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One in a Billion Chapter Fourteen
The next
morning found Jim waking to total quietness. At first he figured it meant
everything was ok, and then he lay really still and noticed he couldn’t hear
anything at all. This was strange as when he went to sleep he had listened to
Chrissy’s breathing to make sure she was resting ok. He got up quickly and
looked towards her bed; she was lying very still and seemed to be asleep. He
walked over to her and gently held his hand close to her face so he could feel
her breath hit it. He turned quickly and hit the Nurse Call button and started
crying and shaking her gently but firmly. The nurse
on duty came running in and asked him to step out into the hall for now. He
left the room, but not before grabbing his cell phone and as he went through
the door he met 6 more nurses and 2 doctors coming. He was shaking as the
reality of Chrissy being dead sunk in. He couldn’t believe he had not noticed
she wasn’t breathing when he first woke. A quick look at his watch told him it
was only When she came
in Jim was sitting in a chair by the nurses’ station and was crying pretty
heavily. He stood and met her about half way to the door. He told her they did
everything possible and Chrissy just didn’t make it. Donna was crying heavily
now also. Josh just sank to his knees and started crying and hollering No
Chrissy is ok she is ok, over and over. One of the nurses stepped over to Donna
and explained that Chrissy had passed due to swelling of the brain they
believed. She said she was truly sorry and if Donna wanted to she could go in
and see her before they moved her to the morgue. Donna, Jim
and Josh went into the room and as Donna pulled the sheet back from Chrissy’s
dead body she noticed the girl was smiling a little. She asked Jim if he
thought she was thinking about something happy when she died. Jim told her of
what they had spoken of the night before and maybe she had been dreaming of it
when she passed. Josh was holding Chrissy’s hand and telling her she wasn’t
supposed to die yet, she hadn’t seen her mom getting married again and nor had they
been adopted yet. Donna looked at Jim when she heard this and he told her
Chrissy had asked if they were going to be married and if so she wanted to know
if he would adopt the kids. Donna
hugged Chrissy to her and told her she loved her just as the nurse came in and
told them it was time to move her. Donna was so upset Jim had to help her walk
out of the room. Josh was being helped by a nurse as he also was upset. After
going out into the hallway, Jim asked Donna which funeral home she would like
to handle the funeral and Donna told him the same one that had done her mom’s.
She told him it was Orson’s Funeral Chapel. Jim asked the nurse at the nurses’
station if she knew the number and she dialed it then handed him the phone. He
told the man that answered who he was and why he had called, then after the man
told him they would take care of everything, he handed the phone to the nurse
and she continued to talk with him. Jim told
Donna there was nothing more they could do at the hospital and they should go
home. The three of them headed out to Jim’s van that Donna had driven to the
hospital in and then they headed to Donna’s house. Donna was sitting and crying
the whole time it took them to get to her house. Josh was now quiet and Jim
figured he was probably in shock. Jim was trying to be the strong one, and even
though he hadn’t known Chrissy that long he had learned a lot about her and had become close
to her already. When they
got to Donna’s house Jim helped her inside and as Josh headed to his room, Jim
and Donna went to the kitchen, Jim fixed coffee as Donna started telling him of
all the people she needed to notify. She told him that she needed to call the
kids paternal grandparents as they were the only grandparents they had. She
then asked Jim if he would call Jennifer and have her get the word out to all
the co-workers from the factory and also call Mrs. Wilcox. Jim told her to sit
and drink some coffee and he would call Jennifer and Janet, then she could call
the grandparents. Jim called
Jennifer and told her what happened and she immediately started crying and then
told him she would contact everyone from the factory. Jim told her he would
call Mrs. Wilcox himself and she told him ok and if she could do anything else
to call her. They said their goodbyes and hung up. Jim called Mrs. Wilcox and
she couldn’t believe it, she was as upset as Donna was, Jim guessed it brought
back memories of losing her child. Janet asked Jim if he would please let her
know as soon as the arrangements had been made, and he assured her he would
personally. Then she asked that he please tell Donna that she knew what she was going through and if she needed
to talk for her just to call anytime day or night. Jim told her he would relay
that to Donna as soon. Jim turned
to Donna after hanging up and told her what Janet had said and she said that
was very nice of her. Then Jim asked Donna for the grandparent’s number and
dialed it for her. He then handed her the phone but stayed right by her so if
he needed to he could take over the conversation at any time. Mrs. When Jim walked to the door to Josh’s room he saw Josh
laying on the bed and asked him if he could come in. Josh didn’t answer so Jim
walked in and over to the bed, he saw Josh was sleeping. Jim didn’t bother him
as he figured sleep would be the best thing right now for him. Jim returned to
the kitchen and after refilling his coffee cup he sat down at the table with it.
