Page 44 of Abigail
When they reach the waiting room, everyone begins to talk at once. Caroline and Fiona rush to meet Charlotte, Elise, Emma, and Daisy. The women are hugging and chatting. Ellie is quietly watching all the flourish of activity around her. She has an arm wrapped around Straw’s neck as he holds her, needing to keep her close. The group moves to sit in the uncomfortable chairs in the waiting area. Ellie begins to chat and entertain everyone.
“Straw, Tank told me that he will let me ride in the big truck he drives at his work. He let me watch it on his phone. I told him I would show him my Princess castle. Momma made it for me. I like to play in it all the time,” Ellie chatters on and on about her Princess toys and clothes. Straw is thankful to have his friends surrounding him and helping with Ellie as he waits for permission to go see Abigail again. When the nurse comes to announce it is visiting time again, Ace and Worm take Ellie to sit with Caroline and Fiona while, Straw and Tank walk back to the ICU room.
Straw feels sick again as he looks at Abi laying so still and pale. He moves to her side and takes her hand in his. He leans over her and whispers softly in her ear. “Hey, sweetheart. I’m back. Ellie is in the waiting room anxious to see her momma.” At the mention of Ellie, Abi’s hand tightens on his. He notices her heart rate has increased several points. Straw continues to speak softly to her. “She is such an amazing little girl. She is so brave. She wants to see her Momma though. They won’t let her come back here until you are awake, and the breathing tube is gone, sweetheart. I am so proud of you for fighting so hard to stay with us. Now I need you to wake up so they can take the tube out, okay?” Straw feels her squeeze his hand yet again. He is strengthened and encouraged by the simple action. He sits down at her bedside and gently rubs the back of her hand with his thumb. Tank has walked to the other side of the bed, and he stares down at the woman.
“You really care for her, huh?” Tank’s deep gruff voices rumbles in the room. Startled Straw looks up to meet his friend’s gaze. They stare at one another for a long moment. Straw nods once. Tank then leans over and places a kiss on her forehead.
“You need to get well, Abigail. There’s a little princess waiting on you to get better so she can see her momma. She’s really looking forward to being a flower girl so get the rest you need to heal and come back to us, soon.” Tank’s deep voice is gruffer than usual in the quiet hospital. He steps back and gives a chin lift to Straw as he turns to head back out to the waiting room. A few moments later the nurse sticks her head in the room.
“Visiting time is over for now,” the woman informs him. Straw nods in response. He sighs. He really doesn’t want to leave her. He wants to be with her when she wakes up. He knows she’ll be scared and worried about Ellie. Straw leans in to kiss her forehead before leaving. As he straightens to leave the room, a doctor comes in. Straw is familiar with Dr. Redding. He performed some minor surgery on Straw a couple of years ago to remove some shrapnel he had blown into him when an IED went off too close for comfort.
“Hey, Straw. You know my patient?” Dr. Redding asks in greeting. He moves to the monitor at Abi’s bedside and begins to review the data.
“She is my fiancée,” Straw answers. Dr. Redding looks at Straw for a moment then gets back to checking the machines.
“She is doing really well. I’m going to stop the medication that is keeping her sedated, so she can begin to wake up. Would you like to stay with her? It will help to have a familiar voice and face when she wakes up,” Dr. Redding tells him. Straw is relieved. He didn’t want to leave Abigail. He wants to be there when she wakes. He needs to be the one to comfort her, to be the person she looks to for strength in the days of recovery ahead. Straw looks up to see Dr. Redding watching him. He nods at the doctor and retakes his seat at her side. Dr. Redding fiddles with one of the IV pumps.
“She will wake pretty soon, since I have stopped the medicine. She will be scared with tube down her throat. Your job is to talk to her, keep her calm until she is awake enough that it can be removed. It shouldn’t be too long before it can be removed.” Straw nods at the man. He scoots his chair closer to her bedside, taking her small hand in his once again, rubbing the back it in soothing circles, as much for himself as for her. Dr. Redding checks over the pump once more, before exiting the room. With a chin lift to Straw, the man leaves him alone.
