Celia's Puppies (34 page)

“
You can watch our wedding
while you wait,” Honey said. “Jake said he’d bring a laptop so you
can watch it.”

“
I’m more interested in a
video from last night,” he said in her ear to avoid the nurses
hearing.

“
No video from last
night,” Honey laughed.

“
Too bad.”

With much fuss and celebration, the nurses
and doctors greeted Honey and MJ. MJ’s team set up a web broadcast
so Honey’s friends at the hospital could watch the wedding. Staff
and patients in every corridor had congratulations or applause for
them. MJ set Honey into a wheelchair then dropped to his knees.

“
You’ll come back to me?”
he whispered.

She kissed him.

“
We’ll just be a half hour
or so,” the nurse said. “If you’d like to wait here, we’ll come and
get you. You may walk with us to the hospital where she’ll have her
surgery.”

MJ nodded. Honey turned in her chair to wave
good-bye. Back in her hospital room, the nurses helped her clean up
and change into a hospital gown. The nurses pressed her for details
of the wedding, her new haircut, her dress and of course their
wedding night. Honey laughed, told little stories, but kept the big
details close to her heart. They were almost done when her
psychotherapist arrived. The nurses left her for a few minutes
while she talked to her therapist.

“
Did you tell him?” her
therapist asked.

“
No,” she said. “Even the
slightest chance is still a chance.”

“
Celia’s advice,” her
therapist said.

“
It’s gotten me this far.”
Honey smiled to assure her therapist.

“
The wedding was gorgeous.
And the night?”

“
Best night of my entire
life.”

“
Let’s get your husband
and go over to Swedish. Are you sure you don’t want him to
know?”

“
Please don’t tell him.
Not until there’s no chance at all.”

~~~~~~~~

“
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,”
Katy screamed.

When Jill picked her up, the toddler thumped
on Jill’s chest with her fists. They were standing in the early
morning dark waving good-bye to an equally screaming and crying
Paddie.

“
Paddie’s Mommy and Daddy
want to spend some time with him,” Jill said. “They miss him like
we missed him all summer.”

“
But he’ll be at school.
Right?”

“
Not today. He’s going to
spend the day with his Mommy,” Jacob said. “You start at the new
school today.”

“
Paddie will be there,
right?” Katy’s dark eyes were pools of sorrow.

“
I’m not sure, Katy-baby,”
Jill said. “He’s younger than you and in a different grade. Plus,
you don’t go to Catholic school anymore.”

Katy dissolved into uncontrolled tears. With
Jacob’s help, Jill was able to get her back inside. Sitting in
Celia’s old rocking chair near the front windows of the Castle,
Jill rocked Katy on her lap. Katy cried as if a lifetime of sorrow
and pain needed to be expressed in this one moment.

Having never witnessed a full Katy melt
down, Jacob was at a complete loss of how to help. When he
attempted to intervene, Katy screeched and cried harder. His heart
told him that his family needed him, but the clock ticked toward
the new day at Lipson Construction. He had never felt the ripping
pain of wanting to be with those he loved and having to be at
work.

“
There’s nothing you can
do,” Jill said. “She has to get through this.”

“
I’ll meet you at the
school?”

“
Why don’t I call you?”
Jill asked. Over Katy’s head, Jill mouthed, “What about
Paddie?”

Jacob lifted his shoulders in a shrug. The
Marlowe school was only for Lipson Construction employees. Jill
smiled in an attempt to wipe the panicked and overwhelmed look from
his face.

“
Daddy has to go,
Katy-baby,” Jill said.

Jacob leaned in to kiss Katy’s cheek. Katy
jerked away so he kissed her hair.

“
Can you say goodbye and I
love you?” Jill asked.

“
Bye Daddy,” Katy said
into Jill’s chest.

“
I love you?”

Katy began weeping again. Jill mouthed that
she was sorry over Katy’s head. Jacob tried for nonchalant, but he
was a little wounded by Katy’s outburst. They kissed over Katy’s
head and he went into the Castle.

“
Katy?” Sam asked as Jacob
entered the main Castle kitchen

Jacob nodded. He followed Sam through the
Castle.

“
Feel like you were
punched in the chest?”

Jacob nodded. They went through the side
door to Sam’s Lipson Construction truck.

“
Ask Aden about daughters.
They slay you every single time. Except, of course, your sister.
She was perfect in every way.”

Jacob burst out laughing.

“
Your mother used to say
that it’s a test to see if you’re strong enough to handle their
pain and rage.” Starting his truck, Sam added, “It’s a hard part of
being a father.”

Jacob nodded.

“
LaMar’s?” Sam
asked.

“
Donuts make this feeling
of futile helplessness go away?” Jacob asked.

“
Not at all,” Sam said.
“But the crash from the sugar high is a good excuse for feeling
like you’ve been hit by a truck.”

Jacob laughed.

