|
One in a Billion
Chapter Seventeen
“Day Seventeen”
Jim woke
the next morning to the phone ringing. He found Donna in the same position she
had been in when they fell asleep the night before. He slowly shook her and
told her the phone was ringing. She reached over and answered it. After saying
hello and yes, just a second, she handed the phone to Jim. She told him, “It is
Jennifer and she needs to speak to you urgently”.
Jim took
the phone and said hello. Jennifer started talking, “Jim this is Jennifer and I
have a situation here. I have a truck driver here that says he can not unload
until we give him a check for his materials, and we have never paid a driver
for anything at all, could you come and handle this? He says he is leaving in
15 minutes with or without unloading.” Jim told her,” I’ll be right there, tell
the driver to wait for me; it will be about 20 minutes before I can get there.”
He then hung up and told Donna he had to go to the factory.
He hurried
into Josh’s room and got dressed as fast as he could. Then he started for the
front door and Donna was there waiting in her robe. She kissed him and told him
she loved him. He returned the kiss and told her he would be back as quickly as
he could. “Be careful and I will wait till you come back before I fix breakfast,”
she said as he went out the door.
Jim started
his van and headed for the factory, he turned onto the main highway and headed
north. Just about a mile down the highway at the intersection by the restaurant
he noticed something out of the corner of his left eye. Before he could turn
his head he heard metal crashing against metal and felt the door of the van
cave in against him. He felt the van roll over several times sideways and
smelled smoke, gasoline, and other vehicle chemicals. He couldn’t move his arms
or his legs when the van finally came to rest on its wheels again. He tried to
yell out and found he couldn’t speak, and then he lost consciousness.
Donna had
just stepped from the shower when the phone rang again. She answered it and
found it to be Jennifer again. “Donna, this is Jennifer, I have some bad news
and am almost to your house. Jim was in an accident and they had to cut him out
of his van. He is at the hospital and I will drive you there.” Donna told her,
“I just got out of the shower; I will dress quickly and should be ready by the
time you get here. How bad is he, do you know?”
Jennifer replied, “He was unconscious when they got him out, he was
pinned in pretty bad and they believe he was bleeding internally. I am just
about 4 minutes from you now. I will let you go so you can get dressed and will
see you in a few minutes.” Donna said ok and hung up.
She raced
through dressing faster then she ever had in her life. She blew her hair dry
and was almost to the front door when Jennifer knocked on it. She opened it and
told Jennifer she just needed to grab her purse and would be ready to go. They
got in Jennifer’s car and headed to the hospital. It was the longest drive in
Donna’s life.
When they got to the hospital, Lena was the
nurse that met them at the Emergency Room nurses’ station. She told Donna that
the doctors were doing all they could for Jim and as soon as they had some
information she would let her know what was going on. She then told Donna and
Jennifer that they should go across the hall to the ER waiting room and she
would come to get them if anything happened. Donna was almost hysterical and
Jennifer helped her to the waiting room.
Once in the waiting room Jennifer asked Donna if she wanted
to call Josh and tell him about Jim having an accident. Donna took out her cell
phone and called Connie at the motel. “Connie, I need to speak to Josh,” she
said. Connie handed the phone to Josh and he, “Hi Mom, is something wrong?”
Donna then told him, “Josh, I am at the hospital, but I am ok. Jim had an auto
accident a little while ago and is in serious condition. He is unconscious and
they think he is bleeding on the inside. The doctors are still working on him. I
wanted to let you know about it, but I think it best if you don’t come up here
till we find out more about his condition.” “Was he alone, or were you with
him,” Josh asked. Donna replied, “Jim was alone and was headed to the factory
to take care of some business there. He got hit at the intersection by the
restaurant. An eighteen wheeler ran the stop sign and hit him right in the
driver’s door. They say it pinned him in pretty tight. The impact rolled the
van sideways five times and when it stopped it was on its wheels again, but the
whole top was smashed in and so was the driver’s side. It broke every window in
it and was on fire when the emergency people got there. They said he was in
pretty bad shape when they got him out and was already unconscious.”
Josh then asked, “Will he die like Chrissy did mom?” Donna
said, “Chrissy died from a severe head injury dear and I am hoping that is not
the case with Jim. I will not lie to you though, he could die at any minute,
but we are all prying he doesn’t. Josh, I have a strong feeling he will make it.
