Chapter 5

Alarms started going off left and right in Lucy's hospital room and Dr. Jones could tell that it might be her way of trying to come back to consciousness. After being a doctor for many years and watching patients in the exact same position, he could tell when a patient was waking from their coma or dying. This was definitely positive progress that Lucy was making, but first he and the nurses had to try to get her body to calm down.

After the beeping stopped and the medical team stood around her, they saw that her eyes were starting to flutter open. Her mouth was trying to form words and to voice what she wanted.

"Ri...Ri...Ricky," said Lucy's voice, which sounded hoarse and very weak.

"Mrs. Ricardo, I'm Dr. Jones, do you know where you are?"

"Where's my husband?" asked Lucy, quietly.

"You're in the hospital. You passed out at the Tropicana due to malnutrition. You haven't been eating and so you went unconscious and that's how you got here."

"I want to see my husband. Where's Ricky?" asked Lucy. She was starting to panic that no one seemed to be answering her question.

"We had to send him home. He's been worried sick over you. We'll call him to come down here, don't worry."

Lucy's eyes began to fill with tears, but she wasn't sure why. All she knew was that she wanted Ricky with her in this strange room.

"Please, just get him here," said Lucy, choking back the tears.

Lucy remembered clearly the dream she had when she was unconscious and with not seeing Ricky immediately when she woke up, she started to get scared that he really didn't want her around him anymore because of her crazy stunt.

All of a sudden, her hospital door opened and her heart soared at the possibility that it was Ricky. To her dismay, it turned out to be one of her nurses who was bringing her some water.

"Here you go, Mrs. Ricardo."

"Thank you. Did someone call my husband yet?"

"Oh yes, a few moments ago. He's on his way"

"Why wasn't he here when I woke up?"

"Well, visiting hours were over when you were admitted. Dr. Jones actually allowed him a few minutes to spend with you before he left. Trust me, it wasn't easy for us to get him out of here. He wanted to be with you. Your husband must really love you, Mrs. Ricardo. You're a very lucky woman."

"Yes, I know."

Ricky ran into the hospital in a panic, not sure what they were going to tell him. The secretary on the phone just told him to come down to the hospital immediately. She didn't give him any details on Lucy's condition or anything like that. Running down the hallway towards the front desk, he happened to see Dr. Jones talking to a nurse.

"Ductor, how's my wife? They tol' me to rush down here immediately, but they din't say why."

"Mr. Ricardo, calm down. I have good news for you. Lucy woke up and she's been asking for you. I'll bring you back down to her room so you can stay with her. She was starting to get upset that you weren't there. I talked to the head of the hospital and he said that it was okay for you to stay with her."

"Dios Mio, thank you so much, Ductor!"

"Please, this way, Mr. Ricardo and I'll bring you to your wife."

Ricky walked down the hallway of the hospital. He could hardly contain his relief and excitement as he made his way to Room 202. He realized that every step he took, it was one step closer to the love of his life. He would make sure that she knew that he would no longer take her for granted ever again.

Opening the door, he looked towards her bed and saw his wife, sitting up. They locked eyes with each other and couldn't help but smile. They also couldn't help, but start crying when they saw each other.

"I'll leave the two of you alone," said Dr. Jones, and with that he made himself scarce and walked out of the room.

Ricky couldn't believe his eyes as he slowly walked over to Lucy's bed. Neither of them could take their eyes off of each other and smile at the other.

Lucy watched Ricky sit down slowly on the edge of her bed and she felt her heart start beating like her husband's conga drum. Ricky couldn't take it any longer; he grabbed Lucy into his arms so tightly, afraid that if he loosened his grip, she might disappear.

"Oh, mi amor! I missed you so much!"

"Ricky!" cried Lucy, as she wept into his shoulder.

"Shhh," said Ricky, trying to comfort her. He kept fighting back the tears that were in his eyes, but wanted to be strong for his redhead. He enjoyed the feeling of her in his arms again, knowing a few short hours ago that there was a chance she wouldn't be again.

"I'm so sorry, Ricky...I'm so sorry," cried Lucy, trying to take a breath in between her tears.

"Shhh, I'm the one who should 'pologize. I should never have call you fat. You're nut...you're beautiful. It was wrung of me to say that to you. Forgive me?"

"Ricky, I'm the one who should apologize. I'm the one who didn't care about my own health and went to extreme measures to be in the show. I should have just let it go instead of trying to lose 12 pounds in 4 days."

Ricky looked at his wife and couldn't help, but smile. This woman was something else and he felt like he was the luckiest guy in the world. Here he was, apologizing for making fun of her and here she was, apologizing to him for trying to get into the show and not caring how she got there.

"I think we're both surry," whispered Ricky, as he took Lucy's cheeks and held them gently in his hands.

He couldn't stop looking at Lucy for even a second. The past few hours were so awful for him, not knowing if she was going to make it. He thought that maybe he actually did fall asleep and was dreaming, but it wasn't possible that it was a dream. It was reality, his reality and he wasn't going to waste another moment of it.

"I've been wuntin' to do somethin' for a while," said Ricky, as he leaned in closer to Lucy's face.

"Me too," said Lucy, as she got lost in her husband's eyes.

Lucy couldn't believe that this was really happening. She was so happy that she was being given a second chance at life and this time, she wouldn't goof up, or at least she would try not to. After all, she wasn't perfect. She could feel her husband's breath on her lips and her heart started to flutter wildly, just like it always did before he kissed her.

Ricky closed the space between them and as he shut his eyes, he felt his lips make contact with Lucy's and he felt the electricity between them. He gently let his tongue slip into her mouth and let it massage her own. He felt that this was the perfect connection between them and that if he could've, he would've stayed like that forever. Suddenly remembering where they were, he reluctantly let go of her lips and stared at her beautiful face.

Lucy opened her eyes and couldn't explain the look that was in her husband's eyes. It was a look of fear, pain, worry, love and desire all wrapped into one. The emotion that was most noticeable was love. Pure and simple, it was the one that could always be identified on his face when he looked at her, even if he was furious. In that moment, she remembered her dream nightmare and shuddered.

"Sweetheart, what's wrung?"

"It's nothing," lied Lucy, "I'm just a little chilly. Can you get me that blanket that's on the chair?"

Ricky nodded his head and went to get the blanket. He knew that Lucy wasn't telling him the exact truth, but since she was in a vulnerable state, he wouldn't push her and he would just wait until she was ready to talk.

Lucy didn't know if she could explain what happened to her while she was unconscious. She didn't know if he'd understand why she experienced that or thought that. She figured that she would just try to enjoy her life with this beautiful man by her side and forget everything that happened to her in the past few days. Hopefully, it would be that easy.