“Hey, sweetheart. It’s Robert, again. The doctor is cutting your medication back so you can wake up.” He tries to sound upbeat. He hopes that talking to her will help her to wake faster. “I’m right here. I’m going to stay by your side, baby, for as long as it takes.” Straw really doesn’t think about what he is saying. He just wants to be a soothing voice. Sitting in the quiet room with only the sounds of the machines beeping and hissing, he feels lost and alone for the first time in many years. He hasn’t felt this way since his grandmother died leaving him to the mercy of his mother when he was only twelve-years-old. Abigail has to get well. They have so much they haven’t gotten to do yet. Get married, work on making Ellie a big sister, grow old together.
Straw feels Abi begin to stir. Her eyes begin to flutter open. Jumping to his feet, he peers down at her. Her eyes are wide with fear. She is breathing faster. The machines begin to alarm.
“You’re fine, sweetheart. You are in the hospital. You had a car accident, remember?” Straw leans closer not sure if she can focus her eyes well enough to see him. He pushes a stray strand of her brown hair back from her eyes. “You have a breathing tube in, but as soon as you are good and awake, the doctor will remove it. Try not to fight it, but breath with the machine, baby.” Straw yells for a nurse. He needs back up. He’s out of his league in this situation.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE
“Mom!” Ellie calls running into the house from the patio door. “I can’t find my glove? Have you seen it? Tank, Robbie, and I are going to practice my batting.” My how Ellie has grown! How is it she’s gotten so tall? Abigail wonders. Ellie, soon to be thirteen years old, bounds up the stairs in search of said ball glove.
“DaDaDaDa!” Lennie, a blonde-headed toddler calls as he waddles across the floor chewing on a set of toy keys. Drool running down his chin. His chubby cheeks rosy with a healthy glow. Gosh, she loves that boy. Robert comes out of the den to sweep the boy up into his arms, causing him to shriek in delight. After blowing some belly farts on the little boy, Robert sets him back on his feet. Looking up to catch Abigail’s gaze, he gives her a look that causes her panties to dampen and butterflies to erupt in her belly. Speaking of her belly, Abigail lays a hand on her rounded abdomen that’s more of table than her belly the way it protrudes.
“You all right, baby?” Robert asks as he takes her in his arms and places a kiss on the side of her neck, causing goosebumps to erupt over her skin.
“I’m good, honey,” Abi answers as Robert continues to drive her crazier with his kisses. “We have children present. Don’t start something we can’t finish.”
“Oh, we will finish, baby,” Robert replies confidently as he pulls back to gaze down at her. “Tank is taking Ellie and Robbie to the batting cages. Emma called and asked if Millie could spend the night, and I agreed. It’s time for Lennie’s nap. Which means once he’s asleep, it’ll be time for us to take a nap.” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively. Abigail laughs, batting at his roving hands as Ellie bounds back down the stairs with a frustrated look on her face.
“I still can’t find it!” she practically screams in her frustration. “Ugh!” Abigail starts to chastise her for being so dramatic when Robert interrupts her.
“Did you look in the garage?” Robert asks her calmly. “I seem to remember you tossing it on the shelf by the door last night as you came in from practicing catching grounders with Tank.”
“Oh yeah,” Ellie replies her face lighting up. She hurries toward the garage, returning in a few seconds with the wayward glove clutched to her chest. “Thanks, Dad. I’m sorry I got so worked up.” She throws her arms around Abi and Robert as they are still embracing to give them a quick hug. “Just for the record, eww. You guys are getting old so keep all this kissy, huggy stuff to yourselves. And please, if you love me at all, don’t do it at the ball park or when I have my sleepover this weekend.” Oh, the joys of having a pre-teen girl in the house. Abigail wants to laugh but knows that will only upset Ellie further. Her moods are all over the place these days.