Please honey; help him with your prayers too. I am not sure what I would do if
I lost him after losing Chrissy, I just can’t even think about it. Jim will be
ok, I know it in my heart. Now please tell Connie what has happened and I will
talk to you later when I find out something new. Josh, I love you son.” Josh
replied, “Ok Mom I will tell Aunt Connie everything and I love you too. I will
wait to hear from you and will not come to the hospital until you say it is ok.
Good-bye Mom.”
Donna hung up and was in tears, she thought to herself,
would Jim really be alright, would he live, or would he die as Chrissy had. All
these thoughts were weighing heavily on her mind and her heart also. Jennifer
asked, “Would you like some coffee or something to eat Donna?” Donna told her
coffee would be ok, but she didn’t think she could eat anything as she felt
like her stomach was upset a little. Jennifer told her she would get them some
coffee and left to go to the cafeteria.
When Jennifer returned with the coffee she found Donna
sitting with her head in her hands. She gave her the coffee she had got for her
and asked if there was anything else she could do for her. Donna told her no
she was ok and just wanted to be sure she was close in case something happened
to Jim. Jennifer told her she would stay with her as long as she wanted her to
as Janet had come to the factory and took her place when she heard of the
accident. Donna just sat quietly thinking about what had happened in the past
two weeks of her life.
She had met the man of her dreams and the father of her
children’s dreams. He was the kindest and most thoughtful man she had ever met.
She loved him almost from the start and was so much in love with now she just
couldn’t imagine going on with her life if he was to die. She had lost her mother,
and her house and all and then had just lost her firstborn child, and now
wasn’t sure if she would lose her loving fiancé. The only thing she had left
was her son. She loved him dearly, but would she be able to continue on just
for him, YES she would she thought quickly. For no matter how bad her life got
she always had given her children priority over anything else in her life. She
thought of them first and then everything else. Besides Josh would miss Jim as
much if not more then she would. Maybe she should have Connie bring him to the
hospital so he could be near also just in case something happened to Jim.
Donna was brought out of her thinking as Lena came into
the waiting room accompanied by a doctor. Lena said,
“Donna this is Dr. Brenzane, he wants to speak to you about Jim.” Donna nodded
her head and stared into the Doctor’s eyes as he spoke. “Your fiancé has
suffered very serious injuries from the accident he was in. He is still
unconscious, we have performed two surgeries on him so far and we believe we
have stopped the bleeding inside his chest. Both of his legs are broken, his
left arm is broken and his left shoulder required surgery to relocate it in
place. He will be a while healing and we feel he will be ok. The coma he is in
is normal for the severity of injuries he sustained and he may come out of it
shortly. If he doesn’t come out of it within 48 hours then we will begin to
worry. They are moving him to a private room and as soon as they have in it and
stabilized you may see him. Please feel free to talk to him and also even to
hold his hand or kiss him, for this might help to trigger the release of the
coma and bring him around a lot quicker. Just be very careful if he starts to
move as he could pull the stitches in his chest loose, especially if he goes to
coughing. Nurse Lena will be on duty for a while and she has left word for the
other nurses to check on him every 10 minutes at my request. If you have any
questions please feel free to ask them, and I will try to answer them all.” Donna
thanked the doctor and said she had no questions at the time.
After the doctor left Lena told her it would be about 15
minutes before she could see Jim and she would come back to take her to his
room when they were ready for her. Donna thanked Lena and she
sat back down. She took out her cell phone and called Connie again. She told
Connie what the doctor had said and Connie in turn told Josh. Donna then told
Connie that if Josh wanted to and she would bring him, he could come to the
hospital for a while this afternoon. Connie told her it was already 1 o’clock and Donna looked at her watch
unaware of the time that had passed. She then told Connie it would be ok for
Josh to come around 5 this evening then. Connie said she would bring him by
about that time and they hung up.
Just shortly later Lena came in
and told them she would take them to Jim’s room and they followed her down the
hall. When they got to his room, Lena told them
that the doctor had asked that they keep the number of visitors at any one time
down to three or less. They both said they would and then went into the room. Donna
saw Jim laying on the bed with both legs in casts and elevated with pillows,
she guessed for better circulation. His left arm was also in a cast and he had
scratches and scrapes all over his right arm, neck and face. She noticed his
face seemed to be swelled slightly also and guess it was from the impact of the
van roof hitting him when it flipped over several times. She walked up to his
right side and sat down in the chair there.
