station John's tears dripped onto her uniform his memories so clear.
"Yes," Elise whispered, "If you'll let me be your wife in every way I can, I'll agree to marry you."
That was the first time he had kissed her, it was the first moment when they had to agreed to be more than just special friends. It was the point in his life when he knew what heaven truly felt like and what true love was.
They then had to get the judge's approval and both were prepared to put up quite an argument but the judge simple looked over the papers and simply said, "Well a marriage would certainly make things a lot simpler." They were flabbergasted.
The judge agreed that do to Elise's health they should perform the ceremony that day while they had all the doctors do sign for her competency and arraigned for a clerk to bring the paperwork to them to fill out for their marriage license.
John had called Roy three times before he remembered he had taken Jo and the kids to the Redwood forest and wouldn't be back till late that night.
The only other person he would consider was Captain Stanley and he came through for him.
The night was a long one both for John and Elise. John made several phone calls between nonsense runs to talk to Elise and even slipped out of bed in the middle of the night since he knew she wasn't sleeping and called to talk to her on the phone.
Again John left as soon as his replacement came in and without changing rushed to his car to get to Rampart and his bride.
John was allowed to walk Elise down to Dr. Brackett's office where all four of her doctors were waiting for her.
"We think we've come up with a plan that your disability insurance will accept and still give you the most freedom possible," Dr. Early started. "To begin with the next two shifts John works you will have a private nurse at you're beckoning call."
"But the insurance won't approve that the cost is too high." Elise sat forward on her seat in frustration feeling like she was being patronized.
"You're right the insurance company won't approve anything like this at least until after your next surgery. However the nursing home that so carelessly put you in intensive care will willingly pay for a private nurse for at least the next week and a half in hopes of preventing you from suing them."
"It seems your lawyer has convinced them that in sight of the four different phone calls they made requesting sedation and the Visit of Dr. Walters here confirming that you didn't need it before they made the last of the four calls. That it will be very difficult for them to claim accidental injection so they are going to pay for the private nurse." Dr. Brackett spoke with pride in his father.
"And I'm already approved by the company and it just so happens that I'm off duty the next two shifts Johnny here has to work." Dixie responded.
"You're going to baby sit me?" Elise countered feeling grateful that it was a friend even if it was a new friend. "But don't you have anything better to do on your day off?"
"Actually working with you pays better." Dixie started with a smile. "And besides I want to see how on earth you two are going to turn that fire station into a home."
"What about after the week and a half is up," Johnny needed to know in order to make plans, for he meant it when he said Elise was not going back to that place.
Well during that time we will be training a group of people to fill the role of care givers. The insurance has already approved the training program. And as long as the care givers are willing to work for the agreed price the insurance company will approve it.
"So, right around minimum wage, for one person, for a twenty-four hour shift," Elise already knew the restrictions. "How much training will they need?"
"Well the course that's been approved is 16 hours and we're going to teach it, each one of us will teach a four hour section and should be able to finish the course in a week." Dr. Brackett spoke with his arms folded across his chest.
"And what are the chances of getting any one to take that course and agree to watch over me?"
"We've already got our first class full." Dr. Early spoke with a smile, "Eight students and growing."
"Are they student nurses?" Johnny asked thinking some of those girls a bit young and irresponsible to trust his wife with.
"No not at all," Dr. Brackett pulled out a paper pad on his desk. "We have a JoAnne Desoto, Emily Stanley, Annalisa Lopez, and we've been guaranteed a total of ten from the station 51's women's auxiliary league. I think some of them are counting on you being willing to let them bring their children to work with them."
John sat stunned, Elise sat in tears, she never expected to find such friends in the area, she hadn't had that many willing to do anything like this for her back in Montana.