Chapter Nineteen

On Sean's orders, Lila remained home and in bed for two days. Steven took off one additional day, then Eddie came over to attend to her daughter's needs.

"I feel fine, Mom," Lila assured her. "The babies are fine, it was an accident. Fill me in on Grandpa."

Eddie's face turned white. Jamie had spoken with Sean and Steven and the three men had decided over her fervent objections not to let Lila know of her grandfather's state until today. Frank had developed a lung infection and was in the intensive care unit at St. Victor's. The entire family knew Lila would blame herself and want to be at his side, that the worry and the fall together might cause a detrimental early labor.

"Mom, I know that look. What's happened to him?"

Eddie pushed Lila back so she was still lying down. "We took Grandpa to the hospital night before last. He was in a lot of pain and couldn't breathe so Dad called the ambulance. He has pleurisy, there is fluid in the sack around his lungs. He can't breathe on his own very well, he's on a Bi-Pap machine but…he's bad honey."

Lila's throat closed, "Well, I have to go to be with him."

"Not until Dr. Mianni clears you in a few days for so much activity, sweetie," Eddie replied. "That's why we didn't tell you. If things don't turn around and they tell us it's his time then of course we'll bring you over."

"Mom, oh no…I promised him that he'd see these babies, Mom. I promised…"

Eddie sighed and held her daughter, she had spent most of the night holding her husband when he lost it in the privacy of their bedroom. In front of the family, Jamie had been stoic and in total control, even Danny looking to him and at him for direction. Eddie's heart broke remembering those hours in the very early morning…

Eddie awoke to the bed moving early that morning after finally getting to sleep. Snuggling under the blanket Eddie tried going back to sleep only to awoke again hearing sobs coming from the bathroom. Throwing the covers back Eddie made her way into the bathroom where she found Jamie kneeling on the floor sobbing, his entire frame shaking.

"Oh Jamie," Eddie rushed to his side pulling her soulmate into a tight hug while Jamie continued sobbing drenching her night shirt with his tears.

"I…can't...dad..." Jamie barely managed to get the sentence out and although it wasn't a complete sentence, Eddie knew Jamie couldn't lose his father.

"Shh, I know take deep breaths for me." Enclosed Jamie enclosed in her arms, she rocked Jamie like a child. "I'm here, I'm here…" She kissed his head and sat back allowing Jamie to lay in her lap until he finished his cry.

"What did they say after I left?" Eddie asked when Jamie's breathing returned to a slow, steady rhythm. "And by the way, don't you ever do that to me again, Jamison. If you are going to be at the hospital hearing hard things, I will be at your side."

Jamie sniffled, "You were tired, your back was killing you, I could see. Sending you home with Jack, that was right. You needed rest and I needed you to rest, I need you if…They said with his lungs and oxygenation were so depressed already that this is probably it. They want to keep him in the hospital, keep him comfortable until…but Danny, Erin, and I agree he'd want the medication and a fighting chance so we told them to continue to actively treat the infection."

Eddie stroked Jamie's forehead, "Yeah, that's what he would want I think. What does Sean say?"

"That pleurisy is treatable," Jamie relied. "That the COPD complicates everything and that…Dad is going to have a rougher death the way we are doing things."

"Jamie, listen to me," Eddie said gently. "This is not something you decide alone, all right? You keep talking to Danny and Erin, but especially to me. You have loved me through so much, let me love you through this."

"Dad's not handling it so well," Eddie sighed. "He's at work now and he'll go back to the hospital."

"Go be with Dad, Mom," Lila encouraged. "I'll be a good girl and stay in bed. I promise. He needs you."

"He's working, when it's time to go to the hospital, Dad's detail will stop for me and Molly will come to be with you when she is done working. It's all arranged honey."

"Can I call him?" Lila asked.

Eddie sighed, "No, honey. He's unconscious, the doctor's did it to ease his pain. If you want to talk to him, when I visit later I will hold the phone to his ear so you can tell him what you need to tell him, all right angel?"

Lila nodded, tears running down her cheeks. She loved her Grandpa so much, and she knew how it must feel for her father to see his father so ill. Lila remembered keeping a vigil by Jamie's bedside after his stroke, it was torture. Lila pulled out her phone and sent a text to her father, simply saying, "Hi, Daddy – We are all thinking of you. We love you and we are praying for Grandpa." Lila took a selfie showing off her belly and hit send.

For the remainder of the day, Eddie and Lila looked at houses online narrowing the pile of acceptable new dwellings to four. When Jamie was heading back to the hospital, he called Eddie to meet him out front. "You rest, I'll be over on Wednesday to go to Dr. Mianni, if she says all right, we'll go see Grandpa.'

Lila hugged Eddie close, "Tell Dad I love him, give Grandpa kiss for me."

Eddie headed out, Molly would be arriving shortly to stay until Steven got home.

"How are you?" Eddie asked Jamie hugging him tight.

"It was a long day, how did Lila take it?"

"She was upset that she can't be with him, I didn't tell her that they don't think he'll make it through this though. I thought it better…If he does go to just tell her that."

Jamie nodded and took Eddie's hand, "She's all right though. No bad effects?"

