Wild Montana Nights (25 page)

need to move her now. I’m going to have to ask you to step out while

we get her ready.”

Marcus looked like he would argue, but seemed to change his

mind and nodded. They walked out together but didn’t go back to the

waiting room. Randall planned on following them when they moved

her to ICU. That way they would know for sure where she was. He

didn’t want to lose sight of her at all, but they weren’t going to let them in ICU until visiting hours.

“Randall, we can’t lose her. We just can’t.” Marcus seemed to

have aged ten years in those few hours since they’d found her in the

ravine

“I know, Marcus. I know,” was all he could think to say.

* * * *

Marcus jumped from the waiting room chair as soon as visiting

hours were announced. Randall hadn’t returned yet from dealing with

ranch business. They had been taking turns being with her for the last three days. So far, nothing had changed. They were going to make a

decision today on whether or not to place the drain hole in her skull.

He hoped they didn’t have to. She was already battling pneumonia.

She didn’t need another kind of infection to deal with, too.

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As soon as they let him and the other three visitors there for other

patients through the doors, he claimed the sink and washed his hands

exactly the way they had shown them how to prevent spreading

germs. He dried his hands then hurried over to cubicle four where

Darla lay in much the same way as the last time he saw her. He knew

they turned her periodically, but usually during visiting hours they

had her on her back.

He reached for her hand and squeezed it to let her know he was

there. Then he started talking to her. He wasn’t sure what he said

anymore. He just talked about the ranch and the everyday things that

went on there.

“Randall cooked breakfast this morning. I sure miss your

scrambled eggs. His are always brown when he cooks them. Course, I

can’t do any better. My vegetable soup turned out okay, except it was way too watery.”

There was no response to either his words or his hand stroking

hers. He rested his forehead on the cool railing of the bed. He felt

defeated and hated it. Why didn’t she wake up?

He sighed and looked at her through the bars of the railing. Since

she’d come in, the bruising on her face had begun to change colors.

Now it was as sickly greenish black and blue color. It hurt him to look at her like that. He huffed out a breath and tried again.

“Darla, baby. We miss you so much. Randall will be here soon.

Wake up baby and talk to us. You can scream at us if you want to,

just wake up. Please.”

He squeezed her hand a little more forceful than usual. He was

frustrated. Nothing he did or said was working. He almost let go of

her hand to pull up the chair and sit for awhile when it fluttered. The barest of movement had him smiling like an idiot.

“That’s it, baby. Let me know you’re there. I know you are.

Squeeze my hand, baby.”

Marcus waited and was rewarded with another movement in her

hand. He laughed and brought her hand up to his mouth to kiss it.

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Then he gently replaced it on top of the covers and hurried out of the room to find a nurse. Someone needed to know.

He found one at the desk typing in the computer. She looked up

when he slid to a stop in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” she immediately asked as she stood up.

“She moved her hand. Darla moved her hand.” He all but shouted.

“Shhh. Okay, let’s go check on her.”

The nurse walked into the room eyeing all the monitor equipment

before taking Darla’s hand in her own.

“Talk to her and tell her to squeeze my hand,” the nurse told him.

“Darla. It’s me again. I need you to squeeze the nurse’s hand for

me, baby.” He leaned over and gently kissed her check. “Can you

hear me?”

Marcus looked over at the nurse who shook her head.

Disappointment curled around his heart and squeezed. He tried again.

“Come on, Darla. Don’t give up. Show the nurse that you can do

it. Squeeze her hand, baby.”

He watched her hand in the nurse’s, and when she moved it a tiny

bit, he breathed out a sigh of relief. The nurse beamed at him.

“Keep talking to her. I’m going to call the doctor and let him

know.”

“Thanks,” Marcus said. He took her place holding Darla’s hand.

“Way to go, Darla. I know you can hear me. Have you been

listening to Randall and me telling you how much we love you? We

do. More than anything, Darla. Come back to us, baby.”

She didn’t squeeze his hand that time. Maybe she was tired, he

thought. Or maybe she was still mad. He grinned at that. She’d wake

up soon and light into them for sure. He couldn’t wait to tell Randall.

He couldn’t use his cell phone in the ICU, so he would have to wait

until the visiting hour was over. He wasn’t leaving her until they

made him.

He continued talking to her until the nurse came and shook her

head at him with a smile. He grinned and nodded that he understood.

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It was time to go. He bent over and kissed Darla lightly on the lips

then again on her chin.

“Love you, baby. I’ll be back as soon as they let me. You just

keep on getting better.” He squeezed her hand one last time, and she

wiggled her fingers.

Marcus left her room a little lighter then when he’d gone in. He

had his cell phone out and dialing Randall before he’d even returned

to the waiting area. Randall answered on the third ring.

“What is it? Is she okay?”

“She moved her fingers, Randall. She actually moved them for

me.”

“Hot damn! She’s going to be all right.”

Randall’s voice sounded watery to Marcus. He felt the same way.

Tears were threatening to fall, only they were tears of joy this time.

“I’ll be there for the next visitation,” Randall told him.

Marcus hung up and slid the phone back in its holder on his belt.

He thought about calling his mom and dads and letting them know,

but decided to let Randall see her first, and then they could call them together. For the first time since they’d brought her in, Marcus could breathe a little easier.

