Deceptive Hearts

Deceptive Hearts...continued

Chapter 2

The hospital parking lot was jammed with cars. Diana didn’t waste precious time trying to find a spot. She slid into Warren’s reserved space, the car skidding on the icy pavement. She turned the motor off and sat there unmoving. She didn’t want to go in there—was afraid of what she’d find. Diana had never thought herself a coward, but the fear was eating her alive and she sat frozen. If she never walked through those doors, time would stand still and Warren would be all right.

“Mom? Mom, are you okay?” Her mother’s stillness frightened her and Lily felt the way she had, as a little girl when anything bad happened. She wanted to hide in the back of her closet and wait until the world was right again.

Diana turned and grasped her daughter’s hand. “Lily…” She couldn’t continue—couldn’t offer any comfort, unable to push away the terror.

Lily swallowed hard and straightened in her seat. She’d always been the flighty one, the one who could never deal with the bad stuff in life. But this was Daddy and her mom needed her. She reached deep down inside herself and grabbed hold of the strength that had always been there.

“Mom, we have to go in now. Daddy needs us. Mom! Come on, lets get out of the car.”

Diana moved on robotic limbs to her commands, exiting the car and entering the ER, her daughter’s arm draped firmly over her shoulders. Lily helped her mom into a chair and approached the desk. She knew the nurse on duty, had known her since childhood and wished it were anyone else sitting there.

“Judy, we need to see Dr. Thompson.”

“Lily! Oh, Hon, I’m so sorry about Dr. Franklin. Is your mother with you?”

“Yes, of course. She’s sitting out here in the lounge. Can we see Daddy?”

“Oh, I don’t think so, not just yet.” The nurse frowned up at her.

“Please call Dr. Thompson for us.” Lily knew better than to ask Judy for an update. She’d not be allowed to say much. Besides they needed to hear the whole story from the doctor.

Judy Andrews had been the senior ER nurse for over ten years and prided herself on being a great comfort to the families of the patients who came in. “Of course, Dear, but first I’ll just come out and have a word with Mrs. Franklin.”

When she would have stood, Lily put her hand on her arm. “No, Judy. Mom needs to speak with Dr. Thompson—now.”

“Well, if you feel that way about it. I was only trying to be of comfort.” She sniffed and turned to the intercom to page the doctor.

Lily sighed. Judy had a knack for making a person feel guilty and for a moment she felt as if she should apologize. Shaking her head she walked over to join her mom and wait for the doctor to arrive. She’d just sat when Dr. Thompson came hurrying through the swinging doors. His normally pleasant face was creased with worry.

“Diana, Lily, I’m glad you could get here so fast.”

The two women stood and clasped hands. Diana searched the doctor’s eyes and knew immediately it was bad. “Tell me, Paul.”

“He needs emergency surgery. I’ve got the paperwork ready for you to sign. It’s not good, Diana. He has severe head and spinal injuries.”

“Is it possible to see him, just for a second?”

“I’m sorry, no. We need to get him to surgery right away. And, Diana, he’s unresponsive.”

Diana swayed and Lily wrapped her protectively in her arms. “Does that mean Daddy is in a coma?”

Dr. Thompson nodded. “The surgery may help, but I’m not going to lie to you. He has less than thirty percent chance of coming out of this.”

Sucking in a large gulp of air, Diana straightened. “We’ll face that when we have to. Will he live, Paul?”

“We’ll do all we can. Now, I have to go. I’ll come see you immediately after the surgery.” He walked to the desk and spoke to Judy before rushing back through the swinging doors.

Judy rose and carried a clipboard to where they stood. “Here are the papers, Mrs. Franklin.”

She took Diana’s arm and guided her to a chair, taking the woman’s cold hand and whispering what she hoped were words of comfort. Diana didn’t respond and she went back to her station. Lily plopped into the chair next to her mom. She watched, as Diana filled in the forms. If a Mack truck had hit her, she couldn’t feel any worse.

When Diana had finished, she took the clipboard to Judy and returned. She looked at her youngest daughter. Lily, her fragile flower—she’d shown such strength and courage today, but now she slumped in the chair, silent and pale.

“He’s going to be all right, Lily.”

“Mom, you heard what Dr. Thompson said. Daddy may not make it and if he does, he may never awaken from the coma. Oh, God.” She burst into tears and Diana held her, rocking gently.

“He will make it and we’ll face the rest if it comes. Your father always said Paul was the finest surgeon in the country and county was fortunate to have him, remember?”

Lily pushed back and wiped her eyes. Reaching for a Kleenex from the box on the table, she blew her nose. “Yes, Daddy did say that, didn’t he? I’m sorry, Mom, I wanted to be strong for you.”

