Mending the Soul (33 page)

For a while, Jenna watched the rise and fall of Nicholas's chest that seemed to be playing a rhythm along with her heart monitor.  She didn't realize the things that she had taken for granted before her accident, but now she could see that something as small as watching the man you love breathe, was such a beautiful sight.

Interrupting the peaceful scene in the hospital room, a nurse entered to check on Jenna.  The door to the room shut with a click after the nurse, waking Nicholas from his slumber.  He too looked around the room, just like Jenna had when she awoke.  Seeing the confusion turn to understanding, Jenna smiled.

"Good morning sleepy.  Were you comfortable?"  Jenna asked while the nurse got some readings from the machines.

Nicholas smiled at Jenna.  "Not as comfortable as I would have been if I was home in bed with you, but I'll survive.  How are you feeling this morning?"

"You know, it's funny, but I kind of feel like I've been hit by a car or something."  Jenna joked, but tried not to laugh.  Her ribs were still tender from the bruises.

"Your heart rate looks good, along with the baby's, so I'll let the doctor know that. Sorry we can't give you any more meds for the pain, but it wouldn't be safe for the baby."  The nurse said as she broke into the conversation.

"It's ok.  I can deal with the pain."  Jenna said as bravely as possible.  Inside she was really hurting, but she didn't want anything else to jeopardize the pregnancy.  She felt like she had fought too hard to keep the baby, so she could deal with a little pain as long as it meant protecting the little one growing inside her.

"Ok, well the doctor will be in shortly to see how you're doing."  The nurse told her as she left the room, leaving Nicholas and Jenna alone again.

Nicholas pulled his chair closer to Jenna's bed.  He grabbed her hand and brought it to his face, nuzzling it against his cheek.  "Don't ever make me go through that again.  Don't ever make me face the possibility of my life without you."  He said softly.  "You don't know how scared I was."

"I was pretty scared too.  If there was anything I could have done to change what happened, I would have."  Jenna told him, though she knew that he had already known that.

"Speaking of not wanting to live my life without you, now that the pain pills are out of your system, I'm asking again…Will you marry me?"  Nicholas asked as he looked into her bruised eyes.

"Hell no!"  Jenna joked.  Nicholas looked shocked at first, then saw the laughter in her eyes.  "Of course I will marry you.  I couldn't imagine anyone else I would rather spend the rest of my life with."

Nicholas smiled and got out of his chair.  He leaned over the bed and placed a soft kiss on Jenna's lips.  "I love you so much."

"And I love you."  Jenna told him as tears filled her eyes.  "So, what did you do, go to the jewelry store after you heard I was in the hospital or something?"  Jenna asked looking at the ring.

"Um, actually I've had the ring for a few days.  I was just waiting for the right time to ask you, but now I know that there is never 'one perfect moment'.  As long as it's special between me and you, then it will be perfect.  And I knew that I couldn't wait any longer to ask you.  I needed you to know how I felt about you, that I wanted to share the rest of my life with you, and I wanted to know that you felt the same way.  I want us to be together for the rest of our lives, and I want our life together to start now.  I don't want to wait anymore."  Nicholas told her.

"So you had the ring already then?"  Jenna asked in an 'Ah, how cute' kind of way.  "It's perfect Nicholas!  I couldn't have picked out a better one myself."  She told him.

In that moment, the door to Jenna's hospital room flew open, and in rushed Kyle.  "Jenna, I just heard about your accident.  It was on the news last night, and I came over as fast as I could!  Are you ok?  I was so worried."  Kyle rambled on quickly as he rushed to Jenna's bedside.  He looked at Nicholas and said, "I'm here to take care of her.  You can leave now."

"Hold up!"  Jenna yelled, then grimaced in pain when she tried to sit up.  "First of all, you heard about my accident last night and were so worried about me that you couldn't come to see me until this morning?"  Jenna looked at him in confusion, wondering just how stupid this man could be.  Mostly she wondered why she ever married him, and how she could have stayed with him for so long.

Kyle looked back to Jenna after glaring at Nicholas while Jenna was speaking to him.  "Well darling, I had some things to take care of.  You look like shit by the way, and you sure are packing on the pounds."