The phone rang and he answered it, it was Jennifer wanting to know if they
could use some breakfast as she had just thought of that. Jim told her both
Donna and Josh were asleep and he would be ok for now and thanked her for the
offer. Jim heard a noise and as he turned he saw Donna coming back
into the kitchen. She told him she had completely forgot about calling her
sister and brother and her cousins so she had got her address book and came in
to the kitchen to call them. Jim offered to do it for her and she thanked him
and said she would return to bed then. Jim called her sister first and when he
heard a woman say hello, he asked if it was Connie Nelson. When she said yes it
was her, Jim proceeded to introduce himself and explain why he was calling. Connie
sounded exactly like Donna on the phone. She told him if he wanted she would
call their brother, Roger, and their cousins. Jim thanked her and told her she
could do it if she wanted to as it may go easier hearing it from her. Before
she hung up Connie told him to tell Donna they would be there around The phone rang again after he had hung up with Connie, this
time it was the funeral home letting him know that they had picked up Chrissy’s
body and that the family could come by any time to make arrangements or if they
wanted the funeral director would come by the house to discuss the plans with
them. Jim told him they would come by the funeral home around 1 or Jim woke later hearing someone calling his name. He looked
up and Donna was standing over him asking if he was ok. He told her he was ok
and had lain down to get a short nap. She told him it was Once in the kitchen he could hardly believe his eyes as
there were platters of food of different kids all over the counters. Dona told
him that friends and neighbors must have brought them while they were asleep as
there were cards with names of the ones that brought the item on each one. She
told him there was all kinds of sandwiches and even some cooked stuff she had
put in the refrigerator, so he could take his choice of what he wanted. Jim
grabbed a chicken salad sandwich and told her that would hold him for a bit.
After he ate the three of then went to the funeral home. On the way to the funeral home Donna mentioned that she
wished Chrissy had a white dress to be buried in. Jim told her they would go to
the dress shop in the mall and get her one before going to the funeral home.
When they got the dress Jim also had Donna get shoes and a hair Bow with
ribbons for Chrissy as well. He also had Donna get herself a black dress for
the funeral. He asked Donna if he needed to wear a suit and she said that she
figured he should wear what he normally did since that would be the way Chrissy
would want it. It took till a little past 5 to make the arrangements. They
picked a beautiful mahogany casket with a white liner and brass rails and
handles on it. Donna thought it was a little high in price, but Jim told her
not to worry about the price of anything for he was taking care of it. Donna
also had decided to have the funeral on Monday and it would be in the morning.
She said she needed to contact the church to see if Chrissy could be buried in
her spot next to her father. Jim told her they would go by their on the way
home. Since it was so late, the funeral director asked if they wanted only the family
to view the body that evening and let the friends and public come in the next
morning, Donna agreed this would be nice. They stopped by the church on their way home and the
preacher told Donna that it was ok for Chrissy to be buried next to her father
and that he would be honored to preach the service for her. She asked if they
may hold the service in the church and he told her that also would be ok. Then
they left to go back to Donna’s house. When they pulled in the drive there were
three cars with out of state tags on them parked in the driveway. Donna told Jim that must be her brother and sister and her
in-laws. They got out and when they opened the front door Jim thought his eyes
were playing tricks on him as Connie came up to Donna and hugged her. She
looked exactly like Donna. Donna introduced Jim to everyone there and them to
him. There was Connie, her sister, and her husband Billy and their two girls,
Candice and Jane, Roger, her brother, and his wife, Emily, and there three
kids, Paulette, Teresa and Ralph and her in-laws, Juanita and Daniel Clifton. Donna sat and
explained that Jim was the new owner of the factory and told of how they met
and what all he had done for her and the kids so far. She actually smiled when
she told of them about Jim. Jim was pleased to see she could still smile even
in this situation. The family loaded into vehicles just before After they left the funeral home, Jim took Donna and Josh
back to her house. Donna asked if he would come in and have some coffee. He
went into the kitchen with her and he hugged her tightly as she poured their
coffee, telling her that he would do anything he could to lessen her pain if
she would just give him an idea as to what to do. She turned and hugged him
back and told him that the loss she felt could only be healed with time and
love. He then kissed her lightly and told her that he had plenty of time and
love both if she would let him share it with her. Donna hugged him even tighter
and told him that with everything that happened during the day, she now knew
for certain she loved him. They drank their coffee and then Jim said goodbye
and drove to his motel room to get some sleep. Donna went to her room and as she was getting into bed,
Josh came in to her room. He told her he couldn’t sleep and she told him he
could sleep with her if he wanted to. He got in the bed beside her and she
hugged him close telling him she loved him and that she knew Chrissy loved him
too. Josh turned to her and asked her if she loved Jim also. She told him yes
she did very much and asked what he thought of Jim. Josh told her he thought
Jim was a very nice man and that he would be proud if she married him and Jim
adopted him. Donna told him they would have to see what happened, but she knew
she wanted to be Jim’s wife as much as he wanted to be Jim’s son. They then
drifted off to sleep. When Jim got into bed, he kept thinking of Donna saying she
knew she loved him and of how Chrissy had told him that her momma had told her
she did also. He fell a sleep thinking of how and when to ask Donna to become
his wife. |
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