Spell Checked (24 page)

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It was already eight by the time the doctors decided to take Mae out of her drug-induced coma.  They removed her breathing tube and replaced it with an oxygen line to her nose.  Fortunately and to everyone’s relief, Mae was finally breathing on her own.  The only sound in the room was the constant beeping of the equipment, while everyone waited to see if she would wake.  Beck sat in the chair next to the bed, holding her hand, after a few minutes he felt her fingers move and he started to talk to her.  “Mae, wake up,” he whispered softly as her eyes fluttered open.

“Beck,” she whispered back and closed her eyes again.

They all let out a sigh of relief.  Her brain was working enough for her to talk.  Gemma walked around to the other side of the bed and held her other hand.  “I’m here too,” she said, squeezing Mae’s hand.

Mae opened her eyes again, “What happened?” she asked in a dry, raspy voice.

“I will not go into details right now, but you were shot.  You need to save your energy, no more talking,” Beck didn’t want her to wear herself out asking questions, it was a story that would have to wait until later.

“I need water,” she struggled to say, almost breathless from the effort.

One of the nurses dashed out of the room and returned with a pitcher of ice water and a cup.  Gemma pushed the button and raised the head of the bed, so Mae was sitting up while Beck poured the water into the cup and brought it to Mae’s lips.  She managed to take a couple of sips before she could drink no more and Beck placed the cup back on the table.

Alexis walked over to Beck.  “I will start making transportation arrangements,” she said to him before leaving.

Once the doctors felt she was not going to crash, they all left, save Dr. Thomas.  When he was sure that the others had gone, he spoke.  “Now that she is out of the coma, it would be a good idea to try and heal her with magic again.”

Aidan walked up to the bed.  “I’m not good at healing, but I can monitor her and tell you what areas to take care of first, if you and Meredith want to work together.”

“What about Alexis?  Can she help us?” the doctor asked.

“I don’t think that is a good idea, she’s very powerful but lacks the finesse to do the delicate work required to heal a brain injury,” Meredith replied, much to the doctor’s disappointment.

Beck moved out of the way, allowing Aidan to get closer to monitor her.  “Mae, I just need you to relax and clear your mind.”  Aidan placed his hand above her wound, closing his eyes and concentrating on the areas that were slow to heal.  Mentally, he directed Meredith and Dr. Thomas to the areas most damaged, continuing to look for other places that required repair.  He made sure Mae didn’t become distressed while her cells and nerves were being manipulated.  They worked on her for about an hour, before becoming exhausted.  Mae had slept through most of it and when she woke, only Beck was left in the room.

“Hello sleepy head, how are you feeling?” he asked.

“I feel a little tired, but better,” it had become easier for her to speak; her mind seemed to be working better for their effort. “Where is Gemma?”

“She said she wanted to get a few things while you were sleeping; she should be back soon.”  Beck lowered the side bar of the bed and sat next to her.  He clasped her hand and grinned as she leaned her head on his shoulder.   “I hope you have forgiven me, I will never keep anything from you again,” he promised, raising her hand to his lips and kissing it.

Mae let out a deep breath and paused for a few seconds before she spoke.  “To be honest, Beck, I forgave you before I went to sleep that night.  I just wanted you to hate yourself long enough to make my point.  Although, I did nothing but think about you all day in Killarney and couldn’t wait to be in your arms again,” she admitted, squeezing his hand and smiling.

He let go of her hand and removed the leather cord with her ring on it from his neck.  “Would you please take your ring back?  I promise to never make you mad enough to throw it at me again.”

Mae gave him her hand allowing him to place the ring back on her finger where it belonged.  “And I promise to give you a chance to explain yourself, before I start throwing things,” she laughed.

Beck kissed her cheek.  “I also want you to know that Helen is gone.  She is no longer a part of you and shall not be coming back.”

Mae sighed and held his hand once more, she knew he loved Helen and it was not easy for him to let go.  “When I woke up, I realized she was no longer with me.  There were things about you that she helped me understand through her memories and now there is just emptiness there.” In some ways Mae would miss Helen’s constant reassurance that everything would be okay.  Helen was the reason she accepted who and what she was without question.

