Forever's Embrace (Forever In Luck Series Book 2) (20 page)

“Jake,
come on, we need to go.” Linnie said, pulling him along. “Nate has the
directions and is waiting in the truck.”

“Do
you know what she said? I don’t know what she said. How is it she’s having
trouble thinking, and yet can respond in another language?”

“I
don’t know. Let’s go.”

Just
then the doctor walked in. “Are you Jake?”

He
stopped. “Yes, I’m Jake.”

Putting
his hand in his pocket, the doctor explained, “Juliet wanted me to give this to
you.” Fishing around inside, he pulled out the piece of Baltic Amber and handed
it to Jake. “We had to remove it when we were doing the scans. I was thinking
she was confused, because she was saying something about it being Jake’s eyes,
but seeing you now, not so much so. It’s definitely the same color as your
eyes.”

Jake
took the amber piece in his palm and immediately felt a zing of energy flow up
his arm and straight to his heart. Jūratė tears, cried for her one
true love.

“It’s the
ultimate love story.”

Looking
up at the doctor, his voice cracked when he responded, “Thank you, this means
so much.”

“Hey,
no problem, glad I caught you before you left. Drive safely.”

CHAPTER 11

 
Jules slowly opened her eyes. Pain, she was in
really bad pain. She had a massive headache, and her back was howling something
fierce. Where was she? Turning her head was a chore, but when she did, she saw
Jake sleeping in a chair next to her with his arm extended towards her. She
could feel his hand heavy on hers. Her mouth was a desert, and felt positively
rank. Moving her fingers, she found his and gave them a squeeze. Jerking, he
sat up quickly, then jumped to his feet.

“Precious,
you awake honey?”

Flinching
from the sound of his voice, she put her hand to her head and felt a large
bandage.

“I’m
sorry,” he whispered. “Is that better?” He took her hand and kissed it.

She
nodded a little.

“You
in pain?”

She
nodded again.

“You
need to push your pain button, sweetheart, remember?”

No,
she didn’t remember. Where was she? What day was it? She needed to get to work.
She needed to find her toothbrush, and she needed to get off this bed, it was
killing her back.

“Whoa,
baby, what are you doing? Don’t move. You were hurt and had surgery, remember?”
Jake said, holding her steady. “We need the nurses to help you move.”

She
stopped and looked at him. What had he said? Surgery? Nurses? She looked
around. This didn’t look like a hospital room. It was decorated all fancy. But
there was an IV pole next to the bed, and attached to it was a patient
controlled analgesic pump, and a bag of IV fluids hung from the top. There was
a blood pressure machine mounted on the wall, and a sink in the corner,
and…come to think of it, she could hear soft beeping sounds from a monitor next
to her head.

“Jake?”
she croaked.

He
squeezed her hand. “I’m here. What do you need?”

“Toothbrush.”

He
smiled. “Toothbrush and toothpaste coming up. How about a warm washcloth? You
could wash your face.”

She
nodded slightly. He helped her wash and brush, and if that didn’t help her feel
like a new person, the spoonful of ice chips did. Those were the best dang ice
chips she’d ever had. “Jake, what’s going on?” Gosh, even her throat hurt.

“You
were hurt when we went tubing. Do you remember?”

She
shook her head a smidge. “No,” she answered tentatively, “just hazy images.”

“Linnie,
Nate, you, and I, went snow tubing, and as we were walking past the chutes, you
dropped your glove and went back to get it. A large tubing party came down the
hill and ran into you. You were thrown several feet before smacking into a
safety fence. You have a large laceration on your scalp and a fractured
vertebra. It’s Tuesday evening, and you’re in a hospital in the cities, where
they did surgery to stabilize your spine.”

“Am
I alright? Is everything okay?”

“You’re
getting better. It seems like you’re awake now, you’ve been in and out of it
for days.”

She
closed her eyes. “I know I’m moving my arms, and I hurt. How about the rest of
me? Am I moving my legs, toes?”

Jake
paused. “Ahh, not yet. The doctor says we need to give it some time, till the
swelling goes down.”

When
she opened her eyes, a tear slid down her cheek and he caught it. “I need the
nurse, I need to know what medications they’re giving me. I’d like to see the
doctor too, and Linnie. I need Linnie.”

