Chapter 4

Jack was lying on the sofa along the wall in Lisa's room while she slept. He still wasn't sure how much to share with her when she woke up, but he also figured that she would want to know what was going on and he had promised to tell her more when he left the day before. Jack was so tired, but despite the uncomfortable sofa, he fell asleep.

Lisa began to stir after a while. She was feeling much better than she was earlier. Her pain was more manageable, and she could actually think straight. Noticing Jack sleeping on the sofa, she wondered why he was back at the hospital so soon and what the nature of their relationship was. He had barely left her side and seemed to care for her a great deal. Lisa was deep in thought when someone came into the room.

"Lisa Stillman? I'm here to take you to radiology." They noticed Jack sleeping on the sofa. "Your husband can stay in the room while you're gone. I can wake him so he knows where you are if you want."

Lisa shook her head and said, "Oh, he's not…we're not... Just let him sleep." Lisa didn't know if she could say that they weren't married. She didn't know anything about the last 17 years of her life. What she did know was that she didn't need Jack hovering. She was feeling pretty overwhelmed as it was.

As Lisa was being taken to radiology, the transport person said, "I'm sorry. I thought you were married. You've just been together forever, and I swear I remember hearing that you had eloped about ten years ago."

Lisa didn't know what to do with this information. She was thankful to have a break from being around Jack. As much as she wanted to demand that he tell her the truth about everything, she already didn't know what to do with the information she had now. She spent the whole time in radiology deep in thought. "Does this complete stranger know more about my life than I do? Am I really married to Jack? How did that happen? I didn't really think that I'd get married again after Dan. I was happy and working hard at my job. How do I even bring this up? Is Jack going to expect me to act like his wife? I can't do that. He is a stranger to me."

One thing occurred to Lisa as she was taken back to her room. She didn't have wedding rings. Examining her left hand, she noticed a tan line on her ring finger. Lisa wondered if her rings were removed when they were running tests on her after the accident.

Arriving back in her room, Lisa saw that Jack was still asleep. She felt relieved not to have to have a conversation with him. The pain medication was still making her sleepy, and soon, she was out like a light.

Sometime later, a person was shaking Jack's shoulder. It didn't feel good due to the whiplash from the accident. He groaned, stretched, and opened his eyes to his granddaughter, Lou. She was holding a bag from Maggie's. Jack sat up. "Lou, what are you doing here?"

Lou set the bag down on the end table next to the sofa and sat down. "You snuck out this morning. I was worried about you and Lisa. How's it going? Have you had any conversations? Dad said he was here, but Lisa was asleep, and you kicked him out."

Jack smirked, "Yes, I did kick him out. I wasn't about to let him bother her. She woke up in a lot of pain this morning. They had to increase the dosage on her pain meds. She's been asleep since. I think. I was more tired than I realized, and I've been out for quite a while. Since we've both been sleeping, there haven't really been any conversations."

"Well, I brought you some food from Maggie's because I know you aren't going to want to leave if you can help it. I also put in some foods that Lisa can eat easily with one hand, and I checked with her nurse to make sure she didn't have any dietary restrictions."

"Thanks Lou. I'm more hungry than I realized. I grabbed something from Tim Hortons early this morning so that I didn't wake up anyone at home, but I haven't eaten since. Hand me the bag. Let's see what you brought me."

Lou handed her grandfather the bag of food. They were avoiding the elephant in the room by joking around a bit and just quietly conversing about funny things the kids said or did recently.

Lisa woke up to hearing a man and woman quietly laughing. She assumed the man was Jack, so she stayed still hoping to hear something about their relationship. They seemed to be talking about kids, and Lisa wondered how these people were related to her if she's really married to Jack. Eventually, she knew she needed to move, and she needed to have something to eat and drink. She smelled food, and it was making her so hungry. Lisa slowly opened her eyes as if she was just waking up and stretched a bit.

Jack noticed Lisa waking up and jumped up to check on her. "Hey, how are you feeling? Are you in pain like this morning?"

Lisa was touched by how much Jack seemed to care. "I'm okay. Just sore. The pain is nowhere near what it was this morning. Do I smell food?"

Jack looked back at Lou, "I think she'd like something to eat."

Lou brought the bag of food over to Lisa. "Hi, I'm Lou. I'm this guy's granddaughter. I'm so sorry about the accident…and everything. Oh, and I brought some food for both of you. I know hospital food leaves a lot to be desired. Everything I brought for you is finger food, so you don't have to worry about your right hand. It's a good thing you're left-handed, huh?"

"It's so weird that people know things about me, like that I'm left-handed, but I couldn't pick you out of a lineup."

Lou laughed, "Yeah, that would be weird. Well, we've known each other for a long time. You are the reason I met my husband, although I was really mad at you for that one because you gave my email address out to a complete stranger. Clearly, I got over it, though, if I married him. Anyway, Peter and I made you our daughter's godmother since you were the reason we had met in the first place."

