They lay in the couch asleep with a movie playing on the big screen when the rest of the family came home. “WE’RE GOING TO STATE!!!!” the voice of his baby sister screamed when the door opened.
Both halves of the sleeping couple startled awake and sat up as straight as they could. “What the HELL!” Jake said as he looked around the room with wild eyes. His heart was thundering in his chest and he couldn’t breathe.
“We’re going to state, Jake”, Jessi said more quietly.
“Good for you, Jess. Proud of you little sis”, he said absently.
“Kids, get upstairs to your rooms”, Brie said as she looked at the look on her second son’s face. She moved across the room to where Jacob sat on the couch.
“But, we’re not tired”, Marc said.
“Speak for yourself, bitch”, Jessi told her twin. “I’m fucking exhausted. I’m actually glad Mom and Dad got us dinner on the way home”, she said as she headed up the stairs.
David looked at his other children. “Did your mother stutter?” he asked sternly. The children headed up the stairs and David moved to where his wife knelt with their son and his wife. “What can I do to help?”
“Help me move Delilah so that I can get to Jake”, Brie said. Delilah had fallen back to sleep and was leaning heavily against the front of Jake’s body. Brie woke her gently. “Delilah, honey, it’s Mom. Dad and I are going to move you so that I can help Jake. Ok?”
She nodded sleepily. “Ok.”
Brie motioned to her husband. “Take her under the arm and let’s move her to the love seat.” And that’s what they did. Once the young woman was lying on the loveseat, Brie went back to Jacob. “Jake, son, it’s Mom. Are you ok?” she asked calmly.
“I don’t know, Mom. Where am I?”
“At home, in the living of the main house on the couch. You fell asleep watching a movie.”
“I’m NOT at the hospital sitting in the N-ICU or ICU?” he asked. He sounded like he was rather confused.
“No, Jacob. You’re at home. What did you see before Jessi woke you up?”
“Miri in an incubator and Delilah in a hospital bed with tubes and shit sticking out of her. It was scary as hell.”
Brie took her son’s hands in hers. “Jacob, everything is going to be ok. No matter what, your father and I are here for you.”
He blinked rapidly for a few moments, the back at his mother. “It was so real, Mom. It was like I was living it in the moment. I even saw what I’m wearing when I arrive at the ER. I’m not allowed at my own child’s delivery because my wife is in such bad shape they don’t want me to see her until they deliver the baby, Mom.” His voice cracked.
“I know, son.”
“NO, YOU DON’T!!” he nearly shouted.
Brie heard David inhale a breath to get onto Jake for how he’d just spoken to her, but she turned and looked at him for a moment. “NO, David. He has every right to be upset. He’s been dealing with this thing his whole life and I’ve avoided this conversation for 24 years. It’s time for him know the truth.” David just sighed and nodded, taking a seat on the arm of the couch to help his wife comfort their son. Brie continued. “Yes, Jacob, I do. It seems that I’ve passed on a little bit of a gift/ curse to you. I’ve been having dreams like you’ve been having my whole life as well. While I was pregnant with you and Jordan, I saw your father get shot. In my dreams, he died in my arms. In reality, there was a price on his head as well of those of your uncles and the people your father was working for had to send security for the last show of the Uproar festival. You know that scar in his left arm?”
“The one through his deltoid?”
“Yes, Jake, that one. He still got shot that night, but he didn’t die. It took me months to tell him what I’d been seeing. He’d been having fucked up dreams of his own and I didn’t want to stress him out. It was bad enough that we were at each other’s throats all the time and that neither of us were getting any sleep because I’d wake from the dreams screaming and crying. Finally, I had to tell him what was going on. My telling him what I was dreaming about- I swear to this DAY- saved his life.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, son, your mother’s not kidding”, David said quietly.
“Well, thanks for fucking telling me”, he said with a sigh. “So, is there any way I can prevent this from happening?”
“Other than warning her to be careful, then I doubt it unless you think you can afford to take a leave of absence to shadow her every footstep”, Brie said softly. “The sad thing is that we’ve all got free will and sometime we just walk right into the bad shit that happens.”
He sighed. “Guess who’s not going to be sleeping tonight”, he said with a shake of his head.
Brie sighed as well. “I know how you feel. I wish your grandfather were still alive so that he could help you with this. He was better at it than I am.”
“Grandpa Cartwright had to deal with this too?” His mother nodded. “Nice. So, I could possible pass this on to Miri or any other child I may have?”
She shrugged. “Anything is possible, Jacob. That’s all I can say. For all anyone knows, you could be the last of the line to carry this gift. Then again, you might be the one that continues it for generations. I had hoped that I didn’t pass this one to any of you kids. Apparently, I did and I am sorry for it.”
He sighed. He was doing a lot of that during that conversation. “I wish you would have told me sooner Mom. I really do, but I can’t be upset with you. You thought you were protecting me from the horror that this thing can bring.”
