Doris O'Connor (19 page)

She smiled grimly at the low whistle. “Oooh,
that must be tough.”

“
It’s had its moments.”

“
Well, it’s good you’re here. If
you can get his son here, or at least a recording of his voice that
would be even better. You never know what will bring someone out of
a coma. We usually tell relatives to bombard patients with
everything they can think of. Even the formidable mother and
fiancée will not be able to object to anything that will help him
to wake up. If I was him, knowing you were sitting by my bedside
every night would certainly get my attention. Keep talking to him.
Hearing is the last thing to go and the first to come
back.”

Kitty blushed again at the broad wink and
smile on the man’s open face, before leaning over Alex. She brushed
his dark hair off his face and kissed him gently.

“
Have I told you what Noah did
today?”

****

Alex felt laden down, yet strangely floating.
There was an insistent beeping in his ear, a dull ache in his spine
and a familiar scent before it moved away. He was vaguely aware of
a soft touch and a woman’s soft murmurs in his ear. Why couldn’t he
move? Before he could get his tired brain to make any sense of
anything else, the scent of Kitty (?) filled him. What was she
doing here? He heard a whispered “I love you” before darkness
claimed him again.

****

The next day brought a phone call from Stella,
asking her to come to the hospital. Kitty dropped everything at the
urgency in the woman’s voice and arrived in Alex’s room breathless
and laden with some of the pictures that Noah had made for his
daddy and a recording of Noah playing on her iPod.

Stella had Irene with her, and they were in
discussion with Alex’s consultant.

Kitty hovered outside the door, unsure on how
to proceed when Stella motioned for her to come in. Her eyes
narrowed at all the things Kitty was dragging along with
her.

“
Do you intend on moving in, Kitty?
Mr. Stevenson, this is Kitty Jenkins, the mother of Alex’s son. We
were talking about her earlier.”

Kitty smiled at the eminent surgeon and,
putting Noah’s big fluffy teddy, which he’d insisted daddy would
need, down on the floor, shook his hand.

“
What on earth did you bring that
thing for?” Irene glared at her. “Surely that’s a hygiene
hazard?”

“
Actually, we encourage this.
Ordinary objects patients are used to from home all help to jog
patients out of a coma. Have you thought any more about a song that
means a lot to you and Mr. Giovanni? Music can be so helpful and,
of course, just the presence of his loved ones. I’m almost certain
he can hear us. The readings indicate this. There was a definite
increase in his heart rate, coinciding with Miss Jenkins’ visit
last night.”

Kitty’s heart leapt at this news.

“
Alex is responding?
Really?”

Irene rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it was just a
coincidence. Surely he would respond to me or his mother if he
could hear us? And he certainly hasn’t whilst you have been here.
Why should she make a difference?”

Stella interrupted Irene’s moaning, and Kitty
shifted under her calculating stare.

“
It appears you have been visiting
Alex every night? Why?”

“
He is the father of my son,
Stella. It’s the least I can do. Noah is worried about him, and if
my presence here helps Alex even in just a small way, then I have
to be here, and you’re not going to stop me!”

“
I have no intention of stopping
you, Kitty. In fact, I want you to do whatever you did last night
to see whether Alex reacts again. If he does, then we’ll know that
he can definitively hear us.”

Oh shoot.
She couldn’t tell Alex she
loved him in front of Stella and Irene.

“
Go ahead, Miss Jenkins. We’ll just
be over here. I will be making some observations; that’s
all.”

****

Alex could hear the faint voices from far
away. His brain still felt like treacle. Trying to wade through the
random sensations assaulting him was too much effort. He just
wanted to sleep. The cool touch on his lips brought with it a
familiar scent. More voices that he couldn’t decipher. Kitty, he
needed Kitty. He could smell her hair, a whiff of Noah and then his
son’s voice in his ear. Alex fought against the darkness. The
beeping increased. He wanted to move, to get out of this treacle,
so slippery, so….

Darkness claimed him, and he smiled through
the sticky dimness, hearing a whispered, “Alex, I love
you.”

****

Kitty slowly straightened, having whispered to
Alex that she loved him, all too aware of Stella watching her every
move. Mr. Stevenson smiled as he looked at the readings.

“
There is a definite response here.
This looks very hopeful. We will have to run some more detailed
tests of course, but based on these initial findings I am
cautiously optimistic. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am expected in
theatre.”

“
Irene, why don’t you get a coffee,
and get me one whilst you’re at it, would you?” Stella’s cool voice
dismissed Irene.

“
Gladly, I can’t stand hospitals,
and I certainly don’t want to be in the same room as
her!”

“
The feeling is quite mutual,
Irene.” Kitty spat the words at the woman’s departing back before
sitting down next to Alex. She took his hand in hers.

Stella also sat down. Kitty noted with a small
pang that the woman took Alex’s other hand.

“
They say you have been here every
night since the accident. Don’t try and deny it. The nurses all
know you by your first name, singing your praises in fact. Who is
looking after Noah whilst you’re here?”

“
My neighbor. He is quite safe,
Stella. She sleeps over when I’m here.”

“
I see, but when do you sleep,
Kitty? You must be exhausted?”

Was that concern in the woman’s voice? Kitty
glanced across and was shocked to see the silent tears on Stella’s
face as she looked down on Alex.

“
I can’t lose him, Kitty. I just
can’t, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make him well. For whatever
reason he seems to respond to you, which is why I called you in
today. Will you sit with him and help to bring him round? I know I
have no right to ask this of you, not after the way I’ve treated
you, but I don’t know what else to do.”

