Fair Chances (Fairshore Series Book 3)

by Christina Butrum

  Amelia’s eyes widened. “Zach, you shouldn’t…”

  “I can spend it on whatever I want to,” Zach insisted. “And the way I see it, my grandma would want me to spend it wisely. She’d also want me to do well with it.”

  Amelia wondered if this is what he had been thinking of since they had arrived at the hospital.

  “So, I was thinking I’d set aside money for the wedding and help your parents with most of what’s left,” Zach explained.

  Amelia smiled with tear-filled eyes. “Zach, that’d be great.”

  He sat back. “You think so?”

  Amelia nodded. She was thankful now more than ever to have him in her life. He was so thoughtful and kind. He would give everything he owned to make sure others were taken care of. “I think it makes perfect sense, as long as he makes it through this.”

  “He will,” Zach said and kissed the top of her head.

  She smiled and snuggled into his embrace. “Thank you for everything, Zach.”

  “No need to thank me,” Zach said. “Your parents are my parents. I love them and would do anything for them.”

  Amelia smiled. She was thankful for such a blessing in her life, even through the tragedy they had faced.

  “Maybe we can get them to move to Fairshore,” Zach stated.

  “Now you might be pushing it,” Amelia stated. “I don’t think my parents would leave their farmhouse.”

  “You never know,” Zach said. “They might like it better in Fairshore.”

  * * *

  “Amelia!” her mother hollered from the entrance of the hospital. “Come quick!”

  Amelia and Zach exchanged looks and hopped to their feet. In a mad dash, they reached the front door in less than a minute.

  “What’s going on, Mom?” Amelia asked, out of breath.

  “He’s awake!” her mother exclaimed as she turned around and hurried into the hospital. “He woke up about five minutes ago,” her mother said over her shoulder. Her mother walked quickly to the elevator down the hall from the waiting room. She tapped the button in the shape of an arrow that faced upward.

  “That’s great, isn’t it?” Amelia asked. She tried to catch her breath as she stepped into the elevator.

  “I sure hope so,” her mother stated. “We’re about to find out.”

  “The doctor didn’t tell you anything?” Zach asked. He was short of breath too.

  “The nurse came down and told me,” her mother told them. “She said she had to get back upstairs to assess him.”

  The elevator dinged and opened its doors on the third floor. They stepped out of the elevator and approached the nurses’ station.

  Amelia allowed her mother to ask for permission to see her father. The nurse insisted it was okay for them to see him. “Would you like me to show you to his room?”

  They nodded and followed the nurse. The nurse pulled the curtain back and allowed them to enter the room.

  Amelia was surprised to see her father. He had his bed raised and he had been propped up. He looked like a mummy with white gauze wrapped around his head, face, and whole body. Whoever wrapped him had left enough space for him to see and breathe.

  “Hey, guys,” he greeted them as they walked to his side.

  Amelia was shocked he was awake. She looked at the nurse who stood by the door. She raised an eyebrow at the nurse, and almost like the nurse knew what she had thought, the nurse smiled and nodded her head. “It’s a true miracle.”

  Amelia looked back at her father. He seemed normal, except for the mummy wrap.

  “Hey, Dad,” Amelia said as she stepped forward and gave him a hug. “How’re you feeling?”

  “Good, I suppose,” her father said with a smirk on his face. “It could be worse they’ve said.”

  Amelia exchanged looks with her mother and Zach. She mouthed, “Is this really happening?”

  Zach wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear, “I told you he’d pull through this.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Bailey, you’re not going to believe this,” Amelia said into the phone in the waiting area.

  She was sure Bailey would be thrilled and surprised as she was, if not more, of the news about her father.

  “What?” Bailey asked. “What happened?”

  Amelia smiled and tears came to her eyes as she said, “My dad’s awake!”

  She heard Bailey shriek into the phone. Bailey told Benny the good news and returned to the phone. “Amelia, that’s great!” she shouted.

  Amelia pulled the phone away from her ear. She turned to Zach and pointed to it. Zach laughed.

  “Does he remember anything?” Bailey asked.

  “The nurses who assessed him told us he doesn’t remember much of anything, except arriving at work.”

  “That’s probably for the best,” Bailey stated. “Any chance he will remember, though?”

  Amelia frowned. “That part they are unsure of. They told us his memory of the incident would probably come back.”

  “Don’t worry, Amelia,” Bailey assured her. “They’ll get him into therapy and he’ll be as good as new.”

  Amelia smiled. She could always count on Bailey to say the right things. She was always so positive. “There’s so much more to tell you, but I have to get off of here. I’m going to go visit with my dad.”

  “Okay, but remember, stay strong,” Bailey encouraged. “Call me if you need me.”

  Amelia hung up the phone and looked at Zach. “I’m going to go up and see him. Do you want to come with?”

  Zach shook his head. “You go ahead and go up and spend time with him,” he said. He grabbed a magazine and flipped it open. “I’ll be right here waiting for you.”

  Amelia bent down and kissed him firmly on the lips. “Thank you for being so amazing.”

  He kissed her on the forehead and said, “Right back at ya.”

