Drawing Close: The Fourth Novel in the Rosemont Series (22 page)

Chapter 49

“The doctor has released you,” the
nurse said brightly. “I’ve got your discharge instructions and prescriptions to
go over with you, and then you’re free to go.”

Susan pushed herself onto her elbows and swung her
feet gingerly over the side of the bed. Maggie eyed her daughter closely. “Are
you feeling all right, honey?”

Susan nodded. “Of course I am, Mom. I’m just
anxious to get out of here.”

“It’s a six-hour drive home. We can wait until
tomorrow.”

“No!” Susan snapped. “I want to go now.”

Aaron turned to Maggie. “It’s natural to feel
worse two days after surgery. Don’t worry, I’ll keep my eye on her all the way
home.” He looked at John. “Why don’t you bring the car around to the entrance?
I’ll listen to the nurse’s instructions, and we can be on our way. We should be
back at Rosemont by dinnertime.”

Maggie nodded reluctantly. “You’re the doctor. If
you’re sure she’s okay to leave the hospital.”

“I am. See you downstairs in fifteen minutes.”

***

Aaron helped Susan into the
backseat of John’s Suburban, placing a pillow on her lap before securing her seat
belt.

“You look exhausted,” Maggie said, unable to
conceal the alarm in her voice.

“We gave her a pain pill before we came
downstairs,” Aaron reassured Maggie. “She’ll probably be out the whole way
home.”

Maggie lifted an eyebrow at John. “It’ll be fine,”
he said. “Let’s get to Rosemont before it wears off.”

John drove the entire way, with only one quick
stop for gas. Aaron and Susan slept in the backseat. They made good time on the
clear, dry roads, and turned into the driveway to Rosemont shortly after four
o’clock.

John pulled into the garage and shut off the
engine. He and Maggie got quietly out of the car. “I’ll help Aaron get Susan
upstairs, then I’ll go fill her prescriptions and pick up dinner.”

Maggie nodded. “I’ll go with you. I need to get
groceries.” She opened the back tailgate and reached for Susan’s duffel bag.

Aaron stirred and looked around. “We’re here?” he
asked. “Did she sleep the whole way, too?”

“You were both out cold from the time we pulled
out of the hospital parking lot,” John said.

“Sorry about that,” Aaron unfastened Susan’s seat
belt.

She opened her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Home,”
she said.

“Let’s get you inside,” Maggie said. “Would you
like to sit up for a while in that big chair in the library? We can open the
French doors and you can get some air. You’ve slept all day.”

Susan leaned heavily on Aaron’s arm as she got out
of the car. They walked slowly through the house. When they reached the
staircase, Susan turned to Maggie. “I’m still really tired. If you don’t mind,
I’d like to go up to bed. I’ll sit in the library tomorrow.”

“Whatever you want, honey.”

“Why don’t you and John go fill her prescriptions?
I’ll keep a close eye on her,” Aaron said. Maggie studied his face. “Everything’s
fine. I just want to have her pain pills if she needs them.”

***

John dropped Maggie at the
supermarket while he headed to the pharmacy and then to Tomascino’s for a
pizza. Maggie was waiting for him with a cart full of groceries when he pulled
to the entrance to pick her up. He helped her stow the bags in the back of his
Suburban.

“Expecting to feed an army this week?” he asked.

“I want to be prepared. I’ve got the fixings for
all her favorite dishes.”

“You’re a wonderful mother,” he said as he shut her
car door for her. He looked at her as he climbed behind the wheel.

“I’m worried,” Maggie confessed.

“Remember what Aaron said? Patients are worse two
days after surgery. It’s the same with animals.”

Maggie shook her head. “I can’t put my finger on
it, but it seems like she’s getting worse, not better.”

“If that’s the case, we know what to do,” John
replied. “But I think you’re making yourself miserable about nothing.”

Maggie turned to look out her window and remained
silent on the short drive home.

John brought the groceries into the house while
Maggie hurried up the stairs to bring Susan’s prescriptions to her. “Do you
need something for pain, honey?”

Susan shook her head. “Is that pizza I smell?”

Maggie nodded. “Tomascino’s. We got one loaded
with veggies and a sausage and pepperoni. We also got macaroni and cheese. Can
I bring them up here? We can all eat upstairs.”

