Eternal Bliss

by Bonni Sansom

  "Yes. We were arguing about it. He wanted me to have it and I wasn't so sure. And now ... ," She dropped her head in her hands. "Now, he might not make it and it's my fault." The tears fell freely through broken sobs.

  He put his arm around her. "Shh, come on now, it's not your fault. It was an accident, don't keep blaming yourself. The stress isn't good for you or the baby."

  Laine's cell rang. "Let me see it. You're in no condition to talk," Steve said.

  "Hello." He covered the mouthpiece. "It's Melanie, what do you want me to tell her?"

  "Let m-me talk t-to her." Laine's gathered herself enough to get a few words out through hiccupping sobs. "Mel? H-how is he?" She was trying just as hard as she could to hold herself together. The knot in her throat felt like it would strangle her.

  "He's still unconscious. You're not going to believe who his doctor is though."

  "David, I know. Steve t-told me." She swiped tears away. "What was his Glasgow Coma Scale number, Mel?"

  "I'm sorry, hon. It's a ten. We won't know anything until tomorrow. You know more about this stuff than I do. Laine ... I'm so sorry about Jeff. I'm just staying with him so I can find out about Kyle for you. After that, I won't see him again."

  "Thanks Mel. I h-have to go, but call me if he wakes up." She handed the phone to Steve.

  "Melanie, could you take Laine home for me please?"

  "No!" Laine protested. "I'm not l-leaving him. She swiped angrily at the tears that wouldn't stop coming.

  "Laine, you need your rest. You can come back tomorrow and maybe by then he'll be awake. I'll talk to Jeff, and let him know about everything, and try to change his mind."

  'No, don't tell Jeff anything. Promise me you won't tell him." Laine stared him in the eye, pleading for his silence. Jeff would go ballistic if he knew about the maybe baby. She didn't know for sure if she was pregnant, she had just missed her period. It was just a possibility at this point. In a way she hoped she was pregnant. At least then she would have a piece of Kyle.

  "Alright, I won't tell him, if you go home and rest." Steve held the phone up. "Your choice."

  "Fine, I'll go, but I'll be back here first thing in the morning."

  Steve put the phone back to his ear. "So, can you take her home?" He closed the phone. "Melanie, will be waiting for you at the main entrance in a few minutes." He handed her the phone and gave her another hug. "Take care of yourself. Kyle is going to need you to be strong."

  "Thanks, Steve. I appreciate everything you've done." She turned and headed for the elevator. There was nothing she could do for him.

  She tried gathering herself together. By the time she hit the lobby, the tears were drying cold on her cheeks. Her eyes felt like they had sand in them, they burned, and were swollen with grief. She spotted Mel at the entrance, standing by a taxi. She must have ridden with Jeff to the hospital.

  "Mel. Here I am."

  Melanie turned and headed for Laine. "Oh sweetie, how are you holding up?" She wrapped her arms around Laine and held her.

  "Not well, I need to see him and nobody will let me near him. Jeff is being an asshole." Laine backed up, wiped her face, and walked toward the taxi. If she couldn't see him, she had to get out of there as fast as she could.

  "I agree with you there hon. I can visit Kyle for you and keep you informed of his progress." Melanie opened the car door and let Laine slide in first. She gave the driver the address and shut the door.

  Laine gasped, they would have to go by the accident scene on the way to her house. She would have to see it all over again. She would pass the spot on the road where Kyle's blood had pooled. "Oh no, Mel, I can't handle this." Laine closed her eyes. She didn't want to see the skid marks, the blood, and the broken pieces of glass from the car.

  "It's okay, Laine, I'm here." She scooted closer to Laine and held her, letting her head rest on her shoulder.

  As they approached the scene, Laine couldn't help but look, but realized that the fire crew had cleaned the street of any evidence. People were driving through, right over the spot where Kyle's broken body had lain. The truck must have been towed. It was no longer on the side of the road. It was almost as if nothing had happened. Almost.

