Nothing Lasts Forever (11 page)

Abby knew she had to get a hold of herself. She held the air in her lungs for a moment to steady herself.
Calm down! You can do this!
She felt his warm hands against her cheeks. He raised her face to his and the force of his strength began to flow towards her. “Abby. We can do this. We must, for Kevin’s sake.” She nodded, her face still in the palm of his hands and took a deep, unsteady breath.

“I’m okay.” She nodded and stared in to his eyes to draw on his strength. After a long sigh, Jon entered the child’s room as Abby followed behind.

His little eyes fluttered open and when he saw them hovering over him, he gave them a crooked smile. Abby gasped out loud because even though he always sported a crooked grin before, this was bad. “Mommie, Daddy.” The words fell from his mouth, like a whisper through the wind. She reached down and took his hand in hers.

A weak smile played across his face. “Kevin, Penny is here to see you but she can’t jump up because of all the wires and stuff. Can you call her so she can hear you?”

His little mouth began to pucker and tried to move. Abby nudged Penny, so she placed her paws on the bed rail enough to lift herself up. Penny seemed to know she couldn’t jump on the bed so she tucked her nose in to Kevin’s neck. A euphoric look came over him. Tears fell from Abby’s face and when she looked at Jon, his eyes held pools of fluid. “We bought you a ninja turtle, Kevin. He’s the toughest of the bunch. His name is Raphael, and he’s going to be strong for you since your body needs to rest. You hang in there and I’ll bring him tomorrow, okay?”

Kevin tried to smile again but his mouth wouldn’t work. He nodded and winced as he did so. Jon’s doctor mode took over as he checked his vitals, then went outside to speak to the staff. Abby and Penny stood there, alone, looking down on the little man. Her heart ached. It didn’t look as if he would pull through. Abby knew she had to prepare herself if he didn’t but the thought was too hard to bear.

She never heard Jon return until he rested his hands on her shoulders. She turned to him and tucked herself in to his arms, her head against his shoulder. “As long as he has one tiny breath in his body, there’s a fighting chance he’ll make it through.”

Jon rubbed her back. “As a doctor, I’ve seen this so many times. I know what to expect, how bad it is,” he said, his voice low so Kevin couldn’t hear. “I’m trying to be realistic and prepare myself in case but the other side of me, the side that claimed this child and drew him in to my heart feels hope, that you’re right. Abby, I’m so torn.”

She reached up and placed a hand on either side of his face. “Jon, don’t give up. Whatever time this child has, we owe it to him to give him all the love in our hearts right this minute. I pray for healing for him. We must not let one negative thought go through our heads, agreed?”

He hugged her. “Agreed.”

For the next few days and nights, Abby took turns with Jon, never leaving the child’s side. Abby went back to the RV and brought the little ninja for Kevin. His little eyes widened when he saw Raphael but then those same lids fluttered closed. Every movement seemed to hurt him, to take away a bit more energy.

Penny kept raising up on her hind legs to nudge Kevin, to lick his face and remind him that she was there. Kevin always responded in his own weakened state. “I love you,” he told the dog. When Kevin said those words, Penny barked. It was so loud, Abby was almost afraid they would make her take Penny out of the ICU, but they didn’t. The doctor’s and nurses already fell in love with the German Shepherd, bringing treats for her every day.

Abby would go to do her volunteer work but she didn’t seem to have it in her to continue. The energy and motivation for entertaining others took second place to this. “I need to take a few days off,” she told Sallie one day when the director stopped by to check on Kevin.

Sallie looked at her concerned. “I’m surprised you still volunteer Abby. If it’s too much, we’ll let you off the hook for a while.”

Abby didn’t like to give up, but she knew all she wanted to do was stay here with Kevin. It didn’t look good, but she wanted to give him all the hope inside of her. She didn’t want to share herself with anyone else right now. Was that so bad? “I’ll go today and let them know after the show. I don’t want to upset anyone.”