  Amelia left Zach in the waiting area and walked the long white hallway to the elevator. She could not help but think the hospital needed to paint these hallways. They were cold, bland, and could be scary for a child.

  She pressed the arrow on the elevator and waited patiently for it to open its doors. She looked around while she waited. An old bookshelf sat along a wall and beside it sat a rickety chair with ugly red upholstery. She wondered if and when this hospital would make its updates.

  The elevator dinged and opened its doors. She didn’t pay attention in front of her and bumped into a tall man with a woman on his arm.

  “Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” she announced as she straightened up and realigned her shirt.

  “It’s okay,” the man said.

  Amelia waved and stepped onto the elevator. She hit the floor three button and allowed the doors to close. Thoughts flooded her mind as she rode the elevator to the third floor. She wondered if her parents would be able to manage by themselves in their house, or if they would agree to move to Fairshore. She knew there was a chance they would struggle if they stayed in their farmhouse. She only hoped they chose what was best for them. She was thankful for Zach’s help with everything. She would be forever grateful for him in her life.

  The elevator dinged its original chime and opened its doors once again. She stepped out and walked toward the nurses’ station.

  Three nurses sat in their chairs, crowded around the computers. All three of them laughed and carried on with whatever they had discussed prior to Amelia’s appearance at their desk.

  She smiled as she approached the desk. Their laughs were contagious. She could not help but smile. Today, everything was bright and cheery, unlike yesterday, it had been dark and gloomy.

  One nurse looked up from her charts and asked, “Can we help you?”

  Amelia nodded and kept her smile. “Yes, I’d like to visit with my dad, Richard Edwards.”

  The nurses exchanged looks and then looked at her. “He’s no longer awake,” the brunette nurse stated.

  Amelia kept her smile and said
, “Okay, that’s fine. I’ll come back when he’s awake.”

  She watched the three nurses exchange looks again. She wondered what they had failed to tell her. Her smile slipped from her face.

  “Your mother has been in there since this morning,” the nurse explained. “Your father wasn’t doing too good, so the doctor ordered us to give him some medication to help him rest.”

  Amelia nodded. Anger flooded her mind as she tried to focus on what the nurse had said. She wondered why she was the last to find out and why no one had told her. “Is my mom still in his room?”

  The nurse nodded. “Yes, she is. She requested to stay by his side for a while,” the nurse told Amelia. “Here, let me take you to his room.”

  Amelia subtly wiped the tears from her cheeks. She did not want to cry in front of these people. She would not allow herself to fall apart.

  The nurse guided her to her father’s room and opened the door for her. “There you go, sweetie.”

  “Thank you,” Amelia said while she fought to hold back the emotion she felt inside.

  In the bed, where her father had sat up and talked yesterday, her father slept soundly with the consistent beep of the machines. Amelia walked further into the room and saw her mother on the side of the bed with her head hung forward and her back to the door.

  Amelia approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Mom,” she said as she rubbed her hand along her mother’s upper arm. “Everything okay?”

  Her mother jolted awake and sat up in her chair. “What?”

  She pulled a chair up to the side of her mother and sat down. “Sorry that I woke you.”

  Her mother ran a hand quickly through her hair and said, “It’s okay. I needed to be awake in case he wakes up.”

  Amelia looked at her father. His breathing was slow and not labored, which was a good sign, she thought. From the looks of it, he rested comfortably, which was all that mattered to her.

  “What happened?” Amelia asked her mother.

  Her mother shrugged and said, “One minute we were talking and the next thing I know, the machines went crazy and he said he was in a lot of pain. The nurses rushed in and silenced the monitors.” She shook her head. “They gave him more medication and he went to sleep.”

  “This isn’t a coma, is it?” Amelia asked. From what she had watched in the past on television, the medical shows always showed the worst.

  Her mother shook her head. “No, I asked the nurses the same thing. They said the medication allows him to rest comfortably. It takes the pain away.”

  “He’s recovering isn’t he? Has the doctor said anything else to you?”

  “The doctor was in here early this morning. He says your dad will be laid up for a while,” she explained to Amelia. “The burns cover more than seventy five percent of his body.”

  Amelia winced. The thought of her father covered in blisters made her cringe. “What have they done for him besides the medications?”

  Her mother frowned. Amelia could tell there was too much going through her mother’s mind. “They are setting him up with a plastic surgeon and a dermatologist for debriding and skin grafting.”

  “Debriding and skin grafting?” Amelia asked. She cringed at the idea of what it might mean. She shook it off and waited for her mother to explain it to her.

  “Debriding is the removal of dead tissue,” her mother explained to her. “Skin grafts are done by taking skin from one area of the body to the area that needs to be covered.”

  Amelia cringed and shook her head. The gruesome details were too much to handle right now. She looked at her father once again and noticed the white bandaged gauze covered his whole body. She wondered what he looked like under all the wrap. She shook her head to dismiss the thoughts.

  “It’s going to be a painful procedure for him to go through,” her mother stated.

  “When does the doctor want Dad to start those procedures?” Amelia asked.

