As Time Flies.....Chapter 16
Last time: Lindsay went off the deep end when she found out Melanie slept with Bo. Ben got some very bad news.
Llanview Hospital
Ben and Viki sat on the hospital bed, waiting for Larry. They were holding hands. It was hard to say who looked more nervous. Ben had gone home earlier and broken the bad news to Viki. She had taken it with the dignity and grace he had come to expect from her. She was totally unselfish, and offered to take care of him. They had laughed then. They decided they would take care of each other, the best they could. And that was only if the tumors were malignant. If the were benign, they could be removed and after a short recuperation time Ben would be up and around. They both prayed the tumors would be benign.
Larry arrived promptly at 3:00. Ben's leg had already been shaved. He was all prepped and ready to go. He kissed Viki and told her he'd see her later. Viki tried not to let him see the tears in her eyes.
"Don't worry, Viki. I'll have him back upstairs in no time, okay?" Larry hugged her. Maybe he was crazy, but she looked terrible. It was probably just worry over Ben. He could see how much in love they were.
Viki blew Ben a kiss as they wheeled him away. God, what more could she take?
Llanview Police Station
Bo and Hank were drinking coffee in Bo's office. It was a pretty slow day. Bo had stopped at the hospital on his way in that morning, but Nora was still unconscious. Larry had let him stay in Nora's room and sit on the bed. Thank God whiny Sam wasn't around, or he wouldn't have been able to. The man was ridiculous!
Bo had held Nora's hand and kept up a constant stream of conversation. He had heard that if you talk to and physically stimulate coma patients it could sometimes get through to them. He was certainly giving it the old college try. His heart wanted to break every time the awful thought of Nora not ever waking up crept into his brain. No! She was going to be okay. She just had to be!
Bo hadn't been pressuring Sam about a new DNA test. He figured the guy had so many problems right now, he'd let him take his time. He knew Sam was worried about it, despite his bravado. Bo thought Sam's worry was confirmation of something. What exactly, he didn't know, but he found comfort in Sam's fear. He hoped that didn't make him a bad person, but he was tired of waiting. He wanted to know the truth.
"Are you going to the hospital again today, Bo?" Hank took a sip of his coffee. He too, had been to see Nora several times. He missed her, and prayed with everyone else that she would wake up soon.
Hank had called Rachel immediately after Bo had called him with the wonderful news that Nora was alive. Rachel had screamed so loud Hank had thought his eardrum would burst. They had had a wonderful conversation, and he could hear Selma and Len scream in the background when Rachel relayed the news. Rachel and her grandparents had called him back a half an hour later to tell him they had reserved tickets on the first flight out of Chicago the next morning. He couldn't wait to see his daughter. He loved being the bearer of such good tidings!
Hank was devastated when Bo had come into his office a few hours later to tell him the terrible news that Nora might be in a coma. After Bo had told him that Larry didn't want Nora to have too many visitors, he had called Rachel back to tell her to cancel her flight. He wanted to crawl into a hole. He hadhated making that call almost more than the one he had made weeks before, telling Rachel Nora had died in the train wreck.
Rachel and her grandparents were devastated, but Hank had been providing constant updates on Nora's condition by telephone. They had left off that as soon as Nora woke up, Hank would call them and they'd be on the next plane. He couldn't wait to make that call!
"Yeah, Hank, I'm gonna go back in a couple of hours. I want to see Nora one more time before I go home for the night. Do you want to go with me?"
"I wish I could, but I've got to work on my brief for Lindsay's trial. I know it's early, but I want to make sure I'm prepared!" Hank laughed.
Bo laughed, too. "I have no doubt that you'll present the finest prosecution known to district attorneys everywhere. Do you know what kind of defense they're going to put on?"
"I have no idea, Bo, not yet. That's why I want to be so prepared. No matter what they come up with, I want to be covered. I'm sure Mr. Washington Lawyer will have quite a few tricks up his sleeve." Hank grimaced.
Bo agreed. "Speaking of tricks, Hank, I haven't heard from Lindsay. Do you think that's strange?"
