Chapter Fifty One:
“Bo?....Its not…Matthew’s not?”
“No, honey, he’s awake. He finally woke up.”
Her tears of fear quickly turned to tears of relief. Bo pulled her close and held her for a moment. He broke their quick embrace and took her face in his hands, brushing her tears away with his thumb.
“Let’s go see our son.”
Nora slides over and lays her head on his shoulder as he drives back to the hospital. After a few minutes he feels her tears soaking through his shirt.
“What’s with the tears, Red?”
Pauses for a moment before she speaks, “I almost left our children motherless today, Bo. What kind of mother leaves her sick child and newborn behind to go off and threaten to kill someone. I didn’t even think twice about Madison and how she depends on me for everything. She needed me and I wasn’t there for her. If something would’ve gone wrong with Matthew, I wouldn’t have been there. He woke up and we weren’t there.”
“First, of all one bottle of formula is not going to hurt her, Nora and you know that. As for Matthew, yes something could’ve gone wrong but thank God nothing did go wrong.”
“I know…(pauses for a moment) God, Bo, I’m so sorry.”
“No, apologies, okay. You’ve been through so much this past year, Red. Between everything that happened with Sam and then Nick Manzo and what he did to you. Then this whole thing with Colin and finding out that he’d been pretending to be Troy all these years. It’s not surprising that you finally snapped, Nora. It’s understandable.”
“I think I would’ve killed him, Bo. I honestly think I would’ve pulled that trigger had you not been there.”
“Maybe you would’ve but I honestly don’t think you would’ve given in to the hurt that way.”
“Thank you for being there for me…you’re the only one who’s always been there for me no matter what.”
Taking her hand and bringing it up to his lips, “And I always will be, Red. I always will be.”
Nora laid her head back on his shoulder and they finished the rest of the twenty minute drive in silence.
Bo and Nora walked into Matthew’s room after briefly speaking with his doctor. Nora walked over to his bed and brushed the hair back off his forehead. His mother’s touches causing his eyes to slowly flutter open…
“Hey, there sweetie.”
“Mommy?”
“Yeah, baby. I’m here.”
“Where were you mommy? I woke up and you weren’t here.”
Tears threatening to fall, “I’m sorry I wasn’t here, champ. I’m here now though and I’m not going anywhere ever again.”
“Promise.”
Placing her hand over her heart, “I promise.”
“Good. Daddy?...”
“Yeah, champ.”
“I took care of Mommy and Maddie for you until you could find us. Did I do a good job?”
“You sure did, buddy, and I’m very proud of you.”
Bo’s cell phone rings….
“I’m tired now, mommy.”
“That’s okay. You go ahead and go back to sleep. Mommy and Daddy will be right here when you wake up.”
Yawning, “Okay.”
Nora takes his hand in hers and sits beside his bed. She watches him closely; until she feels his hand go limp in hers indicating his return to a peaceful sleep. Nora kissed him softly on the forehead and lays his hand down on the bed. She glances back at him lying there as she shuts out the light.
Bo is so engrossed in his phone call that he doesn’t realize she’s standing next to him until she puts her hand on his arm….
“Thank you, Larry….Yes, we’ll let Dr. Jones know right away. Thanks again, Larry for rushing things for us.”
Hangs up the phone and picks Nora up; swinging her around, “They found a match for Matthew, a perfect match for both the kidney and the liver.”
“Who?”
“Jessica.”
“Jessica? But how?...I didn’t even know she was going to be tested.”
“I guess she wanted to be tested just in case and as it turns out she is a perfect match for him. Larry was of course shocked so he ran the tests again with the same result. He notified Vicki, and of course, Jessica and they decided to have another DNA test done. It seems as though Mitch pulled a fast one on Vicki. Jessica is Clint’s daughter after all.”
“My God. Vicki and Clint must be thrilled.”
“I bet they are. I’m going to give them a call as soon as we talk to Dr. Jones.”
“Well this has certainly been an amazing day.”
Bo and Nora walked over to the nurse’s station and had them page Dr. Jones. They walked back into Matthew’s room and waited for the doctor to arrive. They didn’t have to wait long….
“Mr. & Mrs. Buchanan, you needed to see me?”