* * * *

Randall finished handling ranch business as fast as he could and

headed for the hospital. He couldn’t wait to see her and feel her

squeeze his hand. Hope flared to life inside him as he drove toward

the hospital. It would be close to nine p.m. by the time he got there, but visiting hours weren’t until ten fifteen anyway. He would have

time to bring Marcus up to date on the ranch and find out what had

been going on there at the hospital.

They had been taking turns being there at visiting hours for the

last three days. The longer she remained unresponsive, the less chance she would come back to them. Now they had hope again.

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He got several odd looks when he jogged down the hall to the ICU

waiting area. He knew better than to run, but couldn’t keep the

urgency from his steps. He wanted to find out just what all had

occurred. Had her squeeze been strong? What about her breathing?

Had it returned to normal? The pneumonia had made it hard for her

breathe, and they actually thought about putting her on the ventilator to help her. Randall was glad they hadn’t done it. One more machine

and she would look like a refugee from a science fiction film.

“Randall.” Marcus called out as he reached the waiting room.

“The doctor is here now seeing her. The nurse called to let me know

so we wouldn’t leave. He might want to talk to us.”

“He better talk to us. This is major,” Randall fussed.

“I kept asking her to squeeze my hand and telling her how much

we loved her. She wiggled her fingers in my hand,” Marcus told him.

His younger brother spoke ninety miles an hour about what had

happened. Randall wanted to hug him and tell him to shut up. He

grinned. She was going to be okay. If she woke up soon, they would

move her to a room. As long as she was unconscious and had

pneumonia, they would keep her in ICU.

Randall filled Marcus in on what was going on at the ranch while

they waited for the doctor to come talk to them. He kept looking

toward the door to ICU expecting the doctor to walk through them at

any minute.

Finally, the door swung open, and the ICU doctor walked through

it. He immediately saw Randall and Marcus and walked in their

direction.

“How are you two holding up?” he asked.

“As well as can be expected,” Randall said. “How is she doing?”

“I’m pleased with this latest development to say the least. She still has a long way to recovery though. She is moving her fingers on

command. She hasn’t squeezed with them yet. I’m sure that is just a

matter of time.”

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“How long before she can be moved to a room so we can stay

with her?” Marcus asked.

“I don’t want to move her until she is either over the pneumonia

or is awake and able to cough.”

“Why do I get the feeling that there is more?” Randall frowned at

the doctor.

“I’m worried about the baby. We’re monitoring her of course, but

the baby is too small right now and is easily affected by her condition.

I’ve called in a neonatologist and a high risk specialist. We are

communicating back and forth through the Internet. They have been

given all her records and are helping us to do all we can to keep the baby, but I have to tell you. There is a very big chance she will lose it, and if she doesn’t, we don’t know how all of this will affect its

development.”

Marcus shook his head. Randall knew how he felt. Sure, they

wanted the baby, but Darla was more important. They could give her

more babies.

“So what you are saying is the baby could be retarded or have

some birth defects?” Randall asked point blank.

The doctor sighed and nodded. “Yes, that is what I’m saying. You

need to know what to expect.”

“We appreciate you leveling with us. You’re right. We need to

know what to expect.” Marcus sighed and shoved his hands in his

pockets.

“I’ve got to go now. When you visit her, keep stimulating her and

urge her to squeeze your hands. The more activity we can engage her

in, the sooner she’ll regain consciousness.” The ICU doctor walked

back through the ICU waiting room doors.

“You go ahead at the ten o’clock visit, and I’ll wait here to find

out how it went. Then I’ll go home and check on the ranch.” Marcus

pulled out his cell phone and checked for any missed calls.

“Have you talked to Mom or the Dads since yesterday?” Marcus

asked.

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“Yeah, talked to Jim. Mom was outside with Paul. He said he’d

fill them in on what was happening now. I told him one of us would

let him know when we knew more. He said they were all praying for

her.” Randall walked over to the two chairs they’d commandeered as

their spot. He sat down and propped one ankle over his knee.

A few minutes later they announced visiting hours over the

loudspeaker. Randall joined the other visitors walking toward the ICU

receiving area. They washed their hands and proceeded to their

individual loved one’s room. Randall opened the glass door to Darla’s room and smiled at seeing her look so much better. The bruises

continued to change colors, but for the most part, her complexion had improved from the pale white to having a little color in her cheeks.

Randall crossed the room and immediately picked up her hand

and squeezed it gently.

“Darla, honey. It’s Randall. Can you squeeze my hand? Let me

know you can hear me, baby.”

He felt the tiniest flutter of her fingers against his hand. He nearly wept with relief. He knew what his brother had said was true, but he

felt like it was really true when he felt it for himself. He squeezed her hand again.

“I feel it, baby. You rest now. I’m not going anywhere as long as

they will let me stay.”

Randall talked to her about the ranch and Marcus’s attempt at

cooking for them.

“I know he talks about mine, but his is really worse,” Randall

said.

His time was up before he knew it. He knew they wouldn’t let him

stay a little longer, so he bent over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

He thought she smiled but wasn’t sure. Her face looked peaceful. He

hoped she wasn’t hurting somewhere. Not being able to tell someone

you needed something for pain was scary.

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Walking back through the ICU doors, he hurried back to the

waiting area. As soon as Marcus saw him, he headed in Randall’s

direction.

“So, did she move them for you?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah. It was the best feeling in the world,” he said.

“I know what you mean,” Marcus agreed. “Okay, I’m out of here.

I’ll call you from the ranch when I get there.”

“I’ll keep a watch on my phone since I have it on vibrate. You be

careful. I can’t handle you and her in here,” he said.