~~~~~~~~

“
What was the best part of
last night?” MJ asked Honey.

She was nestled on his lap while they waited
for the surgical team to call them. Honey’s mother, friends and
family had agreed to let MJ and Honey have this time together. The
Craig Hospital nurses were talking with the surgical team. They had
already talked to an anesthesiologist and signed the forms. Without
thinking, MJ witnessed Honey’s ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ form.

“
For me?”

MJ nodded.

“
Your mouth,” Honey said
in his ear. He flushed. “You said the most wonderful things to me.
Kind things. Loving things. You gave me an inside peek to your self
and your life. I haven’t had that before. It was… wonderful. Then
you told me you wanted to give me my body back.”

“
And did I?”

“
Oh yeah,” Honey said.
“You said because I was paralyzed now my body was brand new,
virginal, and we had to break it in.”

“
Did we?”

“
Oh yeah,” Honey said.
“And what you can do with that glorious mouth of yours?”

MJ laughed at her dramatic shiver. They
kissed.

“
You’ve learned a few
things,” Honey said.

MJ blushed. Seeing the surgical team coming
toward them, Honey turned MJ’s head to look at her.

“
I hope you remember this.
I want to thank you for everything. You’ve made life worth living.
You’re the very best thing that’s ever happened to me. You make me
grateful all of this happened. You make my entire being long to see
you, touch you, and kiss you one more time.”

“
Ready Honey?” her surgeon
said. He shook MJ’s hand.

Honey nodded. MJ stood to place Honey on a
stretcher. Holding her hand, he walked with her to the painted line
where he had to stay. She signaled him to her.

“
I love you,” she
said.

