Chapter
18
The
next day, AJ woke up early. He was
exhausted, for he had gotten home late from the hospital and had not been able
to sleep. He had only gotten about two
hours of sleep.
Madison
was still sound asleep, so AJ decided it would be best not to take her to the
hospital. He figured he could get one of
the guys to watch her. He tried Howie
first, hoping that he wasn’t busy.
Luckily,
Howie was home, and when AJ explained the situation, he was very sympathetic
and agreed to watch Madison for as long as AJ needed him to.
AJ
quickly got cleaned up before Howie arrived.
When Howie got there, he hurriedly gave him a few instructions and drove
away towards the hospital.
***
When
AJ got to Tara’s room, she was still sleeping.
He sighed and sat down beside her bed.
He took her hand and gave it a tender squeeze.
“Baby,
I’m here,” he said softly, bending over to kiss her pale cheek. Suddenly, Tara’s eyes fluttered open.
“Aje?”
she asked, her voice soft and breathy.
“Yeah,
babe, it’s me,” he said, smiling down at her.
“How do you feel?”
“Awful,”
she replied. AJ gave her a sympathetic
smile. Then there was a long pause. Finally, Tara sighed. “I’m really sick, aren’t I?” she asked.
AJ
wasn’t sure how to answer her. He
didn’t want her to give up hope, but he knew it was wrong to lie to her about
her condition. “You have pneumonia,
baby,” he finally replied.
“Pneumonia,”
Tara repeated. “That’s pretty bad, huh?”
AJ
nodded sadly. “But don’t you worry,
baby. You’re gonna be fine. The doctors here are taking real good care of
you.”
Tara
just smiled sadly at him, a smile that ran a chill down AJ’s spine.
***
Days
passed, and Tara’s condition didn’t seem to be improving. According to Dr. Harper, the pneumonia was
spreading to both her lungs, for her immune system was just not strong enough,
and the antibiotics weren’t helping.
“I’m
sorry, Mr. McLean, but it’s very likely that your wife will die. We’re doing all we can, but it’s just not
enough,” Dr. Harper told him one day.
“You
mean, there’s nothing more you can do?” AJ asked.
Dr.
Harper shook her head sadly. “I’m very
sorry. It’s a horrible feeling for a doctor
to realize she can’t do anything to save her patient, but sometimes it
happens. There’s only so much I can do
for her, and I’ve done it. The only last
thing to do is make sure she’s comfortable.”
AJ
nodded sadly. A few years ago, if
someone had told him this, he would have exploded at them. But in the past four years, AJ had matured
greatly, and he realized that this doctor didn’t want to see Tara die any more
than he did. But she had tried her best,
and there really was nothing more she could do. Tara was in the hands of God now.
“Thanks
for everything you’ve done,” he said softly, shaking Dr. Harper’s hand gently.
“You’re
welcome,” she said. “I’ll make sure Tara
gets some pain medication every few hours so she won’t be in any pain.”
“Thanks,”
AJ said. Then he headed back into Tara’s
room. Tara was asleep in bed, and
Madison was sleeping in the chair next to Tara’s bed, her head resting on the
bed, her fingers laced through Tara’s.
The sight of them brought tears to AJ’s eyes. It had been a long time since he had cried,
but now, he could no longer hold in his tears.
He slouched down in the other chair, buried his face in his hands, and
sobbed.
***