Dr. Thomas tapped lightly on the door and then entered the room.  “I need to examine Mae, that way we know where she stands as far as her motor skills.”

The doctor gave her the once over, saying that everything looked well.  However, Mae was unable to move her legs.  When Dr. Thomas poked the bottom of her foot, she could feel pain and her reflexes seemed to be working fine, but she was still unable to move her legs.

“It looks like her brain is not fully communicating with her spine.  In time I think that will correct itself as her brain heals.  Other than that, everything else looks great.”  Dr. Thomas sat at the small table writing the results of his test in her chart.

“Does that mean we can take her home today?”  Beck was being optimistic, but still very concerned about her not being able to walk.

“Yes, in fact I’m writing her release orders right now.  You should be out of here before lunch,” he smiled, completing his entry and closing her chart.

“That is fantastic!” Beck smiled, squeezing Mae’s hand in excitement.

Mae was ecstatic too; she had always hated hospitals so the sooner the better.  “That makes me very happy.”

“She is still in no condition to get on a plane, Alexis made arrangements for an ambulance to take Mae to Lough Currane, we will ride with Mae,” Dr. Thomas explained.

“I will have Donald follow you with the security team and Aidan.  Gemma, Meredith and I will jet back and get everything ready.”  Beck would rather have accompanied Mae, but he knew he needed to make sure everything at the house was ready for their arrival.

“The nurse should be in shortly to change her bandages, remove the IV, and disconnect the equipment.  Do you have any questions for me before I leave?” he asked.

“Can I have something to eat?  I feel like I haven’t eaten in a week,” Mae asked, her stomach rumbling.

Dr. Thomas stood up, “You can eat whatever you want, just not too much.  Your body needs to readjust to eating again. I will check on you later while the nurse does the bandage change.  I want to make sure the wound is closing,” he winked upon departing the room.

Beck called Aidan.  He and Meredith were on their way back to the hospital, he asked them to pick Mae up something to eat on the way.  “I hope you are in the mood for steak and potatoes,” Beck told her.

“I don’t know why, but I’m craving raw meat.”  Mae was not much of a meat eater and was surprised by her bizarre craving.

Beck laughed at her, “I think it has something to do with you being a vampire.  Don’t worry I ordered it rare.”  It was the way he liked to eat his steak and figured she might like hers that way too.

Mae smiled, “I completely forgot about that…I’m such a mess.”

“You are the most beautiful mess I know.”  He leaned over and kissed her lips.

“I’m sorry, my lips are all rough and dry,” she apologized, rubbing her finger across her lips, trying to slough off some of the dry skin.

As if on cue, Gemma entered the room, her arms filled with bags and a bouquet of flowers.  “Good, you’re awake.   I had to get you a few things.”  She put the bags down, added water to the flowers in the vase and pulled out a small tin from one of the bags.  “Girl, your lips are scaring me, I got you some lip balm.”  Gemma handed the tin to Mae.

Beck began to laugh, “Gemma sometimes I think you can read Mae’s mind.  We were just discussing Mae’s dry lips seconds before you walked in.”

“What else were you discussing, because I also bought her hand-cuffs and edible underwear,” Gemma joked.

Beck’s face turned red from embarrassment.  He was left speechless by Gemma’s insinuation.

Mae let out a big belly laugh, “You should have seen the look on your face, Beck.  That was priceless!” she exclaimed, giving Gemma a high-five.

Gemma sat in one of the chairs by the bed, “The doctor just told me we’re busting you out of here in a couple of hours.”

Mae applied the lip balm to her lips.  “Yes, but I won’t be walking out of here.  It appears that my legs are not working at the moment.”

Gemma was not sure how to take that news, especially since Mae didn’t seem to be bothered by this fact.  “Are you going to be able to walk again?” Gemma asked in a concerned voice.

“The doctor thinks she will be able to walk again as soon as she is fully healed.  It is just taking longer than usual, considering she is a vampire,” Beck answered.