"I have a goddaughter? What's her name?" Lisa loved the idea of being a godmother.

"Her name is Katie, and she's a really sweet kid," Lou said proudly. "She loves to write. Grandpa even turned one of her poems into a song. Katie has also gotten into riding dirt bikes. It scares me, but my dad pointed out that I was going over jumps on a horse at her age, so I didn't have much room to talk."

"Oh, so she's older. I was picturing a little kid," Lisa admitted.

Jack laughed. "Yeah, she's been going through some teenage angst these days, but really, she's a good kid."

Lou's face lit up like she had an idea. "Would you like to see some photos of her? We can start with more recent photos or go back to when she was a baby. Oh, like her naming ceremony. I don't have those photos on my phone, but they are on Facebook."

Lisa nodded her head and looked for a way to sit her bed up. "Can you help me sit up here? I'd like to see when she was a baby."

Lou helped Lisa figure out the hospital bed, and then they began looking through photos while Lisa ate some of the food Lou brought. Lisa was immediately faced with a picture of her and Jack with Katie. She was holding Katie, and Jack had one arm around her and one hand cradling Katie's head. They really looked like a couple.

"This was from right after she was born. You had been in France, but you made sure you were back in plenty of time before she was born. I think you were more prepared for her to come early than I was. Oh, let's look at her naming ceremony!"

Lisa looked confused, "What's a naming ceremony?"

Jack jumped in to explain. "A long time ago when my great grandpa was born there was a terrible snow storm and they couldn't make it to church for a christening so the Bartlett family tradition of having a naming ceremony by the fireplace was started. When a new person joins the family, the fire is lit, a stone is picked out for them, and they are given a name."

Jack was looking at Lisa, remembering when she got her stone, which took him back years earlier to their wedding. He was lost in thought and had a dreamy look on his face.

Lisa turned away. It was a lot to see that look on his face. She wasn't quite ready to deal with that. Thankfully, Lou found the photos from the naming ceremony, and Lisa was struck by how sweet of a tradition it seemed to be. There were lots of people in the photos Lisa didn't recognize. She didn't pay much attention to that. She was looking for wedding rings but hadn't spotted any so far.

Lisa looked at Lou, "do you have anything more recent?"

Lou thought for a second and then searched through her phone for the photo she was thinking of. "This one is from the teen dance you were a sponsor for and ended up chaperoning. You texted this photo to me from the dance. You're adorable." Lou handed the phone to Lisa.

Lisa examined the photo. She still couldn't see any rings, so she looked at Katie and herself. Seeing how much older both of them looked was interesting to her. She loved the idea of being a godmother and had an overwhelming urge to spoil her goddaughter. "Do I spoil her? Because I have an urge to buy her something."

Lou and Jack looked at each other and laughed. Lisa looked at the two of them and wondered what that was about. "Are you laughing at me?"

Lou and Jack stopped laughing. "I'm sorry," Jack apologized. "We aren't laughing at you. I promise. You two just have a history of not always seeing eye to eye, and part of that was how much you spoiled Katie."

"Remember the tambourine?" Lou asked her grandfather.

"Oh, I had one as a kid, and I loved it!" Lisa exclaimed. She stopped and thought for a second, "I can see now how that might be annoying. I'm pretty sure I drove my parents crazy with mine. In fact, it just disappeared one day." Lisa laughed, and Lou and Jack joined in.

"Katie loved the tambourine as well. She has always adored you and thought you were so cool for buying that for her. Your relationship is really special. I'm pretty sure there are times that she likes you better than me," Lou explained.

Lisa waved Lou off. "I highly doubt that she likes me more. You're her mom."

Lou sat down on the end of Lisa's bed. "Yeah, I'm her mom. You are just able to be there for her in ways that I can't. I remember being a teenager, and I'm sure you do, too. It's nice to have an adult who's not your parent to go to for advice. Who better than a great gr…godmother?"

Jack and Lou looked at each other, knowing what she had been about to say. They missed the look on Lisa's face before she schooled her looks. "Well, even though I don't remember it, I'm glad that I can be there for Katie."

Jack had sat down in the chair by Lisa's bed, and Lou was still sitting on the end of Lisa's bed. They were laughing as Lou told a funny story about Katie as a toddler when a doctor and nurse came into the room.

"Hello everyone. I'm Dr. Gabrielson. I'm an orthopedic surgeon." She turned to Jack and Lou, "Can I have you step out for a minute? I need to speak with Lisa for a minute.

After Lou and Jack left the room, the doctor sat where Jack had been sitting. "So, I have you scheduled for surgery on your elbow tomorrow at 8 in the morning. Your nurse here will help you get ready for surgery. Someone from my office is on the way with paperwork for you to sign. How has your arm and elbow been feeling?