"Nope," Eddie replied. "Dr. Mianni will check her again on Wednesday, then if she is allowed I'll take her to see Frank."

The detail dropped the couple off at the hospital. Danny and Linda had been sitting with Frank since noon. He was still in ICU, on the Bi-Pap, looking every one of his ninety-four years in the bed. Jamie sighed, "I never saw my father look small before. Even when he got shot all those years ago, it was hard to see but he looks…"

Eddie rubbed her hand up and down Jamie's back, "I know. Let's see what the doctors had to say okay?"

Danny stood when Jamie came in, "Hey Kid. Dr. Burg was just here and he says Dad's fever is down and his heart rate is stronger, the medication seems to be helping him a little bit."

Jamie smiled and touched Frank's foot through the blanket, "That's good news. Has he been awake?"

"No," Linda replied. "They have him on heavy duty pain medication, later they are going to put a G tube in; they don't want him to lose nutrition being sedated like this. He needs all his strength to fight this thing."

"Oh, he'll hate that," Eddie sighed. "I hated mine, I think I had three or four over the years." Eddie sat down and took Frank's hand in hers. She kissed the cold, withered hand then called Lila so she could say a few special words of love to her grandfather.

For his part, Frank was locked in a world between life and death. At times he could see his Mary, Henry, his boy, Joe…other times he heard Danny, Linda, Jamie, Erin, Eddie…Sean speaking to him telling him he'd be all right, assuring him he would get well. Did he want that at this point? The burning and the crushing weight of each breath made death very appealing, but the desire to hold his newborn great grandchildren made fighting that much more possible.

As Lila spoke, Frank's monitor showed improvement in his heart rate and oxygen levels. Eddie smiled, they wouldn't count the old man out yet.

Days passed with countless family members filtering in and out of Frank's room. Slowly but surely, his vitals continued to improve with steroid therapy, assisted ventilation, and the nutrition from the feeding tube. On Tuesday, the doctors began to lift the heavy sedation to allow Frank to be alert and lucid. Eddie hoped he'd be awake if she was permitted to bring Lila to the hospital.

"How are you feeling, Lila?" Dr. Mianni asked when Eddie brought her to the doctor that Wednesday.

"I am fine, my back hurts less. They babies are moving a lot," Lila said with a huge smile.

"That's good to hear, let's take a look and a listen and if all is well we'll lift the travel ban on you and you can go about your business," Dr. Mianni replied. "Lie back for me."

The examination was quick and painless, the babies' heart beats were strong and healthy. Dr. Mianni smiled, "It seems your fall didn't hurt the babies' at all. Continue to take it easy, but you can go back to being more active and not resting as much."

Lila smiled, "Dr. Mianni, my grandfather is in the hospital and I'd like to see him. Is that…"

"Try not to get too upset, you can go and see him, try to sit rather than stand for longer periods of time. I'll see you in two weeks…"

Lila slid off the table and changed into her street clothes. "Okay, let's go see Grandpa! Maybe the drugs wore off enough that he's awake a little."

Eddie smiled, even if Frank was awake she wasn't sure he's be strong enough to communicate much. She didn't want to upset Lila though so she only replied, "We'll see."

Frank was sitting up in bed when Lila and Eddie walked in. He was still on the bi-pap but his eyes were opened. "Grandpa, you're up!" Lila hurried to his bedside and put her arms around him.

Frank smiled, "Yeah, peanut…" he rasped weakly. "I'm up. How are you feeling?"

"Ssh," Eddie scolded. "Frank, don't talk so much."

"The babies are fine, I was just at the doctor and she took a picture for you. You see here is Baby A, that one is feisty and likes to make its opinion known. This is Baby B, this one is shy, only pokes me a little bit, it's not aggressive, if I have to say I think they are both girls but one is more opinionated than the other."

Frank smiled and let his eyes drop closed, speaking just those few words tired him. He might be mending but he was not well yet. "They are going to be adorable," Frank sighed. "You will be a good mother…you have a good mother…"

Eddie smiled and stroked Frank's hair back, "Thank you…I had a good partner. How about you get some more rest? Lila and I will come back tomorrow." Eddie could see the visit was too taxing for him.

Frank nodded, "Just a nap…" He was asleep before he finished the sentence.

"Oh, Mom…" Lila gasped. "He's…"

"Doing a lot better," Eddie finished. "He really is, a few more days and I think he'll be his old self but for now he is exhausted. What do you say we head home and get started on dinner? We can all come visit him later after her rests."

Eddie led Lila out of the room and hailed a cab home. While she and Lila worked on dinner, Eddie's heart felt light. Her daughter's pregnancy had not been affected by her fall and Frank was doing better than the doctor's anticipated. She hoped that their next visits would find him doing even better, with everything in her heart, she hoped.

A/N: Frank is a tough old bird that is for sure. Pleurisy and other bronchial and respiratory infections almost always complicate COPD difficulties and Frank's case is fairly well controlled. There are many out there suffering from this mostly silent illness cause by anything from smoking to impure environmental factors.

Next Update – May 20th – The family joins for Sunday dinner.