The Marriage Pact (1) (29 page)

The
hospital was in the northern suburbs, an easy forty-five minutes from where
Suzanne and Marci were in Buckhead. Still, Suzanne somehow managed to get them
there in less than half an hour. They skittered into the emergency waiting area
and found Rebecca there, pacing back and forth and talking on her cell phone.
She waved at them soberly as she finished her conversation. “No, still no word.
He’s conscious, I think, but the doctors haven’t said yet whether he’s going to
be okay. They aren’t even letting Jake or Leah in to see him right now. Okay,
Mama, I need to go. I’ll call you when I hear something.”

She
hung up and threw her arms around Suzanne and Marci. “Oh, it’s so awful. Jacob
is completely in shock; he hasn’t said a word since we heard. I was just
telling Mama that it’s so lucky I happened to be with him when we got the call.
We had just finished dinner.”

“Rebecca,
what happened?” Marci interrupted.

“They
say he was out working in the garage, you know how he does, and Mrs. Stillwell
heard a crash. He fell right into his workbench, knocked everything over. She
ran out and found him unconscious, called 911. They don’t know how serious it
was yet, maybe a stroke. I guess they are waiting on tests. He’s in the ICU
now. At one point he was awake, but I don’t know now. They’re only letting
immediate
family back there.”

Marci’s
heart pounded in her chest. Of course, she had no idea what he thought of her
now, but Mr. Stillwell had always been extremely kind to her. And he was Jake’s
hero. It was unthinkable. She sank into a nearby chair and Suzanne held her
hand while Rebecca made another call.

A
few minutes later, Leah came through the double doors with her cell phone. Her
eyes were puffy and red, her normally perfect hair falling out of a sloppy
ponytail. She almost walked past them in her rush toward the door.

“Leah,”
Marci said softly.

“Oh,
Marci! Thank God you’re here.” Leah stopped and threw herself into Marci’s
embrace. “It’s Daddy. It’s so hard to believe.”

Not
knowing what to say, Marci just hugged her back and said, “I’m so sorry.”

“You
have to go back there,” Leah said. “He needs you.” She nodded her head toward
the double doors. Then she squeezed Suzanne’s hand and said, “Hi, Suzanne.
Sorry, I have to go call Dave and make sure the kids are okay. My damn phone
doesn’t work in here. ”

“Leah,
I don’t know,” Marci started awkwardly.
Did Leah know that she and Jake
hadn’t spoken in three weeks? Or did she think they were still engaged?
She
was suddenly painfully aware of the absence of the ring on her finger. She had
stopped wearing it after Jake’s last call. Behind Leah, Rebecca snapped her
phone shut and turned to them with interest.

Leah
put her hand on Marci’s cheek. She looked exhausted. “We all know what
happened, honey. Doesn’t change the fact that you’re family. Just go back there
and tell them that you’re my brother’s wife. It’s down the hall and to the
left, Waiting Room E2.”

At
the words “my brother’s wife,” Marci’s heart leapt, and she immediately felt
ashamed for losing sight of the gravity of the moment. As she turned toward the
double doors, she caught Rebecca’s open glare, and imagined it continuing to
burn her back halfway down the hall.

The
smaller waiting room seemed to be for immediate families of those in the ICU.
Jake’s mother sat on a small couch in the corner, looking stunned. She sat
perfectly straight, both manicured hands gripping her purse, which sat on her
lap. She looked as though she were waiting to be called for a job interview for
which she’d been up all night preparing. Jake was next to her, with his head in
hands, staring at the floor between his feet.

No
one had stopped her on the way back, so it had been unnecessary to tell anyone
she was Jake’s wife. But with no nurses to question her and bring her to the
family, she was unsure how to approach them. No matter what Leah said, Marci
felt she was intruding on this very private moment after Jake had explicitly
asked to be left alone.

Kitty
Stillwater looked at her, but her expression did not register familiarity. Her
face was barely recognizable as the formidable chair of the Country Club Social
Committee. She looked at Marci with wide eyes and said quietly, “Robert.”