Nicholas started to get out of his chair to take care of the ever-insulting ex-husband, but Jenna shook her head at him, letting him know that she could handle Kyle.

"You know what, you really didn't need to take time out of your busy schedule to check on me.  My fiancé here is taking very good care of me.  And for your information you stupid fuck, I am not 'packing on the pounds', I'm pregnant.  Now, thank you for your misguided concern, but I think you are doing more harm than good by being here, so get the fuck out of my room before I call security."  Jenna said fiercely.

At that, Nicholas stood up and walked over to where Kyle stood.  He was a full three inches taller than Kyle, with broader shoulders and a thicker frame.  Kyle was mostly skin and bones and couldn't even compare to Nicholas's form.  "She asked you to leave nicely.  I won't be so nice, as you've seen before."

Kyle nodded his head.  "See what I get to trying to care?"  He asked as he moved to the door.  He had remembered his tangles with Nicholas and didn't care for anymore at this point.  "Fine, I'll leave, but don't expect for me to come back."

"Well that's something to look forward to."  Jenna said with a smirk.

Nicholas folded his arms across his chest, making his biceps look bigger, and puffing his chest out as he watched Kyle leave the room.  After the door had shut from Kyle's departure, Nicholas walked back around Jenna's bed and sat back in the chair.

Just when he got comfortable, Nicholas heard the door open again.  "Don't you get it?  She doesn't want you here.  Get the fuck out!"  Nicholas growled as he stood from his chair and turned around towards the door.  His jaw practically dropped to the floor to see his mother standing there holding a vase of flowers in one hand and a bunch of balloons in the other.

Diane Tiller stood in shock, just inside Jenna's hospital room after her son had yelled at her.  The door to the room was on a self-closing hinge, and came swinging back to hit Diane's backside, sending her stumbling forward towards her son's waiting arms.  A few of the balloons were caught in the closing door and half were still outside, half inside, causing her to jerk back towards the door as she held their strings tightly.  In the end, Diane had fallen on her ass, barely saving the vase of flowers from crashing to the floor, and sacrificing the balloons to the ceiling in order to keep the vase from falling and shattering.

Nicholas and Jenna both watched the scene unfold in front of them, as if it was in slow motion.  Seeing his mother's face, he couldn't help but let out a quick laugh.  "Mom, I'm sorry."  He said between bursts of laughter.  "I thought you were Jenna's ex-husband coming back in."  Nicholas hurried over to his mother to help her off the floor.  He took the flowers and put them on the windowsill with the others as his mother dusted herself off.  He then went back to rescue the balloons from the ceiling as Diane sat in the chair.

"Thanks for coming Diane.  Wow, quite the acrobatics.  For a minute there, I thought for sure you would need to share the hospital room with me."  Jenna teased.

"It seems as though your spirits are up.  How are you feeling?"  Diane asked.

"Not too bad, all things considered."  Jenna told her.  "I just can't wait to get home.  I think we'll be a lot more comfortable there."  She said as she laid her hand on her stomach, rubbing it softly.

"So tell me," Diane said, shifting in her seat so that she could look at both Nicholas and Jenna, "What caused the accident?  Did the light reflect off that rock on your finger and blind you?"  She asked curiously, acknowledging the engagement ring on Jenna's finger.

"Huh?"  Jenna was confused until she remembered the ring on her left hand.  She looked over to Nicholas for a little help.

"Oh!  Um, actually, I asked Jenna to marry me last night when she woke up, then again this morning to make sure that she wasn't saying yes just because she was under the influence of the painkillers."  Nicholas teased as he looked lovingly at his new fiancée.

"Well, good for the both of you.  I'm happy that you're going to make it official."  Diane said, then gave her son a hug and kissed Jenna's forehead.  "And, I'm glad you're ok too.  I don't think my son would have survived if you hadn't."

When the doctor entered the room a short time later, Diane said her goodbyes to her son and Jenna, letting them know that she would take care of the kids for as long as they needed her to.

