It's Christmas
Chapter 6
It was now a week later.
Santa had been standing outside of Katie's ICU room twice a day. He stood there for hours. He made up the time by not sleeping much. He needed to keep doing Santa's work.
Rick made it snow on him and arrived outside Katie's ICU room. He was immediately spotted. "I'll find Lilly, Santa," the nurse told him, and he nodded and looked into the room.
From his perspective, nothing had changed. Lucy was still hooked up to the machine, as was Katie.
Lilly arrived and stood next to him. "Santa."
"Any change today?" Rick asked her.
That got Lilly to go into the room and look at the machine to get an update. "If I read this correctly, about a quarter of Lucy is now in Katie. Her brain waves are going up as more of Lucy goes into Katie. At this rate, it'll be a month or more once it's complete. But it's not over when that day comes." Lilly looked at Santa and realized he wasn't understanding.
"Lucy won't suddenly wake up in Katie. It may be days or weeks before Katie, meaning Lucy, can say a thing.
"You need to understand, Santa. Lucy will be searching for a way to communicate. But she'll do this as if surrounded by fog, a cloud, or buried in a snow bank.
"Think about that. Lucy is in Kate's brain, but Katie is still in there, at least a little. Does she have to fight against Katie? Or do they meet in the middle? All of that will take time," Lilly told him.
"So I'll be talking to Lucy as much as I'm talking to Katie?" Rick questioned her.
"Correct, Santa. They're both in there somewhere. Now, given how much of Katie remains, Lucy may have almost total control of her body. But we won't know until she can communicate with us and tell us.
"If I know Lucy, she'll reach an agreement with Katie. How much of Katie still exists, that is. It's not over yet, Santa," Lilly said.
"I think I understand. Thank you, Doc." Rick bowed his head toward her.
"That's my job, Santa. Stay as long as you want. Just know Lucy won't answer you if you decide to talk to her. Though talking to her might help. Lucy's going to be lost in there somewhere. A voice might actually help her. So talk to her, Santa. Talk to Katie when you talk to Lucy," Lilly told him, and she left him again.
So Rick talked to Katie but called her Lucy. He didn't know if he was helping or not.
"I love you, Lucy. Please come back to me." Rick kissed Katie's cheek, then he made it snow on himself and vanished.
*~{[}~*
Rick was eating in the cafeteria again. He got a lot of "Hi, Santa," and he answered all of them when suddenly, a tray was across the table from him. He looked up and saw his mother.
"Hello, Mother."
"How is Lucy doing?" Martha asked him and saw the look on his face. "Yes, I know all about Lucy. She's the talk of this entire place. She's transferring her mind into Katie's mind. All because she loves you, Richard."
He sighed. "She shouldn't have done that. If I knew what she was planning, I would have stopped her. Now it's too late."
"Love makes us all do some crazy things, Richard. She loves you. She saw a way to force you to love her back, and she took it."
"That's just it, I do love her. I loved her as an Elf," Rick said.
"Did you? Did you truly love her? Did you kiss her? Did you hold her to your body? Did you make love to her?" Martha challenged him.
"No, of course not," Rick told her.
"That's why she did it, Richard. Any woman wants to know she's loved. To feel him hold her tight, to feel his kisses, make love to her. Now, you can do all of those things. To Katie, she happens to be Lucy there instead of Katie.
"You can marry and have children now. You couldn't do that if Lucy were an Elf?" Martha asked him. But Richard took too long to answer her. "Well, could you?"
"No," Rick answered her quietly.
"Now you can. Love Katie, Richard. It's Lucy you're in love with; she only happens to look like Katie now. She did this because she loves you. So, love her in return.
"Show her that she made the right choice. You two can now have a future together. That's why she did this. Even a blind man could see it," Martha told him.
"You're right, Mother. Thank you." Rick got up and leaned across to kiss her cheek. Then he made it snow on him, and he vanished.
"Go get her, son," Martha told him.
Rick arrived outside of Katie's ICU room. He immediately went in on Katie's side and leaned down to tell her something. "I love you, Lucy. Please come back to me. I love you so very much." Rick kissed Katie's cheek, and he stood there talking to her.
The nurse left to get Lilly since she needed to see this.
Lilly arrived and saw Santa talking to Lucy. She heard him telling her he loved her and that she should return to him. It brought a tear to her eye.
"Maybe this just might work, Lucy. I sure hope so for your future. You've taken a big risk here," Lilly told her, and she returned to her office.
*~{[}~*
Rick arrived outside of Katie's ICU room twice daily. He still had Santa work to do, but he came twice a day. Rick leaned down to tell Katie he loved her, loved Lucy, and that she should return to him. Then he talked to her, never stopping until he finally ran out of words. Then he made it snow on himself, and he was gone.
Lilly went into Katie's room to check on the machine and be sure it was working correctly. "So far, so good," she told herself and looked at Katie. To her eyes, Katie didn't look any different. But then, neither did Lucy.
