"That reminds me, where's Emma?" I asked.
"She... she.." Eliza began. Maybe I shouldn't have asked.
"She ran away a while ago too. She got really sick. She's still in the hospital."
she said, sadly.
"Oh wow. Stuff has really changed around here." I said. I was fidgeting with
my hands again. "How long until you are released?" I asked.
"About three weeks they told me." she said.
"Well when Graham gets home from work I am going to stop and see Emma
in the hospital, want me to come and get you?" I asked.
"Would you? I'd love to go see her. I think she would love to see you too." she
said, smiling.
"Sure! We'll come around six or so. Be ready!" I said. "I better get going,
Eliza." I hugged her. "Stay safe." I said, pointing my finger at her.
"You sound like my mother." she said, laughing.
"Exactly what I was going for." I said, laughing along. I hugged everyone
again and put my jacket back on. I went back outside into the 34-degree weather. At
least that's what the bank's time and temperature sign said. I figured it would have
been better to stay home. I was already feeling sick. I was about two blocks from
home and my eyes began watering from the blistering cold. I felt a cold coming on.
It was about three when I got home. Graham was due home in about two
hours. I decided to make a sandwich. I was going to try and eat a whole half this
time too. I was really tired and groggy while I was making my sandwich. I decided to
lie down for a while and sleep it off.
I couldn't even sleep. I had a huge headache, my stomach hurt really badly,
and I was really pale. I thought I better call Graham.
"Graham? I think I'm sick. I need help." I said, swallowing hard. I couldn't cry
now.
"It's okay baby. I'm coming. Don't cry now, its okay." he said. I loved his
calming voice. It could make me better any day.
"Okay." I said weakly. I layed on the couch and waited. I was feeling a little
light-headed, but my stomach hurt less. My head was still pounding. I heard a car
door.
"Baby, are you okay?" he asked, running up to me.
"I don't know. I just wanted to walk to the rehab center--"
"You walked to the rehab center?!? Kersey! That's over a mile! It's freezing
out!" he cried. He helped me up and helped me put my jacket and mittens on. He
wrapped two blankets around me and helped me to the car. The way he was acting
scared me more than I already was. I hated seeing him so scared.
We arrived at the hospital and Graham walked me in. The nurses took me to
a cold emergency room and helped me onto the table. They took my temperature,
my pulse, and my blood pressure and asked me all kinds of questions. I saw
Graham pacing in the corner.
"M'am, we are going to put you on and IV right now. You will feel a small pain
in your arm... now." she said, stabbing the needle into my wrist. I winced in pain and
felt tears welling in the back of my eyes.
"Sir, you can wait in the waiting room." one of the older nurses said.
"No! He has to stay with me." I cried.
"I'm sorry m'am, he has to leave." she said, pushing Graham in the direction
of the waiting room. I was still feeling light-headed. They wrapped me in many
blankets and kept a constant eye on my temperature.
"Looks like she has pneumonia." one nurse said. "She's going downhill fast
people. Come on!" they yelled. I felt tears pouring down my cheeks, each tear
burning with heat. I fell asleep.
I woke up. I didn't know if I had actually fallen asleep or they knocked me out.
The room was dark, and I noticed Graham asleep in the chair in the corner. My hair
was a mess and my jacket had been tossed on the floor. I turned on a little desk
lamp that was on the table next to me.
I closed my eyes. I still had a headache, still had the IV in my hand and I had a
breathing bag lying next to me. I my hands were very cold and so were my
uncovered feet. I had been changed into a hospital gown and it felt like it was made
of tissue paper. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and closed my eyes and dozed off
again.
I woke up the next morning and Graham had the television on. He heard my
sheets rustle when I propped myself up and he came over to me.
"Good morning," he said kissing my head. "How'd you sleep?"
"Okay I guess. I had a huge headache. How'd you sleeping, Sleeping
Beauty?" I said smiling.
"That chair isn't too comfortable." he said.
"You didn't have to stay here."
"I did. I wanted to be here in case you needed something." he said. "Want
some breakfast?"
