Part 4.4 – Not Very Happy
No one Dr. Kathy Martin Spencer had ever known personally had become her patient – aside from minor scrapes and burns suffered by family members – until Della Street was brought into the emergency room at the Carmel Community Hospital during her shift. Even though she hadn't seen Della since she was seventeen years old, she still felt she knew Della well, and was finding it difficult to remain detached enough to make sound medical decisions. The unusual, frightening turn in Della's condition had so shaken her she had been momentarily taken aback, frozen into inactivity until Cynthia had taken charge with assured experience. Once the initial shock had passed, Kathy buckled down and all the years of preparing for such crises kicked in, and as the room filled with medical personnel, it had been she who assumed the mantle of medical efficiency and the patient was at last resting as comfortably as could be expected.
Now it was on to the chore she would struggle with even more mightily: talking with the family she also knew well, the family who was scared and anxious, far from home and confronted with Della's grown up life away from them. As she turned the corner and the tableau revealed itself, her heart sank.
Perry Mason was seated in a chair at the far end of the waiting area, with two orderlies standing behind and off to the side, while the entire Street family had taken seats across from him. Even Mae, who knew Perry better than any of them, had joined her family in the confrontational seating arrangement. Mae's chair may have been hitched forward a few inches, but she was still letting him know where her allegiance lay. Kathy wondered how what she had to say would be received by everyone.
Perry saw Kathy first and quickly got to his feet. The orderlies made defensive movements toward him but relaxed when it became apparent the big attorney wasn't inclined to bolt, but would wait for Dr. Spencer to join the group. Jamie and Robbie jumped to their feet as well, then retook their seats when Kathy purposely chose the chair to Perry's right and sat down.
The ordeal with Della was evident in Kathy's demeanor and attire. She was subdued, weary, stained, and disheveled. No one had spoken a word since her approach had been noted, and the expectant atmosphere surrounding the little group squeezed the breath from her. She was picking up a definite vibe of unrest from the Streets, and she had never seen a more ferocious look of determination on a man's face as what Perry was presenting.
"She's fine," Kathy began with. She noted that no one relaxed. "I've heard of this with pneumonia, but I've never seen it happen. It's rather unusual."
"What was it Kathy?" Mae asked. "Della suddenly sat up coughing. It was different from her previous coughing and it scared me. I pressed the call button and that nurse came running, then called for a doctor. You all walked in and…" Mae shuddered.
"And Della expelled the infection," Kathy finished.
"She what?" Perry asked in alarm.
Kathy placed her hand on his arm. "The infection in her lungs spontaneously…erupted. I guess that's the best way to describe it. It was pretty harrowing for her." And for us, she thought ruefully.
"And for us," Alice Street echoed her thoughts aloud. "I've never heard a person make a noise like that."
Perry glared at Mae. "You made me go home."
Mae glared right back at him. "She wanted you to go home. Don't shoot the messenger."
"It wouldn't have mattered if you were here or not, Perry," Kathy told him. "You would have been removed from the room as well. No one needs an audience for something like that – no matter who that audience might be."
"She had to be so scared," he said with anguish and stood up again. The orderlies moved toward him but he glared them to a standstill. "I promised I wouldn't leave, and look what happened when I broke that promise."
"Mason, you make it sound like you're the only thing standing between her and the grave," Robbie said disgustedly.
Kathy held up her hands before Perry could retort. "I think we can concede that if it weren't for Mr. Mason, Della could very well have died."
"The only thing I'll concede is that Della wouldn't be sick if he didn't work her to death then try to make up for it with a trip somewhere cold and wet," Alice Street rejoined bitterly. "Emergency medical contact my eye! It's you who made her sick in the first place, and then wouldn't let her rest at home like she needed."
Perry's hands tensed into fists at his sides and his face turned stormy. "Mrs. Street, I assure you if I had known Della would be this sick I wouldn't have brought her here. She kept insisting she was fine, and except for a bit of coughing and sneezing she was. It came on so fast. One minute she was sleeping peacefully and the next she was burning up and convulsing."
"And how do you know she was sleeping peacefully?" Jamie Street asked acidly. "Kathy, we're her family, but this man seems to think he has the right to make decisions for her."
Kathy tried to be the diplomat. "If Della appointed him her emergency medical contact, then he has every right to make decisions in regard to her treatment if she cannot. But," she added as Jamie's face turned as stormy as Perry Mason's, "let's check it out to make sure."
"I want to see her," Alice Street announced. "I flew across country and I want to see my daughter right now."