“And you have been. I don’t know how I’d have made it without you, my courageous girl.” Diana squeezed her daughter’s hand.

“Mom, I…” Her words were cut short by a rush of people coming in the ER door. Russell, Sarah, and Robbie hurried to them. Robbie buried his face against his mom’s side. Diana held him close.

Lily stood and put her arm around her sister, leading her and Russell to the other side of the small lounge. “Daddy’s in surgery. He’s hurt bad, Sarah.”

Russell pulled his wife against his side. “Is Paul with him?”

“Yes, but he wasn’t optimistic.”

“Paul is never optimistic. Tell us what he said.” His arm tightened around his wife.

Lily looked at Sarah’s pale face and hesitated. “I’m okay, Lily. Please, tell us everything.”

Lily told them all Dr. Thompson had said and then they went to Diana and settled down to wait. “Mom, Daddy is going to be fine.”

“Of course he is.” Russell echoed his wife’s words. “I’m going to go find some coffee for everyone. It will be a while before we hear anything.” He started off down the hall. Robbie bounded up and followed. Russell stopped to wait and rustled the boy’s hair before they continued.

“Oh!” Diana stood, remembering the dinner cooking on the stove at home. “The turkey, there could be a fire. Someone will have to go back.”

“It’s all right, Mom. Russell took care of all that before we left.”

Diana smiled and sat back down. “Your husband’s a good man. So steady.”

Russell returned and passed around the coffee. Diana sat hers on the little table—afraid she’d never get it down. The lump in her throat had been steadily growing. “Robbie, come here.” She pulled him down on her lap and snuggled him close. It was such a comfort to hold his firm little body against her. Under normal circumstances, he’d never have allowed such a thing. At ten, he felt he was much too old for lap sitting.

It was over five hours later before Dr. Thompson returned. They all rose, as he entered the waiting area. “Warren is in ICU. The surgery went well. You can move up to the ICU waiting room.” He turned to leave and Diana grabbed his arm.

“Wait, Paul. He’s okay, then?”

“I’ll know more later. It’s too soon to tell, but, Diana, he came through the surgery fine. He’s alive and in stable condition. At this point, that’s a very good sign.”

“Thank you. I want to see him.”

“Go up to the ICU lounge, Diana. I’ll come and get you in a little while. You can see him, but only for moment and only you.” He nodded to the rest of the family and walked away.

They all gathered their coats and went to the elevator. No one said anything, knowing it was too soon for rejoicing, but silently grateful the surgery was over and Warren alive.

***

Diana’s heart broke. Warren was such large presence, so full of life. To see him lying there so still and pale, connected to all the machines was almost more than she could stand. Lifting his hand from the cover, she caressed the fingers, hoping for some small sign of movement.

“Warren, I’ve been such a fool—such a silly fool. I’m sorry, my darling. Warren, you must fight to come back to me. Come back and give me a second chance. Please, Warren.”

The nurse poked her head in the door. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Franklin, but you’ll have to leave now. You can have a longer visit later.”

“All right, Ellen.” She laid his hand gently back on the bed. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, Darling.” Bending, she kissed his forehead near the large white bandage before leaving the room.

The family rose and came to her when she entered the lounge. They all started to speak at once and Diana held up a hand to hush them. “There’s nothing to tell. Your father is holding his own. We’ll just have to wait.”

She noticed Robbie lying on the small sofa sound asleep. “Someone needs to take Robbie home. Poor child’s exhausted.”

“I wanted to talk to you about that, Diana.” Russell came and led her to a chair, seating himself beside her. “I spoke with Paul. He’s going to allow each family member to go in one at a time and see Warren for a few minutes today. Robbie won’t be allowed to see him until he’s out of ICU. I knew you wouldn’t leave, so I arranged for you to stay tonight, Lily will stay too. After that, he said two a day can stay. One out here, one with Warren, taking turns.”

Diana interrupted him. “Russell, I appreciate what you’re doing, but…”

“The are no buts, Diana. I know how you feel. We all want to stay until Warren is fully recovered. The hospital won’t allow it. Not to mention, if we all end up as exhausted as Robbie, we’ll be no good to Warren. This schedule is mandated by hospital policy. Paul left it to us to decide who stays when. I’m taking Sarah and Robbie home in a little while. You and Lily will stay. Sarah and I will come back tomorrow and you and Lily will go home for awhile.”

“I’m not leaving, Russell.”

“Yes, Sarah, you are—even if I have to carry you out. This isn’t open for discussion. You have the baby to think of. And then there’s Robbie. He can’t stay here, someone has to be at home with him.”

Diana heaved a sigh. “He’s right, Sarah. We’ll do it this way.”

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