"I'm not too hungry. But I'll get something if you want to eat it." I said smiling
again. He ordered some bacon and eggs and I had a slice of bacon. My whole body
was sore and Graham said my face was still pale.
"Hey, Graham, hand me my jacket please." I said, pointing to the floor. "Want
to see a wedding dress I was looking at?" I asked.
"Yeah! Have you decided anything about the wedding?" he asked, looking at
the magazine page I had brought out from my jacket.
"Where do you want to have it?" I asked.
"I was thinking maybe the church my parents got married, if it's okay with you.
It would mean a lot to me." he said.
"Of course. I would love it." I said. "Mind if I take a nap? I'm really sore and
tired."
"Yeah, go ahead. I am going to run some errands quick." he said kissing my
forehead. "Bye, baby." Little did I know what surprise was headed my way.
I awoke about an hour or so later to the nurse, coming in for her what seemed
like hourly check-up. She took my blood pressure and my temperature and looked
at all the machines I was hooked up to. I waited and waited and finally she left. I got
up to use the bathroom and when I came back out Graham was sitting by the
window smiling at me. Again, something was up. He had a sneaky, sly grin on his
face.
"What did you do now?" I asked.
He went out into the lobby outside my room and came back in with a rose in
his mouth. I laughed as he put the rose next to me on my table and then went back
out.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"I guess." I said, nervously. He emerged with a box from the bridal shop
where I saw my dress. I gasped and started to cry. He took the dress out of the box
and held it up for me to see. It was exactly how I pictured it; it had the lace sash and
the thin straps. I crawled out of my bed still crying and touched it. I couldn't believe he
had actually gone out and bought it.
"Want to try it on?" he asked, with a kind, gentle smile on his face. I nodded
and wiped the tears out of my eyes. I closed the door and stuck the sign on the
handle. Graham helped me zip the back of the dress and then walked me to the
mirror in the bathroom door. I looked at myself. For the first time in my entire life, I
thought I looked beautiful.
I turned and looked at Graham. "How do I look?" I managed to say between
tears.
"Beautiful as ever, Kersey." he reached up and pulled me close and kissed
me. I looked at myself again in the mirror and smiled.
I carefully took the dress off and put my hospital gown back on. I crawled into
bed and wiped the last few tears off my red cheeks.
"Thank you so much Graham." I said.
"Anything for you, Kersey." he said. "Listen. I talked to the doctor and he said
you would be released tomorrow." he said smiling.
"Really? Finally! I've been waiting to get out of this place." I said. "Graham,
look." I said, nodding towards the window. It was snowing.
"It's so beautiful outside." he said in an almost whisper. "I'd take you out if I
could, but you're already sick." he said. He came and sat on the end of the bed.
"Please don't worry about how I got that dress, okay? It's all been worked out.
It's okay." he said. He must have known I was wondering.
"But please, can you tell me?" I asked pleadingly. He sighed and closed his
eyes.
"Honey, I went to your parents and showed them the page you ripped out.
They love you so much Kersey, they bought the dress for you." he said. I was
shocked.
"Did you thank them for me?" I cried.
"Baby, calm down. Of course I did. They said they were willing to pay
everything if we needed them to." he said. He was getting choked up. He had never
met my parents before, but he had the courage to go to them and ask them for help.
"I cannot believe it." I said. I had been so cruel to them. I needed to call my
mom. "I have to call her."
I grabbed the telephone off the bedside table and quickly dialed my mom
and dad's house.
"Hello?" a voice said. It was my father.
"Dad? I-I want to thank you and mom. The dress. You didn't need to. I didn't
need that dress." I said, swallowing hard.
"Baby, it’s the least we could do. Do you mind if your mother talks on the
other line?" he asked.
"Put her on." I said. My mother picked up another phone.
"Kersey? Honey? What's wrong?" she said.
"Mom. Thank you so much for the dress! I didn't need it, really." I said. I could
hear my mother crying.
"Kersey, I know I haven't always been there for you, but I am now, okay? I
promise. I will always be there for you. You're... you're my baby girl." she said,
hanging up the phone, sobbing.