“Yes, we just received a call from our family doctor in Llanview. They’ve found a match for Matthew and everything has been set on their end for the transplants. They’re leaving it up to you as to when Matthew is ready to be released.”
“Well, I don’t see why he can’t be released now. You mentioned before that you have your family jet standing by?”
“Yes, it’s waiting on the tarmac ready for take off.”
“Great, then we’ll prepare him for transport immediately. We’ll transfer him to the airport via the medivac helicopter. I’ll make the flight to Philadelphia with you just in case and problems arise.”
Dr. Jones gathered his team of nurses and began preparing Matthew for release. Bo and Nora walked out into the hallway and watched them for a few minutes…
“I’m going to call Pa and Renee and have them meet us at Children’s hospital so that they can take Madison for us while we’re with Matthew.
“Okay, and I’m going to go down to the nursery and get Madison ready to leave.”
“I’ll meet you down in the nursery in a few minutes.”
“Okay.”
Bo continued to watch the activity in Matthew’s room while he made his phone calls. Down the hallway Nora walked quietly into the nursery. Her paced quickened when she heard Madison’s cries. She reached into the crib and picked her up; holding her tight against her chest.
“Hey there, princess, you hungry?”
Nora sat down in the nearby rocking chair and began to feed Madison. One of the nurses quietly walked over to them and ran her hand over Madison’s head.
“We’re going to miss this little angel.”
“Thank you…for everything.”
“It was our pleasure, Mrs. Buchanan.”
Bo walked into the nursery a few minutes later and finished helping Nora get Madison ready to leave.
A half hour later they were on their way to the airport and twenty minutes after that Asa’s jet was airborne towards Philadelphia.
They were met at Philadelphia International Airport by another helicopter. Matthew was settled into his private room thirty minutes later.
Bo, Nora and a sleeping Madison were greeted by the entire Buchanan family as soon as they walked off the elevator. Nora walked straight into the strong arms of her father in law. She laid her head against his strong chest; as he wrapped his arms around her. He broke their hug and took her face in his large hands…
“Don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours, honey. He’s a Buchanan, through and through.”
“I know, Asa. I know.”
Nora reached up and kissed him on the cheek before walking over towards Jessica who was waiting for them to take her to the OR…
“Thank you so much for doing this. You’re sacrificing so much for him.”
“I’m glad I’m able to do it, Aunt Nora. You know, in a way Matthew has given me a special gift. Because of this we know the truth. I know once and for all, without a doubt, who I am, and there’s no greater gift than knowing where you come from.”
Nora and Bo exchanged knowing glances. Bo walks over and takes Jessica in his arms.
“I love you, Jess, and we’ll make sure Matthew always remembers the special gift his cousin gave him.”
“I love you too, Uncle Bo.”
Coming out of Matthew’s room, “It’s time to go, Jessie.”
“I’m ready, Uncle Larry. Let’s go.”
Everyone gave Jessica their best wishes. Renee took Madison from Bo and the family headed to the sunroom down the hall to wait out the surgery.
Bo and Nora sat with Matthew for a few minutes before they took him for surgery….
“He looks so little, lying there. (looking up at Bo, fresh tears beginning to fall) I don’t know what I’ll do if we lose him, Bo.”
“We’re not going to lose him, Nora. We still have way too much to do together.”
Laying his hand on Nora’s shoulder, “It’s time for them to take him now.”
“Take care of our little boy, Larry.”
“He’s in the best of hands.”
Bo walks over and puts his arm around her as they wheel Matthew out of the room. He takes her hand and together they walk down the hallway to the sunroom. Nora lets go of his hand and walks over to Renee, taking Madison from her. She cradles the sleeping baby; walking over to the corner of the room. She holds her tight against her chest; hoping to gain strength from her innocence.
Minutes turned to hours…but it felt like days. Renee was pacing the hallways with Madison, while Asa harassed every passing nurse demanding an update. Clint held on to Vicki’s hand as they silently prayed for their daughter and nephew. Kevin paced back and forth while Blair held a sleeping Jack in her arms, a sleeping Starr on the chair beside her. Nora laid her head in Bo’s lap the emotions of the past few days finally catching up with her.
Four hours after they had wheeled Matthew to surgery, Larry and Dr. Stone enter the sunroom….