Lisa thought for a second and said, "It hurts. It was way worse this morning before they increased the dosage of my pain meds. Most of the time, it's okay, but if I bump it at all, it's pretty painful. The pain medication is helping, though."

"Okay, let me just listen to your heart and lungs, and then I'll be out of your hair." Once, Dr. Gabrielson was done with Lisa's examination, and she left the room.

While Dr. Gabrielson was talking to Lisa, Dr. Narayan pulled Jack aside to speak with him. "How do you think Lisa is doing?"

"You know, I'm not totally sure. She's really good at hiding her true feelings when she's overwhelmed by something. Plus, she has been sleeping a lot. I don't like keeping our relationship a secret, though. I can't keep it from her for much longer."

"I wanted to speak with you about that. She seems to be handling the news of her memory loss, okay? Now, some of that is probably because, in a way, it's still just a concept for her, but we do need to start giving her information about her current life. She is having surgery on her elbow tomorrow morning. Now that she is conscious, there's not much reason to keep her in the hospital. She should be ready to be discharged in a couple of days. Is that enough time to tell her and get accommodations figured out? I don't want her to be alone when she leaves here. The pain meds mean that she can't drive, and she's going to need help doing basic things with her arm in a cast. Someone will come in to see her tonight to make sure she has a safe place to go when she leaves. "

"Lisa does still have her house at Fairfield Stables where she could go if she really wanted to, but she lives at Heartland Ranch now. I want her to come home with me when she's discharged, but I won't force her. If I know my wife, she'll probably want to hire a nurse to come to the house and help with things."

"I've been consulting with a neurologist. They have been out of town for a conference and their flight got canceled. Dr. Choi will be in tonight to see Lisa. They are concerned that once Lisa gets home, she may have a difficult time doing basic tasks from a neurological standpoint. She has a head injury, and there is concern about her doing something like turning on the stove to cook something and forgetting about it. A nurse coming in to help for a couple of hours a day might not be enough, and full-time nurses are expensive and hard to come by."

"Oh wow. I hadn't considered that. I'm going to talk with her tonight and tell her. We need to discuss what happens when she leaves the hospital. At Heartland, there are plenty of people who can help with her care. Both of my granddaughters live with me, and their dad lives in the apartment above the barn with his new wife. I'm worried about Heartland being overwhelming, though. It's not that big of a house. Fairfield would likely be more peaceful, but she may not want her employees to see her like this."

Dr. Narayan could tell that Jack was pretty stressed out by the decisions that needed to be made. "We will also be talking to her about where she goes from here, but it might be good to start pushing things in that direction. Her nurse said that she seems pretty comfortable with you, considering everything."

"I want her to be comfortable, but really, I just need her to be okay. Thank you, doctor. I need to get in there and talk to her if there's a chance we're going home in a couple of days."

Jack went to look for Lou, finding her in the waiting room scrolling on her phone. "Lou, I need you to go home. I've got to have a pretty big discussion tonight. Lisa is going to be discharged the day after tomorrow. She can't be alone because of her arm and concussion, but telling her she's coming home with me without her knowing that we're married wouldn't go over well. It still may not, but I need to do this alone. I don't want pressure from other people to impact her feelings about this."

Lou gave her grandfather a hug. "Oh, grandpa. I'm sure it's nerve-wracking, but I have faith that she knows who you are and loves you deep down. Her brain has just been scrambled a little bit. I will take care of everything at home. I'll wash your bedding and make sure Lisa has shirts washed that can fit over her cast. I'll talk to Katie, Amy will talk to Lyndy, and Amy and I will talk to dad about Lisa's memory loss. Don't worry about that stuff. We'll be as involved or uninvolved when you get home as you need us to be."

"Thanks, Lou. I appreciate it. We're in unknown territory here, and I'm thankful for your help. She hasn't asked about work yet, but I know that question is coming. That's definitely going to be part of the discussion we have." Jack looked around, trying to get his bearings when he had a thought. "Hey, can you charge her phone when you get home? I want to bring it tomorrow."

Lou nodded. "Of course. I put her purse in your room this morning, but I can get her phone out and get it charging. Oh, I was going to mention that Amy has been in contact with Edwin. He doesn't know about the memory loss, but he's aware of the accident. I'm sure with how Lisa's been feeling, she's not thinking much about work, but in case she does get worried, tell her everything is under control.

Jack returned to Lisa's room. When he went inside, it appeared that his wife was sleeping again. He really didn't want to wake her up, but he also knew that they needed to have a conversation about their life. Jack cleared his throat as he sat down by Lisa's bed.

Lisa opened her eyes and looked at Jack. "I'm having surgery on my elbow tomorrow," she said softly.

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I heard. So listen…we need to have a talk."

To be continued