Life's Perfect Plan (The Life Series) (5 page)

The girls are done shaking their hips. I take the pizza out of the oven. Kate hugs her wine bottle to her chest like a baby. Ella grabs the salad and their wine glasses off the counter. We sit at the table and talk. I adore the girl talk with my girls.

Kate finally has enough wine in her to spill her guts out. She tells us that she caught a text message from a strange number multiple times on Keith’s phone. That one text said “that she wanted to suck him off.” She said that she’s moved him to the downstairs guest room. They haven’t had sex in three months. Kate starts to tear up at the mention of getting divorced. She can’t live like this and be treated like shit.

Ella slurs “I sorry mi amore. You want me to kick him in the balls for you?”

“Be my guest, if you can find him? Can you believe that asshole hasn’t been home in three days, nor has he called to say hello to his daughters. Who the hell gives up like that on being a parent? I didn’t plan for a baby, let alone two, but those girls are my world and I can’t fathom going a day without hearing their sweet voices. It literally breaks my heart to see what my babies will go through.”

Me being the only sober one, I start to cry. Cry for my best friend and for her daughters. For a life that is about to flip upside down for her and her daughters. I wipe my cheeks and start to clear the table.

I tell Ella to go turn the movie on. As we settle into the couch when the doorbell rings. “Who the hell is that?” Kate slurs as she gets up off the couch and walks to the door. She opens the door and mutters, “What the hell are you doing here?” She opens the door a little more as I see Keith walk into the foyer.

I notice right away that he is not here for Kate, his gaze is on me and he isn’t losing focus. “Keith, what’s going on?” I say as I unexpectedly feel nauseas. Keith is white as a ghost and barely can look at me.

“B … Beth umm, I heard on the radio that there was lane closures on A1A south bound. There is a massive fatality accident involving 8 motorcycles and three vehicles. I called it in to get the drivers names, knowing that Grant was out that way.” He pauses then continues, “Umm … Beth.”

My heart is in my chest, and I am looking at the girls and they are white. The blood has drained from my face and my ears are pulsating. “Spit it out Keith, is Grant hurt?”

“Beth, he was one of the riders. He was rushed to the hospital and left the scene in critical condition. “

“Keith, you’ve got to take us there!” Kate voices to her husband. “We can’t drive. We have been drinking and Beth is in no condition to drive the trip out there.”

I run into the laundry room to grab my purse and flip flops. I look at the clock above the flat screen TV. It’s 7:20p.m. I fold over and vomit. I collapse to the floor trying to catch my breath. I feel like my lungs are shrinking up in my chest cavity. I can’t breathe.

Ella rushes over to me, “Beth let’s go! Get up and walk to the car now! We need to go, you can’t do anything sitting on the floor and you don’t know anything till we get there.” She sternly speaks her words into my ear. I walk to the door, seeing Kate talk to Keith.

Keith looks at me with tears in his eyes. “Beth once we are close by, I’ll call the hospital and see if they can give us a report on him.”

I get into the back seat of his police cruiser with Ella. She is holding me and telling me to not freak out. She keeps grabbing my wrist and counting my heartbeats. “Beth, think of the baby, the one that is trying to grow inside of you. You have got to calm down and think of that right now” as she places her hand on my lower stomach “that is all you can control right now.” She holds me and chants, “breathe in and breathe out, breathe in and breathe out.” This is all she says the whole way while rubbing her palm over my belly.

All I can think of is that terrible nightmare, seeing Grant’s face covered in blood.
“Oh please God let me be able to identify him, let him live, let him be Ok.”
I silently repeat this over and over. I can’t lose him, Grant is my world. What seems like hours we finally pull into the ER. Ella helps me out and she is by my side the whole time.

I rush to the check in desk. “Grant Thomas, please he was in a motorcycle accident.” I rush all my words together so quickly that I hear Ella repeat it to her just slower.

“Are you family?” She snidely says.

“Yes, he’s my husband, this is his sister.” I tell her, knowing full well they wouldn’t let Ella back there, but she is a nurse and she can help Grant and me. She looks away from her computer and discloses that he’s in room eight.