Marci
nodded sympathetically, as Jake looked up and saw her standing there.
Selfishly, she hoped he would rush into her arms the way his sister had, to
allow her to comfort him and share his pain. But he didn’t move, and said
nothing. His face was drawn and expressionless. Her heart ached for him. Quietly,
she took the empty seat caddy-corner from him, so that their knees almost
touched. After a minute Jake reached for her hand and held it tightly, but did
not meet her eyes again.

They
sat in silence for a while; Marci had no idea how long. Leah returned and took
the chair on the other side of her mother. People drifted in and out of the
tiny waiting room, having hushed conversations and plunking coins in the
vending machine for coffee and snacks. Marci wondered how Suzanne was doing in
the waiting room with Rebecca, but did not want to go find out. Jake was
holding her hand.

After
a while, a black man in a lab coat, who Marci thought impossibly young to be a
doctor, came and sat across from them. He introduced himself as Dr. Williams,
and looked each of them in the eye individually as he said, “As best we can
tell right now, it seems Mr. Stillwell has experienced a fairly serious stroke.
Normally, strokes like this one are preceded by more minor events, but either
Mr. Stillwell did not have those symptoms or ignored them.”

Leah’s
head dropped to her hands. “Oh, Daddy,” she murmured. Jake reached behind his
mother to put a hand on his sister’s back.

“He
is conscious, and seems alert right now. We’re doing everything we can to keep
him comfortable and to mitigate any additional damage to his body and brain.
I’m hopeful we were able to act in time that his life is not in immediate
danger.” All four sighed deeply.

“You
can go see him now, for just a few minutes, but I have to warn you that there
is some pretty severe paralysis on the left side because of the stroke.” He
looked at Leah. “Your dad doesn’t really look like himself right now. We don’t
know yet whether the paralysis is permanent. Once he has fully stabilized,
we’ll move him to a transitional unit and get him started on physical and
occupational therapy.”

“He’s
retired,” Kitty said automatically, her tiny voice gravelly with disuse.

Rather
than explain the definition of occupational therapy, Dr. Williams stood and led
them toward the hall and Robert’s room. As they filed out, he placed a hand on
Marci’s arm. “You’re the daughter-in-law?”

“Yes,”
Marci said, not at all confident that this was the right thing to say.

“Listen,
I know this is difficult for everyone, but they’re going to need some help processing
everything. Stroke recovery is complicated and there will be a lot of details
and options. I think it would be helpful if you could take some notes and help
them sort through it. Sometimes it’s easier for someone who isn’t a blood
relative. Understand?”

She
nodded. He pointed down the hall where a nurse was leading the other three into
Mr. Stillwell’s room. She walked slowly, giving them time, and then hovered
just outside the door as the three of them crowded around his bed. Between the
slackening on the left side of his face, all the tubes and wires, and the white
pallor of his skin, Robert Stillwell looked
nothing
like himself.

Marci
watched through the glass as Leah fell to her knees next to her father’s bed
and buried her head in his hands. Robert put his functioning right hand on top
of his daughter’s head and seemed to look around at the rest of his family. She
could not see Jake’s face and for the moment she was grateful for this. She did
notice, however, that Jake’s mom hung back from the others, closer to the
doorway than Robert’s bed. As Marci watched her, trying to get a hint of her
expression from behind, she saw that Mrs. Stillwell was wavering where she
stood, leaning —

Marci
got there just in time to keep Kitty from crashing into the counter with the
hand-washing sink. She braced the tiny woman awkwardly against it, trying to
get her hands under Kitty’s armpits and yelling for Jake, who seemed to be
turning around in slow motion. Marci managed to ease her into a seated position
on the floor, and then prop the unconscious woman up against her own legs while
holding her shoulders. A large woman in scrubs rushed in and snapped at Marci
to step back as she took over. Marci pressed herself backward against the
doorframe, trying to be as small as possible.

“It’s
all right,” the woman said, with some sort of Caribbean accent. “She’s only
fainted. Here we go, sweetheart.” She waved something under Kitty’s nose and
helped her into a chair in the hallway about ten feet from Robert’s room.
Expertly, she examined Kitty’s reflexes and softly asked her questions. It
seemed to take her a minute to be able to focus, and when she did she threw her
arms around the nurse’s neck and broke into sobs.

