Promises Made ch 9

A Christmas Wake Up Call

It was midnight on Christmas Eve and all around the town of Salem there were parents assembling toys, completing the wrapping of presents and then carefully arranging them under the Christmas trees for their children. John Black was one of those parents. As he was busy putting the finishing touches on Santa's visit for Brady...he began to feel chilled, then soon afterward he began to sweat with fever, and felt faint and dizzy. He thought maybe he was getting a touch of the flu or was just tired and hungry, and a little dehydrated. So, he put on a sweatshirt to warm up and then ate a light snack and drank a glass of water, but none of that seemed to make him feel better. Whatever was happening appeared to be getting worse by the minute. Realizing from the rapidly advancing symptoms that there was a potentially serious problem developing, he went to retrieve his cell phone from his coat pocket. Groaning with discomfort while putting a hand to his head, he said out loud, "Oh...man, I'm so hot... something's wrong... I gotta...call somebody..." John was in the process of trying to dial the phone for help when he fainted and collapsed, hitting his head slightly on the coffee table on his way down. He went out almost immediately, the phone still in his hand; he landed right next to the tree and was still and silent for the rest of the night.

It was Christmas Day...the sun was beginning to shine brightly in Salem, the air was crisp and clean, there was a nice layer of snow on the ground and Brady Black woke up excited as can be about Santa Claus having come in the night. He peered out of his bedroom in the Salem Inn, looking toward the tree and saw so many presents that he was amazed by the sight. Then his eyes landed on something else...it was his father, who was lying down awkwardly next to the tree and he seemed to be sleeping. Brady slowly approached his Daddy and shook him gently, but the man didn't awaken. Brady noticed that his father was bleeding from the head and sweating and he seemed to be shaking too. The boy touched his Daddy's moist forehead and it was very hot...and then he knew his Daddy was sick. "Oh, no...my Daddy is sick.... Daddy wake up! Please wake up Daddy, it's Christmas!" he cried out fearfully.

When several more attempts to wake his father were unsuccessful, Brady knew he had to do something, to get help from an adult. John had showed him how to dial Marlena's number which was programmed into the regular phone they brought to the Inn, for convenience sake. Brady picked up the phone and pushed the nine and then the number one and soon it was Mommy Marlena's voice he heard, "Hello.. Merry Christmas," she said cheerfully, while stifling a yawn. All she heard on the line was crying... "Hello...who's there?" she asked, thinking it was a child's voice she was hearing, but unable to identify the caller.

"My Daddy is sick, I can't wake him up...please help us!" he managed to cry out through his fearful sobs.

"Brady...is that you?" she asked, afraid for both of them. "What's wrong with your Daddy?"

The fear was increasing rapidly, "He's...on the floor and I can't..wake him up, he's all hot and sweaty, and he's bleeding...My Daddy won't wake up! I'm scared...I'm scared!"

"Oh my God!" she cried. She was frightened too, but had to remain calm to help both of them. "Brady, I want you to look at the phone very carefully, can you do that, sweety?"

"Yes...I can see the numbers.." he said more calmly, but still crying.

"If I hang up, can you push the number zero, it looks like the letter O, do you see it?"

"Yes...I see it, it's on the bottom in the middle, right?"

"Right, good job Brady. Now, when I hang up, you push it and tell the front desk that Daddy is very sick and an ambulance is on the way. Can you do that?"

"Yes...I think so... Mommy...I'm afraid... what's wrong with my Daddy?"

The fear was nearly overpowering..what could it be? She forced it down to answer the boy calmly, "I don't know sweety, but we'll find out, okay? I'm going to call an ambulance right now to come and take him to the hospital and I'll be right there to see you, allright?"

Brady was frightened and very worried, but it helped to know Marlena was coming and help for his father was on the way as well, "Okay....please hurry and help my Daddy!"

Upon hanging up, Marlena immediately called 911 and reported the situation, then called the front desk of the Salem Inn herself and told them to get someone up to the room to stay with Brady immediately. Then she disrobed, threw some clothes on and was prepared to rush out the door without saying a word to anyone, when Roman heard her rummaging around for her keys.

He reached for her hand, saying, "Doc....what's going on, where are you in such a hurry to go on Christmas morning?" he asked, wondering what could be upsetting her so much.

She replied anxiously while still readying herself to leave, "Roman, I don't have time to explain. That was Brady on the phone, he and John spent the night at the Salem Inn. Brady woke up to find John lying on the floor, and he said he couldn't wake him up. It sounds like John is very sick and Brady is terrified. I have to go, now!"

Roman wasn't dressed, but said, "Let me go with you, Doc." He was actually concerned for the man, but he also wanted to keep tabs on the situation between the two of them.

Heading swiftly toward the door, she answered firmly, "No, there isn't time, I'm sorry. I'll let you know what I find out, I just can't wait, Roman!" She raced out the door and jumped in the car and then while driving, she called Abe Carver. "Abe..it's Marlena...sorry to disturb you on Christmas, but I thought you'd want to know. I just got a call from Brady, he woke up and found John collapsed on the floor of their hotel room and he couldn't wake him. He said John was all hot and sweaty and bleeding too."

