Part 10
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"Tell me again what they said in the ambulance," Peter urged tensely. Only Todd had been allowed to ride along with the women, while Peter had returned to the Blaisdell home to change into dry clothing before driving Annie and Kelly to County General.
Todd's face was haggard with worry. "They said that both of them were suffering from different degrees of hypothermia. The rest was just a bunch of medical junk that I didn't understand."
Too agitated to sit for more than seconds at a time, Peter jumped to his feet, raking a hand through his hair. "What's taking them so long?" he demanded of no one in particular. "Why haven't we heard anything?"
As if in answer to his question, there came a soft knock at the door, and a white-coated man slipped into the room. "McCall?" he questioned, glancing up from the chart in his hand.
"That's me," Todd responded, slowly rising to his feet with a face the color of parchment. "My wife. How-how is my wife?"
"Mr. McCall, I'm Dr. Dawson."
The man extended a hand and Todd automatically shook it as Annie, Kelly, and Peter hovered anxiously in the background.
"Mr. McCall, your wife is going to be fine. Her core temperature had only dropped a few degrees, and she was back to normal within just a few minutes of treatment."
Todd asked fearfully, "The baby? What about the baby? Is it all right?"
"We had someone from OB come down and they've hooked up a fetal monitor and done an ultrasound. While everything checks out beautifully, we want to keep her a day or two for observation. Your wife says her due date is still five weeks away, and we've found no reason to indicate her pregnancy won't continue normally."
Kelly gave a small cry, and she and Annie let their tears of joy mingle as they wept together. Peter put strong arms around them both and kissed the tops of their heads, swallowing around the sudden lump in his throat.
Todd grabbed the doctor's hand and pumped it vigorously. "Thank you, doctor, thank you."
"Don't thank me," the doctor contradicted him. "Whoever got your wife out of that water and into something dry so quickly very likely saved the life of your child, if not that of your wife, too." He looked down at the chart in his hand again before continuing. "Carolyn's being moved to a room right now. We'll send someone to notify you when we get her settled." With a smile and a nod, he turned and walked through the doorway, striding off down the hallway.
Todd turned to the family and embraced them all. "Oh, thank God. Thank God!" He would have said more, but their celebration was cut short by the appearance of another doctor.
Peter recognized Dr. McClanahan immediately, and as he studied the doctor's face, he felt his heart drop to his feet. His arms dropped limply from Annie and Kelly, and he took a step toward the doctor.
Dr. McClanahan nodded a greeting to all, but it was Peter he made eye contact with. "You're waiting for news about Nurse McConnell?"
Peter nodded, muscles in his throat constricting. "How...?" His voice came out little more than a whisper. He swallowed hard and started again. "How is she?"
The doctor answered gravely, "I'm afraid it doesn't look good. Do you know of any family members that we should contact?"
"No. No, she doesn't have any family."
Annie stepped forward. "Yes, she has." She slid an arm around Peter's waist. "She has us."
Dr. McClanahan's voice grew rough with emotion. "She does have a way of getting to a person, doesn't she?" He dipped his head momentarily before continuing his report. "When the EMTs brought her in, she had a core temperature of 81 degrees and a pulse rate of 25. We are in the process of warming her, but it's a delicate procedure. We need to warm her as quickly as possible, but if we do it too quickly, her heart won't be able to stand the drastic change. We've already had to defibrillate once."
A low moan escaped from Peter's throat, and Annie moved closer, snuggling under his arm.
"We're now warming her at a rate of one degree every 8 minutes. Fortunately, we are one of the few hospitals around here with a cardiopulmonary bypass machine."
"What-what-what's that?" Peter asked through stiff lips.
"It's a machine that pumps out the blood, rewarms it, oxygenates it, and pumps it back into the body again. With hypothermia victims, you literally have to warm them from the inside out. If blood from the outer limbs is introduced into the heart, the heart has to work too hard to pump it, much like a car engine trying to run on oil that's too thick."
"Will she be all right?" Peter asked hoarsely.
"Where there's life, there's hope." The doctor sighed tiredly. "I wish I could give you better news, but Kacie's condition is extremely critical. At this time, she is still very cold and dehydrated. We have her on a ventilator delivering warm, humidified oxygen. But until her core temperature rises past the upper 80s, well, it could go either way."
Touched by the stricken look on Peter's face, the doctor put a hand on the younger man's shoulder and gripped it hard. "Listen, we are doing everything medically possible for her. She's quite important to many of us here at General, just as she is to you." He gently shook Peter. "She's a survivor. We all have to hold on to that." He released his hold and turned to leave. "We'll let you know if there is any change in her condition. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my patient."
No one knew quite what to say until Annie broke the awkward silence. "You heard the doctor, Peter. There's always hope. We have to have faith, Sweetie."
