One You Never Leave (6 page)

Life and Death

Emily
had to use the bedpan again, and the nurse shooed Luke out of the room again. He went to hunt for Helen and found her a few rooms down. The blond-haired fifty-ish woman lay with her head up in the hospital bed, looking tired and upset.

“Hey,” said Luke.

“Luke, oh my lord.” She sounded distressed. “What’re you doing here?”

“Emily fainted, but I heard you were here too and thought I’d check up on you.”

“Oh, it’s nothing… Just some arrhythmia. My heart galloped there for a few minutes, but I’m okay now. I was more frightened than anything else. Nothing like that ever happened to me before.”

“I saw Gibs’ brother in the cafeteria.”

Helen hissed in a breath. “Yeah. That guy won’t leave me alone.”

Luke moved into the room, closer to her bed. “Helen, you should have called me.”

“You have your own stuff to deal with, Luke. I can deal with Frank’s brother.”

“He talks like he owns half of your stuff, Helen.”
If not all of it.

“Yeah, well, according to the law he owns some of it.”

“I have a very good lawyer, Helen. I’ll have him call you.”

“Okay, on one condition: You don’t pay that man a cent. I’ll take care of my own bills.”

“Now, Helen.”

“No! You have enough on your plate with winter business dropping off and a new baby coming, plus paying for your own wedding.”

“Who told you that?”

“It’s a small town, Luke. Don’t think the ladies at the knitting club don’t talk about how Sam Dougherty is footing the bill at the Westfield Country Club for Angela’s big-time spring wedding, but you and Emily had yours at the Hades’ Spawn clubhouse. And don’t give me that ‘Emily wanted to keep it small’ crap. No bride wants to keep her wedding to the love of her life small.”

Luke felt the color rise in his face. The last thing he wanted was he and Emily being the topic of small town gossip. “Helen, Emily and I were very happy with our wedding. And we have what matters—each other. So don’t think we were deprived in any way. And Emily did want to keep it small.” He grinned at her and Helen smiled back.

“Still, what I say goes,” said Helen, wagging her finger at Luke. “Don’t you dare give that lawyer any money. It’s bad enough that I took that money from you after Frank’s funeral.”

“I told you it was a bonus.”

“And I told you that story was bullshit.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Luke, relenting. He wasn’t going to cross a sick woman now. “How long do you think you’ll be here?”

“I think they’re letting me go soon. At least that’s what the doctor says.”

“I’ll give you a ride home.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No, I want to. There’s no need to spend any more time in Rob’s company than necessary.”

Helen sighed. “You’re right. The man does raise my blood pressure.”

*  *

The
damned monitor kept going off, and the nurse came in each time to turn it off, her face carrying that professional mixture of detached observation with a shadow of concern that healthcare personnel often wore. Right now, the nurse fussed over the lines in Emily’s arms, pursing her lips like something was wrong. Emily didn’t know what set her nerves on edge more: lying in this hospital bed with tubes in her arms, the prospect of her parents showing up, or the feeling of failure that pervaded her mood.

Other women had babies without a single problem. Why did her body decide it had to be so difficult in doing what it was designed to do? Why couldn’t she have her baby in the normal way?

“Are you hungry, Emily?” said the nurse.

Emily groaned. She remembered the stew in the crock pot set on high. Whatever was in there would now be a lumpy mess. Her stomach growled loudly, answering the nurse’s question. “A bit, I guess.” She grinned, despite how awful the day had become. “Seems my stomach speaks for itself.”

The nurse chuckled. “I’ll see what the kitchen can send. At this time of night, it’s usually just sandwiches.”

“That fine,” said Emily, resting her head back against the pillows, feeling tired and defeated. She wanted to go home and curl up in Luke’s arms, go to sleep, and forget all about this crazy day.

From outside her room came the sounds of paramedics rushing in. She heard the sounds of static-filled police radios, and someone calling out stats. A gurney rushed by, and then another as nurses ran after them.

Oh great
, thought Emily, who had heard a few ER tales from Angela. Real emergencies rolled in, which meant that she’d wait even longer to get out while the ER staff worked in life or death situations.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, her parents walked into the room.

“Oh, Emily,” said her mother, looking over Emily with worry in her face.

“Mom, Dad,” Emily said, relenting while her mother kissed her cheek. “You really didn’t have to come.”

“Nonsense,” said Sam Dougherty. “You’re our daughter. And you’re in trouble.”

“I’m not in trouble. I had a little fainting spell.”

“Yes,” said her father. “That’s why they have a bunch of tubes in your arm.”

“They do that to everyone,” said Emily exasperatedly. Her parents always drove her to the edge of reason. They’d treated her like she was damaged goods since the day she was born, unable to think or do anything for herself. For many years their treatment of her caused her to distrust her own feelings and actions. In high school, when they insisted she give up Luke, she rolled right over and played the good girl, once again, to her unending unhappiness.

Before the shootout at the Hades’ Spawn clubhouse, she’d learned the reason. Her mother had made a mistake with the wrong young man and ended up with Emily. Sam Dougherty loved Amanda enough to marry her, regardless of whether she carried another man’s child. But both parents were overprotective in raising her, trying to ensure that Emily didn’t grow up to make the same mistakes her mother did.

It seemed that Emily was doomed to hit a wayward path anyway, especially when she met Luke Wade in high school. And since she reunited with, then married, Luke seven years later, there wasn’t an encounter when Sam Dougherty didn’t treat Luke like he was bent on ruining Emily’s life.

She couldn’t take it. Not today. Not after everything that had happened. “Please,” she said, barely containing her tears. “Just go home. I’ll call you tomorrow. I promise.”