"Can we come see you? Your mother has wanted to come, but she can't
bear seeing you in the hospital. It makes her so overwhelmingly sad." he said. I
could hear him comforting my mother in the background.
"Yes, please come." I said. "Listen, daddy, I'll talk to you when you come,
okay?" I said. It was the first time I had called him daddy, in practically, my whole life.
"Bring mom." I said, smiling. We both hung up.
"Graham, I want to thank you again. I think you have brought me and my
parents closer now." I said, still smiling. I leaned over and kissed his forehead. "I
love you so much." I said.
My parents arrived a short while after. My mom ran up to me and kissed me
about a thousand times. I let her hug me and I smiled. I had missed this growing up. I
was always a rebel and never let my parents near me. Now I realized what I was
missing. My dad came after my mom and kissed the top of my head.
"How do you feel, baby girl?" my mom said.
"I'm pretty good. I guess I get out tomorrow." I said smiling.
"How wonderful!" my mom cried. They stayed for about and hour and we just
sat and talked. Before they left, Graham got up and came to me and whispered
something in my ear.
"I'm gonna go get some food. I'll be back in a little while." he kissed my
cheek, waved to my parents and left. My parents stayed a little longer and left
so I could rest.
I woke up the next day and Graham was fast asleep on the small pullout
loveseat. I stretched my arms over my head and looked at the clock. It was a little
past eight. I turned on the TV. The doctor came in and checked my stats again.
"You look wonderful. We will give you some pills that you have to take twice a
day and we will go from there." he said, nodding and smiling at me.
"Thank you, doctor." I said. Graham had awoken by the sound of the door
closing.
"Hey, what did he say?" he asked, coming to sit next to me on the bed.
"He said I'd have to take some pills, but otherwise I'm good." I said. "Should
we start packing up my stuff?" I asked, stepping out of bed and putting my slippers
on.
"Yeah, I'll get your stuff out of the bathroom, you grab your stuff out here." he
said. I collected my little personal items from my table and place them neatly in my
suitcase. I got dressed in some more presentable pajamas and Graham wheeled
me to the elevator. We got into the elevator with another doctor and we soon arrived
on the first main floor. Nurses, doctors and paramedics rushed past us with a
patient on a bed. I looked and tried to see who it was.
The limp body lying on the table resembled a girl… she had long beautiful
flowing hair. I looked through the small window on the door. The person on the table
was still semi-conscious, but hardly moving. She looked scared and she kept
looking back and forth between the doctors surrounding her.
I looked closely at her terrified face. It was Olivia’s mom. My second mom. I
burst through the doors of the ER room and ran to her bedside.
“What happened? What happened?!?!” I screamed to the doctors around
me.
“Car accident ma’am. Please, you need to leave. You can’t be here.” A lady
nurse told me.
“No no, I know her. Please, I need to be with her.” I said, trying to break loose
of the nurse’s grasp on my arms.
“Ma’am, now.” She said, and pushed me out the door. It was no use.
“Graham, GRAHAM!” I yelled. He had finished signing the papers at the desk
and was looking for me.
“Kersey, come on, where were you?” he asked. He grabbed my jacket off the
chair but before he could put it on me, I pushed away.
“Graham, no! Listen to me!” I cried. He looked at me like I had just slapped
him. We had never argued as far as I could remember and I had just yelled at him.
“Graham, I’m sorry. But please. Olivia’s mom just came in, she was in a car
accident.” I said. Graham took a breath and grabbed my jacket again.
“Kers, there’s nothing we can do right now. Let’s go home and we can come
back later and check on her.” He said. He held out my jacket and I reluctantly put it
on. I sat back down in the wheel chair and started wringing my hands. My feet were
taping on the footrests of the wheel chair, my fingers tapping on the armrests.
“Kersey, it will be okay.” Graham said once we got to the car. He tossed my
stuff into the back of the car and helped me into the front seat. “Besides, I want to
show you what I did with the apartment.” He said, smiling.
I looked at him with a puzzled expression. What had he done?
We got home and he opened the car door for me and held out his hand.
“Why thank you!” I said, smiling. He led me inside but told me to cover my
eyes.