Leaning
in, he gave her a kiss on the lips, then whispered, “I know it’s hard. Try not
to cry. I’m here. We’re all here for you, and praying for a full recovery.
Linnie will be here soon, she and Nate went to get something to eat. I’ll go
see about the nurse and doctor.”

A
short time later a nice looking gentleman wearing scrubs walked into her room.
“Hi Juliet, I’m Curtis, your nurse for the evening. I understand you woke and
wanted to talk with me. What can I do for you?”

Oh
boy, Curtis was young and cute, and Jules was not into him being anything to
her. She could only imagine the number of things she was going to need help
with, and having young cute men help her, was not in her game plan, at all.
Wishing she could throw the covers over her head, she said, “Please review with
me what medications I’m receiving.”

“Sure
thing, then when we’re done, I’d like to do a set of vitals, and a head to toe
assessment. We should change your position too, get you onto your side. Let’s
start by going over your careboard.”

Just
then Jake walked in with another young man in scrubs. “Ahhh, hold up,” she
said, pulling her blanket higher.

They
all stopped and looked at her.

“Who
are you?” she asked, looking to the young guy next to Jake.

“I’m
Tenzin, your nursing assistant. I came to help you wash, to move, and to empty
your Foley bag.”

She
had a catheter? In her bladder? She couldn’t even feel it, didn’t even know it
was there! She felt her cheeks turn beet red, and her head start to pound. This
was not going to work. “Ahhh, no. No. No. I’m sorry, but no.” She reached a
hand to her head and held it, then continued, “I don’t mean to be difficult,
but no. I’m sorry, I just can’t. Do they not have women working here? I never
thought I’d feel this way, but I do. Please, take no offense, but I need female
caregivers, I’m sorry.” Then her arm flopped onto the bed, her energy zapped
from the stress of the moment.

Curtis,
the nurse, spoke up. “We’re here to help you, and I can assure you we’re
professionals, competent and capable of caring for you.”

She
turned and looked at him, then blinked several times. Her head was pounding and
she was overwhelmed from exhaustion. Feeling backed into a corner and extremely
irritated, she answered him angrily, “Without a doubt, and you took offense
when I asked you not to. This has nothing to do with you or your abilities, but
it does have everything to do with me and my modesty.”

There
was a knock on her door, and a gorgeous man wearing a suit walked in, oblivious
to all present. “Hey, Juliet, I’m Dr. Reiter. Glad to see you’re awake and that
they caught me before I left the clinic. I’m happy to report the surgery went
well, and I didn’t have to do an anterior approach through your abdomen. I was
able to do what I needed to from your backside.”

Her
backside? First, a catheter, which meant no underwear, and now my backside…then
all these men, and Lord knows how many more, who’ve seen my body in full
detail, because under this scrap of a gown, I’m no doubt nude. I wasn’t even
able to let Jake see me completely nude! Totally overwhelmed, everything coming
at her at once, she fought back tears with the realization that she’d been
totally vulnerable and unable to protect herself. She wanted to die. Not
knowing what to say, she simply pulled the blanket up and over her head as she
began to cry.

She
heard some movement, and then a whisper. “Sweetheart, the nurse and aide left,
the doctor is here wanting to talk with you.”

Hot
tears rolled down her cheeks. “Jake, I’m…I’m…so...”

He
pulled the blanket back a little. “I know.”

“I
don’t want this.”

He
caught her tears with his fingers. “I know.”

She
pulled the blanket down, and looked to the drop dead gorgeous surgeon who was
staring her way, waiting. “I’m sorry, will you be able to request female
caregivers for me, please. I…I…just can’t…”

Dr.
Reiter walked over and touched her arm. “I will request that whenever possible,
a female nurse and aide be assigned to you, but please know that may not always
be possible.”

“I
understand. Will I ever walk again?”

“In
all honesty, that’s a hard question to answer right now. It’s just too early to
know. You had an unstable fracture within the vertebral arch of the first
lumbar vertebra that I went in and fixed. The vertebral arch is what forms the
canal your spinal cord runs through, and essentially protects it. It varies
between people, but the spinal cord terminates somewhere around the first to
the second lumbar vertebrae, at which point it branches into numerous
individual nerve fibers, similar to that of a horse’s tail.” Stepping to a
whiteboard on the wall, he drew a picture to illustrate what he was talking
about.

