Chapter
19
For
the next two days, AJ stayed at Tara’s bedside nonstop. He refused to leave the hospital, and the
only time he slept was if he happened to fall asleep in a chair. Howie had been staying overnight at AJ’s
house to take care of Madison, but he brought her to the hospital each day so
she could see her mother.
AJ
knew that Madison knew that Tara was sick, but he didn’t think she realized how
serious it was. He knew that at four,
she would not understand death. And he
didn’t know how to explain what was happening to Tara without upsetting
her.
Meanwhile,
Tara drifted in and out of consciousness.
AJ had been careful to hide the truth from her, for he didn’t have the
heart to tell her she was dying.
Somehow, he figured she already knew anyway, although she never came
right out and said it.
***
AJ
shook himself awake and looked around, disoriented. He realized he had fallen asleep in the chair
next to Tara’s bed. He looked at her and
found her looking up at him.
“AJ,
baby, you need to go home and get some sleep,” she whispered. “You look horrible.”
AJ
knew how horrible he must look, for he had gone two days with barely any
sleep. However, he couldn’t leave
Tara. What if something happened when he
wasn’t there?
“I
can’t leave you, sweetie,” AJ said. Tara
smiled exasperatedly and motioned across the room. AJ noticed Madison curled up in another
chair, fast asleep.
“Come
on, AJ, you need to take Maddie home so you both can get some sleep. Go on, and you can come back in the
morning. I don’t need you hovering over
me all the time,” Tara insisted.
AJ
sighed. He was exhausted, and he knew he
should sleep. Madison needed to be in
her own bed too. But he was afraid to
leave his wife.
Finally,
almost an hour later, AJ could barely hold his head up, even with all the
coffee he had drunk. He finally decided
to take Madison home and get a few hours of sleep.
“Listen,
baby, you call me or have a nurse call me if you need anything, ok?” AJ
told Tara.
Tara
nodded. “Ok, honey,” she said. “I’ll see you later. Get some sleep.”
“I’ll
try,” AJ said, sighing. Then he scooped
up Madison, who woke up. “We’re going
home, sweetie,” AJ said to her. “Tell
Mommy goodbye.”
“Bye-bye,
Mommy,” Madison said, blowing Tara a kiss.
Tara
smiled up at her daughter and used what little strength she had left to blow a
kiss back. AJ gave her one last hopeful
smile and disappeared down the hall.
Tara closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
***
AJ
awoke to the sound of the phone ringing.
Groggily, he sat up and grabbed the phone off the night table next to
his bed. His first thought was of
Tara. “Hello?” he said, suddenly wide
awake.
“Mr.
McLean?” asked a voice.
“Yeah?”
asked AJ, a tremor of fear running through his voice.
“This
is Kathie. I’m a nurse at Orlando
General. It seems like your wife has
taken a turn for the worse. She’s only
semi-conscious, but she wanted us to call you.
You need to come to the hospital as soon as possible. Is there someone around who could drive you?”
“I
can drive myself, thanks,” AJ replied.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
He slammed down the phone and threw on some clothes in record time. Then he ran down the hall and grabbed
Madison. She was fast asleep, so he
didn’t worry about getting actual clothes on her. He just buckled her into the car in her
nightgown, slippers, and a coat. He
hadn’t even thought of leaving her behind, for he knew this could be the last time
she would get to see her mother, and although she probably didn’t understand
what was going to happen, she would want to say goodbye.
AJ
sped all the way to the hospital, almost glad that it was so late at night
because there were no cops around to stop him.
He made it to the hospital in only five minutes, grabbed Madison, and
practically flew to the second floor.
Carrying a sleepy Madison with him, he raced down the hallway to Tara’s
room, his heart pounding. He only hoped
he wasn’t too late.
***