She slid the chair close to the bed and reached out and
gently took his hand. She started to cry as she sat and held his hand
remembering that it was only days before that she had did the same thing with
Chrissy. Jennifer came over and stood by her, crying also but not as heavily as
Donna was. She asked Donna if she was ok and Donna just nodded still sobbing
quite heavily. Jennifer told her Jim would be ok, he was too kind to have
anything happen to him. Donna just kept nodding and hoping to herself that what
Jennifer was saying was true.
Jennifer told Donna a little bit later that she was going
to go for a while so she could spend some time with her son. She asked Donna if
she wanted her to come back later that evening or if the next morning would be
ok. Donna told she would be ok there by herself and that if there was any
change she would call Jennifer immediately. Jennifer said that she would see
her the next day and she left to go home.
Donna leaned forward till her head was lying on the bed
close to where she was holding Jim’s hand. She was thinking of all the things
he had done so far for her and others in town and now she wanted to do
something for him. She vowed right then that unless she needed to go to the
restroom, she wouldn’t leave his side unless the nurses ran her out or he died.
Sleep soon overtook her as she was very tired from crying and not eating yet.
She never heard the door open when Lena came in to
check on Jim every ten minutes. Nor did she hear Connie and Josh enter the room
a little before 6 o’clock.
Josh had asked Connie to stop by the restaurant and they
had brought Donna a plate of food and also two glasses of sweet tea. Josh
stepped over to his mom after setting her plate down on the table in the corner
he shook her lightly and called her name. Donna raised her head and looked
around until she saw Connie and Josh standing there. She turned loose of Jim’s
hand and hugged Josh tightly to her telling him she loved him dearly. He told
her he loved her too and that they had brought her some food and some tea. She
thanked him and excused herself to the restroom to wash her hands and face
before eating.
When Donna came back into the room Josh was sitting where
she had been and was holding Jim’s hand and talking to him as if he was awake.
She admired her son for being so much like her and yet she hurt for the feeling
of loss he was showing having his future dad lay there in the shape he was in.
Donna took her plate and one glass of tea and asked Josh if he would permit her
to sit there again as she wanted to be as near to Jim as she could until he was
better. Josh told her it was ok with him and then asked if he could spend the
night with her and Jim instead of staying at the motel with Connie. Donna told
him she thought that wouldn’t be too good of an idea, but she also told Connie
that if they wanted to they could give up their motel room and move into her
place until they left. Connie told her that she would only do that if Donna was
sure she wanted them to and that they had decided since Jim had the accident
they were going to stay a few days longer to make sure she was ok in case
something happened to him. Donna told her she was sure of them staying at the
house and she handed her a spare key from her purse and then said good-bye to
her and Josh so they could go and move to the house.
Lena came in
just as Connie and Donna were hugging each other and saying good-bye. She
stopped and looked over at them a second time and told them she thought she was
seeing double. Donna introduced Connie and Lena and told Lena they were
always being accused of being twins. Lena said she
could see why and then she spoke to Josh and asked how he was. He spoke to Lena softly
enough that Donna couldn’t hear what he was saying and then Josh and Connie
left. Lena told Donna, “Josh is very worried about you and Jim both. He wanted
me to promise him that I would watch over you when I checked on Jim to make
sure you were ok. That son of yours loves you and Jim both very much. I sure am
sorry to see either of you going through this with Jim after being here days
ago with Chrissy. I am the reason Jim is on this hall and not the other one
where Chrissy was as the doctor was going to move him there, until I explained
the circumstances.”
Donna told Lena, “That was very thoughtful of you and I
appreciate all you have done for me and my family even by promising Josh that
you would watch out for me also. I don’t know how I will ever repay everyone
for all the help and support they have given me in the past two weeks. My life has
been just terrible recently and now with Jim here in this condition I am not
sure as to how long I can keep going. I do know however that no matter what
happens I will always have good friends and family members I can turn to when I
need help.” Donna sat back down in her chair and reached for Jim’s hand, then
she began crying again. Lena stepped
over next to her and told her she could get the doctor to approve of a light
sleeping pill if she wanted one to help her sleep. Donna told her she would
think about it, but she believed she would pass at the moment on taking
anything in case Jim woke up. Lena said she
understood and told her she would be back later, and then she left.
Donna once again leaned forward and laid her head on the
bed next to where she was holding Jim’s hand gently but tight enough that if he
woke she would feel him moving it. She laid there for a while and didn’t offer
to move the next three times Lena came in to
check on Jim. She kept her eyes closed and before Lena could
return the next time she was asleep. She slept all night in that position and
never woke even when the nurse that relieved Lena came in
and covered her with a blanket at 11 o’clock.
|
Return to Main Page