"I'd like to stay with her, yes."
"Of course, but I'll have the staff get a recliner in here for you. I'll be on call all night. I'm one of the internists here at the hospital. The ER called me after they realized she needed to be admitted. If there are any changes in her condition during the night, they'll page me. Otherwise, I'll be in to see you in the morning before I leave."
"Thank you, Dr. Phillips."
By the time Bonnie and Jared returned with dinner, Grace had arrived.
"Oh, Grace, thank God you're here." Mary got up and hugged her. "I'll go out and let you sit with them for a while. Parker will fill you in."
Mary walked out to the lounge to eat her food. Bonnie and Jared sat with her. She told them everything Dr. Phillips had said.
John had joined them, having brought Harper's mother. "I'll go back to the house. The children were asleep when I left for the airport."
"Thank you, John. Parker, Grace, and I will be staying here overnight."
"Ellie and I will see to the children, ma'am. We'll tell them their parents had to go away for a meeting."
"Thank you so much."
Parker looked at Grace. "I'm so sorry."
"It wasn't your fault. From what I know, she was walking and fell. You weren't even aware she wasn't in the house." Grace placed her hand on his shoulder. "Go ahead and eat your dinner, son. Then you can fill me in on the rest."
She walked over to Harper's bedside. Leaning over, she spoke softly to her daughter. "Harper Jo, Mommy's here. You need to wake up now, baby girl. Your husband is here, too, and so is Mary. I think your friends are also here. We all need you, especially little Ava and Aiden." She leaned over and kissed Harper's cheek, then she sat down to listen to what the doctor had told Parker and Mary.
After he'd told her everything he knew, Grace said, "I'll call Dr. Kellum in the morning and ask him some questions about head injuries."
"Someone needs to tell the kids. I wonder if Mom would go over there in the morning and do it."
"I'm sure she will."
"You knew that their mother, my first wife, died from a head injury, after suffering from a fall."
"I knew she had passed away. What happened, Parker?"
"She was at the office. She had stopped in to tell me something. When she got on the elevator, she must have fainted, hitting her head. They found her in the elevator, but it was too late. She was bleeding internally."
"I'm so sorry, Parker."
"Grace, I love Harper more than I've ever loved anyone in my life. I can't lose her."
"Don't talk like that. Just because your first wife couldn't be saved doesn't mean the same thing will happen to Harper. You said they didn't suspect any bleeding, at this time."
"You're right."
"Try and rest after you eat, Parker, I'll be right here. I'll wake you if anything happens."
"All right, I'll try to close my eyes. I'll need to be alert when she wakes up."
"Here are some clean clothes, a razor, and a few other things, Parker. I'm sure you can use the bathroom in here to freshen up." Mary handed him the bag of toiletries she'd collected when she'd gone home to freshen up, the next morning. She and Grace had gone to the house early, after freshening up at Mary's, and told the children what was happening and then had gone back to the hospital.
"Thanks, Mom."
"Have you eaten?"
"We've arranged for one of his restaurants to deliver three meals a day, for the three of you as long as you're here," Bonnie said. She'd come back to the hospital early that morning.
"Has the doctor been in yet?"
"Yes, he was. He said we watch and wait. He examined the cast they put on her arm this morning and checked her pupils and a few other things," Parker answered.
"I can stay as long as you like, Parker, but if you'd rather just have family, that's fine, too," Bonnie told him.
"Stay if you can, Bonnie, unless you have things to do."
"Nothing that can't wait." She smiled at her friend before turning to Grace. "Mrs. Easton, how are you doing?"
"Please, call me Grace. I'm concerned, but I'm okay. Dr. and Mrs. Kellum, friends from home, are driving up this afternoon."
"Good, I'm glad," Parker remarked.
"Yes, that's nice. Isn't that the doctor Harper worked with? I believe she mentioned that the night we all had dinner together."
"Yes, that's actually where Harper and I met. I had to take Aiden in to see the doctor while in Moline on business, and Harper was working," Parker told her.