  * * * *

  Jeff sat in the dim room for hours with Kyle. His best friend, his brother, bruised and broken, looking nothing like the man he knew. His head was wrapped, his eyes black and swollen. His whole face was a swollen mess. Jeff held his hand, his knuckles covered with road rash. Not an inch of his body had been shielded from impact. Not from the vehicle, or the pavement. Machines, wires and tubes covered his friend, making him look alien. "Dammit Kyle, why did this have to happen to you?" He squeezed his hand, getting a small squeeze in return. His head snapped up. "Kyle, can you hear me? Nurse!" he yelled through the glass partition.

  An older lady came quickly. "What is it?"

  "He squeezed my hand. That has to be a good sign, right?" Jeff held his hand loosely waiting for another squeeze. "Kyle can you squeeze my hand again?"

  A weak grip squeezed Jeff's hand. He kept asking and kept getting a response. Kyle's eyes were still shut, he had a breathing tube down his throat, so verbal communication was out, but he was responding. The nurse called for the doctor and Jeff went to get Melanie.

  He entered the waiting room. "Melanie." He called for her again, through the crowded room and Steve appeared.

  "She'll be back in a little bit. I had her take Laine home." Steve put his hands in his pockets and shifted from foot to foot.

  Jeff huffed out a breath. He didn't care about Laine anymore, Kyle was responding. "Kyle's responding to me. He squeezed my hand several times when I asked him to." Jeff's smile must have been ear to ear. Everyone in the room turned and smiled back. The guys were clapping each other on the arms saying how tough Kyle was and they knew he would pull through.

  "Steve, come back with me, man. I'm sure he wants to hear familiar voices."

  Jeff and Steve both turned to head back when Melanie stepped off the elevator.

  "Hey, man, take Melanie back with you, I can visit later," Steve said.

  Melanie quickly walked over to Jeff and Steve and smiled. "What's going on? Why is everyone so happy? Is he awake?"

  "Yes ... well, maybe. He squeezed my hand." Jeff held his hand up and imitated a squeeze.

  "Ohmigod, Jeff, that's incredible," Melanie took his outstretched hand and twined her fingers in his.

  Jeff leaned down and kissed her, just a short sweet peck.

  Melanie made a quick sharp gasp and covered her mouth with her hand.

  Steve cleared his throat and pointed across the room. "Well, that's great about Kyle, I'll be over there."

  Jeff squeezed her hand and gave her a crooked smile. "Sorry about that; I was just caught up in the moment."

  She dropped her hand from her mouth. "It's okay. I was just surprised, that's all. Should we go see Kyle now?"

  "Yeah, I can't wait for him to squeeze your hand." He led her through the waiting room, down the long hallway through the double doors, and saw Kyle being worked on through the glass partition. CPR was being administered as they stood there watching.

  Jeff's heart sank, he had only been gone for a few minutes, and now Kyle might be gone. He shouldn't have left him. I'm sorry Kyle.

  Melanie held shaking fingers over her mouth. Her eyes went wide and tears started to fall.

  A large burley man in blue scrubs had black and silver paddles in his hands. It was when the man placed the paddles on Kyle and yelled "clear" and all hands left Kyle's body, that Jeff felt the hot sting of tears on his cheeks. He couldn't lose Kyle.

  The code team all stared at the monitor. His heartbeat was stable. They collected their equipment and left the room, leaving only Dr. Gross behind.

  Jeff and Melanie both hurried to Kyle's side.

  "What happened?" Jeff asked.

  Dr. Gross turned toward Jeff. "He has a myocardial contusion."

  Jeff cocked his head to the side and furro
wed his brow. "A what?"

  "It's a small bruise on his heart. We had to reset his heart rhythm. He's stable right now, and we'll continue to monitor him throughout the night. You can sit with him and talk to him; you never can tell if they can hear you or not." Dr. Gross scribbled something on Kyle's chart, clicked his pen, stuffed it in his pocket and turned to Melanie. "How is Laine? I haven't seen her since ... well, you know when, you were there."

  "Why are you asking about her?" Jeff snapped. "She has no business in here. I told your staff not to let her anywhere near him."

  "David was ... uh ... friends with Laine ... before and he was just asking me about her. He didn't know about her and Kyle." Melanie interjected.