It was just the readout on the machine that told her anything. "Just don't stop working. We don't want to lose either of them. Not now," Lilly said to the machine.
*~{[}~*
The nurse was sitting there when Santa showed up, and he moved to Katie's side of the bed. Lucy was on the other side, but there wasn't much space.
"I love you, Lucy. Please come back to me. I suck at making hot chocolate, I can't begin to make cookies, and I'm all out of cookies," Rick told her.
His head snapped up. "She smiled. She smiled at me. I know she smiled at me," Rick announced, which was enough to get the nurse out of her chair to get Lilly.
Lilly strode into the room, went to the machine, and looked at the readout.
"She smiled, Doc. I swear she smiled."
Lilly looked up at him. "I'm not saying she didn't, Santa, but there just isn't enough of Lucy in Katie presently to indicate that she's capable of that. It's probably just a stray muscle spasm."
"I don't care what you say. I saw Lucy smile at me." Rick leaned down to Katie. "Come on, Lucy, you can do it. I'm here, I'll always be here. It's me, Santa, talking to you," Rick told her, and he looked at Lilly.
Lilly just shook her head at him. Undeterred, Rick continued to talk to Lucy.
*~{[}~*
Rick arrived in a mini snowstorm that quickly vanished, and he stepped into the room. He noticed Lilly standing at the machine.
"Don't tell me it's stopped working?" Rick asked her.
"In a way, yes, it has. It reads as being 100% complete. The transfer of Lucy's mind into Katie's has finished. But I'll keep them attached and the machine running just in case a fraction of Lucy hasn't transferred yet. We want all of her, every little scrap of her.
"But it says it's finished. Now we wait for Lucy to show herself. Hopefully, there's been enough of Lucy in there to talk to Katie and make a deal," Lilly told him.
"So we might not have to wait long?" Rick asked her, hoping against hope that they wouldn't.
"Not necessarily. Remember, Lucy still has to deal with a new body, new to her, that is. How to talk, how to move even a finger, let alone an entire arm. She'll need to learn how to walk all over again.
"When is Katie's next bleeding cycle?" she asked the nurse.
"Not for another two weeks, Doctor."
Lilly nodded. "Good, that's good. It'll give Lucy time to adjust to a new body. Keep talking to her, Santa. We need to draw Lucy out of her cloud."
Rick bent down and spoke to Katie again and again. Finally, he had to stop and leave, so he made it snow on himself and vanished.
*~{[}~*
It was now a week later.
Lilly kept Lucy and Katie connected to the machine. She wanted to make sure she got every last drop out of Lucy. Her body was still alive, but she feared without a mind, it would soon stop, so she was helping Lucy to breathe and keep her heart beating.
She kept her hooked up intravenously, much like she was still doing for Katie.
Katie remained on treatment for muscle atrophy by using electrodes to stimulate muscle movement.
Lilly was there when Santa showed up. "Greetings, Santa. The machine still shows that Lucy is 100% complete, but I want to get every ounce of her, which is why she looks the way she does. I'm helping her breathe and keep her heart beating.
"I'll give it another week, then remove the machine. After that, there will be a celebration for Lucy's life," Lilly told him.
"Celebration?" Rick didn't understand. Didn't she mean a Memorial?
"We Elves celebrate the life of the deceased. We have a party to celebrate her life. There will be food, dancing, and maybe a snowball fight. We want to remember when she was alive, not when she died, even if she isn't truly dead.
"That's what is going to make this celebration unique. Lucy is still alive in Katie. We may have another celebration with Katie in attendance after Lucy returns to us." Lilly shrugged. "Who knows."
"Talk to her, Santa. She loved you. Draw her out and show her the way to return to us." Lilly took one last look, and she left.
Rick was almost alone in talking to Katie even though he was talking to Lucy. The ever-present nurse was sitting there watching it all and smiling at him.
*~{[}~*
Finally, the day came to take Lucy and Katie off the machine. Lilly removed the systems used to keep Lucy alive and took her off life support. Lucy survived for two more days. A celebration of her life was scheduled for a week from today.
Santa went to Katie's ICU bed twice a day, still. He talked to her and tried to draw her out, but so far, nothing. Katie was attached to the same old brain wave scanner used from the beginning on her.
It showed an increase in brain activity, a significant elevation, to be precise. It told Lilly that Lucy was in there, somewhere.
"Come on, Lucy, you can do it. I know it's been a long time, and it may seem even longer to you, but you knew that going in. Don't give up now, Lucy," Lilly pleaded with her.
*~{[}~*
Lucy's body burned in a funeral fire. There was plenty of food, lots of dancing, and even an epic snowball fight to end all snowball fights. It was all done to celebrate Lucy's life.
By now, every Elf, no matter their age, knew that Lucy was alive inside Katie's body. They were all pulling for Lucy to come back to them.
The fire burned almost all night. Lilly and the other nurses took turns watching over Katie while simultaneously celebrating her life.
