“Go after your wife, Andy.” It was Diana who calmly sat and watched as Laura walked. It was a moment that reminded her so much of what she’d lived before, in another life, but she was watching it happen to someone else.
Neil turned around, and tears stained his cheeks. He stepped around Brad and took the chair beside Diana, and he didn’t hesitate to slide his arm around her shoulder to pull her close, to kiss her forehead. “We’re going to wait, okay? Then I will take you to Danny and we’ll pick him up.” Diana didn’t need to look at Brad, Neil, Rodney, and Becky, because she felt their love so deeply for Jed, but it was the first time she realized it was for her, too.
“Okay, folks.” There was a rustling behind Andy. Doctor Hardy burst in with Doctor Gordon.
“Was that my husband who coded?” Diana asked as everyone else waited.
“Yes, there were some complications.”
Becky let out a deep, wretched sob.
“We brought him back, and he’s in ICU.”
“Thank God,” Brad said.
Heavy sighs and tears were on everyone’s face when Diana looked at her family.
Neil squeezed Diana’s shoulder, but he continued to hug her. “What happened, Doctor Hardy?”
“During surgery, there was unexpected bleeding. I got it under control, but the biggest concern now is infection and swelling. The next twenty-four hours are critical. Jed apparently suffered a seizure, and he coded. We brought him back, and he’s stable now. We’ve medicated him, but we need to watch him closely.” Doctor Hardy took in everyone surrounding him and then focused on Diana. “I know you want to see your husband, that you all want to see Jed, but I can’t let you all in just yet. Diana, I can give you a few minutes. Everyone else, you’ll need to wait.”
Diana stood up with ease, but Neil helped her. “Doctor Hardy, how did the surgery go?” she asked. “Did you get out the tumor, all of it? Is there any damage, anything else that we need to know about Jed, any complications?”
“Diana, we’re not going to know much until Jed wakes up. Sometimes, there can be some lapse in motor skills, but full function can return in time. I did get all of the tumor. Okay, so let’s just take it in steps now: the next twenty-four hours and when Jed wakes up.” Doctor Hardy shook Rodney’s hand and held tight. “Diana, Doctor Gordon here will show you in to Jed.”
Diana had almost forgotten the other woman was there.
“Well, let’s get you to your husband,” Doctor Gordon said.
Thank God for Neil was all Diana could think as he walked her with Doctor Gordon down to the ICU, to the glassed-in room where Jed was.
Neil left her at the door, and when she glanced back, he watched her and his brother. Jed was hooked up to just about everything, tubes and wires sticking out of him. His head was wrapped in a thick white bandage, but he didn’t have a tube down his throat this time, and he was breathing on his own.
“You can hold his hand. Just don’t touch his head. I’ll get you a stool so you can sit beside him.”
The tall doctor wheeled a high stool over and Diana sat, sliding her hand under Jed’s. She bent down and kissed the back of his hand. “Jed, you scared the life out of me. Please don’t go. I need you to fight like you promised you would. Come back to me and Danny. Your family’s here. Your brothers, you know, have been taking care of me, and for the first time, Jed, I know I’m not alone without you.”
Doctor Gordon watched her from the other side of the bed. She checked an IV tubing and smiled shyly. “It will help Jed if you keep talking to him.”
“Doctor Gordon, you’re in love with my husband, aren’t you?”
The woman’s eyes widened, and the nurse who was behind her coughed and then slipped out of the room.
“I saw the way you looked at him when I walked in the first time and saw you together, the way you touched him. Even in my home, when you tried to dismiss me...” Diana wasn’t ordinarily so blunt, but she was exhausted, physically and emotionally spent.
“Your husband loves you so deeply and so much, and I’m sorry for what you walked in on. It wasn’t my intention…” She gritted her teeth and rested her hands on the metal side rail of the bed, glancing away as if gathering her thoughts. “I envy you, having someone like your husband watching over you, loving you the way he does. You’re his first concern, you and your son and what should happen to him. He loves you so much he’s afraid to burden you, and I envy that. So yes, I care deeply for your husband because he loves you so deeply. Please don’t be jealous of me, and I am sorry for what you walked in on. I care for him. At your home that day, Jed didn’t want you to know about the tumor and how grave the situation was. I was bound by doctor confidentiality, and I admit I could have handled it better. I was just annoyed at Jed and frustrated because he wouldn’t tell you. I was trying to talk sense into him. I was just glad that your brother-in-law Brad insisted on staying and made your brother tell him. It made my job easier. I was tempted to break confidentiality and come and talk to you.” She tapped the rail. “Stay as long as you want. I’ll see that the nurses let you stay.”
Diana watched her walk away as the glass door slid open. “Doctor Gordon?”
The doctor paused and glanced back at Diana. “Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Doctor Gordon smiled, inclined her head, and left, pausing outside to speak with Neil.
Diana turned back to Jed. She placed her hand over his and bent down to kiss it. “Jed, I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere until you wake up.”