  David looked confused, but nodded and left. Jeff let it go. He didn't want to be upset by this shit all over again. He turned back to look at his friend and sighed.

  Melanie sidled up next to Jeff to offer him support if he needed it. She took his hand in hers and twined their fingers together. He took Kyle's hand in his other hand. "Kyle, can you squeeze my hand?" He got no response from Kyle, but Melanie squeezed the one she was holding. He let her hand go to move the chair next to his bed and wait out the night. He wouldn't leave Kyle again.

  * * * *

  God, if she killed her mother, would anyone really blame her? Kitty had been fussing over Laine the entire evening. Of course, coming home in the back of a cab and being covered in blood didn't help. Melanie stayed for several hours helping with Kitty, but now it was just her and her mother.

  Laine just wanted to get back to the hospital. She needed to see David. She needed him to feel guilty enough about leaving her at the altar, to help her get in to see Kyle. She didn't even know his prognosis. Steve told her as much as he knew and Melanie promised to call as soon as she knew anything, but the waiting was killing her. She paced the length of her private sitting area with her phone in her hand. Kyle had to be okay. He had to make it through this, so she could tell him she would marry him, that she loved him.

  "Laine Elizabeth, what are you doing out of bed?" Kitty asked, as she carried a tray with a bowl of soup to Laine's bedside table.

  "Mother, I'm fine. I wasn't hurt, I just passed out." She tried to reason with her, to no avail. It was amusing to see her mother actually doing manual labor though. She was surprised the woman knew where the soup was kept, much less the tray. Her mother was full of surprises.

  "You passed out and that's bad enough. You need to rest. Now put that phone down and come to bed. I had Maria make you some nice soup and set it up on this nice tray, so come and eat up, dear."

  Ha, she knew it. Too bad she hadn't had Maria deliver it. "I told you, I'm fine. I don't feel like eating right now and I know I couldn't rest. I need to be at the hospital."

  "I thought you were banned from seeing Kyle. Melanie said the Jeff fellow didn't want you in there, so there is nothing you can do dear." She fiddled with the perfectly folded linen napkin on the tray.

  Laine scoffed, "Jeff is an ass and has no business keeping me from Kyle. After all, Kyle had asked me to marry him."

  Her mother gasped sharply. "You didn't tell me you were getting married to the man. You just started seeing him, right? Maybe it would be a good idea to wait a while."

  "Mother, the man is in a coma. Right now is not the right time to talk about how much you disapprove of my choices." She looked down at her hand. Would a telephone be strong enough to kill her, or just knock her out?

  "I'm just concerned about you making another mistake, dear," her mother said sweetly.

  Too far, she had gone too far. "Dammit, shut up Mother." She had the strong desire to throw the phone at her. Just to injure, not kill.

  "Alright dear," She threw her hands up in mock surrender. "I won't say anything else about it, but I still think you two should wait and get to know each other better is all."

  The woman has a death wish. That's all there is to it. And I'm going to grant her wish. Just one more word and wish granted.

  Laine grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from her closet, headed to her bathroom and started to dress. She couldn't stay here another second. She had to get to the hospital. She knew exactly where David's office was, considering it used to be her father's. She would go and wait there, then get David to let her see Kyle. She would feel a lot better if she could just see him, touch him and tell him she loved him.

  With a Neurosurgeon as a father, she knew what to expect. She knew there would be tubes and wires coming out of every orifice, some he would be unhappy with when he woke up. She knew the sounds of the beeping machines and the hiss of the ventilator. She had practically grown up in the hospital.

  Her mother had expected her to follow in her father's footsteps and become a doctor, but Laine couldn't stomach the blood. It was her father who suggested wedding planning and financed her business from the ground up.

  She came out of the bathroom dressed and ready to go, grabbed her keys, cell and two saltines off the food tray. "Goodbye, Mother. I'll be at the hospital if you need me, but please don't need me."

  Her mother fluttered her hand over her heart, a look of pure shock on her plastic face. Her perfectly groomed eyebrows were up to her hairline. "Laine Elizabeth, I won't stand for you to speak to me this way." She heard her mother say as she walked down the hallway.