“Oh, honey,” said her mother. “We’re here for you.”

Emily barely knew what to say. They weren’t listening to her—again.

“Sam, Amanda,” said Luke as he walked back into the room.

“Hello, Luke,” said Amanda unenthusiastically.

“Has the doctor said anything?” asked Sam. Emily swallowed, feeling bitter that the man who called himself her father wouldn’t ask her directly.

The blood pressure cuff tightened on Emily’s arm again, and, after it deflated, the damned monitor went off again. Emily craned her neck to see the reading, and cringed when she saw it back up to one-hundred-ninety over one-hundred.

“You know,” said Luke. “All this excitement isn’t helping Emily. Why don’t you guys head home and we’ll call you when we know something?”

Sam and Amanda Dougherty just stared at Luke as if he’d suggested they should rob a bank.

The awkward tension between Luke and her parents and the repetitive keening of the hospital monitor brought Emily to the breaking point. But before she could react, the nurse swept into the room.

“You’ll all have to get out of here,” she said crisply, to the point of rudeness.

“I’m her husband,” protested Luke.

“Well, you can stay then, but you and you,” she pointed to Amanda and Sam, “you need to go.”

“But we’re her parents,” said Amanda.

The nurse nodded. “I understand, but the emergency room is not set up for visitors. If you stay, you’ll have to stay in the waiting room.”

“Bye, honey,” said Amanda.

Sam just waved. “Later,” he said.

“Call us,” said her mother.

“Yes, Mom,” Emily said weakly.

Reluctantly, her parents left, and the harried doctor swept in once again. He looked at the blood pressure readings. “Okay nurse, give her the Demerol we discussed earlier. I have it in her chart. That will get her blood pressure down.”

“Doctor?” said Luke.

“With her blood pressure spiking like this, I’m admitting her to the hospital overnight. We need to keep that baby safe. There’s no way I’m comfortable sending her home. It’s more a precaution than anything. I’m sure with a night of rest, she’ll be fine.” The doctor gave Luke a reassuring smile, but to Emily’s eyes Luke was near panic.

“Sure,” said Luke. “Whatever it takes.”

“Her obstetrician will see her on rounds in the morning, which is better anyway. We’ll reassess her then and go from there. Trust me, it’s much better to treat pre-eclampsia aggressively than waiting to see what it does. I’ll put in the order for admission now and the nurses will get you settled in your room shortly.”

The doctor and the nurse swept out the room purposefully.

“I’m sorry,” said Emily.

“What? Baby, no. You’ve nothing to be sorry about.”

“But I want to go home and be with you. I don’t want to stay in the hospital.” Even to her own ears she sounded tired and peevish, but she couldn’t help it. The day was much too much for her frazzled nerves.

“You let the doctors and nurses take care of you and our baby. That’s the most important thing right now.” Luke took her hand, curled her fingers in his, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “If anything ever happened to either of you, I couldn’t take it.”

*  *

It
took another hour before an orderly came to wheel Emily to the maternity floor. Before that time, the nurse put Demerol in her IV and soon Emily had a silly grin in her face. “Wow,” she said, utterly relaxed. “I feel great.”

Luke wished he had something like that too, since his nerves were on a ragged edge.

When the orderly arrived, Emily giggled. “Looks like I’m going to take a ride,” she said.

“So you’re going to have a baby, eh?” said the orderly brightly.

“No, not yet,” said Luke. “It’s too early.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

The orderly didn’t say anything else until they got to the room. While the orderly lined up the gurney with the hospital bed, two efficient-looking nurses swept in. One of them looked Luke up and down.

“You the father?”

“I’m her husband, so, yeah,” said Luke.

“Well, visiting hours are over. You’ll have to come back in the morning.”

Luke sighed and kissed Emily’s cheek once more. “Have to go, baby.”

Emily’s lips formed a pout, something she never normally did, but she was under the influence of the Demerol. “I’ll miss you, baby,” she said, and giggled.

Luke left the room with a heavy heart, sick with worry. He looked over his shoulder as he left to see the nurses lift her to the bed. They wouldn’t even consider letting her put her feet on the floor just to get into bed. A clock at the nurses’ station said it was nearly midnight, and Luke decided to see if Helen was still in the hospital so he could make good on his promise to take her home.

“Oh, perfect timing,” said Helen when he arrived. “I just have to get my clothes on and I can leave.”

“Great, I’ll go warm up the truck.”

“Where’s Emily?” asked Helen.

“They’re keeping her here overnight. I’ll wait outside, and when you come to the Emergency entrance I’ll drive the truck up.”

“Thanks, Luke. This means the world to me.”

“It’s nothing.”

In the grand scheme of things, it was nothing, nothing compared to the sacrifice Gibs had made so that Luke could keep living. Every time he thought about it, his gut clenched.

Luke wended his way out to the waiting room and then to the entrance of the department. The door slid open with a hiss and the cold November night hit him in the face. He pulled up his collar on his Hades’ Spawn jacket, so he didn’t see who was leaning against the wall at the entrance, though he did smell cigarette smoke.

“Hey,
pendejo
, you not going to say hello to me?”

Only one man called Luke
pendejo,
which had different regional meanings in Spanish, mostly along the lines of “stupid,” “idiot,” or “jackass.” But from this particular criminal, it meant “asshole.”

Luke whirled to see Pez, the man who acted as the intermediary between the MC club and the Rojos and the Hombres. He was one of the few who had membership in both gangs. He was sent to Westfield in August to straighten out the problem caused by Luke’s old president, Jack Kinney, and the Rojos and the Hombres. But Pez’s solution, to let everyone shoot it out between themselves, nearly cost Luke his life. He didn’t trust Pez a single iota.