"I didn't know that." Bonnie laughed. "Leave it to little Aiden to find his dad a wife."
"I felt so bad for keeping her at work after hours that I invited her to join me and the kids for dinner at our hotel."
"And the rest, as they say, is history." Grace laughed.
"And apparently, it was love at first sight," Bonnie added.
"Pretty much, yes," Parker replied sadly.
"Grace, how are the kids?" Bonnie asked, afraid she already knew the answer.
"They didn't take it well, as we'd expected, but Mary was able to calm them down. John was watching a movie with them when we left."
A nurse came in to check on Harper. She removed an empty bag of fluids and replaced it with a full one. Then she checked her vitals. "She's holding her own," she told them. "Her vitals are strong."
When the delivery boy from the restaurant showed up with their lunch, a few hours later, the two mothers were able to persuade Parker to go to the lounge with them to eat.
"You can relax a little. And it's right down the hall. You'll be close by if Harper needs you."
"This is really good, Parker," Grace said as she took a bite of the vegetable soup. They had each also been brought a sandwich and a dessert.
When he'd finished eating, Parker told the two women to stay and rest. "I'm going back in. I'd like to be alone with Harper."
"Okay, sweetheart, you go on. But please, send someone to get us if there is any change," Grace requested.
"I will," he replied with a smile.
When he entered the room, a male nurse he hadn't seen before was standing next to Harper's bed, holding a pillow in his hand.
"What are you doing?" Parker demanded.
"Just putting a pillow behind her head, sir," the nurse replied. He looked nervous as he attempted to place the pillow under Harper's head.
"I'll do it." Parker took the pillow from the nurse's hand.
"Yes, sir, I'll just be going now." He hurriedly left the room.
Chapter 13
It was a long and tiring day for the people who loved Harper, with Parker rarely leaving her side. He held her hand and whispered in her ear almost continually. Only occasionally could Grace or Mary persuade him to take a break.
"The doctor said to watch and wait, but for how long?" Parker looked to his mother for guidance.
"I don't know. He didn't really say, did he?"
"I wonder if Dr. Kellum is here yet?" he asked.
"Grace went downstairs to wait for him. I'm sure she'll bring him up to see you and Harper as soon as he gets here."
Jenny, the nurse assigned to Harper for the afternoon shift, came in and introduced herself. "I'm Jenny. If you need anything, just let me know. I'll be back to check her vitals in just a little while."
"Thank you," Parker said absently.
"Can I get you anything? Perhaps a cup of coffee? I can get some from our staff lounge. I guarantee it'll be better than what you've been getting out of the machines."
"That would be wonderful. You can bring us both a cup if you don't mind. Black is fine," Mary told her.
"Coming right up." She placed a hand on Parker's shoulder. "You've got to keep your strength up. Make sure you are eating and resting. When she wakes up, she's going to need you."
After Jenny had gone to get the coffee, Mary told her son, "Parker, you've got to pull yourself together here. I've never seen you like this, not even when Aileen—"
"
Mom, you have no idea what I'm feeling right now. The pain I felt when Aileen died is nothing compared to the way I'm feeling now, sitting here watching my precious Harper in this bed. A million thoughts are swirling in my head—what if she never wakes up, what if she wakes up but has no memory, what if she can't remember our life together, and what if… God forbid… what if I never get to tell her what she means to me?"
"I know you love her dearly. I know she's the one true love of your life. But you can't think this way. You have to have faith. And I do have an idea of what you are feeling. I loved and lost your dad."
Jenny returned with the coffee then. Parker gratefully accepted it and took a sip of the hot, steaming liquid. "You're right, Jenny, it's better than the coffee in the machines."
"Well, anytime you want another cup, you just let me know."
"Thanks," Mary said as she took the cup Jenny offered her.
"I think I'll call Connie at the restaurant and tell her to include a big pot of coffee for us, from now on, in their deliveries," Parker said as he reached for his phone.
