It's Christmas
Chapter 4
It was now a week later.
Rick was having dinner with his mother in the cafeteria. "How is Katie, Richard?" Martha asked him. "I haven't heard a thing about her from anyone."
"She's…she's shutting down on us, Mother. The doctor thinks she's created a world, one where what happened to her didn't happen. But her brain waves…they're not good. Not good at all." Rick was at a loss for what to do for her. He had all this magic, and he couldn't help Katie.
Martha reached out to hold his hand. "It's not your fault. Richard, it's not."
"I know. But had I received that Dear Santa letter a year earlier, I could do something. Instead, I get to deliver a dead Katie to her parents. I have to adhere to the Dear Santa letter. Dead or alive, I have to deliver her to her parents." Rick let his shoulders drop and head hang. "Of course, she'll be physically alive, but she'll be dead up here." He tapped his head.
"Isn't there something you can do?" Martha questioned him. "You have magic. I see you use it all the time."
Rick sighed. "I wish, Mother, but my magic doesn't work like that."
Suddenly, an Elf was standing at their table. "Is there anything I can do for you, Santa?" she asked him.
"Not unless you have a miracle hidden in your pocket. You do have pockets in that dress, right?" Rick joked with her.
"Yes, Santa, I have pockets. And I might have that miracle you asked for. But first, I have someone I need to talk to." And she hurried away.
"What that was all about?" Rick wondered. "But I've seen her somewhere before. Now, if I could remember where." He shook his head. "…Sometimes I wonder about me."
"It sounded like she had an idea. Maybe it'll work out," Martha told him.
Rick looked where she had gone and tried to remember where he had seen her. But there were a lot of Elves around here, and not all of them worked in the workshop.
*~{[}~*
It was now a week later.
"Lucy, any update on Katie?" Rick inquired.
"Katie remains unchanged, Santa, sadly," Lucy replied.
"There was an Elf I met in the cafeteria. She said she might have a miracle but had to talk to someone first. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Rick asked her.
Lucy lied to him when she said, "No, Santa." She hated lying to him, but if she told him, he might try to talk her out of it. And she still hadn't solved the Dear Santa letter problem yet.
Rick saw something. "LUCY!?"
"Honest, Santa, I don't know anything about that. How about some hot chocolate?" Lucy offered and started to leave.
"LUCY, stop right there." Rick got up from his desk, came around, and got down on his knees. For her part, Lucy cringed when Santa stopped her. "We've been through too much together, Lucy. Don't start lying to me now. Give."
"Santa, please," Lucy pleaded with him.
Rick shook his head. "Talk, Lucy."
"I…I can't, Santa. I just can't." And she ran away from him. She holed up in her office and cried.
Rick got up and tried to find her. He heard crying and followed the sound that way. He opened Lucy's little door leading to her tiny office.
Rick got down on his knees and crawled into her tiny, little office. Little was the operative word here. She was maybe four feet tall, and her little office fit her small size.
"Talk to me, Lucy. I promise I won't get mad. I could never get mad at you."
"I can't, Santa. Please don't make me. Please?" Lucy pleaded with him. She wanted so much for it to remain a secret. Not until it was over would Santa know what she had done.
"Does it have something to do with Katie?" Rick asked, and he watched her nod her head. "Something that would save her?" Rick watched her nod her head, then shake it.
That was clear as mud. "Come here." Rick opened his arms to her, and Lucy got up from her little desk and walked into them, crying all the way. Rick hugged her as tightly as he dared.
When Lucy finally stopped crying, or at least she was down to sniffling, Rick pushed her away slightly but still didn't let go of her.
"Alright, Lucy, I'll let you keep your secret…for now."
Lucy sniffed and managed to wipe away some of her tears. "Thank you, Santa."
"I don't know what it is, but it must be a doozy," Rick commented. "Now, how about some hot chocolate? I think we could both use a cup." He finally got a smile out of her.
"Coming right up, Santa. And a cookie," Lucy told him.
"And a cookie." Rick took a risk and kissed her. It was only on her little forehead, but still, it was a kiss. Then he backed out on his knees and succeeded in standing up.
"We have got to get you a bigger office," he told her. "It's hard on my knees."
"Oh no, Santa, I like my little office. Please don't change it," Lucy pleaded with him. She knew he could get a few Elves over here and change it for her. It would only take them a couple of hours at the most.
"Alright, you can keep your little office. I'll just have to suffer. I only hope my knees are up to it," Rick joked with her.
"Thank you, Santa." Lucy watched him leave. It gave her one more reason why she loved him so much. "Hot chocolate." She left her office, went to her hot chocolate-making station, grabbed a couple of cookies, and went to Santa with her silver platter.
She still had to solve the Dear Santa letter. So far she had nothing.