Before he could respond, she was gone.

~~~~~~~~

Monday afternoon — 12:30 P.M.

“
I’m sorry,” Jill said. “I
don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“
Trevor’s wife would like
to take the plea today,” Samantha Hargreaves said.

They were whispering back and forth to each
other in the lobby of the District Attorney’s office.

“
Everyone told me she was
going to trial. ‘Get ready for a long trial, Jill.’ That’s what
everyone, including you, has said since day one.”

“
She seems to have changed
her mind,” Samantha said.

“
I have to rush around,
find emergency child care, and race down here because the special
one ‘changed her mind?’ Why does she get the power to ruin my life
again!?!”

Jill’s anger was apparent. Samantha squeezed
Jill’s hand.

“
My daughter is having a
very difficult day. Who cares about that? The priority is that
Trevor’s wife has changed her mind.”

“
You and Katy were the
victims in most of the charges against her. What you say matters,
Jill. They’re going to tell you what they’ve offered and you have a
chance to say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ If you say yes, they will recommend
sentencing to the judge. If you say no, then they go back to
negotiations.”

“
What about Honey?” Jill
asked. “Honey is the one who’s paralyzed.”

“
I’m not sure,” Samantha
said. “They’ve tried to get in touch with Honey but she’s
unavailable. You may have to decide without her.”

“
Honey’s having surgery
today,” Jill said.

“
I’m not supposed to know
this, but Tiffanie went to see her oldest daughter this morning.
The District Attorney received a call from her attorney about five
minutes after Tiffanie left,” Samantha said. “It’s a complete
reversal. The DA wanted to wait a day to see if she’d change her
mind, but she’s adamant. Trevor’s wife wants to sign the papers
today.”

“
What happens if Honey
dies?” Jill asked.

“
Her sister is charged
with aggravated assault, reduced from attempted murder,” Samantha
said. Shifting her long auburn curls over her shoulder, she leaned
closer to Jill. “If Honey dies? All pleas are off. She’ll go down
for murder. There’s a tape of the entire assault, including her
‘die bitch die’ rant. No question about it. With the assaults
against you, the kidnapping charges, extortion… she’ll get the
death penalty.”

“
No.” Jill stood up from
her seat. “That’s my answer. You can tell them I won’t accept the
plea today. Not today. Not until Honey is out of surgery
and...”

Jill dropped to her seat. Her eyes were huge
and filled with tears.

“
Honey was so beautiful
yesterday, so happy. Is she going to die?”

“
I think we can assume
Tiffanie told her oldest daughter that Honey was going to die
today,” Samantha said. “Have you heard anything from the
hospital?”

Jill shook her head.

“
Oh God, how awful,”
Samantha said.

~~~~~~~~

Monday afternoon — 12:30 P.M.

“
I’m sorry, sir,” the
surgeon said. “There was always a small chance we would be able to
do anything.”

“
What do you mean?” MJ
asked.

MJ heard this weird ringing in his ears as
if bombs were going off all round him. He could see the surgeon’s
lips move and hear the words but nothing the man said made any
sense.

“
I apologize for making
you go through this again,” MJ’s teammate Sergeant Margaret Peaches
said. The small woman moved between MJ and the surgeon. “We had the
impression this was a routine surgery.”

“
No,” the surgeon said.
“Honey has a deep infection. We’ve been attempting to fight it with
antibiotics, but her entire abdominal wall is… for lack of a better
word, mush. The infection has spread to her remaining organs. We
cleaned up what we could but anything more would be cruel. We’ve
done our best to make her comfortable.”

“
I think what is confusing
to us, sir, is that she seemed fine yesterday and the day
before.”

“
I’m not sure how she’s
made it this long,” the surgeon said. “She must have been
incredibly driven.”

“
Was Mrs. Scully aware of
her risks?” Sergeant Peaches asked.

“
Honey knew what was going
on with her. She knew there was a only small chance she would
survive the surgery today.”

“
Even the smallest chance
is a chance,” MJ mumbled.

“
That’s what she said.”
The surgeon gave MJ a puzzled look. “Listen, I’ll let you know when
you can see her. As I said, we’ve done our best to make her
comfortable. We must expect she will slip away in the next
twenty-four hours.”

MJ choked, coughed, then nodded. Like a man
in a trance, he walked past Honey’s Lipson Construction friends,
her mother and little sisters, his sister and Honey’s father Sam to
an empty chair in a quiet corner. Sergeant Peaches followed him
then sat down next to him.

“
Honey’s going to die,” MJ
said. “She...”

“
What would Honey say,
Scully?” Sergeant Peaches asked.

“
She would say that even
the smallest chance is still a chance. Her entire life has been
built on the smallest chance: she had a tiny chance of graduating
from high school; a sliver of a chance to not be a criminal like
her sister and father; the itsy-bitsy chance to live a decent life
like regular people. She created an amazing life out of the
smallest chance,” MJ said into his hands. His sister sat next to
him. Putting her arms over his neck, she rested her head on his
shoulder.

“
Then we have to be strong
for Honey,” Sergeant Peaches said.

“
I’ve never been as strong
as Honey,” MJ said. “She’s a pillar.”

“
You will be today,”
Sergeant Peaches said.