Mending the Soul (31 page)

They pulled up to the emergency room of the hospital and Nicholas jumped out of the vehicle before it came to a stop.  He ran into the ER and at the desk, frantically asked for Jenna Chase.  Vanessa followed behind him while Nathan went to park. The nurse told him that she would get the doctor and motioned for them to sit in the waiting room.

Nathan walked in and ushered Vanessa and Nicholas to the waiting room.  Vanessa sat next to Nathan and put her head on his shoulder and cried when he wrapped his arm around her.  Nicholas remained standing, pacing throughout the waiting room while waiting for the doctor.

Not long after, a man in a white lab coat and green scrubs walked in.  "Nicholas Tiller?"  He asked.

Nicholas looked up.  "That's me."  He said nervously.

The man stuck his hand out for Nicholas to shake.  "I'm Dr. Miner.  I was the doctor on duty when Ms. Chase was brought in.  Luckily, her OBGYN was here, passing through and recognized her.  We got your name out of her doctor's files as an emergency contact."  The doctor explained.  "Ms. Chase was in a serious car accident, along with another vehicle.  It appears to be the other driver's fault, though we can't be certain until the police complete the investigation. From the way we heard it from the paramedics, Ms. Chase's vehicle was t-boned on the passenger side, and the airbags inflated, causing-"

Nicholas interrupted.  "Is she ok?  Can we see her?"

"Well, we aren't sure if she's ok or not.  There was some internal bleeding, and possible head trauma.  It looks like we are going to have to operate to try to stop the bleeding."  The doctor said.

"What about our baby?"  Nicholas asked.

"The baby is touch and go right now.  This is a lot of trauma for a pregnancy to survive, and we aren't sure if it will make it through the surgery."  The doctor told him.  "Ms. Chase is in a room for the time being, until we can take her up to be operated on.  I can let only immediate family in to see her right now."

"I'm her fiancé."  Nicholas stretched the truth. "She doesn't have any other family, other than an eight year old son."

"Ok, you can go in.  Just follow me."  The doctor said and led him out of the waiting room.  Nicholas had completely forgotten that Nathan and Vanessa were there, luckily they had heard everything the doctor said so they weren't relying on him to explain it all.

Nicholas slowly walked into the room that Jenna was laying in.  As he looked at her bruised body, tears came to his eyes again.  He took her hand and sat in the chair next to her bed.  "Oh god Jenna.  I can't lose you!  How could this happen?  My worst nightmare is coming true again, only it’s even worse the time.  You have to be ok!  You have to make it through this.  You have too much to live for.  Me and Emma and Colby all need you.  Our baby needs you."  The tears flowed down his face as he reached over and touched her stomach.  There was still a nice little bulge there where his baby was.  "Neither one of you can leave us.  You both have too much to live for.  We have the rest of our lives together, so you both need to make it through this."  He cried.

The doctor slowly pushed open the door and told Nicholas that they had to take Jenna up for surgery.  Nicholas leaned over the bed and kissed Jenna's stomach, then kissed her forehead.  "I love you both.  I'll be here waiting for you."  Nicholas said, and just as he was about to let go of her hand, he felt a little squeeze from Jenna.

Nicholas watched as they rolled her away, then made his way back to the waiting room.  He got Vanessa and Nathan and went up to the waiting room on the second floor, where the doctor told him to wait.  Nathan went and called Nicholas's mother to let her know what had happened, and she said that she would keep the kids as long as Nicholas needed her to. He went back to the waiting room to comfort his best friend and girlfriend, as they all waited for news of Jenna's surgery.

A couple of hours later, Dr. Miner appeared back in the room, looking solemn.  "Mr. Tiller?"  He asked.  Nicholas looked up, with tears in his eyes, waiting to hear if his life as he knew it was over or not.

A couple of hours later, Dr. Miner appeared back in the room, looking solemn. "Mr. Tiller?" He asked. Nicholas looked up, with tears in his eyes, waiting to hear if his life as he knew it was over or not.

Nicholas stood and walked over to the doctor.  His feet felt like they were made of lead, his knees like they were jelly, and his mouth like a desert.  He looked at the doctor with pools of tears in his eyes, mixing with hope.