Peter felt himself withdrawing emotionally, retreating into that same place he used to enter all the time when he first went to live in the orphanage, a special place in his mind where he could escape from the horror and the loneliness when life became too much. "I-I don't have any faith left, Mom."
A nurse approached the group and announced, "Mr. McCall? Your wife is in room 406 and she's asking for you and her family. Would you like me to show you the way?"
"Yes, thank you, nurse," Todd responded quietly. He was obviously torn between going to see Carolyn and staying with Peter.
"Go." Peter said flatly. "All of you, go. I'll just wait here until..." His voice trailed off, and he clenched his jaw so tightly it ached.
"Peter," Annie reminded gently, "you're part of this family. Carolyn will want to see you, too."
"I'd-I'd only upset her, Mom. She'd take one look at my face and know something was wrong." His voice was toneless.
"If you don't go, she'll think you're blaming her for what happened," Kelly objected.
Peter was too tired to argue. "Fine," he said shortly. "Let's go, then. But I'm not staying long. I need to be here when..." He inhaled sharply. "I-I just need to be here."
Carolyn was sitting up in bed when Todd walked in, and she automatically reached out both arms to him as tears streamed down her face. He rushed to her and sat on the edge of the bed, gathering her into his arms and crooning soft words into her ear.
After a few minutes, she released her hold on Todd and grabbed a tissue from the bedside stand to wipe off her dampened face. Annie and Kelly went to her and exchanged more hugs and tears. Peter followed soon after, and planted a kiss on Carolyn's cheek before moving off to the window and stared sightlessly over the city.
"Did they tell you the baby was fine?" Carolyn chattered in relief. "He started kicking up a storm about five minutes ago." She rubbed her stomach affectionately and they could see the fabric of her hospital gown twitch periodically. She held tightly on to Todd's hand, and he leaned forward to plant a kiss on her lips.
"What room is Kacie in?" she asked innocently. "I was hoping we could be roommates."
When an awkward silence ensued, she stared intently at Todd. "Where is she?" When no one answered, her voice pitched higher. "Where is she? What's happened?"
"Now, Honey, don't get yourself all upset," Todd spoke soothingly. "Kacie, umm, well, Kacie got a little colder than you did and they're having to spend a little more time with her making sure things are OK."
"She's going to be all right, isn't she?" Carolyn demanded, looking searchingly at the faces around her. "Isn't she?" Her voice rose an octave higher.
Annie sat on the other side of the bed from Todd and took Carolyn's hand in hers. "Sweetie, they just don't know yet. Right now they are very concerned, but they've told us they're doing everything possible."
"Well, she has to be all right," Carolyn insisted. "She saved me, and she saved my baby, and she has to be all right. That's all there is to it!"
Her eyes searched for Peter, who was standing apart from the rest, studiously avoiding her gaze. "Peter?" He raised his eyes to hers and she could see the depths of hopelessness he was trying so desperately to hide. "Oh, Peter."
Suddenly he was sitting in Todd's place, holding his sobbing sister and whispering words of reassurance into her ear that he didn't really believe himself. "Mom says we just have to have faith, and-and-and the doctor says Kacie's a real survivor, and we should hold on to that." He pulled back from her to peer into her face, and taking a fresh tissue, wiped her tears. "Hey, your job is to take care of you and your baby. Kacie..." He stumbled over the name and tried again. "Kacie wouldn't like it at all if she knew you were getting yourself so worked up." He leaned forward and hugged Carolyn again. "I'm-I'm going back down to the waiting room now to see if there's any news. I'll leave these guys up here to make sure you behave yourself." He rubbed a gentle hand on her swollen belly and kissed the spot gently. "You behave yourself in there, too." As he spoke to the child, it gave a sudden vigorous kick in seeming response.
He quickly excused himself and fled to the solitude of the waiting room.
Peter sat alone, watching the hands on the clock creep slowly around the face. There had been no further news, and the family was still with Carolyn. He listened to the various hospital noises with half an ear and watched the passing personnel going about their duties with even less interest. {How does the rest of the world keep going on, when mine is coming to an end?}
He got to his feet, lacing his hands behind his head as he slowly paced about the room. {It's a curse}, he thought to himself. {The mark of Caine; that's what we have. Everything and everyone we love dies}. He chewed on his lip, thinking dully, {My mother, my grandmother, Kira, Rebecca.} He found himself by the window, and leaned his forehead against the cold glass. {Even Paul, he could be dead now, too. And my father. Something could happen to him while he's off on one of those journeys and I'd never know.}
He turned around to lean against the wall, eyes closed. {God, I miss him. I miss the way he makes things better, just with his presence. Father, you said that I would never be alone again, but I am.} He spoke aloud without realizing it. "I need you. Where are you, Father?"