Her voice broke, and the despair Kitty sensed
in Alex’s mother was an echo of her own fears. She reached across
the bed and put her hand on top of Stella’s, where the older
woman’s trembling fingers had an iron grip on Alex’s
hand.

“
Of course I will, Stella. You
don’t have to ask.”

Chapter
Twenty-Two

The sound of the bell, bringing with it the
start of the summer holidays, brought a groan of relief from Kitty.
Finally! She shut the door to her classroom, smiling at the last
few stragglers still in the playground and sat down, head in
hand.

As much as she loved her job, the strain had
been starting to show over the last week in particular. Dividing
her time amongst work, looking after Noah, and spending every free
minute she had at the hospital with Alex was taking its toll. At
least now she would have more time. Hell, you never know. She might
even manage to sleep. And there goes that formation of pigs flying
backwards again.

Alex had come off all support, and if it
wasn’t for the oxygen line he wore and the insistent beeping of the
monitor, you would have thought he was sleeping. His body was
healing well, yet he remained in a persistent coma, baffling the
doctors and frustrating the hell out of Stella Giovanni.

Kitty had to smile remembering the last
conversation Stella had had with yet another expert called in to
assess Alex’s persistent vegetative state.

Noah had been there, chattering away to his
daddy. He’d tried to climb all over him, and Kitty had lost count
of how many times she’d made him sit next to him instead, mindful
of the surgeon watching the by-play.

“
I’m afraid your son is in a
persistent vegetative state. These are as yet unexplained. Patients
do recover from them, but only time will tell; and then there is
the added complication of—”

“
Daddy not a vegetale!” Noah had
interrupted, hands on hips, frowning, looking so much like Alex
just then Kitty had had to fight back tears. “I not like vegetales,
and I love daddy.”

Irene had groaned, but Stella had looked
across at Kitty with a tearful smile; and the surgeon had laughed,
ruffling Noah’s hair.

“
Well, young man, I reckon, you
fighting in your daddy’s corner is the best medicine ever.” He’d
picked up Alex’s notes, looked as though he was going to say
something else, but had shaken his head instead, and left the
room.

Stella had given Noah a hug, and,
side-stepping a scowling Irene, Kitty had followed the surgeon.
She’d caught up with him in the corridor.

“
Have you got a minute, please?
There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“
Sure, what can I do for Ms.
Jenkins?”

“
You were going to say something
else back there, weren’t you? What was it?”

Grey eyes had assessed Kitty from behind his
spectacles, and he’d rubbed his chin thoughtfully before
responding.

“
I was, yes but under the
circumstances, I felt it was wisest to not mention anything right
now. After all we cannot assess the damage until he wakes
up.”

“
Are you referring to the damage to
his spine?”

The man had taken a step back in surprise.
“Has someone talked to you about this before?”

Kitty had shaken her head.

“
I may have read something in his
notes a while back, and it got me thinking that’s all. Something
about possible permanent immobility? Surely that’s not going to
happen, is it?”

“
I wish I could be more specific,
but only time will tell. Mr. Giovanni received extensive crush
injuries around that area. His spine was not damaged as such, but
the bruising was severe enough to compress his spinal cord; and the
enforced immobility since the accident will not have helped
matters. Ideally, we like to get patients with this sort of injury
up and moving about as soon as possible. This has not been
possible, of course, due to the head injury, so—”

The gasp behind them had made them both turn
around.

“
Are you telling me Alex is a
vegetable
and
a cripple?”

Irene had looked disgusted, and Kitty had had
to fight the urge to slap the woman.

“
Now I certainly wouldn’t use that
phraseology. Mr. Giovanni has defied the odds so far, so let’s stay
optimistic. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really have to
go.”

Kitty had mumbled her thanks before addressing
Irene.

“
You really are something else,
aren’t you? Supportive as always I see. Why do you even bother to
come here at all?”

“
Alex is
my
fiancé, in case
you’ve forgotten. I know what you’re trying to do. Playing the
worried part so well, trying to wheedle yourself into Stella’s
affections. It won’t work, you know. She’ll never forgive you, and
neither will Alex.”

“
Change the tune, Irene. You’re
starting to sound like a stuck CD. I’m not wheedling myself into
anyone’s affections. I’m here for Alex, that’s all, and as long as
he needs me, here I’ll be. There isn’t a thing you can do about it.
Like it or not, Irene, Alex will always be part of my life; he’s my
son’s father. Regardless of my feelings in the matter, I will not
rob Noah of what little time he may have left with his father. Even
if means putting up with the likes of you!”

“
We’ll just see about that, won’t
we?” Irene’s voice had been a shrill ringing in her ear. ”I’ve got
rid of you once. I’ll do so again; you just watch.”

“
Meaning what exactly?”

Irene had just laughed and had shaken her
head. Kitty had turned her back on the woman to walk back to Alex’s
room lest she really hit her. She’d almost collided with Stella,
who’d stood in the narrow corridor, eyes thoughtful, lips
compressed in a grim line. She’d let Kitty pass.

“
Noah wants you, Kitty.”

Kitty had walked away to a flurry of raised
Italian voices.

She sighed, looking round her class room, now.
Hopefully when she came back in six weeks’ time Alex would be
awake. Please, please let him wake up. Surely Noah’s fervent
prayers every night would have to help somehow. Kitty did not
consider herself a religious person, but even she had started
praying in earnest for a miracle. Surely that’s what it would take
at this point to bring Alex back to her. Or at least back to Noah.
She would settle for that. There was something else her tired brain
just couldn’t grasp at the moment, something important about that
conversation she’d had with Irene in the corridor.

This was no good. She had to get home and have
a nap before heading up to the hospital again. Emy and Richard were
picking Noah up and keeping him overnight, so she had a few minutes
to herself.