*~{[}~*
Lucy showed up outside of Katie's ICU unit. Katie was likely to be in here until it was time. She watched as Charlie did his best to get her to respond.
Lilly stopped next to her. "Lucy, nothing has changed much. Her brain waves haven't decreased, but they haven't increased, either. As you can see, Charlie is doing what he can, but he's just a dog."
Lucy contradicted her. "Charlie is not just a dog, Lilly."
"No, he's not, Lucy. I just meant; I don't know what I meant. But he's not reaching her. Charlie will be here until it's time for your little idea."
Lucy bit her lip. "You don't approve?"
"You must really love him. I never knew you would fall for a Santa. Any Santa, let alone this one," Lilly told her.
"Me neither, but I have." Lucy sighed, and her shoulders sagged. "If he were an Elf, I would already be married to him, but he's not and never will be."
Lucy sounded so sad to Lilly. That was when she knew Lucy was in deep.
"Don't say that. Don't even think that. Think positive thoughts. It'll work, it will work." Lucy told her.
"I have to warn you – we might lose both of you. You're playing with fire here," Lilly cautioned her.
"Don't say that. Do not even think that. Think positive. It will work," Lucy insisted. "I'll go inform Santa," and she left her.
"I'm positive you're playing with fire, Lucy," Lilly told her, but she was already gone. "This better work, or she'll kill me."
*~{[}~*
It was now a week later.
"Santa? You still can't go in there. But maybe you should. I'll get Lilly." The nurse scurried away to find her.
Rick looked at Katie. He saw her eyes were open, and Charlie was doing what he could again.
"Santa." Lilly walked up and stood next to him. "We're slowly losing her. I think it's time for some drastic measures. Since you're the same race as her and a male, I'm letting you go in and see if you can get a rise out of her. Even if she screams, it'll be an improvement," she told him. "Let me call a nurse first." Lilly left him and found a nurse. They were all standing there now.
"Alright, Santa, go in and take Charlie's place," Lilly instructed.
Rick stepped into the space, and so far, nothing. "Please, Please, Please," the nurse pleaded, holding her hands together. Hearing that got Lilly to look at her. Katie was affecting all of them.
They watched as Rick got close, right in her face, while Lillie's eyes focused on her brain waves. "It's not working." Lilly was crestfallen. "I'm not giving up, I'm not."
Rick stopped trying to get a reaction out of her and went to join Lilly and the nurse.
"She blinked, but that was it. No screaming, no nothing," Rick said.
"We watched her brain waves from here, and there wasn't any change, but I'm not willing to give up. We have months, still. I would like it if you, Santa, could visit her daily," Lilly told him.
"I'll be here. I would really like to take a live Katie to her parents as part of the Dear Santa letter. I don't want to leave a brain-dead woman behind. That doesn't feel right. Maybe I should leave a letter or something. I'll work on that, but I'll be here. Count on it," Rick told them both before he made it snow on him, and he was gone.
The nurse eyed Lilly. "You know something, don't you?"
"ME? I don't know anything other than trying to get Katie to join us in the land of the living," Lilly said resolutely and left her.
"Right. Something is going on, except I don't know what it is. But I will," the nurse told herself.
*~{[}~*
"Santa. SANTA!" Lucy yelled at him to get his attention. "What are you doing, Santa?"
"I'm trying to write a letter explaining why they found a brain-dead Katie in their living room after I left her as part of the Dear Santa letter," Rick told her as he crumpled it up and threw it to join the others. "So far, I'm not having much luck."
"So I see, Santa." Lucy picked up the crumpled paper and threw them in the trash he somehow missed hitting. "What are you having trouble with?"
"All of it, really. I mean, do I tell the parents about someone raping their daughter?" Rick asked her.
"Absolutely not, Santa! You are not telling them that," Lucy scolded him. You want to explain why she's brain-dead, not scare the crap out of them.
"Leave the letter writing to me, Santa. That's why I'm here. To support you in being Santa." Lucy came around the desk, took the pen out of his hand, and took away the paper he was writing on.
"Now get to work on Santa stuff. Leave the letter writing to me. Get busy. Honestly, Santa, sometimes you worry me." Shaking her head, Lucy left him.
"Thank you, Lucy," Rick called out after her. "I think," he told himself. That left him with the Naughty and Nice List again.
Lucy sat down at her little desk. "Now, what do I want to tell them? If this doesn't work," she talked to herself. "It'll work, it will work," Lucy told herself, and she didn't write a thing. Yet.
That still left her with the problem. What did she do about the Dear Santa letter? So far, she didn't have an answer, but she still had about four months to figure out something.
*~{[}~*
It was now a week later.