"Oh, my God Marlena! Lexie and I will meet you at the hospital. Is Brady allright?"

"He's very frightened, but physically okay as far as I know, I called the hotel and had them send someone to stay with him until the ambulance arrived. Abe...I'm scared....what if it's some...residual effect from that poison...or some other parasite from the jungle he was in?"

"Marlena..there's no sense in speculating...we'll have to wait and see."

She agreed, thankful for his attempt at keeping her calm and rational, "You're right, I'll see you there."

"Hang in there, Marlena. John is very strong and he has so many reasons to stick around, he'll be allright," Abe finished encouragingly.

Brady sat on the bed with the nice lady from the hotel, while the paramedics examined his father. They were doing all sorts of things that looked painful and he shouted, "Don't hurt my Daddy, he's sick!"

One of the medics took the time to reassure him, "Don't worry Brady, we won't do anything to hurt him. We're going to help him get better." They were checking vital signs and examining pupillary reactions, administering IV's as directed by the physicians at the hospital. The man was running a very high fever, he was shaking and sweating and he was completely unresponsive at the moment. Within minutes, John was strapped to a gurney and being wheeled out of the room toward the ambulance.

Marlena arrived shortly afterward and rushed to the room to find Brady still sitting on the bed. When he saw her, he jumped up and ran to her. "Oh, Mommy.... I was so scared! Daddy is so sick and he still won't wake up! They took him away....is he going to be okay?"

Holding the boy close to her, she said, feeling distraught herself, "Oh Brady....I don't know sweetheart, let's go to the hospital and find out."

An hour later, Dr. Michael Horton stood at the nurse's station reviewing preliminary lab results, trying to decipher the meaning of the values and draw a valid, logical conclusion as to the reason for the numbers he was seeing. In addition, he was trying to coordinate those results and any early conclusions he drew from the visible symptoms John was exhibiting. It was a hefty task at this juncture, there could be any number of causes for what was most evident. However, one diagnosis made the most sense at the moment, his symptoms were consistent with a serious bout of malaria, one form of which had an incubation period which was just exactly the length of time that had passed since John had gone to the jungle and returned to Salem. Some forms did not make themselves evident until the return to a colder climate where the parasite is stimulated to begin new activity. Mike hated to share that piece of news with Marlena, it wasn't quite the sort of Christmas present one wishes for.

"Mike, what is it? Just tell me..." she said insistently, as he entered John's room.

"Oh, Mike...we've all been through so much and now...this! Oh, I don't know how much more of this I can take!" She was very strong, but this was too much. Marlena broke down in tears, acknowledging that the man she truly loved was critically ill, possibly dying. Abe was there and she folded into his arms, sobbing with fear and regret. What if the unthinkable happened...they would never share their love in marriage the way they both hoped to do. Finally, she regained her composure and sat down at the bedside of the man she loved with all her heart, taking his hand in hers, "Oh, John you were right, we shouldn't have waited any longer, if I had only known...I'm so sorry, honey...but you have to get well for me and the kids...you just have to, do you hear me!" There was no response at all, he just laid there, his body trembling in silence, the only sounds made by the respirator that was helping him breathe and the heart monitors and other machinery. It made her realize even more fully that one never knows what the next moment will bring. She sat with him for a long while, so many memories of their love and friendship flashing in her mind. Lastly, she remembered their conversation on the pier from so long ago now, and she saw his face and heard his words in her mind. He was referring to Isabella's death when he said, "Doc, losing her taught me how fragile life is, how something you love so dearly can be taken away from you so quickly. So, if you feel something, you have to say it, while you still have time."

Holding his hand to her face, she cried out in her fears, "Oh...John! You were so right! I love you....I love you and I want us to be married! Please don't leave me, John..please!" At this point, John was in a coma-like state, there was nothing overt to indicate he was alive, no movement, no flickering of the eyelids, he was completely still and silent. He seemed so weak and vulnerable lying there connected to so many machines, even his breathing assisted by a mechanical device. She sobbed and cried out again, seeking some sense through the madness, "Oh, John, I don't understand! I just saw you.... how could this have happened? You recovered from the poison...and you came home to me, you were so strong and healthy! Oh..honey..I'm so sorry that I put you off...and we didn't get married. John, please...come back to me, I love you and I need you!" She bowed her head, folded her hands and pleaded with God as she continued to cry for John, "Oh dear God...please... don't take him from me, I promise I won't delay any longer and I'll make him happy, from now on! Oh, please let him get well!"

Roman arrived with Belle, Sami and Eric in tow, just in time to see her lean over onto John's chest and cry for him to come back to her and the whole gang heard the prayer as well. Brady, who had been waiting outside for a few minutes with Abe and Lexie Carver, and Belle suddenly came rushing past Roman and the others to join Marlena. With tears streaming down their little red cheeks, they cried out to him, "Wake up Daddy, it's Christmas. Please wake up Daddy, it's Christmas!" Marlena pulled the little boy she loved as a son, and her sweet little girl into a firm embrace of comfort and they cried together and held John's warmer than normal hands, praying for God to spare him. Marlena received God's message loud and clear, she knew beyond all doubt that she had just been given her Christmas wake up call.