“There’s
obviously been some kind of injury to the area, we know that, but to what
degree and how bad, we can’t really say for certain at this time. From what
I’ve been able to see, it doesn’t appear your spinal cord was severed, but it
was definitely impinged upon by the broken vertebral arch and the swelling in
the area.”

Afraid
to ask, but needing to know, she pushed forth. “So where does that leave me?”

“Best
case scenario, the paralysis and delayed reflex responses you’re experiencing
are temporary, and on line with what we know as spinal shock. Worst case
scenario, the damage is extensive and your symptoms are permanent, and of
course, it wouldn’t be unexpected for you to fall somewhere in between both
those scenarios. We need more time to know for sure.”

Taking
a deep breath, she asked, “How much time?”

“In
the case of spinal shock, we see the return of reflexes as early as a few days
from the time of injury, on upward of six weeks. At that point, we pretty much
have, what we have. Their return seems to correlate with the extent of the
injury, minor injuries taking less time and greater ones taking more.”

“Have
any of my reflexes returned?”

“None
so far, but you’re only day three. I’d hoped we’d have seen something by now,
but I’m not ready to throw in the towel on this by any means. We treated your
injury within hours of it happening, which is crucial, and you had the presence
of mind to demand that Dr. Benton give you a high dose steroid to minimize
swelling before you were transferred here.”

“What
happens now?” she asked.

“Rehabilitation
mostly, physical therapy, occupational therapy, medications, back brace, leg
braces, stuff like that. We need to keep you strong during these weeks while we
wait.”

“Thank
you, I appreciate your candor. Will you please review my medications with me?”

“Certainly,
let me open up your chart.”

*****

“Linnie,
I need to talk to you alone,” Jules said discreetly, while Jake and Nate were
talking.

Linnie,
looked at her, and Jule’s gave her the look. “Nate, Jake, can you give us girls
some alone time, please?”

Jake
came over and gave Jules a kiss. “You need me to get you anything while I’m
gone?”

She
didn’t have to think hard. “Food.”

He
chuckled as he stood. “I think you’re still on restrictions, but I’ll see
what’s allowed and find something to bring back. Sound alright?” he asked, as
he moved to the door. “We’ll give you two some time.”

She
nodded. “Thanks.”

When
they walked out, Jules turned to Linnie. “I can’t have men doing my private
cares, and I need help. Please, help me. I know Jake’s going to want to help,
but I don’t want him helping me.”

Linnie
hesitated. “But you like Jake, right?”

“Ahhh,
yeah, but we’ve just begun to get to know one another, and I’m not comfortable
with this level of intimacy. It’s bad enough I’m going to need help, but to get
it from a man is not an option.”

Linnie
reached over and patted her hand. “I’ll help, but Jules, he wants to be
involved. He hasn’t left your side since the accident. He really cares for
you.”

“No,
he can’t,” she responded adamantly. “Linnie, I may be a paraplegic, and even if
I’m not, I most likely won’t be one hundred percent functional.”

Linnie
looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “So? Is anyone really one hundred
percent functional? We all have our issues. Your’s would be physical that’s
all, so what.”

Now,
Jules looked at Linnie like she’d lost her mind. “Do you realize how expensive
and difficult it will be to be a para? To be committed to a para? The
accomodations, the therapy, the medications, the lifestyle changes and family
dynamic constructs. It wouldn’t be fair to expect him to sign on for life.”

Linnie
shook her head. “You don’t know that you’re a para, and why not let him decide
that for himself?’

“Because,
he’s a good guy, and I’d live with the guilt all my life. It’s like Nik said
the other night at dinner, they’re active guys who don’t like sitting around
doing nothing.”

“Of
all the things you remember, it’s that?” Linnie responded in disbelief. “So
you’re just going to break his heart and end it?”

Jules
paused, “I care for him, I really do. This will be extremely difficult for me.
I won’t be cruel. I just need to get through this, and get back to Chicago. I
don’t think this will interfere with my job, or the promotion. I should still
be able to sit behind a desk and analyze data, regardless of the amount of
injury. I need that job, if not for the money, then for the health insurance to
cover my needs. I’m supposed to be in Connecticut come the third week of
February. Do they know? Did you call them?”