Kathy sighed wearily and slumped a bit in her chair. "She needs to be kept quiet. What happened is probably the best thing for her, and her temperature is lower, but she's still very sick. Instead of dealing with that dry cough and tight congestion, we're now dealing with a very productive cough that is bringing up a lot of phlegm. She can breathe a bit better now, but insofar as comfort, she's most likely more miserable now than she was. I have half a mind to deny visiting privileges."
There was a chorus of immediate, heated objections and Kathy had to shout to quiet everyone. "I said I only had half a mind," she said with a tired smile. "I'm going to allow one person to see her and depending on how she handles one person will be the deciding factor whether or not I allow anyone else to see her."
Alice Street literally jumped to her feet. "Let's go then," she said impatiently to Kathy. "Take me to see her."
Kathy gave Alice Street, the woman who for so many years had been as close to her as her own mother, a sad, almost pitying smile. "Della has asked to see a particular person," she said gently. "She wants Perry."
Every pair of eyes shifted to Perry Mason with contempt. It made Kathy very upset to see him treated this way by the Streets, because they were good people. Their behavior had to be caused by their great worry over Della's condition. If only they had seen what she had seen over the past four days, how afraid he had been, how gentle, how devoted.
"We should never have let her move out here," Alice lamented bitterly. "She's turned her back on her family for that man."
Perry turned his back on the group and shoved his hands in his pockets. He couldn't let them see how they shook. "Go," he said quietly. "Go see her. I won't stand in your way."
Kathy's heart nearly broke. "I'll take you in, Aunt Alice."
Without any graciousness whatsoever, Alice and her sons filed past Perry Mason as they followed Kathy. Mae hung back.
"I'm staying with Perry," she called after them. She reached out and grasped his arm. "That was big of you."
He remained standing stiffly with his back to her, still smarting from how she had symbolically ganged up on him earlier. "Do you think like they do? That she shouldn't have ever come out here?"
Mae rested her head against his back, hugging him from behind. "From a very selfish, lonely place in me, I am so glad she came out here. I missed having family around. When she asked if she could come out and stay with me until she got a job and could live on her own, I was thrilled. She worked hard to overcome her lack of references and experience, and paid a lot of dues in one steno pool after another. She was so excited when you offered her a job. I hadn't seen her that excited since…"
"Since when?"
Mae shook her head. "It doesn't matter. It was just so nice to see her that excited again."
Perry figured he knew what Mae was thinking about, but now was not the time to get into it. "I shouldn't have left," he told her. "I should have found a corner somewhere in the hospital and taken a catnap. I hate it that I wasn't here."
Mae hugged him tighter. "I know. Don't be upset, but she did call for you. I told her you were sleeping, just like she wanted. She seemed to understand. As horrible as it was, she wanted you, but she understood."
"Mae, I'd like to tell you something, but you have to promise not to tell Della or your sister. And you especially can't tell Jamie or Robbie."
"You want to get married, but she doesn't."
Perry turned and pulled Mae around in front of him. "Did she tell you?"
Mae shook her head. "You forget I've been watching you two for years and that I'm very astute when it comes to my niece. I think I've got you pegged pretty well, too, Perry. In some ways you're easier to read than Della."
Perry dropped his arm across Mae's shoulders and steered her toward the hallway leading to room three-ten. "So much for being the tall, dark, mysterious stranger in your niece's life," he said with a slight smile.
"Tall and dark you are," she agreed readily. "Mysterious went by the wayside that time you took Della and me to dinner and I saw you on the dance floor with her."
"I should have known better than to try to pull the wool over your eyes, Mae."
"You realize I have to show support for my sister."
"I know."
"If she becomes unreasonable, I'll step in, but she has a point, Perry. She is Della's mother."
"And that's why she's in there now and I'm not."
No sooner had he spoken those words then they turned the corner and Alice Street emerged from room three-ten at a run, crying hysterically, Jamie and Robbie on her heels. The sobbing woman threw herself into Mae's arms and clung to her sister for dear life.
Jamie flung his arms around both women and threw Perry a venomous look. "She wants you," he spit out.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When Perry entered the room after more than a seven-hour absence, Della was propped up on several pillows, which forced her into an almost completely upright position, her shadowed and sunken eyes closed. Her head rolled from side to side against the pillow in agitation, and her legs moved restlessly. Louise was trying in vain to keep her still but she was having nothing of it. Her eyes opened briefly, and it appeared to Perry that she still couldn't focus well.
He moved swiftly to the side of the bed. "Hi, baby," he said, hoping his voice didn't shake.
"She's a mite upset right now, Mr. Mason," Louise informed him. "She wasn't very nice to her mother."
"That doesn't sound like Della. She loves her mother."