I turn around to see Kate crying in Keith’s arms. I babble something about I will call her and to go home.

She says she is staying and to let her know what is going on. I don’t fight her, so I turn on my heels and shove my way through the double doors.

It was like walking into another dimension. It is so earsplitting and people are frantic and yelling. We come around the bend in the hallway and I hear hollering “CODE BLUE!” I’m not an idiot, I know what that means. I walk a little faster holding onto Ella’s elbow. I see the number 8 above the doorway where everyone is shouting. A young man runs in with a crash cart. I’m unable to see because the tears are blurring my vision. Ella tries to hold me back, but I push through.

I run to his bed side and scream at the top of my lungs, “GRANT COME BACK!!! I’m here … come back!!!!” I feel arms wrapped around my waist and I am pulled to the end of the bed. I grab the end of the bed. I’m not leaving this cubicle! I see an older man in a white coat with the electric paddles held high above his head. He yells ‘
CLEAR
’ and everyone jumps back. My husband looks peaceful, like he does when he is asleep. I see him jerk on the table. Nothing happens. The alarm is beeping in one piercing tone. I want them to turn it off. The noise is deafening to my ears. The doctor yells out numbers and then shouts ‘CLEAR’ again. Grant jerks again.

Ella is to my side with her arms around my waist holding onto me. I start shrieking, “NO … NO … NO” over and over again.

Sweat trickles down the doctor’s forehead, a look of defeat on his white pale face. The doctor looks at me and mouths, “I’m sorry.” He turns the ear-piercing monitor off and looks to the nurse, and calls the time of death.

Pushing away from Ella I run to Grant’s side screaming to him, “Don’t you dare leave me Grant, and wake up now, WAKE UP DAMMIT! You are not allowed to leave me, you are not DEAD, wake the hell up.” I start to smack him on his chest telling him to wake up. My cries are brutal. It takes everything I can to inhale. My heart aches. I feel that at any second it is going to stop beating. All I see is Grant. I hear voices and I can feel movement around the room, but none of that has my attention. I just stare at my beautiful husband, wanting to wake up from this horrendous nightmare.

“Grant, wake up please.” I whimper softly to him. By now my head is on his chest and I have wrapped my arms around his neck. For being in an accident there is little blood. His face looks perfectly fine. I guess he was safe and wore his helmet. He has bruises all over his chest and abdomen. Rough looking scratches and bloody marks on his arms, but he just looks banged up … not DEAD! “Grant, please don’t leave me. There is so much we still need to do, so much to share, and grow with each other. I needed to tell you that you might be a daddy. I might be pregnant. Please, you have to be by my side for all of this. I can’t do this alone, I can’t fucking do this alone!”

I lie on his chest for what feels like forever, until I feel myself go cold. I feel him go cold. Ella is by my side and tells me that we need to go, that I need to rest, and to think of the baby. I wish I could see his eyes look at me one last time. All he had to do was look at me and I knew what he was feeling. I lean down to give his eyelids a kiss. I brush his hair away from his face, and kiss his lips one last time. I rub my fingers against his stubble, then down his neck, across his collarbone, down his pecks, and trail them down his abdomen. I’m straining to grasp all of him in just a few more touches. I grab his left hand and entwine our fingers together. Taking my thumb and rubbing his wedding band. I kiss his hand and ring.

Ella is trying, without success, to pull me away from my husband and I can’t let go of him. “Ella, please I can’t let go of him, ELLA PLEASE!!” I scream bloody murder at her. Ella separates our hands and places his hand on his stomach.

“Beth, please honey … come with me.” Ella cries to me.

I watch the nurse come over to his other side and drape a sheet over Grant’s beautiful body. “Don’t you dare cover him up!” I shout out to the nurse, “Don’t you dare!” I hear silence as everyone is looking at me. The next thing I know I feel a pinch on my arm and another set of hands wrap around my shoulders. As I try to turn my head to see who is behind me, my body starts to feel like liquid. Then everything goes black.

My cell phone won’t stop ringing. I just got off a shift at the hospital. All I want to do is go home, have a beer, and relax. I keep getting this unknown number and it is really pissing me off. On the third call, I answer. “Dr. Alexander, can I help you?”