"Now, that sounds like a plan, since it may be another long night for us."
A few minutes later, Grace came in the room. "Parker, Dr. Kellum is here. He's spoken to the nurses, and he's gotten permission from the chief of staff to have access to Harper's records. He'd like to see you outside, before he comes in to see Harper. He's been able to answer some of my questions, so ask him whatever you'd like."
"Thank you, Grace. Here, you take my chair. She'd probably like to hear her mama's voice instead of mine for a while."
When he'd closed the door softly behind him, Grace looked at Mary sadly. "I just don't know what to say to him to snap him out of it."
"He loves her so deeply. I've been trying to tell him that he has to have faith she'll wake up. He went to the chapel at four this morning to pray."
"That poor boy and those poor babies at home, to have to go through this after what happened to their mama. They're so attached to Harper now. We all saw that on Christmas Eve."
"Grace, I don't know if you picked up on it, but Parker's first marriage was not the best. Aileen was a good mother, and she tried to be a good wife, at first. Parker wasn't in love with her. Truth be known, she probably wasn't really in love with him, either. The situation between your daughter and my son is quite different. They love each other very much. If anything were to happen, I don't think my son would survive it."
"We'll just have to make sure nothing happens to my Harper Jo." Grace patted her daughter's hand and spoke softly to her, "Harper Jo, you need to wake up now, honey, so your handsome husband can get some sleep."
Mary laughed. "Grace, it's no wonder Harper has been such a breath of fresh air to this family; she's just like her mother."
"Thank you, Mary. You know, when Harper told me she and Parker were getting married, I have to admit, I was concerned. After all, he's older and has two children. Harper had suffered a heartbreak when her fiancé broke up with her. She'd only had the one real boyfriend, Shawn, and I feared she was acting on impulse. But when I arrived in South Carolina for the wedding, I only had to look at the two of them together, to know my daughter had made a wise choice. Parker is wonderful. It's obvious that he adores her. And I can see her feelings for him run much deeper than any she felt for Shawn."
"Yes, it's quite obvious, isn't it? You don't know how happy I am they found each other. The staff loves her, and so do the children. We all do. She has to wake up, Grace." Mary wiped her eyes with a tissue.
Parker stepped back into the room. "Would you two mind letting Dr. Kellum come in? You need a break, anyway. Mrs. Kellum is in the lounge."
"Sure, honey. Come on, Grace, let's take a walk to the chapel. We'll take Mrs. Kellum with us."
Grace got up and touched Parker's hand. "Keep your faith, Parker. She loves you too much to give up."
When the women were gone, the older, kindly doctor walked to Harper's bedside. He checked her pupils and her pulse. "Parker, her pulse is good, strong."
Jenny came in to take Harper's vitals. "I hear you're a retired doc from Moline and a family friend. Welcome."
"I am. Harper is like a daughter to my wife and myself."
When Jenny had finished, she handed the chart to Dr. Kellum, as she'd already been told he had permission to see all of Harper's reports. He scanned the results of her blood pressure and heart rate and said, "Parker, everything looks good here. I'll speak to Dr. Phillips when he makes his rounds and see what else he can tell me."
"Thank you so much, Doc."
"Parker, let's take a walk. You need to get some fresh air. The nurses will call us if they need us."
"Okay." Parker leaned over and kissed Harper's cheek. "Baby, I'll be right back. I'm just going for a walk with Dr. Kellum. I love you."
The two men walked and talked for a while. It was later decided that the doctor and his wife would stay the night with Parker and Harper in the hospital, while the two mothers went back to Mary's house to rest for the night.
"Parker, why don't you go home for a few hours, shower, nap, see the kids?" Mrs. Kellum suggested gently, the next morning. "I know you don't want to leave her, but your mother and Grace will be back soon."
"She's right, son. After Dr. Phillips comes in, you go home. We'll go to our hotel for few hours. Mary and Grace can hold down the fort."