"I am here."
Peter's head snapped up at the words to see a tall, lanky figure with long, graying hair and dark hazel eyes regarding him enigmatically. He stood frozen in shock as Caine approached and laid a large, comforting hand on Peter's shoulder.
"What troubles you, my son? I have felt your pain. What is wrong? I thought at first you had been injured. I am relieved to see that you are all right."
Peter stared into the hazel eyes that were so much like his own, and felt his emotional control crumbling. His face started working as he buried his face in his father's chest and shivered there.
Kwai Chang Caine held his son tightly and rocked him gently, absorbing the terror and pain and fear of loss his son had been keeping bottled up inside.
After several minutes, Peter took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "A friend...a friend is very ill, Father. I'm-I'm afraid she could be dying."
Caine was struck by the fact that Peter had referred to him as "father". {He never calls me father any more, only when he is very upset.} "Why are you so sure this friend is dying, Peter? Have the doctors given you no hope?"
"I guess...I guess...I'm afraid to hope. Kacie has come to mean a lot to me. The thought of a world without her voice or her smile or her laughter; I can't imagine it." Peter drew a ragged breath and chewed on his lower lip. "So many people have left me. I just don't think I can go through it any more. I..."
They were interrupted by the arrival of Dr. McClanahan. The doctor's expression was still solemn, but his eyes were alive with hope. "Detective Caine?"
Peter stepped away from his father and braced himself for the doctor's news. He asked the question with his eyes, unable to speak the words.
"Her core temperature is up to 93. We had to defibrillate again, but there's no sign of heart damage. Blood pressure is looking good, and we've been able to take her off the ventilator and just use the face mask."
"This is good, is it not?" Caine questioned in his soft baritone.
A slight smile played about the doctor's face. "This is very good. She's not responding to anyone's voice yet, but there are signs of consciousness returning."
"Does that mean..." Peter's voice faltered.
"That means that while we're not completely out of the woods yet, things are looking good. Yes, they are looking very good." McClanahan laughed as Peter turned and grabbed his father in a bear hug, momentarily lifting the older man off his feet.
Hours later, Peter and his father stood outside an ICU room, looking through the window at the motionless form on the bed. McClanahan looked up to see Peter and motioned to him. Peter looked startled a moment and then stepped to the door, where a nurse admitted him. He walked closer to the bed and looked quizzically at the doctor.
"I want you to talk to her," McClanahan ordered. "I think she's beginning to rouse a little, and I want someone close to her to talk her back into the world."
Peter nodded in understanding and then asked, "Can-can-can I touch her?"
The doctor looked at him sharply a moment and then nodded.
Peter moved closer to Kacie, taking in the normal pink tone of her skin. He gently touched her cheek, feeling the warmth. {Oh, God, I thought I was holding a corpse when I held you at the lake.} "Kacie? Kacie? Can you hear me?"
A split second later, her nose twitched a little and she stirred.
"Kacie, come on, Hon. Wake up. Wake up." He was filled with new hope as he saw her eyelids start to flutter.
"Keep talking," urged the doctor, a watchful eye on the monitors.
Peter took hold of her hand and held it next to his cheek. "Come on, Kacie. Wake up. Wake up and talk to me. Come back from wherever you are."
The eyelids fluttered and at last opened. Kacie looked around the room, disoriented at first, until her wandering gaze fixed upon Peter's face. Her eyes came alive with a light of recognition, and he saw her mouth his name behind the oxygen mask. He kissed her hand, but didn't dare trust his voice to speak.
Dr. McClanahan leaned over, and her gaze switched to him as he spoke to her. "If you wanted some time off from work, all you had to do was ask, young lady. You didn't need to pull a stunt like this."
She smiled briefly, a small ghost of a smile. Looking at the oximeter readout, he removed the mask from her face and replaced it with a nasal cannula after a quick word with a nurse. "Do you know where you are?" he asked.
"Hos-pi-tal," she whispered.
"Do you know who this is?" the doctor indicated Peter with a nod of his head.
She smiled a little half-smile. "Pe-ter."
"Do you know who I am?"
"Slave...dri...ver." The smile faded as her eyes closed wearily.
McClanahan cleared his throat gruffly and wiped the back of his hand across his eyes. "I've got sick people to tend to." He clapped his hand on Peter's shoulder. "You can stay as long as you like, young man." Thus speaking, he strode briskly from the room.
Peter rubbed Kacie's hand against his cheek. Her eyes flicked opened again and she whispered groggily, "Need...shave. You...scratch."
He put down her hand and gently caressed her chin and cheek. She nestled her face into his palm and closed her eyes with a sigh. Peter bent over her and kissed the middle of her forehead. {Maybe there is no family curse, after all.}