"I don't know, Bo. You know her better than I do, but I'd be willing to wager that she's pretty embarrassed right now, and you're the last person she wants to see. She probably figures you need time to cool down, then she'll make her move. Now that sounds like Lindsay!" Hank grimaced again. Frankly, he had never seen what Bo apparently saw in her. She was whiny, insecure, and frivolous. He didn't even think she was attractive. Nothing at all like Nora. But then again, who was? Nora was inimitable.
Bo laughed again. "Sounds like you know Lindsay better than you think, Hank!"
The Gallery
Lindsay had slept terribly the night before, and she was getting sleepy. It was late afternoon, and she had been very busy that day. She was planning and making arrangements. She wanted everything to go smoothly.
She thought about what happened with her sister yesterday. She couldn't explain even to herself how that had started. She was trying to evade Melanie's question about who had paid for her bail with a joke, but when she saw Melanie wasn't buying it, she went crazy. All of her childhood demons had reared their ugly heads, and Lindsay had completely lost it. She was angry with herself for losing control like that, but she wasn't too upset that Melanie was angry with her.
As far as she was concerned, Melanie wasn't even her sister anymore. After confessing she had slept with Bo, Lindsay's hatred for her had been cemented. It was just as well. She had served her purpose, and Lindsay had no use for her. She hoped Melanie and Colin rode off into the sunset together. They deserved each other! Lindsay laid down on the bed and fell into a fitful sleep.
Llanview Hospital
Viki was pacing Ben's room. Larry had said she could wait here. They were going to wheel Ben back into his room when they were finished. She hoped everything was going well, and she prayed steadily and silently. The door was open, and she was surprised when she saw Nora's gurney being wheeled into the room across the hall.
Viki had taken a walk down to Intensive Care earlier to check on Nora. She didn't go in, she had stood outside and stared through the window at her friend. She missed Nora terribly, and she thought to herself that if Nora hadn't of "died" in the train wreck, she probably would have been the one person outside of her family that she would have told about her breast cancer. Nora was such a good listener. She was compassionate and she usually gave great advice.
Viki thought of her daughter. She missed Jessie, too. She prayed Jessie and the two boys were doing okay. She was so worried about the people in her life she hardly ever gave her own illness a thought. It was just as well. She didn't need to dwell on such unpleasantness.
She watched the nurses setting up Nora's bed and getting the IV's ready. She thought it was a good sign that they had moved Nora to a private room. She waited for them to finish, and when they left, she went into Nora's room and sat down beside the bed. The guard watching Nora nodded his head at her and stepped outside.
Viki took Nora's hand in her own and just held it. She talked to Nora about all of the things weighing on her mind. She hoped Nora would wake up so she could tell her these things in person. Viki kissed Nora on the cheek and got up as she heard Ben's gurney going into the room across the hall. Larry was with him.
Ben was groggy from the anesthesia. Viki bent down and kissed him on the lips.
"Did you wait long, Blondie? I missed you. Hope I'm not late for the party." Ben smiled weakly. He wanted to sleep for a week.
"Rest, Ben, don't talk. I'll stay with you. How did it go, Larry?"
"Ben, are you up for the results? I know you want to sleep." Larry looked concerned.
"I'm up for it. I can take it. Shoot." Ben's eyes were closing. Viki held his hand.
"I rushed the lab tests, and..." Larry smiled. Ben was asleep.
Viki wanted to know. She couldn't stand it. "Larry, what is it? Please tell me!" Her voice sounded frantic, even to her own ears.
"Well, I'd rather wait for Ben to be awake for this, but I love you, Viki, and I don't want to put you through the torture of waiting. I'm sorry to tell you that both tumors are malignant. The biopsy revealed the malignancy, and the bone scan shows that Ben's marrow is deficient. He has osteosarcoma, bone cancer. We're going to want to remove the tumors immediately and do a bone marrow transplant as soon as possible. We're gonna have to test Ben's family and see if we can find a match. As soon as Ben is up to it, hopefully in the next couple of hours, I want to do his tissue typing and histocompatibility testing. We've got to get moving on this." Larry put his arms around Viki. She was sobbing.
"Let me tell him, Larry, okay? I owe him that much." Viki sank onto the bed. She put her arms around Ben and lay alongside him. She cried into the blanket. Larry didn't have the heart to say anything else. He let himself out of Ben's room and went to check on Nora.
To Be Continued...
|
|
|
|