Sallie smiled. “You won’t. I’ll see what else they have lined up. I think we have some clowns on the list. We’ll move them in your time slot, so don’t worry.”

Abby mustered up a weak smile for the woman. She got up, dreading her hour of volunteer work. Was she pitiful or what? She took a deep breath and gave Jon a kiss before she went to work for the last time as a volunteer.

Later, Jon came to meet her to take her for some lunch. “One of the staff is sitting with him so we can go get some lunch,” he told her.

“I don’t feel hungry at all,” Abby said, but then her stomach grumbled. Jon gave her the pointed look, his one brow in the air and grinned. He steered them towards the cafeteria and ordered for her while she walked beside him in a stupor.

“You’ll feel better after you eat,” he told her. He chose a table for two along the garden area, where a small fountain shot water in the air, it’s mist reminding her of the one in the shopping mall.

Jon’s phone went off and when he checked, a smile shone bright over his face.

Abby watched him. “Are you going to share?” she asked. Jon scooted his chair beside hers and showed her the screen.

She watched in amazement as the video showed the ocean in front of their beachfront home. The white sand and cool waters flowed while the birds sang in the air. An occasional squawk rendered in the air and then two dolphins rose out of the water and spun their tails before they plunged back in to the water. Abby grinned.

“Keep watching.” Jon rested his arm around her waist. A small sail boat came in to view. Abby’s parent’s stood on it, their hands in the air as they waved and yelled out Kevin, we love you! A sob escaped from deep in her throat.

Then the camera faded out and all at once Jax came in to view. He jumped up and down when a hand reached out to throw him a ball. His long hair rustled in the wind as he ran through the yard. Abby laughed in delight when someone threw some balls in his direction and Jax tried to gather them in his mouth all at one time. He kept dropping one after the other which made both Jon and Abby laugh out loud.

Jake and Maggie came on and called Jax to the camera. Maggie had Jax sit back and lift his paw to the screen. “This is Jax, Kevin. He can’t wait to meet you. Welcome to our wonderful family.” They waved as the ocean took up the video and faded until Sara and Josh came in to view. Sara’s belly was bulging out because she was about to have a baby. She smiled and waved. “Kevin, guess what? You’re going to be an uncle, so you better hurry and get better. We can’t wait to meet you!” Josh waved and grinned and they laughed at his casual attitude. Josh was all man and didn’t like to be caught on film, even if he did like to spy on everyone with those same cameras.

“Let’s go show this to Kevin. Maybe it will help him get better faster.” They all but ran back to the ICU. Jon made arrangements with the nurse and she found a cord that connected to his smart phone that would let the video show on the large screen television in his room.

“Kevin, look at what we have for you. Remember the ocean we talked about?”

His little head nodded. He seemed to be wide awake. “Look at the screen. Can you see the tv screen?”

He nodded and then his eyes became bigger than saucers as the ocean came in to view. Jon turned up the volume so he could hear the sounds of the water over the monitor’s noise. His chest heaved when he saw the dolphins and when Jax came on the big screen, he laughed, his belly rolling under the thin sheet.

The others wishing him well seemed to bring up his spirits. “They love me?” he asked. “They don’t know me,” his voice fluttered before his eyes drooped closed. Abby could tell he was still awake but too tired to keep his lids open.

“They do know of you Kevin and everyone in my family and Jon’s can’t wait until you come home to the ocean. So you have to rest so you can ready for the trip there, okay?”

He nodded his head, his eyes still closed. His arm tightened on Raphael and Penny’s tongue slaked out and licked the stuffed animal then his cheek. Kevin’s lips puckered as best as he could and then he said in his little weak voice, “Can Raphael come because he needs a home by the ocean too?”

Jon rested a large hand over his. “Yes, you and Raphael are a part of our family now. You both can come home home to the Keys.”

Kevin fell asleep after that for what seemed like hours. Jon wanted Abby to go get something to eat, but she shook her head. There was no way she could eat right now, not until he was out of danger. The monitors kept accurate account of every move the little man made. She watched them, her eyes transfixed to the screen as if she needed to keep a constant vigil in case of a sudden change.