"Ms. Chase is out of surgery, but she still has not regained consciousness.  We were able to stop the bleeding, and there doesn't appear to be any serious damage that won't heal over time.  As for her pregnancy, the next 24 hours will be very critical.  For now, she still has a viable pregnancy, but that can change quickly.  At this point, all we can do is sit and wait.  We are monitoring her closely, though there isn't much else we can do in this situation."  The doctor explained.

Nicholas was filled with a mixture of relief and anxiety.  He was happy that Jenna made it out of the surgery, but the prognosis for the pregnancy didn't sound too promising.  "Can I see her?"  He asked the doctor.

"I'm afraid not yet, but after she is out of recovery and into her own room, then you will be able to see her.  I suggest that you go get something to eat, and take a break from the hospital for a while.  It will be at least two hours before she will be allowed visitors."  Dr. Miner told Nicholas.

"Thank you Doctor.  For everything."  He said shaking the man's hand.  Nicholas turned to look at Nathan and Vanessa.  He was still a ball of nerves, but it looked like he wouldn't lose Jenna.  "Do you guys mind taking me a few places?  I don't think I can really drive right now."

"Sure man, I'll drive you wherever you need to go."  Nathan said, giving Nicholas a typical man hug.  "Sounds like she's going to make it."

"As long as she gains consciousness soon."  Vanessa said, still skeptical of Jenna's condition.

"We need to hurry up so that we can get back here and see her."  Nicholas said absently, thinking of where he needed to go.  The doctor was right, he really should get something to eat, and he had to go to the flower shop before it closed, run to Wal-Mart, then head to the house for a minute…he just hoped they had enough time to do it all.  When he told Nathan all he had to do, Nathan set the order of where they would go.

After stopping at the flower shop to get flowers and balloons for Jenna, they went to get a quick bite to eat at the Golden M.  No, not a fancy sit-down restaurant… McDonalds.  After a quick Quarter Pounder and fries, Nathan drove to Wal-Mart, where he parked in the fire lane while Nicholas ran inside.  A few short minutes later, Nicholas came out with a big bag in his hand, jumping in the passenger seat and hitting the dashboard, telling Nathan to go.

When they got to the house, Nicholas told Nathan that he was going to get a small bag ready for Jenna, then he had to grab one other thing and be right out.  When he got back in the Xterra, Nicholas turned around to Vanessa.  He turned on the overhead light in the SUV, then fished a small box out of his pocket.  "Vanessa, as Jenna's best friend, I need your opinion on something.  Do you think she will like this?"  He asked as he opened the box.  Inside was a beautiful marquis cut diamond ring, with two rows of small diamonds in a channel set on each side of the large diamond.

Vanessa gasped seeing the ring.  "Oh my god!  It's beautiful Nicholas!  When did you get this?"

"I bought it for her a couple of days ago.  I know that she didn't want me to ask her to marry me just because of the baby, so I didn't.  I want her to marry me because I can't see myself spending a single minute without her for the rest of my life."  He said and paused as he began to get choked up.  "Today, that almost happened."

"She's going to love it Nicholas!"  Vanessa cried, and reached up to hug Nicholas.  "She's lucky to have you."

"I'm lucky to have her."  Nicholas said as he shut the box and put it back in his pocket as Nathan began driving back to the hospital.

"I never thought I'd see the day…"  Nathan said, as he looked proudly at his friend.  "Not after you lost Leslie.  I never expected you to find someone else."

"Neither did I, but I'm glad I did.  I love her more than I ever thought possible, and it's so different than the love I felt for Leslie.  It's so real, and so pure.  When you find a love like this, you should never let it go."  Nicholas said candidly.

Nathan looked into the rearview mirror at Vanessa and smiled at her.  They pulled into the parking lot at the hospital, and before they got out of the SUV, Nathan grabbed Nicholas's arm to stop him.  Nathan turned to the side so that he could see both Nicholas and Vanessa.  "Hey Nicholas, is your house still empty?"

"Yeah, we haven't found the right person to rent it to yet."  Nicholas said.

"Well, do you think me and Vanessa are the right people?"  Nathan asked.

"What!?"  Vanessa and Nicholas both shouted together.

"Well, Vanessa and I have been discussing moving in together, and I think we've both had some reservations about it, but you're right, when you find love, you shouldn't let it go.  We need to get over our fears and realize that we really are meant for each other.  I want to be with her and not a million other women.  I've been there, done that, and found something better."  He told Nicholas, knowing that Vanessa was listening to every word coming out of his mouth.