“Uh, Jacob right?”

“May I ask who is calling?”

“Ella Hudson told me to call you. My name is Kate, and our friend Beth is in trouble. Ella asked me if you could come down and help her out.”

I’m irritated. I just left the hospital. Placing my car keys back in my jeans, I am walking back into the hospital.

“Where is Ella and what is going on?” I ask inquisitively.

“Ella is with Beth in the ER. Beth just had implantation done a couple days ago. Ella, is scared she will miscarry with the news that was just given to her.”

I hear Kate is starting to cry,
Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on
? “Okay, I am coming back into the hospital right now, what can I do to help Beth?” I am starting to run through the hospital. The ER entrance is on the other side of the hospital.

“Beth’s husband was in a motorcycle accident, it doesn’t look too good for him. Beth has had IVF three times and this was her last time. She can’t lose the baby Jacob; you have got to help her.” This girl is sobbing and I feel my body’s adrenaline starting to kick in. Ella has been such a great co-worker, nurse, and also a friend. I can only imagine what she is going through with her best friend. I have heard so much about Ella’s best friends, Beth and Kate. I know they mean the world to her, she has a picture of the three of them in a hot pink frame that says “GIRLS RULE” on her desk next her family pictures. I don’t know which is which, but they all are pretty women.

“Kate, I will get there in a few minutes. I need to hang up and get with a nurse from the ER. I will let you know what happens.”

She sobs a goodbye on the phone and I quickly call the ER. I get with Ruth, a nurse, who briefly tells me what is going on with Beth’s husband. I tell her what I need and that I need a room ASAP for my patient. As I approach the ER wing I slow my run down to try and catch my breath. I swipe my badge in front of the doors and walk to the nurses’ station. As I walk, I hear the cries of a woman and my heart breaks. Hoping that this isn’t Beth, I’m in search for Ruth. Asking one of the nurses at the station she points me to her. I walk past room number 8 and I see Ella with her hands over her mouth and I see a petite red head leaning over a man on a gurney. I quickly walk by knowing that was Beth. As I approach Ruth, I feel a hand pulling my bicep. It’s Ella. “Jacob, you’ve got to help her! Her husband just died and she is a mess. Please, give her something to calm her down.”

I grab Ella and pull her in for a hug. “I’m working on it now.”

“Thank You.” is all she tearfully says and walks back to room 8. I arrive to Ruth’s side and introduce myself, show her my badge and tell her I need what I asked for. She takes me to the cabinet that she placed the medicine in. Once it is in my hands, I fill the syringe up and head towards Beth. I hear the dreadful screams from her voice, I hear Ella’s begging pleas to move. I have never been in the position before, and right now I have no fucking clue how to approach this. I go the easy route. As soon as I see Ella, hold Beth in her arms, I walk behind Ella and prick Beth with the sedation. She is in such a state of shock that by the time she turns around to see me, her big beautiful greens eyes close.

I drop the syringe and jump in front of Ella to grab Beth. I scoop her up in my arms like a baby and we walk to the elevators. “Jacob … thank you … she can’t lose the baby, on top of what she just lost in there.” Ella wipes her face with the sleeve of her shirt, and tries to slowly take in some breaths.

“I’ll do what I can, Ella … I’ll do what I can.” Is all I can say as I stare at this beautiful woman in my arms. She looks so peaceful, almost angelic like. Even with the mascara smudges, and her face is tear stained from crying, she is still the most beautiful woman I have laid eyes on. We finally get to the Perinatal High risk floor. Walking into her room, I gently place her on the bed. I lay her head against the pillow and fan out her red hair. I pull off her shoes, and pull down the covers. I walk to the end of the bed and just stare at this beauty that is sleeping peacefully. “I’ll let you get her undressed. I’m going to the nurse’s station to get her file started.” I say to Ella as I slowly walk out the room. I close the door to a woman that has captivated me. I haven’t heard her say my name and I haven’t had the privilege of those beautiful green eyes looking at me, but that woman in that room will be life changing for me. I don’t know what it is about her, but I have to get to know her.