In the end Jon went to the small cafe that was still open and brought back some soup for her. When she didn’t pick it up and eat, he fed her spoon after spoon. Her automatic responses were deliberate because she decided not to eat until Kevin was out of the woods.

“It’s a normal reaction, but you must eat, Abby. I’ve seen this a hundred times and I’m not going to let you starve yourself. You do no one any good this way.” Jon began to raise his voice to her, concern on his face.

She stared at him and realized the pain he was going through and how she was acting as if she alone was the only one going through this nightmare. She opened her mouth and then took the spoon and grabbed the cup of soup. “I’ll eat, I’m sorry Jon. Forgive me for acting like a spoiled child who didn’t get the toy they wanted.”

He stroked her cheek and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I know Abby. I feel the same way you do but we have to be strong. For Kevin.”

She took a spoonful of the soup. “For Kevin.”

Chapter 10

The one good thing about the hospital was it accommodated for every need. Abby still hadn’t gone back to the RV yet, but explained the situation to the manager at the campgrounds. Mary Jane promised to keep an eye on the RV for them and even brought Pete in his travel cage to the hospital. Abby left Pete there to keep the kids entertained without doing her usual volunteer routine. The children loved to listen to Pete go off whenever he felt like talking. She went over and fed him and let him out to see the kids. After that, she was back in ICU. All she thought about was Kevin, who seemed to stay the same.

Jon stood in on a few surgeries but he told her his heart wasn’t in it either. He wanted to be with Kevin but forced himself away so he didn’t break down. Abby noticed how his shoulders sagged, the strong man she loved looked defeated.

Abby’s cell went off. She looked down and noticed Jake’s number. Curious, she answered. “Hi Jake. Jon has his phone with him if you want to talk to him.”

“I want to talk to you Abby. How is he?”

“Not good. There’s been no change with Kevin. I’m not sure what’s next.”

“I keep asking him but he lies to me. I know my brother and when he hurts. Twins know these things.”

She nodded. The two were so close when the one hurt, it seemed the other knew. “I understand Jake. He is upset, we don’t know how to make this better.” She looked down at Kevin as she spoke in to the phone. His little body seemed to grow weaker every day.

“Want me there? I can get a private flight and be there tonight.”

She nodded her head, a bit of relief knowing someone else could pick up the load. They wouldn’t be alone.

“Abby?”

“Yes, please. We need you both.”

“I’ll call your Mom and see if she minds keeping Jax for us and we’ll be on the chopper or plane out, whatever we can get in the next few hours. Abby?”

Her tears began to fall. “Yes,” she choked out, her heart wrenching.

“Hang in there.”

“Thank you.” She slid the phone in her pocket and hung her head. A ten foot wall seemed to have fallen down knowing Maggie and Jake were on their way.

<><>

He sensed when his brother arrived. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and even though he didn’t face the entrance doors, Jon could feel Jake’s presence. He took a deep breath because if he turned around right now he would break down and he couldn’t do that to himself. Jon was a man, he needed to keep control of his emotions. He needed to be strong for Abby and Kevin.

“Jon.” He approached like a freight train on its last leg of the mission. His brother grabbed his arm and swung him around.

“Jake.” His voice cracked. He forced air in to his lungs because they felt as if they would close up any moment. He gave Jake a hug but when he went to fall back, Jake’s strong arms didn’t release him.

“Your pain is mine, bro. You know what it’s like being a twin.”

Jon almost broke. Instead he slapped his brother across the back and swallowed. “Welcome to Memphis, Jake. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too, now let’s go see this little guy. Maggie?” The twins turned to see Maggie and Abby standing in the middle of the reception area holding on to each other, tears streaming down both their faces, sobbing. Jake nodded for Jon to take the lead.

When they got to Kevin’s room the little guys eyes were wide open. He blinked several times before they scrunched closed and then he said clear as a bell, “There’s two of you.”