Chapter 14

 

. ~ .

 

MARIA QUIETLY CAME walking into the waiting room after staying by her daughter’s bed for the last thirty minutes. She cried so much, she dried up her flow of tears and had gotten a headache in the process.

“You can go ahead, Andre,” Maria said, holding her head, then took a seat next to Elena. Her face was a shade of red, her eyes a pinkish color.

Andre took a deep breath, then stood and walked slowly down the hallway towards Ava’s room. It seemed as if everything was closing in around him, spinning, causing him to feel lightheaded at the thought of seeing Ava lying in bed, motionless, while listening to heart monitors beeping and seeing tubes everywhere.

When he pushed the door opened, that’s exactly what he saw – his wife covered up to her chest with a white sheet, lying face up. She still had a pale look about her, much worse than her look prior to surgery and her lips were dry.

Andre touched her hand, shocked at how cold they were. He leaned down next to her and pushed his lips against her face while a lonely tear crawled out of his eye.

Andre took her cold, lifeless hand into his hand again and kissed the backside of it. She couldn’t die like this. There was no way this would be the end of her. Of them. It couldn’t be.

All Dr. Burke could say was that this was complication, but couldn’t offer anything further. How long would she in a coma? Two days? Three? Would she ever wake up, and if she did, then what? Would she be the same?

As he stared needfully at her fragile body, their wedding ceremony came to his mind. She was stunning then, adorned in a gown and jewels fit for queens. Her million-dollar smile left him breathless. The way they met made him a believer in true love and happy endings.

Before he’d lost his mind and proposed to Michelle, he had given up on love because he’d lost faith in ever seeing Ava again. Even before meeting Ava, most of the women he dated were not interested in him. They were more concerned with his status as a well-known business man and all the money that came alone with it. Even the most intelligent, respectful woman didn’t take a real interest in him as a person.

So he’d given up on love, that is until he saw Ava, in all her beauty, twirling on the beach.

He smiled now, with that image in his head.

Right away, he knew she was different, but he had no clue the impact she would have on his life – that she would make him a better person. That she would give birth to his son.

If only she would just open her eyes...

He would tell her that he loved her over and over again, take her into his arms and hold her there, the same way he held her last night after they’d made love.

He kissed her temple and whether she could hear him or not, he softly spoke to her what was in his heart.

“Ava, sweetheart...I just want you to know I’m here, and that I love you. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you. I’m sorry, baby,” he said, allowing a string of tears to escape his eyes, something foreign to him because he couldn’t recall an instance in his adult life that he’d ever cried. Men didn’t cry. They just didn’t, but he was torn apart, seeing his wife, the mother of his child, lying so lifeless. She didn’t deserve this.

He dried his eyes and regained his focus – monitoring her well-being and being a rock for the family.

Dr. Burke had stated that the surgery went well, and that was good. Andre could find some solace that at least the heart valve portion of the surgery was a success. Ava’s heart rate was normal. She was breathing okay. Now she just needed to wake up.

He gave her a kiss on the cheek then stepped out into the hallway, where he saw Dr. Burke near the nurse’s station.

Stepping up to him, he asked, “Can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Sure,” Dr. Burke responded cheerfully. He excused himself from the nurses and walked off with Andre.

“How long will Ava be in a coma?”

“Ah...it’s hard to say, Mr. Rockwell.”

“Well, give me some ballpark...some past examples...I need something.”

“Ah...I don’t like to compare one patient to another, because people react in different ways. What I will say is, I’ve heard of patients being in a comatose state anywhere from a day to a few months.”

A few months.

Andre dreaded the thought of Ava being in a coma for that length of time.

“Is there anything I can do to help? I don’t know anything about comas...never had to deal with anything like this before.”

“Well, most family members like to talk to the person...maybe massage their legs, hands and feet.”

“Okay. What else?”

“I’m afraid that’s all. We will continue to monitor her...make sure she remains stable.”

“Thanks, Dr. Burke. I appreciate it,” Andre said, then began heading for the waiting room.

“Oh, and Mr. Rockwell,” Dr. Burke said loud enough so Andre could hear him.

“Yes?”

“Ava’s a strong woman. She’ll pull through this.”

Andre shot him a half smile and continued on to the waiting room.

 

 

HIS MOTHER WAS asleep, resting on his father’s shoulder.

Maria was staring blankly at nothing while baby Andrew slept in her arms.

“How is she, son?” his father asked, waking up Elena in the process while simultaneously taking Maria out of her reverie.

Deciding to take a positive approach, Andre said, “She looks well...looks like she’s just resting. I’m hopeful that she’ll pull through this, and Dr. Burke thinks she will. This is just a minor setback. She’ll pull through.”

Andre slid his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

“It’s getting late and I want Andrew to go home. Mom, Dad, I figure you can take him by the house, make sure he’s bathed and give him some warm milk before bed. I know you want to rest, too.”

“No, Andre...we would prefer to stay here with you, son,” Elena said affirmatively.

“I know you would, and I appreciate that, Mother, but I need you to rest and I need my son to be in a stable, relaxing environment right now, so please, take him by the house. You have a key, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” William said, shaking his keys.

“Maria,” Andre said, turning to her. “I’m sure you want to stay.”

“Yes. I have to. I won’t leave her.”

“Okay, then we’ll take turns going to sit with her.”

William stood and stretched, his joints popping, his body’s way of waking up from sitting for so long.

Elena joined him and then walked over to Maria to take Andrew from her arms. He was sleeping again, no doubt, tired from a long day of chaos. “Have a good night, Maria. We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay. Goodnight.”