True to his word, Rick showed up at Katie's ICU bed and went into her room, whether Charlie was there or not. He tried to get a reaction out of her. So far as Rick could tell, it wasn't working. Sighing, he left.
Later, Rick made it snow on him and arrived just outside Katie's ICU room. He showed up right next to Lilly. "How's she doing, Doc?"
"We're losing her, I'm afraid. Her brain waves keep getting lower and lower. At this rate, there may not be much left of her to revive in about four months or less. I'm contemplating doing something drastic and dangerous," Lilly said. "It'll either wake her up or finish her off. I'm not sure which."
Wondering what it was, Rick looked at her. "I'm listening."
"It involves you," Lilly told him.
"ME! Why me?" Rick didn't understand what she was thinking about. Let alone have it involve him.
"Because you're the same race as Katie and a male." Lilly looked at him and pleaded with him to read her mind.
"That doesn't make any sense, Lilly. They raped Katie again and again. What could I do..." Rick suddenly thought he got it. "NO! No way, Lilly. Not a chance in hell. You're asking me to…" He shook his head hard, backing a few steps away from her. "No way. I won't do it."
"It might snap her out of it, Santa," Lilly told him. "But it also might just cement her decline."
"I don't care, Lilly. What you're asking me to do is…" Rick couldn't say it.
"Make love to her. Yes, I am. But like I said, there are risks, and I'm not there yet. Now get in there, Santa. Get her to wake up. As yours and her lives depended on it," Lilly told him as she kept her eyes glued to the read-out of her brain waves.
*~{[}~*
"Nothing happened, did it?" Rick asked Lilly, who just shook her head.
"We're losing her little by little. But I'm not willing to give up just yet," Lilly asserted. "There has to be something I'm missing. Something I haven't yet thought about."
"I'm not doing the other thing; you can forget it." Rick made it snow on him, and he was gone.
"Oh, Santa," Lilly tried, but he was gone.
A nurse came up to her. "He said no, didn't he?" she questioned Lilly, who nodded. "I told you he would. He's nice, Lilly. Maybe too nice for his own good."
Lilly nodded. "Yes, he's a kind man. A good choice for Santa, not that there was anything wrong with the old one, but this one is just better."
"We're running out of time, Lilly. We have maybe three months before she's so far gone she'll never come back to us. Is it possible there's a drug we can use?" the nurse asked hopefully.
"I've already thought of that," Lilly told her, wishing she had something good to tell her. "There just isn't one that doesn't create new troubles for us. Heroin, Cocaine, I've considered all of them. And ruled them all out for one reason or another."
The nurse sighed and went away, leaving Charlie to try and reach the young woman.
*~{[}~*
"Lucy," Rick called out from his desk. He got up and went to her tiny office, where he dropped to his knees and crawled inside.
"Is there something I can help you with, Santa?" Lucy questioned him.
"The Globe. Maybe the Globe will help us solve Katie's problem," Rick said hopefully.
Lucy sat there and shook her head. "The Globe can be used to find something or someone. But not to help Katie. It simply doesn't work that way. I'm sorry, Santa, but it won't work."
Rick slumped. "There has to be something. I'm not willing to send Jim and Johanna a brain-dead daughter as part of the Dear Santa letter."
"I'm sorry, but the Globe doesn't work that way." But suddenly, Lucy had an idea.
Rick could tell she thought of something. "What, Lucy? Tell me."
"Maybe, but it's a long shot at best," Lucy warned him.
"It doesn't matter, I'll take it," Rick told her. "What is it?"
"What if we asked the Globe for something? A drug, a dog, or a machine to help Katie recover. It'll have to be specific and that the Globe can find," Lucy told him.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go find out." Rick crawled on his knees backward to get out of her tiny office.
They went up the spiral staircase to the Globe. Lucy stopped him before he could pull the lever. "We need to be careful, Santa. We need the Globe to show us something that can help Katie, be it a drug or a machine."
"Got it." Rick pulled the lever, which set the Globe in motion.
It finally reached the speed that would show them something. Rick was hoping for a drug, but that wasn't what he saw. "What is that thing?"
Lucy clapped a hand over her mouth. She knew what it was. She knew what it was precisely. Lucy took off running for the closest Transmat wall.
"Lucy, what is that thing?" Rick called after her, but she didn't stop running. Rick turned to look at it again. It looked like a device to him, a machine, but he didn't recognize it. It was utterly foreign to him.
There seemed to be more than one device, but it was interconnected somehow. It didn't have a name on it telling him who made it. He wondered if they could even get their hands on it.
"I'll go get it personally. Even if I have to take the sleigh to pick it up." Except he didn't know its location. It looked like it was in storage somewhere. But he couldn't get the Globe to show him where more clearly.
"Come on, show me where it is, you stupid thing." Rick was ready to hit it.