"You really mean it Nathan?"  Vanessa asked.

"Yes, I mean it."  Nathan said, looking into Vanessa's eyes.  "No more playing around, it's time for a commitment."

"Well, if you guys want it, it's yours."  Nicholas told them, a small smile on his face, for the first time since he had heard of Jenna's accident.  "Now, if you guys will excuse me, I need to get in there to try to see Jenna."

"We'll be right in."  Nathan said.  As soon as Nicholas had gotten out of the passenger seat and grabbed all of his bags, flowers, and balloons, Nathan pulled Vanessa in the seat next to him and began kissing her to seal their decision.

*****

Nicholas walked slowly and cautiously into Jenna's hospital room.  He set the vase of flowers and the balloons on the ledge of the window, next to her bed.  He put the bag that he had packed for her in the closet, and took the teddy bear out of the Wal-Mart bag and after removing the tags, placed it in the bed next to her stomach.  Nicholas placed a soft kiss on her stomach, and rested his hand on the pregnant mound.  He sat down in the chair next to the bed and with his free hand, he picked up Jenna's hand and nuzzled it against his forehead.

The nurse had said that there was no progress since he had spoken with the doctor, but there wasn't any regression either.  The nurse suggested that Nicholas sit with Jenna and talk to her, giving her a reason to fight to wake up, and that was exactly what he planned on doing.  "Hi baby.  You've really given us a scare with this accident.  The kids are with my mom, and they don't know anything yet.  I didn't want them to be scared, especially not Emma since she lost her first mother in a car accident.  You are her mother now, and she loves you so much.  And Colby…he is so lucky to have you.  You have been both mother and father to him since he was born, and he has turned out to be an amazing kid.  Not many kids would be as well behaved if they only had one parent that loved them.  Then there's me.  I need you so much baby.  I need you to wake up because I don't know how to live without you.  When I met you all those months ago, you gave me a reason to live again.  Don't take that away from me.  And, think of our little one that is growing inside of you.  You need to wake up and give that baby the strength to survive.  We created that baby out of our love, now we need to use our love to save the baby."  Nicholas was trying to be strong, but his voice kept cracking as he bit back the tears.  He kept his head down, his one elbow resting on the bed while the hand that he held was against his forehead.  What he didn't see was the fluttering of eyelashes as Jenna tried to open her eyes.

Jenna could hear Nicholas talking to her, and she tried to wake up, but she was so tired.  No matter how hard she tried, she just didn't have the energy to open her eyes.  She could still hear him though, and the deep voice speaking to her was music to her ears.  She felt so safe with Nicholas there talking to her, she just hoped that he would keep talking.

"You know, I am so happy now that people know you're having my baby.  It was so hard to keep it a secret when I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.  And Zoey has been a big help.  In fact, we were talking about it today before you left.  I know it was a bad time to take her call, but she needed to order a few things so that they would be ready for your shower.  You see, as much as I'd like to take the credit for the idea of a surprise baby shower for you, it was mostly Zoey's idea.  She thinks the world of you, almost as much as I do."  Nicholas snickered.  "She was telling me all these ideas that she had, since I have no clue what usually happens at baby showers.  Being a man, I've never been to one.  But Zoey, she's a seasoned veteran.  She said she's been to so many that she could plan one in her sleep.  Anyways, she was telling me about some really cool games to play, because I guess you give out door prizes and stuff. I thought you were the only one to get presents, but I guess it's cool that other people get them too.  She said that she went to a really boring one where they had numbers on the bottom of plates and they would draw a number from a hat, and if that number was on the bottom of your plate, then you won.  Well, I guess this old blue-haired bitty went to look at the bottom of her plate when the number was called, and she had a whole pile of food on it.  When she got it in the air to look at the number, her hands got all shaky and dumped the whole plate of food on her head.  The woman threw her plate down and ripped off the wig that she was wearing and started taking her napkin to wipe it off."  Nicholas started laughing again at the story.  "She said it was the highlight of the shower, but she had planned some games that were a little more fun for your shower.  Now, the next time you see her, don't let her know that I told you about the shower.  She swore me to secrecy."