Chapt. 30

A day later Matt was out of jail, Logan was in jail, and Claire was still in the hospital. Matt had made his way back to her room, his hand casted for the minor fractures he'd cause himself. He walked in hoping as he always did for a change in Claire's condition and as always there was none. He took his seat at her bedside, took her hand in his, and as he hung his head he did something he hadn't done in years. He prayed, from his heart, like there would be no tomorrow if he didn't pray with all he had.

When he was certain there were no more words to say and no more tears to cry his imagination began to get away with him. He could have sworn that he had felt Claire move her hand in his. He raised his head up slowly and stared at the point of contact between his hand and hers. He watched for any sign of movement to tell him that he hadn't imagined her fingers squeezing and releasing his hand. Finally after a minute she did it again. More obviously this time with one big squeeze before releasing and then tightening back up on his good hand.

Never taking his eyes off of her hand he began to call for the doctors and nurses. "NURSE, please you have to come quick! She's moving, she's waking up, please hurry!" He felt tears in his eyes again, tears of relief, hope, and happiness he hadn't felt in weeks. At the sound of someone entering the room he glanced over his shoulder to see Darcy.

"Matt, when did you get here son?"

"Get the doctor, now! She's moving!"

Darcy stood motionless for a second taking in what Matt had said. Right before she turned she saw the slightest movement under the sheets where Claire's feet lay. Her hand flew to her mouth as she ran to the nurse's station. She came back in with a nurse on her heels as she hurried toward the bed.

"I've paged the doctor and he will be here shortly. It's important to not get your hopes up in a situation like this. It's not uncommon for involuntary muscle movement in patients who have been in a non responsive state for an extended period of time."

"Nurse, with all due respect I've read all that on the internet. I know all that you're telling me right now. I also know that God answers prayers and that right in the middle of a prayer for a miracle for my friend she moved. I also know my friend, and her will and her strength. This is her turn around." Matt stared the nurse in the eye, knowing that every word he'd spoken was true.

Half an hour later the doctor had evaluated Claire and said that there were definite signs of her coming around. He would be checking in on her every hour on the hour to monitor her progress. "Darcy can I speak to you outside for a moment," he asked as he slid Claire's chart back into the slot at the foot of the hospital bed.

Darcy nodded and stood, taking Matt's hand in hers pulling him to follow. In the hall she glanced at the doctor. "He can hear anything that you can tell me. It will save me having to go back in and repeat it."

"Very well then," the gray haired doctor said gruffly as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Your daughter has made a miraculous turn around today. She is on the way to a recovery, hopefully a full one. At this point that can't be determined but she is recovering. When she was brought in by ambulance none of really expected her to survive the night, and when she did we thought it was only a matter of time before we were having a much different talk than we are now." He cleared his throat and continued in low hushed tones. "The trauma she had sustained was horrific, the blood loss enormous. Had it not of been for the transfusion she received she wouldn't be here now. That is a fact of which I am sure of. I'm not sure of how badly the trauma of what happened will affect her when she wakes and starts to recover and move on, that's something we will simply have to see. All that I know, is there was someone watching out for that girl, someone more powerful and healing than any of us here in this hospital."

Darcy nodded as silent tears of gratitude and joy ran down her weary cheeks. "Thank you doctor, for everything you have done. If I knew who had donated the blood that saved her life, I'd never be able to repay them."

The doctor looked confused a moment and said, "You do know who gave the blood ma'am."

Darcy looked up at Matt, questions in her eyes. He shook his head just as confused as the others.

"Ma'am, the tall Irishman who was here the night she was brought in, he's the one who donated his blood for her. He was adamant that she not ever know, but I thought for sure he'd have told the two of you."

Matt was shocked but only mildly. He knew that Stephen loved Claire, but he'd never thought or known that he'd given of himself to see that she lived. Turning to Darcy he said, "I have to call him and tell him she's waking up." He ran down the hallway to the elevators and took them down to the cafeteria where he ordered a coke and sat down to make the call.

"Hello?"

"Stephen she's waking up."

There was a loud clatter on the other end of the line and then the tough Irish accent spoke in broken tones. "Are you sure? She's coming around, getting better? She's going to make it?"

"Yes, to all of the questions. Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me, I wasn't the one who did it."

Matt drew in his breath and slowly exhaled. "Stephen, the doctor assumed we knew. Well, he assumed Darcy knew at least, otherwise he'd have never told us I'm sure. The doctor said had it not been for the blood you gave, she wouldn't have lived at all. There would have been no hope, no chance of her pulling through. So yes, you did do it. Thank you, a million times over and so much more than you can ever know. Thank you."

Silence rang out on the other end of the line. Matt almost thought that Stephen had hung up, until he heard him catch his breath. "I don't want her to know. Promise you won't tell her a thing and its thanks enough."

"Why don't you want her to know?"

"Because she can't stand me, that's why. I love that woman enough to lay down my life for her if need be and she thinks I'm a monster. If she ever sees me differently I want it to be on her own, not because of something like this."

Matt could totally understand where the guy was coming from. "You have my word. Don't stay away from here though. Come and visit soon."

"Yeah, I will. Thanks for calling Matt."

Matt hung up the phone and rested his head on the table. He needed to call PJ, to apologize for how he'd acted, and to tell him that he wanted him to stay in his life. It might be the hardest call he ever made but now was the time to do it. Taking a long drink from his Coke, he picked up the phone once more.

"Hello?" Matt didn't speak and once again PJ repeated, "Hello? Matt is that you?"

"Yeah," Matt said on a whisper.

"Is everything okay? Is Claire okay?"

"She's moving, coming around. She's going to make it. The doctors think it's a miracle really."

"I'd thought you'd sound happier. That's great news, right?"

"It is and I'm thrilled. I just… PJ, look; I've not been the nicest guy lately, I've been a down right asshole and I need to tell you that I'm sorry. I've treated you horribly and you didn't deserve it. If you never want to talk to me again then I totally understand that. I just want you to know that I care about you, more than I have anyone in a long time and I am not ready to see you walk out of my life."

"Matt, if you don't know by now that I am falling in love with you, something's wrong. I'm not going anywhere, not unless you tell me too. I was actually about to come visit Claire, if you don't mind. I'd like to see you too. I miss you Matt."

Matt swallowed past the lump in his throat and wondered when the tears would dry up. "I miss you too PJ, bad. Come on up here, then maybe we can get dinner somewhere in town."

"Okay then, give me and hour and I'll be there."

Hanging up Matt felt a weight come off his shoulders that he hadn't even realized was there. He rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes for a moment to process the day up to this point. It wasn't two minutes before he heard his cell phone ring. "Hello," he said not looking at the number.

"Matt, she's asking for you."

His heart stopped for a brief moment and he stood so quickly that he knocked the chair over in his rush. He rushed for elevators and when they didn't arrive fast enough he took off up the five flights of stairs to Claire's floor. He rounded the corner and slid into her room out of breath. He grabbed her hand and watched as her eyelids fluttered and her lips attempted a smile.

"Matt," she whispered hoarsely. It was possibly the sweetest sound he had ever in his life heard.