As
if responding to a silent alarm, Dr. Williams appeared from around the corner
and knelt in front of Mrs. Stillwell. He muttered instructions to the nurse and
then continued talking to Kitty, holding her hands. Marci could not hear him,
but he saw Mrs. Stillwell nodding gently as she leaned into the doctor. The nurse
returned with a small paper cup and a glass of water. Kitty took the pills
without protest and Dr. Williams patted her hands. The large Caribbean nurse
stood nearby, her expression neutral.

“I’ve
given your mother-in-law a mild sedative,” Dr. Williams said, addressing Marci
as he entered the room. “This has been too much strain for her. Someone needs
to drive her home and help her get some rest. That’s the best thing for
everyone now.”

“I’m
not leaving Daddy,” Leah said, matter-of-factly.

“I’ll
take her home,” said Marci immediately. She was happy to at last feel she could
be useful.

“You
don’t have to,” Jake started.

“Don’t
be ridiculous,” she said firmly. “You need to be here. I will take her home. I
need a key.”

Jake
pulled a small silver key off his key ring and handed it to her. Having
something tangible to do made Marci feel calmer, more empowered. She was in
temp mode—figure out what needs to be done and do it. She turned to Leah.

“What
does your dad need from the house? Will they let him have anything?”

“I—I
don’t know.” Leah looked utterly lost.

“It’s
okay. I’ll ask at the nurses’ desk. Is there a bag I can bring things in?”

“Bedroom
closet...top shelf.”

“Now,
what about you guys? Don’t you at least want a sweater and a pillow if you’re
going to stay here all night? Has either of you eaten anything?” They looked at
her, wide-eyed.

“Okay,
we’ll see to that, too. Leah, why don’t you give me Dave’s cell phone number
and I’ll let him know I will be stopping by to pick up some things for you once
we get your mom settled. You wear contacts, don’t you?” Leah nodded. “So you’ll
want a lens case and your glasses, probably.”

“Who’s
going to stay with Mama?” Leah asked.

“Suzanne
or Rebecca will. I’m sure either of them will be happy to. I’ll be back as soon
as I can. Call me if you think of anything else.”

Out
in the hallway, the nurse helped the already-drowsy Kitty into a wheelchair and
led Marci toward the exit. She confirmed that Mr. Stillwell could have a robe
and slippers, and suggested he might want a framed photograph of his family in
the room with him. She told Marci at least three times that no live flowers
were permitted in the ICU. On the way out to the waiting room, Marci saw it was
nearly 11:00.

Rebecca
and Suzanne had both dozed off in the uncomfortable-looking waiting room
chairs. Rebecca’s hand was clinched around her cell phone.
Probably hoping
to hear from Jake
, Marci realized. Was it possible that Rebecca would one
day serve in this role?

Marci
woke them and explained the situation. “We need to get Mrs. Stillwell home and
to bed and I think one of us ought to stay with her. I am going to call Dave
and pick up some things for Leah. Jake didn’t say that he wanted anything, but
maybe we should bring a pillow and something to eat anyway.”

“I’ll
go with you and stay with her,” Suzanne volunteered. “But I have a meeting at
ten tomorrow so you have to promise to come back for me. At least that way I
can crash on the couch for a few hours.”

“I
can go get Jake’s stuff,” Rebecca said.

“Do
you, um...” Marci hesitated in discomfort. “Do you have a key to his place?”
Surely
not yet?

Rebecca
shook her head. “I’m sure he’ll come out soon to check on me, though, and I can
get his key then. It’s no problem.”

“You
can take mine,” Marci said, fumbling with her keychain and not meeting
Rebecca’s eye, or looking at Suzanne, who she could see reacting in her
peripheral vision. “I haven’t returned it to him yet. I guess you can do that
for me.” She tried a hollow little laugh that had no effect on the awkwardness
whatsoever. As she handed Rebecca the key, she was vaguely aware that she was
passing off one of her last excuses to see Jake after this.