"I do need to check on the kids; they're probably sick with worry by now."
Grace and Mary returned, refreshed, and both of them heartily agreed. Parker needed a break.
"How are the kids?" he asked.
"They're all right, considering. You can tell they're frightened, but Ellie and John have been keeping them occupied. Ellie kept them out of school the past few days, but she thinks they should go back. She called their teachers and explained the situation, and they will most likely go back after today."
After Dr. Phillips's visit, when he'd shared that there had been no change, Parker went home. Driving his mother's car, he pulled into the driveway. Seeing Harper's car still parked where she had left it, he lay his head on the steering wheel and sobbed. Calming himself down before going inside to face Ava and Aiden, he walked around the house a few times before going in through the kitchen door.
"Parker, oh, honey, sit down and have a cup of coffee. I just made a fresh pot." Ellie began mothering him immediately. She poured a cup for him and one for herself then sat down with him.
"What's happening?" she asked, eager for news.
"Her vitals are good, but she's still not awake," he said as he took a sip of the strong black coffee.
"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry. What does the doctor say?"
"Watch and wait; that's all we can do at this point."
John walked in. Seeing Parker, he went to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Hang in there, Parker. She's a fighter."
"I hope you're right. Where are Ava and Aiden?"
"Playing a game in the den, go on in. They'll be happy to see you."
Parker went to find his children. Entering the room quietly, he said, "Hey, you guys, got a hug for your dad?"
"Daddy, we missed you. Is Mama with you?" Ava ran to him for a bear hug.
"Daddy, I want Mama." Aiden's eyes filled with tears as Parker scooped him up in his arms and held him close.
He sat down, with Aiden on his lap. He pulled Ava down beside him and hugged her close to him. He said, "Your mama is at the hospital. She's resting right now. She fell and hurt her arm and her head. The doctors and nurses are taking really good care of her."
"Can we see her?" Ava asked.
"Not just yet, Princess Ava. Maybe later, when she feels better, I'll take you to see her."
"Does she miss us?" Aiden asked sadly.
"She misses you guys like crazy."
He sat with them for a while longer, playing games and reading to them. When Ellie came in to get them for lunch, Parker told them that he was going to take a nap. "I'll go back to check on your mama when I wake
up. I'll tell her you send your love and lots of hugs and kisses."
After he was finally able to catch a few good hours of uninterrupted sleep, he showered, shaved, and dressed. He kissed the children, telling them to behave for Ellie and John. He mentioned to Ellie that if Annie wanted to come up from South Carolina to help out with the kids, he'd arrange for her flight. He gave her carte blanche to call and invite her.
"She's been calling several times a day, to find out what is going on, so I'm sure she'll be on the first flight you can book her on."
"I'll have my secretary get right on that, I need to check in with her, anyway." He dialed Linda's extension and filled her in.
"Things are all right here, Mr. Bentley. I'll call you if anything comes up. I'll take care of Annie's flight plans right away. Should I call her with the details, or will you?"
"Go ahead and call her directly. I'll let her know to expect your call."
"Ellie, please let Annie know that my secretary will call her with the flight information," he said when he hung up the phone.
"I've already spoken to her. She's packing as we speak."
"What would I do without all of you?"
"You won't ever have to find out. Now, get back to Harper before she wakes up and you're not there."
"If only she would." He hugged his housekeeper, waved goodbye, and rushed to the car.
When he arrived back at the hospital, he learned there still had been no change.
On the third day, in the early afternoon, Parker was dozing with his head resting on Harper's stomach, holding her hand.
"Parker." A hoarse whisper came from Harper's throat.
He immediately raised his head and looked into the blue eyes of the woman he adored. "Baby, you're awake!" He leaned over to kiss her.
"What happened to my arm?"
Parker glanced over at Grace, who'd been reading a book. She was already on her feet and on her way out the door to summon a nurse.
Her Convenient Dom (Dominant Men Book 2) Page 19