She smiled. “Yeah, something like that. It can also bring joy too. It brought you your wife and the knowledge of your daughter.”
He thought about it for a moment. “You know, you’re right. I might not like this thing you passed on to me, but I can’t deny that.” He hugged his mother. “Thanks, Mom. I’m glad someone understands what I’m dealing with here”, he said with an unhappy laugh.
---------------
He was right about not sleeping that night. He was too wound up from his dream earlier. The last thing he wanted to think about was that he might lose his wife, child, or both. The fact that she was even in danger upset him. And that he couldn’t do anything about it pissed him off. He was madder than hell that there was nothing he could do to save the woman that lay beside him in bed as he watched television. He tried with everything he could to fall asleep. Finally, he’d had to take a little Melatonin so that he could relax enough to get a little bit of rest; and he still didn’t fall asleep. There had been a time when Melatonin would knock him out cold- much like pain killers did to him- but he couldn’t get his mind to slow down enough to actually sleep. He needed to get some rest for work in the morning… but he was scared out of his mind to close his eyes because who knew what he would see.
---------------
He went into work like it nothing had happened. He wasn’t rested, but that was par for the course for a doctor. But, he knew what he was going to do to inspire his interns to actually act like they gave a shit. He was going to take them onto the floor with him when he did his morning rounds. He had all of his regular patients that morning; Yvette, Private Douglas, even the pain in his ass Major that he had to sedate every other time he in to see him.
Major Harvey Cochrane was a demanding son of a bitch that wished that Jake was a military man. Jake kept to himself that he didn’t need to be a military man; that his father was the Voice of the Resistance and that his Uncle was the best sniper to walk the earth. That was honestly all the military background that was required of him.
When his three remaining interns made their way into the lab, he was sitting at the front of the room drinking a cup of coffee. “Don’t get comfortable, ladies and gentleman. We’re taking a trip to Neurology. You’re going to meet the people we’re trying to treat. Maybe that will get you a little more motivated.” He pushed himself away from the counter and stood. After taking off his lab coat, he lead the young doctors out of the lab and toward the elevator to go to the Neurology floor.
---------------
“The young woman you’re about to meet is US Army Corporal Yvette Jennings. She’s a TBI patient. She is currently under the impression that she’s 13 years old. She was having strokes there for a while, but thankfully, I found the clot and saved her life. If any of you address her as Corporal, you can kiss your career as a doctor good- bye. Do I make myself PERFECTLY clear?” he told his interns when they were getting ready to go into the first patient’s room.
“Yes, Dr. Draiman”, they responded.
He opened the door and smiled. “Good morning, Yvette. How are you today?”
“Feeling better and better every day now that that damn clot’s not floating around in him brain anymore”, she said with a smile. “Who did you bring with you here, Dr. D?”
“Remember that project I told you about?”
“Yeah.”
“These are medical students that are helping me with that research.”
“Oh. You brought them up here to show them just who they’re trying to fix?”
“Yep.”
“Can I talk to them?”
He shrugged. “I don’t see why not, but let’s do your exam first. Is that ok?”
She smiled. “Of course, Dr. D.”
Jake started the examination with the pen light. He checked her eye movement, dilation response, etcetera. When he was finished with the exam, she grinned. “Looking good there, Yvette. Looks like you’re trying to finally get better from all those strokes.”
“I’ve been trying to do what you told me to do so that my brain will heal a little bit.”
“You’re doing good.”
“So, how’s that pregnant wife of yours?”
“She’s getting big. She’s almost six months now.”
“Wow. What are you having? Do you know?”
“We’re having a girl.”
Yvette’s eyes grew wide and she smiled. “AWWW… that’s gonna be a sight to see. Big tough Dr. D with a tiny baby girl. What are you gonna name her?”
“Her name will be Miriam, after my father’s mother.”
“Miriam what?”
“Rebekah.”
“After your mother’s mother, no doubt.”
“Yep. Now, if you’re going to address my interns, now would be the time.”
She looked at the young man and women in her hospital room. “My name is Yvette Jennings. I’m 13, though people try to tell me that I’m actually 24. I don’t believe them. I’ve been here for Lord only knows how long. There are huge pieces of my memory missing. I don’t know what happened. I was told that I was in a hostile zone and took mortar shrapnel in my head. That shards combined with the percussion of the blast caused brain damage. I’d like to get out of the hospital soon and go home to see my friends. Make it happen, please.” She looked back to her physician. “Can I go back to sleep now?”
“I don’t see why not. I’ll be back to check on you later, Yvette.”
“Please leave the lollipop guild behind next time, Dr. D.”
“Not a problem, Yvette. Hey, did you want to see pictures of my baby when she comes?”
“YEAH! Of course I do.”
He nodded. “No problem. I’ll see you later then.”
No comments:
Post a Comment