Gemma rolled her eyes, “I keep forgetting that you are not human, Mae.”

“So do I,” Mae laughed.

Meredith and Aidan arrived with food and for as famished as Mae was, she could only manage to eat a few bites before she felt full.  A few minutes later, Alexis returned to the room with Dr. Thomas and a nurse in tow.

The nurse started to unhook the monitors and remove the IV.  When she was done, she unwrapped the bandages around Mae’s head.  As soon as Mae saw herself in the mirror she began to cry.  The wound had completely healed but her hair had been shaven off.  Beck put his arms around her, “It is okay Mae, it will grow back,” he assured her.

The nurse gave Beck an odd look.  “With six witches in the room I am sure one of us can manage to do something as simple as grow hair,” she stated as if everyone had over looked the obvious.

“That’s right Mae, your hair is an easy fix compared to your brain,” Meredith reassured her.

Mae stopped crying. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to cry, I was just overwhelmed.”

Gemma stepped forward and grinned, “I know the perfect hair for her, if one of you wouldn’t mind picking my brain.”

Meredith concentrated on Gemma’s thoughts.  “Oh…That would be cute.”  She walked over to Mae, closed her eyes for a second then moved her hands over the top of Mae’s head as if she were pulling a strand from the top down in a pinching motion.  Soon Mae had thick blunt bangs, and long layers of dark hair with gold highlights.

Mae looked at herself in the mirror and touched her hair; it felt as real as it looked and appeared as though she just spent a fortune at the salon.  “I need to learn that trick,” she said in awe of Meredith’s handy work.

Aidan piped up, “Meredith would be more than happy to show you how to do it.  She’s like an expert at it… I remember one year she changed her hair styles so much, it was like dating a different person every day.”

Meredith gave Aidan a nudge to the stomach with her elbow.  “I was young and it was a phase I was going through.  But, I would be more than happy to show you how to use your magic to fix your hair.”  Meredith leaned over and whispered, “I can show you how to mess with Aidan’s hair too.”

When Mae looked up at Aidan, she noticed that Meredith had turned the tips of Aidan’s red hair to a beautiful shade of electric blue, making her laugh.

“What did you do, Mere?”  Aidan asked, walking to the mirror and changed his hair back to normal.

The nurse finished filing in Mae’s chart and left.  Ten minutes later she returned with Mae’s discharge papers and a wheelchair.  Alexis was with the security team by the ambulance waiting for Mae to be loaded on to the gurney so they could leave.  She did not like the idea of Dr. Thomas riding with them, she knew she could handle any issue the EMT and driver might throw at her.  But, it would be far more difficult if the doctor were a traitor too.  She insisted on one of the security guards riding with them in the ambulance despite the lack of room.  Once arrangements were settled, the ambulance finally left the hospital with Aidan and the remainder of the security team trailing following behind them in Beck’s Bentley.  Gemma, Meredith, and Beck caught a cab to the airport and took his private plane to Killarney; where his helicopter was waiting to take them home.

Beck had called his staff at Lough Currane the day before and had them prepare a room downstairs next to his computer room for Mae.  He wanted her to be close to him when he worked.  When he checked the room, he was quite satisfied that his staff had thought of everything.  A king-sized bed graced the center of the room, while on the opposite wall hung a large flat screen television.  Her laptop was on the nightstand along with a stack of Sudoku books and a walkie-talkie in case she needed anything.  A small elevator was being added, something his staff had been requesting for years, they were thrilled when the installer showed up and began his work.  Beck also had extra security added to the perimeter of the estate and a small army of armed guards to his staff.  It was the best security money could buy, ensuring that no harm could come to Mae, at least not while she remained at Lough Currane.

The ambulance finally arrived.  Mae was complaining about lying down too much and insisted on a wheel chair which Beck was happy to oblige.  Alexis took charge of the guards, who were assigned to the guest house as their headquarters since it was much larger than the cottage that Aidan occupied and sat at the perimeter of the estate.  It would provide enough room for them to work, eat, and sleep in comfort without disrupting everyone in the main house.