  As she passed through the kitchen, she ran into Maria. "Miss Laine, I hope your gentleman will be okay. I'll pray for him."

  She hugged Maria – the woman who practically raised her – and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, I appreciate everything you do for me."

  She hurried to the garage with one thing on her agenda. Getting to Kyle.

  She needed to feel his hand in hers, to be close to him, to feel his heartbeat, and to know he would be okay.

  She started her car, knowing she would have to drive through the accident spot again. Damn, she didn't want to see it again. She never wanted those images in her head again. The nightmares she knew she would have for a long time to come would be terrible enough. The sights, the sounds, and the gurgling noise he made breathing through his own blood. She shook her head trying to get the fresh memories out. She hadn't seen him since the accident, so she didn't have anything to replace them with.

  She was grateful it was dark as she drove through the accident site. The trip to the hospital seemed to take forever. She'd hit every traffic light, been behind every slow driver on the road, and was held up in a construction site. It seemed as if everything was conspiring against her seeing Kyle.

  It was her fault that Kyle was in there. If she had only stayed in the truck, he would be fine. He would be making love to her right this very moment, instead of fighting for his life in intensive care. Once again, she swiped angrily at the tears, falling freely down her cheeks. She parked her car and headed into the hospital. She had to get to David's office unnoticed. She boarded the elevator, hoping no one was still in the waiting room. The hours that had passed, she felt, were on her side.

  The doors opened and panic set in. Steve was still here. She calmed when she noticed he was asleep with his head leaning against the wall. She snuck by, making as little noise as possible, thankful she'd worn tennis shoes. Almost there.

  "Laine, is that you?"

  She froze in her tracks. She knew that voice. "Velma, hi, how are you?" She turned to face her fully. The sweet older lady had been her father's surgical nurse and another important woman in her life. She had never noticed the significance of these women before, but they were both like surrogate mothers. While her own mother was busy with her social duties and parties, Laine had been taken care of by Maria and Velma.

  "I know you're here to see the young man, but they have put an order in place that forbids you. I can't let you in, but I take my break in an hour. I won't know what happens in here while I'm on break." Velma gave Laine a hug, and caressed her face with her hand, just like she had when Laine had been a young girl. It was comforting and so touching, it almost made her cry.r />
  "Thank you, Velma." Laine pulled herself away from the kind older lady, and headed for David's office.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  "Laine! What are you doing here?" David Gross asked, entering his office.

  "Hello, David, it's nice to see you too" She rose from his chair and rounded his desk.

  "Now Laine," he said backing away. "I'm supposed to keep you away from Mr. Logan. I could lose my job if I help you, and I know that's why you're here."

  "That is why I'm here, and you are going to help me. After everything you put me through, you owe me this, David."

  His face contorted at the accuracy of her statement. "I'm so sorry about the wedding, Laine. You have no idea how sorry I am."

  "I don't care about that anymore. I mean I've always wondered why you cheated and why you left me standing there, but it doesn't matter anymore. I have Kyle now."

  "I never cheated. I lied about that. I knew it was the only reason I could give to get out of marrying you. But the fact is I did love you. I still do, and always will, just not the way you deserve." He shifted from foot to foot and chewed his bottom lip.

  That blew her away. He'd lied about sleeping with Candy. This story she needed to hear, regardless of Kyle. "Why did you lie? Why not just tell me the truth and save us both the embarrassment and hurt. Why did you propose in the first place?"

  He threw his arms up, then he propped them on his hips. "Because, I was supposed to. Our families both expected us to get married. I'm sorry I let it get so far, but I couldn't go through with it. It would have been a lie."

  Frustrated, Laine huffed out a breath, and looked him in the eye. "Why did you do it? I don't want the runaround anymore, just answer the question."

  He paused for a moment, indecision clear on his face. He looked her in the eye and yelled, "I'm gay, alright. There, are you happy?"

  Shit. She hadn't seen that one coming. She didn't know what to say to that. She just stood there staring at him.

  He dropped his head in his hands. "I knew I shouldn't have told you. I knew it, now you think the worst of me. I would rather you hate me than look at me this way." He turned away from her.