Where the Streets Have No Name

Chapter 82

"I'm releasing Mrs. Cullen from the ICU to be moved to the long term care ward," Dr. Rubens said as he addressed the three people sitting across from him. "Her condition is stable. She's breathing independently. There isn't much point in keeping her here any longer."

It had been twenty-five days since Carmen's admission to the ICU. While her vital signs had progressively improved, she hadn't regained consciousness.

"Unfortunately, she is not yet responding to external stimuli and registering quite low on the GC scale. I can't predict when, or if, she'll wake up, but until then, she'll be well taken care of there. She'll be under Dr. Marvin's care. Once she's transferred and he has made his assessment, he'd be able to give you a more realistic prognosis about the patient."

Edward and the Morenos were sitting in Dr. Ruben's office. The seating arrangement was a dead giveaway of the effort they had invested to ensure that there was as much space between them as the small office allowed.

The war Elvira had waged against Edward lost much of its steam once the police investigation failed to substantiate any of the allegations; there wasn't a shred of evidence to suggest Edward had ever been anything less than a doting, caring husband to Carmen, while the subpoenaed medical records pointed at Carmen's tenuous mental state.

Reluctantly, Elvira had to step down from her mission, but the rift between her and Edward was still palpably present.

Edward was already aware of much of what Dr. Ruben was imparting; he had skimmed through Carmen's charts. The briefing session was more for the Morenos' benefit.

"Can we move her? Is it safe to fly her out to New Jersey?" Elvira asked. She looked gaunt and tired. Even if they were on the opposite sides of a seemingly irreconcilable divide, the last few weeks had been just as hard on her as it had been on Edward.

However, Elvira's question surprised him greatly.

The Morenos wanted to take Carmen home to Edison?

This was the first time he was hearing about it.

Before he could demand any kind of clarification, Dr. Rubens spoke up.

"Mrs. Moreno, the facilities at this hospital are state of the art. I assure you, your daughter will receive excellent care here. But I suppose if her primary physician signs her release, under medical supervision, and of course with her proxy's consent -" he waved at Edward "- I don't see why not. Although I'd advise that you wait a few more weeks. Dr. Marvin's staff would be able to walk you through the paperwork. Now, If you'll excuse me, I'll leave you to discuss it amongst yourselves. You're welcome to use my office for as long as you need." He gave them a thoughtful nod, then left the room.

After a few awkward moments of silence, Hector cleared his throat. "Edward, I understand that you are still quite upset with us, but I hope we can get past everything... that has happened and do what's best for Carmen."

"I would like that too." Edward nodded in assent. He wasn't interested in engaging in a prolonged feud with his in-laws. If they wanted to be in charge of Carmen's care and if they felt she'd be better looked after in New Jersey, he wouldn't stand in the way just to spite them. After all, it would allow him more time to raise Ella.

"We want to move Carmen to Edison so she can be near us," Elvira confirmed. "Hector already spoke with the the doctors at the JFK Medical Center there; they are ready to receive her any time. If your insurance doesn't cover air transportation, we will pay for the cost ourselves."

She paused to exchange a meaningful look with her husband. There was more to their plan than only taking their daughter home. "Uh... you see, Edward, the doctors can't be sure how long it might be before Carmen wakes up. It could be a long time. We just can't allow our granddaughter to grow up without knowing her mother. I'm sure you wouldn't want that either.

"So, we want to take Ella with us as well."

Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.

*GC Scale refers to the Glasgow Coma Scale.

** I'm addressing the anonymous reviewer "Faithful Reader". I understand you are very unhappy with Edward and how stupid he is. I couldn't be sure from the tone of your review, but did you have a question for me? Or was that all a rhetoric outburst? If there was an actual question, I can't reply to you if you are not logged in. That goes for everyone. You are most welcome to share your thoughts anonymously (praise/flame/bash/hate/love), but if you have a legitimate question for me and you expect me to answer, you need to provide me with a way to respond.