No one dared to disturb the fire as it slowly burned out. When it was nothing more than smoldering ashes, they still didn't dare disturb it. It had been a long time since an Elf, any Elf, died. So they weren't sure just what to do about it.
Rick stood there looking at the smoldering ashes. "Goodbye, Lucy. I'm going to miss your little smile, your sweet little face. I'm so going to miss your hot chocolate and your little office.
"Please come back, Lucy, please." Rick was not crying. He made it snow on him and went home so no one would see his tears.
*~{[}~*
It was now a week later.
Lilly was in Katie's ICU room, looking things over and praying Lucy would return to them. Katie's eyes were open like they were usually. She blinked on occasion. "Come on, Lucy, you can do it," Lilly coaxed her.
Then she thought she heard something too nearly impossible. It wasn't her voice or that of the nurse. She thought she heard "Santa."
"That's it, Lucy, you can do it. Go, find Santa, go, go, go." She sent the nurse away, who went running and told everyone she encountered that Katie, meaning Lucy, was awake.
She made it to Santa's office, burst in, and came up to his large desk. She was bent over, panting. "Katie… Lucy" was all she got out. That was enough for Rick to get standing. He made it snow on him, and he was gone, forcing the nurse to run back the way she'd come.
Rick arrived outside Katie's ICU room, stepped in, and looked at Lilly.
"She said, Santa. I'm sure of it. But she hasn't said anything since then," Lilly told him.
That was all Rick needed to hear. He bent down and told Katie, meaning Lucy, that he loved her and that she should return to him. He tried over and over again, but he got nothing.
Rick looked at Lilly. "You're sure it was her?"
"Yes, I'm sure, Santa. It was soft, and I barely heard her, but it was her. It had to be Katie's voice. Of course, I've never heard Katie's voice, but it was her," Lilly insisted.
Hearing her say that got Rick to try again, but still, he got nothing. He looked at Lilly.
"We wait. If Katie said something before, she will again, most likely. We have to be patient," Lilly told him.
"Alright, but I'll be back," Rick told her as he made it snow and returned to his desk.
"Come on, Lucy, you can do it. Don't give up now," Lilly told her.
*~{[}~*
Both nurses were resting, maybe sleeping. Even Lilly was gone and sleeping. But Katie wasn't alone. Doc Smithson was sitting there, watching and waiting.
He thought he heard something, so he jumped up and talked to Lucy. "Come on, Lucy, you can do it. You love Santa. That's why you did this to yourself. Come on, Lucy."
"Santa?" Katie turned her head to look at him, which was new.
"That's it, Lucy, you can do it. You love Santa."
"Santa?" Katie questioned softly.
"I'm alone, just me here. Oh, why did you have to pick now to wake up," Doc moaned. "Come on, Lucy, you can do it. Come back to us," he urged her.
"Santa?" Katie questioned softly again.
"Yes, Santa's coming. He's coming, Lucy," he told her.
A nurse walked in. "I couldn't sleep. How's she doing, Doctor?"
"She's awake. Find Santa. He's probably asleep in his house. Go, go, go," Doc told her.
"AWAKE! Right away, Doctor. Stay awake, Lucy." And she ran flat out to Santa's house to wake him. She didn't care if he slept naked; she would wake Santa.
"Stay with me, Lucy. Santa's coming, he's coming," Doc told her.
"Santa?" Katie told him softly. Then she closed her eyes.
"No, no, no. Lucy, you have to stay awake," he told her as he turned to look at her brain wave pattern. "Theta waves. No, Lucy, don't go to sleep, not now. You have to stay awake. Santa's coming."
He turned to look at her brain wave pattern again. "Delta waves." Doc lowered his head. "She's asleep. Honestly, that's a good thing. The normal brain wave pattern is good. It means Lucy's with us. Finally."
He watched as Santa, dressed in Christmas-y pajamas, entered the room. "She's awake?" Rick questioned him.
"She was, but she's asleep now. Normal Delta waves mean deep sleep. But it's a good sign. It means Lucy's with us. She's just asleep," Doc told Santa.
"Lucy, it's Santa. I'm here. Wake up for me, please, Lucy." Rick looked at Doc, who, in turn, looked at the brain wave patterns.
"Still Delta waves. She's in a deep sleep, and before you ask, I'm not giving her any drugs to force her awake," he told Santa.
"No, of course not. I understand, Doc," Rick said. "I think I'll go home and change. But I'll be back. I'm not leaving until she wakes up again." He made it snow on himself, and he vanished.
Eventually, the nurse came back, out of breath. "Lucy?" she asked him.
Doc shook his head. "Asleep. Delta waves, which tells me she's in a deep sleep." He pointed at the device.
"Well, shoot," the nurse grumbled. She wanted to be here when Lucy woke up. "I'm not leaving until she wakes up again," she stated firmly and meant it.
"Santa." She greeted him when he showed up.
Rick looked at Doc, who shook his head. "Still in deep sleep."