"I'm not sure she really knew who was here. It broke her mother's heart. She manages your name, and that's about it."
"Has she been this agitated since…since what happened?" She looked fragile and exhausted, pale and thin. The crack in her bottom lip had noticeably widened, even though he detected a sheen of Vaseline covering her mouth. Her hands fluttered in concert with the motion of her legs.
"Pretty much. She's probably very uncomfortable after everything. Add to it the new cough and the looser congestion, and she's just not very happy right now."
As if on cue, Della suddenly sat forward and began to cough. Perry winced. He didn't know what was worse, the dry, barking cough, or this rattling, congested cough. Louise indicated for Perry to help her roll up the sides of the oxygen tent, which they swiftly accomplished. Louise then brought a small bin to Della's face and commanded her to "get it out". Perry turned his back as Della coughed and gagged. Even though he knew this meant a step forward in her recovery, it still caused him physical pain to see her so uncomfortable.
Louise touched his arm. "I'm going to leave the tent up for a few minutes. I think she could use some human contact from someone other than a doctor or a nurse."
Perry gave her a look of supreme gratitude and moved back to the bed. Gingerly seating himself on the edge of the bed, and being careful of the IV in her arm, he slowly slid his arms beneath her and held her close. She stiffened a bit and continued her agitated movements.
"Perry," she said. Her voice had lost that low, barking quality and was now simply extremely congested.
"Yes, darling. I'm here."
She coughed and he rubbed her back. Her arms hung limply at her sides, as if she didn't have the strength to move them, but her hands still fluttered restlessly.
"I'm sick, Perry," she said pitifully.
He wanted to laugh, but thought that might not be the best response. "Yes, baby, you are. But you're getting better. Kathy said so."
"My Kathy."
"Yes, your Kathy. Isn't that wonderful? When you're well you and Kathy can sit on the upstairs porch and talk just like you used to. Would you like that?"
He thought the idea of being with Kathy on the porch would please her, but it made her movements more agitated. She wasn't as alert as she had been before he left for his confounded nap, and he wasn't quite sure how to take it. Kathy said the expulsion of the infection was a good thing, but she seemed more out of it than ever.
Even the safety and security of his arms couldn't quell her unrest. He began to rock her, moved one hand up to cradle the back of her head and press her against him. "Hold onto me, darling. I won't let you go until you feel better."
She coughed, and Louise appeared at the side of the bed with the small kidney shaped basin, but Perry waved her away as the cough failed to escalate into a fit. He couldn't stand her constant movement to find comfort, both mental and physical.
"Would you like me to tell you another story, baby? You liked the story about the perfect summer day at our house didn't you? And you had beautiful dreams"
She remained silent, save for the sound of her rattling, congested breathing.
He felt helpless. He didn't know what to do in the face of her unresponsiveness, fluttering hands and constant leg stretching. "Della, baby, tell me what I can do to make you feel better. Help me out. I don't know what to do."
Still she remained silent.
Desperately searching his mind for something that would make her happy, he thought back to her excitement at discovering the house and the short time they had been able to spend together before she became ill. She had been giddy, humming all the time, exploring the rooms and almost squealing with delight at each new discovery.
She struggled a bit in his arms and he knew his heart would break as her mother's had if she pushed him away. He began to hum, very softly, into her ear. He felt her relax a bit, and he raised his voice, singing softly in a mellow baritone.
I stand at your gate and the song that I sing is of moonlight.
I stand and I wait for the touch of your hand in the June night.
The roses are sighing a Moonlight Serenade.
She sighed. He continued.
I stand at your gate and the song that I sing is of moonlight.
I stand and I wait for the touch of your hand in the June night.
The roses are sighing a Moonlight Serenade.
Her legs slowed their jerking and stretching, and she signed once more.
The stars are aglow and tonight how their light sets me dreaming.
My love, do you know that your eyes are like stars brightly beaming?
I bring you and sing you a Moonlight Serenade.
The arm not tethered to the IV crept up and grabbed hold of his sweater above his shoulder blade. The arm with the IV needle grabbed a handful of cashmere near his waist. With her head pillowed against his chest, her cracked, Vaseline-slathered lips broke into a smile.
Let us stray till break of day,
In love's valley of dreams.
Just you and I, a summer sky,
A heavenly breeze kissing the trees.
So don't let me wait, come to me tenderly in the June night.
I stand at your gate and I sing you a song in the moonlight,
A love song, my darling, a Moonlight Serenade.
Neither of them noticed that Alice Street had re-entered the room and stood trembling at the foot of the bed. And both were oblivious when Louise stepped away, took Alice's arm and drew her into the hallway and silently closed the door behind them.