“We are not old young lady,” Robert informs her. “We are in our prime.” He punctuates his point by kissing Abi senseless and not all PG.
“Oh, God!” Ellie exclaims. “Stop! My eyes. They burn!!!” She pretends to hold her eyes and stagger around as if she’s blind. Robert breaks the kiss grinning at Abi mischievously. The man loves to torture their children. She tries to reign him in, but she secretly loves how he teases and loves their children. He is the best man she’s ever known. He loves all their children and their nieces and nephews by his brothers-in-arms. He will do anything to keep them all safe and happy, and he has. All he’s wanted in return is her love and a house full of children. She’s had no problem keeping up her end of the bargain. Having baby number five on the way, she more than held up her end.
Sighing at the loss of Robert’s arms as he disengages from their embrace to chase their oldest daughter through the house, threatening to ‘tan her hide’. He’s never laid a hand on any of their children. He’s never had to, just the tone of his voice is enough to get their attention and correct whatever bad behavior they are engaged in doing. Abi picks up Lennie and starts up the stairs toward his room. She pauses as she hears Robert’s voice. He sounds sad. She can’t make out what he’s saying. It’s something about Ellie, but that doesn’t make sense. She hasn’t even had time to get to the batting cages yet. She starts to call out to him to ask what he said, when she chokes on her words and begins coughing. This sets off sharp pain in her abdomen. Her hand falls to her stomach, but it’s flat!? Something is wrong. The pain is so intense. An alarm is sounding. She searches for her phone. She’s never heard it make this sound before. Robert is calling to her, but she can’t seem to understand him. It’s like she’s being dragged through water everything is getting distorted…
Awareness penetrates as Abigail’s drug induced coma comes to a sudden end as the medication wears off. Something is in her throat, and no matter how hard she coughs, she can’t get it out. She can hear alarms sounding. Footsteps approaching. Robert is talking to her, but she can’t understand his words with all the other noises coming at her. Abi forces her eyes to open, but the lights are so bright she can’t see anything except blobs. Blinking several times, her eyes try focusing on Robert’s blue eyes. He looks so tired and concerned. Abi wonders what’s gotten him in this state, but the increasing pain in her abdomen keeps her from focusing on that for very long.The baby must be coming, she thinks.Still half in her dream.
“Abigail, sweetheart.” Robert’s panic filled voice finally penetrates her dream and brings her back to reality. “You’re okay, baby. Try to calm down. The nurse and doctor are here.” Abi flicks her gaze to the other side of bed as two men approach.
“Hi, Ms. Miller. I’m Chad your nurse today. Try not to fight the breathing tube. Relax and breath with the machine. We will get that out as soon as we can,” Chad says in a calm, soothing voice. Abi nods at him. Tears leaking from her eyes, she turns back to look at Robert. What’s happening? She tries to move her arms, but they are tied to the bed, causing her to panic. Chad notices and offers an explanation. “I’m sorry about that, but we needed to be sure you didn’t accidently pull the tube out before you could breathe on your own. We’ll get those off in a jiffy.”
Abi tries to calm herself. She must be dreaming, or she’s died, and this is Hell. She can’t figure out why she’s here in this situation. She tries to remember what happened. Her memories come flooding back. She and Ellie were in the car trying to get away from Todd…Oh GOD! Where’s Ellie? Abi begins to panic. Her eyes wide. She tries to reach for Robert, mouthing Ellie around the big tube in her mouth. As if he can read her mind, he tells her what she needs to know.
“Ellie’s fine, baby,” Robert coos. His hand strokes over her forehead. “She’s with Tank and the team and their women. She wasn’t hurt in the wreck, just scared. She’s been such a trooper. I promised her once you wake up, she can come see you.” Robert has taken her left hand in his left hand as he sits on the side of the bed by her hip. He is reaching over with his right hand to run it gently down the left side of her face.
