Chapter Seventeen:
Nora awoke an hour later, the same feeling of dread leaving a knot in her stomach. She could hear the sounds of people rushing past the room. She walked over and quickly checked on Matthew before walking out into the hallway; nurses and doctors were coming and going out of Bo’s room at a frenzied pace. Nora stood frozen outside of Bo’s door. She soon found the strength return to her legs and made her way into the room, “What’s…what happened to him?”
Dr. Costa looked up when he heard Nora’s voice. He could see the fear in her eyes but he did not have time to explain things to her, “Tome por favor a Sra. Buchanan fuera en el pasillo.” (Please take Mrs. Buchanan out into the hallway)
“Si medico,” the nurse said as she walked towards Nora.
Nora looked around the room; the only words out of Dr. Costa’s mouth that she understood were her own name. She felt the nurse’s hand on her arm; suddenly realizing that they were trying to get her out of the room, “No, I’m not leaving!”
“Senora, por favor.”
“No!”, she shouts. “What happened? What’s wrong with him?”
The nurse put her arm around Nora and escorted her out into the hallway. She struggled to make Nora understand, “El medico” she points towards Bo’s room, “He come see you.”
Nora just nodded knowing she had lost the battle to stay in the room. She paced outside the room for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality it was only ten minutes. Dr. Costa walked out of the room and Nora rushed over to him, “What’s going on in there?”
“He has a very high fever; it started about an hour ago and has risen rapidly. We have been able to lower it a little but it is still too high. We are giving him antibiotics to combat the infection that is causing the fever.”
“I don’t understand. You told me he was fine, you told me we had nothing to worry about.”
“I warned you that a post-operative infection was a risk, but that being said I can assure you that everything is being done to bring his fever down and ward off any further complications. I am optimistic that we will be able to bring it down before any further damage is done.”
“What kind of complications?”
“The most serious would be seizures but like I said we’re optimistic that we’ll be able to bring the fever down before there is a chance of that.”
“Can I see him?”
“Yes, of course, but I do have to warn you regarding your own condition, you should rest.”
“I’ll be careful. I just need to be with him.”
“I understand. I’m going to go check on your son. Please take time to rest.”
“I will,” Nora watches him walk away before going into Bo’s room. She walked over and sat down beside the bed. She took his hand in hers and rested her cheek against their intertwined hands. “You are not going to leave us, Buchanan. Do you understand me? We just got you back in our lives and you’re not leaving me down here to raise our children without you. So here’s the deal, Matthew, me, and our little girl will be here when you wake up. Deal? She shook his hand, “See this is where you’re supposed to wake up and say, ‘you’ve got a deal, Red’ but I’ll let it pass this time.” She stood up and leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips before lying down next to him on the bed. She finally fell asleep to the sound of his breathing and the humming of the machines beside his bed.
Rachel walked into Matthew’s room early the next morning expecting to find Nora asleep on the cot in the corner of the room. She walked over and kissed Matthew’s forehead before walking next door to Bo’s room. She sighed at the sight before her; Nora asleep in the bed with Bo, her arm draped across his chest. Rachel slowly walked over to the bed and kissed her mother gently on the cheek before walking back out into the hallway where she found Dr. Costa walking towards her, “Dr. Costa”, extends her hand, “I’m Rachel Gannon, Matthew’s sister. How is he today?”
“Matthew is doing quite well. He slept through the night with no complications at all. I am very pleased with his progress.”
“And Bo?”
“Unfortunately, Mr. Buchanan is fighting a post-operative infection with an extremely high fever…”
“And that’s why my mother is lying in his bed holding on to him as though if she let’s go he’s going to slip away.”
“Your mother loves her husband very much and she is quite passionate about her family.”
“He’s not her husband…well not anymore, but you’re right; she does love him very much.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I was under the impression that they were husband and wife, she never corrected me.”
“It’s just a mere technicality when it comes to my mom and Bo. They’re husband and wife where it matters most,” he just nods his head finally fully understanding the connection between the two people in the room. Rachel looks back into the room where her mother and Bo slept, “So what’s Bo facing? Can you get the fever down?”
“I’m going to be checking on him after I check in on your brother. Mr. Buchanan made it through the night without complications or the fever rising and when I last checked him the fever had gone down significantly.”
“So he’s out of the woods?”
“He’s responding well to the antibiotics and that is a really good sign. I’m going to go ahead and check in on Matthew.”
“I’ll go wake my mother up and fill her in on what’s going on so far.”
“Thank you, I’ll be in, in a few minutes.”
Rachel walked into the room and laid her hand on Nora’s arm, “Mama, wake up.”
Nora stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled when she saw her daughter, “Rikki.”
“Dr. Costa is going to be in in a few minutes to check on Bo. He’s in with Matthew right now.”
Standing up and straightening her clothes, “I need to go check on Matthew.”
“Dr. Costa says he’s doing really well. He hasn’t had any complications at all,” she noticed Nora’s eyes well up with tears as she looked over at Bo, “and he said that Bo is doing well and responding to the medication and his fever has gone down a lot.”
Nora smiled through her tears as she turned back around and looked at her daughter, “He’s fighting. I knew he wouldn’t leave us.”
Rachel was just about to say something when the door opened and Dr. Costa walked in, “Good morning and how is our patient doing?”
“He seemed to sleep comfortably. Rachel says that you told her his fever has gone down.”
“Yes, when I checked on him an hour ago it was down to 101. That is a very tolerable fever. He’s made it through with no complications at all. I’m going to check him over and I’ll come out and fill you in on his progress. Why don’t you go over and see your son, he was asking for you.”
“Thank you, I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Nora and Rachel walked into Matthew’s room, “Hey there, champ.”
“Mom, where were you?”
“I was next door with your dad.”
“Can I see daddy soon?”
“I’ll talk to the doctor about that later, right now I think your sister brought you a special breakfast. Do you think you can eat?”
“I’m starving!”
She walked over towards his bed and set the bag down on the table, “I thought you would be, so your Grandpa Asa had the chef at the hotel make all your favorites.”
Mathew looked over at his mother, his eyes wide with excitement, “Grandpa’s here?”
Nora smiled at her son’s excitement, “Yeah, sport. Grandpa Asa’s here and so is your Grandma Renee.”
“When are they going to come and visit me?”
“Soon, champ. As soon as the doctor says they can come and see you they’ll be here.”
Rachel set up the food for Matthew and with a bit of encouragement she was able to get Nora to take the time to eat before she went back in to check on Bo. They finished their breakfasts and waited for the doctor to return with news on Bo. A knock on the door brought their conversations to a stop, “Nora,” looking between Matthew and Rachel, “may I see you out in the hallway.”
Nora squeezed Matthew’s hand and then walked out into the hallway with Antonio, “Nora I have some news about the case…”