The doctor went over Jenna's chart and gave her a quick examination.  By the looks of it, Jenna was improving rapidly, and she would be able to go home in the next few days.  Though she wanted to go home sooner, Jenna was happy that the doctor was so encouraging.  He even commented on the baby's strong heartbeat as being such a positive sign.

After the doctor left, Nicholas was able to convince Jenna to take a nap.  As soon as he was sure that she was asleep, he jotted down a quick note for her and left the room.  He had hoped that he would be back before she woke up, but just in case he wasn't he didn't want her to wonder where he was.

Nicholas went down to find his Xterra just where Nathan had left it.  He hopped in and headed home for a quick shower and a change of clothes.  After leaving home, Nicholas went to Jenna's favorite restaurant and picked up some lunch for the two of them.  He knew that Jenna was going to protest about how bad the hospital food was, and he hoped that by bringing in some food from the outside, it would make her stay a little more bearable.

When he walked back into the hospital room, Jenna was still sleeping.  He set the bag of Styrofoam food containers on the bedside table, and began opening the boxes up.  The aroma from the delectable eats wafted through the air, beckoning Jenna to open her eyes.

Jenna woke from her food-filled dream, only to find that the food she was dreaming about was actually laid out in front of her.  She looked over to Nicholas who had a smile spread across his face.  "Feel any better?"  He asked her.

"Yeah, I'm glad you talked me into that nap, but I'm even happier that you brought me lunch.  I was so dreading the hospital food."  Jenna told him as she looked at the food spread before her.  As if on cue, her stomach grumbled.  "I didn't realize how hungry I was until I saw all this food."  She said with a laugh.

"Hey, stick with me and I'll take good care of you baby."  He said as he leaned over and kissed Jenna softly.  Before straightening back up, he leaned over Jenna's stomach and said, "And you too baby."  And touched his lips to her bulging belly.  "Now, let's eat!"

*****

Nicholas stayed in the hospital all day with Jenna.  They played cards, watched some trashy daytime soap operas, and attempted the crossword puzzle in the newspaper.  Even though Jenna wasn't able to leave the room, having Nicholas there made her feel less trapped.  She didn't feel like a prisoner, and there weren't any boring moments.

Just before dinner, Vanessa poked her head in the room.  "I hear my best friend doubled as a crash test dummy."

"Shut the hell up and get your ass in here Nessa!"  Jenna called out.

"Hey, looking pretty good there Jens."  Vanessa said as she leaned over and lightly hugged her friend.  "So, anything new?"  She asked, wondering if Nicholas had proposed yet, but not wanting to ruin the surprise like she almost had the night before.

"Well, Michelle has amnesia, Tony is starting to have feelings for Michelle which has Danny worried, and Dinah is going to come back to Springfield, even though she is wanted for murder."  Jenna sprouted off.

"Let me guess, you let her watch Guiding Light?"  Vanessa asked Nicholas, rolling her eyes.

"How did you know?"  Nicholas laughed.

"One of her guilty pleasures.  She watches it whenever she gets a chance."  Vanessa explained.

"But I'm guessing that you want to know if anything is new in the real world, and I'm sure that you want to get a better look at my rock?"  Jenna asked, then held out her left hand.

Vanessa squealed, then carefully grabbed Jenna's hand.  "He showed me last night, but it was pretty dark.  It's so beautiful Jenna!  I'm so excited for you two!"

"Me too!"  Jenna smiled.

"Do you two want me to leave?"  Nicholas asked, afraid he was interrupting some girly-bonding time.

"Not a chance honey.  You need to get used to this!"  Jenna told him.

"Oh, boy, what have I gotten myself into?"  Nicholas said with a laugh as he shook his head at the two girls and their 'girl talk'.  But deep down, he knew that he wouldn't have it any other way.  His life was headed in the right direction, and he couldn't be happier.

Jenna laid in her hospital bed for nearly a week, pleading with her doctors to release her.  As each day passed, not only did Jenna get stronger, but the baby growing inside of her did too.  On the day that both of her doctors agreed that it was okay for her to go home, both Jenna and Nicholas were elated.