“No,” Susan said. “I’d like to come down.”

Maggie beamed. “I’ll go put the groceries away.
We’ll be ready for you whenever you want to eat.” She reached for the door
handle, then turned back. “And I got Oreos, chocolate ice cream, and those big,
crunchy pretzels you love, too.”

Susan laughed. “You don’t need to fatten me up,
Mom. I’m going to be in a wedding dress, soon. Very soon.” She looked at Aaron.
“Let’s tell them at dinner,” she mouthed and he nodded, a smile spreading from
ear to ear.

***

John rose to clear away the paper
plates and pizza boxes when they were done eating.

“Can you leave that for a minute?” Susan asked.
“Sit back down.” She glanced at Aaron. “We have something we’d like to talk to
you about.”

John reclaimed his seat.

“This sounds serious,” Maggie said.

“We’ve decided to change our mind about the
wedding,” Susan began.

“What?” Maggie gasped.

“We’re still getting married,” Susan hastened to
assure her. “And we’d like to get married at Rosemont. We just don’t want to
spend the money on an expensive wedding. We’d like to donate it to the
hospital, instead.”

“But sweetheart …” Maggie began.

Susan held up her hand. “We’ve talked about it,
and our minds are made up. I’m sorry if you’ll be disappointed.”

“It’s not that, honey. Are you sure?”

“Positive. We’d like to get married here, next
week, before we go back to California.”

“That’s really fast,” Maggie replied. “What about
Mike and Amy and the girls?”

“I’ll call him tomorrow. Maybe they can come.”

“I’m not sure we can get things together in a
week.”

“Of course we can,” Susan replied. “It’ll just be
you and John, Marc and Alex, the Torreses, the Holmes family, and Mike’s
family, if they can make it. We can order flowers for the mantel, and we’ll go
to The Mill for dinner afterward. Marc will play the piano in the conservatory.
I’ve even decided what I’m going to wear.”

Maggie smiled at her uber-organized daughter.
“What?”

“That cream tea-length lace cocktail dress with
seed pearls that you bought on sale but have never worn.”

“The one Amy convinced me to buy, telling me I’d
need it one day?”

Susan nodded. “The very one. You haven’t gotten
rid of it, have you?”

“Nope. It’s in my closet, with the tags still on
it.”

“Good.” Susan clapped her hands. “I’ve got a
gorgeous dress, and we’ve got a plan.”

Maggie looked at John, who nodded. “If this is
what you want, let’s do it. I’ll get the town clerk to come by here tomorrow to
take your application for your license. It’s one of the perks of being
mayor—probably the only perk,” she added.

“We’ll get manis and pedis this weekend, and I’ll
go to that salon on the square to get my hair put up the day of the wedding.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until you’re
fully recovered?” Maggie asked.

“I should be fine by next week,” Susan stifled a
yawn. “But I’m tired now. And I’m starting to feel a little bit queasy.”

“That could be the medication,” Aaron said.
“You’ve had enough excitement for one day. Let’s get you up to bed.”

Susan nodded as he helped her to her feet. “We’ll
get the wedding all figured out tomorrow, Mom.” She looked at her mother. “This
really is what I want.”

***

Maggie started a load of laundry
and checked the time on the grandfather clock in the entryway.
John should
be back any minute. Where had he gone at this hour, anyway?
He’d called
“back in a few” to her as he headed out the door.

Maggie climbed the stairs and proceeded down the
hall to Susan’s room. She checked under the door. The light was out. She’d let
her daughter sleep. Maggie unpacked the small suitcase she’d taken with her to
the transplant hospital, removed her makeup, and washed her face. She had just
turned off the water when she thought she heard the familiar jingling of
collars racing up the stairs. She tossed her towel over the bar as Eve rounded
the corner to the bathroom in search of her master. Roman followed at a polite
distance.

Maggie dropped onto one knee and embraced her Jack
Russell terrier mix as she showered Maggie with excited kisses. “I missed you,
too,” she cooed. She extended her arm to Roman. “Come here, boy,” she said,
ruffling his ears.

John stood in the doorway, looking at his wife.

“So that’s where you went,” Maggie said. “To get
the animals out of captivity.”

“One of the advantages of owning the kennel,” John
said. “I knew you’d sleep better if they were home.”