  Her mother shrugged her heavy shoulders and said, “They’re not sure, but they had mentioned getting the process started soon.”

  She reached for her mother’s hand and grabbed a hold of it. They needed to be strong for her father and for each other. She had a feeling this would be a long, painful journey for everyone involved.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “How’s he doing?” Zach asked when Amelia walked back into the waiting area.

  She plopped into the chair beside him. She ran a hand through her ratted hair and said, “He’s asleep and resting again.”

  “Medication induced sleep?” Zach asked as he held onto her hand.

  “The doctor said it was best for him.” She debated on whether or not to tell Zach about the debridement and skin grafting appointments in the future.

  “I can imagine it has its benefits of having him sleep as often as he can,” Zach stated.

  “They’re wanting him to start debridement and skin grafts soon,” Amelia said.

  Zach cringed. “That sounds painful.”

  “It will be,” Amelia said as she frowned.

  She felt horrible for her father who had no clue what his immediate future would be like. She wondered if her mother would tell him or if she would let the doctor tell him instead. Her mother was in a difficult spot with this.

  Zach rubbed her leg. “What are you thinking about?” he asked. “Everything will be okay.”

  Amelia leaned her head back against the chair. “This is so exhausting. I wish he would get better overnight and we could go back to our normal lives.”

  “It will take time, Amelia.”

  She ran her hands through her hair and said, “I’m so exhausted.”

  “How’s your mom holding up? I haven’t seen her since last night.”

  “She’s been in my dad’s room with him since this morning. The nurses told me she won’t leave his side,” Amelia explained. “I don’t blame her. I didn’t want to leave his side either.”

  Zach leaned back in the chair. He still had a hold of her hand. He refused to let go. “You don’t have to be down here. You can go back up there if you want to. I’m fine down here.”

  Amelia shook her head. “No, I’m fine. My mom needs her time with him more than I do.”

  Zach brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “See, what’d I tell you? You’re not selfish.”

  Amelia smiled. “I can be at times. I still stand my ground and say that lately I have been pretty self-centered.”

  “I’m going to go make a phone call,” Zach said as he stood up. He bent over to give her a kiss and said, “I’ll be right back.”

  Amelia nodded. She rubbed a hand over her stomach as the baby kicked and moved around. It had been a few hours since she had felt the baby move. She was relieved to be kicked.

  Zach came back to his chair beside her and said, “There, all taken care of.”

  She looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “What’s taken care of?”

  “I called Tony and asked him to run by the furniture store,” Zach said. “I want to make sure everything is locked up.”

  “I hope it is,” Amelia stated. “We’ve been here for a few days now. How’s the deli?”

  “The deli’s fine,” Zach assured her.

  “Are they doing okay?” Amelia asked. She was concerned with Courtney and Tony. She did not want them to become burnt out from all of the hours they had been working lately.

  “I’m sure they’re fine,” Zach assured her. “I’m pretty sure they’ll be enjoying their checks for a while.”

  “I think when we get back and things settle down, we should send them both on vacation,” Amelia suggested.

  “I like that idea,” Zach said. “If we get a vacation too.”

  He leaned over in his chair and tugged her close to him. He placed his lips on her soft lips and kissed her. Amelia ran a hand through his hair. His smile broke their kiss. “You shouldn’t do that,” he told her.

  “I can’t help it,” she said through their broken kiss
.

  “I can’t wait to get back home with you,” Zach said as he readjusted in his chair. “The things I have in mind for you.”

  Amelia smiled. “I can’t wait.”

  * * *

  A few days and a change of clothes later, her father was released from the hospital. His spirits were up and he was ready to be out of the hospital. The doctor informed them he was out of the woods as far as survival, but they needed to keep a close watch on him for infection. Her father had gone through the debriding and skin grafting procedures. It had been painful for him, but the doctor had high hopes of a good outcome.

  Amelia wheeled her father out of the hospital in a wheelchair. They waited for her mother to bring the car up to them.

  “Thank you for being here, A.J.”

  Amelia smiled. It made her happy to hear him say her name again.

  Her mother drove the car around the paved driveway of the loading zone and parked it in front of them. Amelia wheeled her father closer to the car. She looked back at Zach, who had bags piled on both of his shoulders. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

  Her mother opened the passenger side door and smiled. “This is it. We’re finally going home.”

  “Thank God for a fast recovery,” her father replied.

  “You surprised the doctor,” Amelia said. “He had never seen anyone with such a fast recovery time with burns like yours.”

  Her father hobbled to the car with the assistance of Amelia and her mother. “Someone up above was on my side,” her father insisted.

  Amelia helped her father into the car and buckled him in. Zach tossed the bags into the trunk and slammed it closed. “Well, Dad, we’ll see you in a bit.”

  She leaned in and kissed his cheek. Tears of mixed emotion spilled down her cheeks. “What’re you crying for, A.J.?”

  She shook her head. “I’m just happy you’re finally able to go home is all.”

  Her father nodded and she shut the door. She reached for her mother and hugged her. “I love you, Mom. We’ll be at your house after ‘while. We have to drive home and get some clothes.”