“I sure will,” Maggie said, nuzzling Eve. “And you
will, too, John Allen. Don’t try to tell me otherwise.”

John shrugged. “I’ll neither admit nor deny.”

Maggie stood. “Where are the cats?”

“They scattered as soon as I opened the carrier.
They’ll make their presence known shortly, I should think.”

Maggie turned at the soft meow of Bubbles as she
strutted between the two dogs to her mistress. She scooped up the boldest of
the three cats and had her purring within seconds. “I think Susan was better
tonight, don’t you? Maybe the drive really took it out of her?”

“I’m sure of it,” John said. “What do you think
about their getting married next week?”

“I’m relieved, actually. I’m afraid we won’t be
living here next year when she planned to get married.”

“You don’t know that Frank is going to outbid us.
We’ve been able to sweeten our offer. Frank isn’t known for overpaying for
anything. He probably figures we can’t come up with even half of the appraised
value. He’ll bid the half that is the required minimum and think he’s got it in
the bag.”

Maggie bent to greet Blossom and Buttercup. “I
hope you’re right, but my gut tells me Frank Haynes will do anything to get his
hands on Rosemont.” She looked up at John. “I’m trying to come to terms with
the idea that we’ll be leaving this house. I’d love to have Susan’s wedding
here. If she gets married next week, we can be sure of it.”

Chapter 50

Maggie folded her reading glasses
into their case and closed her laptop. It was no use. She was too tired to
focus on her emails; they would have to wait until the next morning. She leaned
back in her chair. Susan had rallied when the clerk arrived to get their
signatures on the application for their wedding license, but she’d been
increasingly listless the rest of the day. Aaron was a doctor—if he said
she was doing fine, she didn’t need to worry. And she’d started her
post-operative prescription of antibiotics. Maggie was doing what she always
did—worrying needlessly about her children.

She collected John from the sofa, where he’d
fallen asleep in front of the television, and they went up to bed. She’d
finally fallen into a deep sleep when she was awakened by a firm knock on their
bedroom door. She grabbed her robe from the foot of her bed.

Maggie opened the door to find Aaron, fully
dressed, on the other side. “Susan’s spiked a fever,” he said calmly. “We need
to take her to the hospital.”

She took a step back. “Let me put some clothes
on,” she started, but Aaron interrupted her.

“No. Give me John’s keys, and I’ll take her now.
I’ll call you.”

Maggie scooped up John’s keys from their usual
perch on his nightstand and handed them to Aaron. “You go and we’ll follow. How
high is it?” she asked as she hurried down the hall with him to Susan’s room.

“One hundred four,” he said.

Maggie gasped.

“I’ve given her ibuprofen and acetaminophen to
bring it down, but I think she’ll need intravenous antibiotics. The sooner they
start them, the better.”

“The incision is infected?” Maggie asked.

“Yes,” Aaron said as he lifted Susan out of bed.

“Let me get John to help you take her downstairs.”

“I’m right here,” John said from the hallway. He
and Aaron carried Susan down the stairs and into John’s car.

“Honey,” Maggie said to Susan. Her eyes fluttered
open, then closed.

“We’ll be ten minutes behind you,” John told Aaron
as he started the ignition.

Maggie turned to John. “She’s going away from us,
John. I felt it all day. She was getting sicker and sicker,” her voice cracked.

John took Maggie by the shoulder and steered her
into the house. “Get dressed, and we’ll go to the hospital. Post-operative
infections are not uncommon, and they know how to treat them,” he said with as
much confidence as he could muster.

“You really believe she’ll be all right?” Maggie
asked in a small voice.

“I do.”

***

Maggie wrapped her arms around
herself and rocked back and forth in her chair in the frigid emergency room
waiting area of Mercy Hospital. John slipped his arm around her shoulders and
rubbed her arm.

“Why do they always keep these places so cold?”
she muttered.

“You’ve got a spare jacket in the car. I’ll go get
it for you,” he said, starting to rise. She pulled him back into his seat.

“I don’t want you to leave me alone,” she said. “I
want you here when the doctor comes out.”

“She’s going to be fine, sweetheart. Whatever’s
going on, she’s in good hands.”

Maggie leaned her head into his shoulder but didn’t
respond, keeping her eyes trained on the door that led from the waiting area to
the exam rooms. They both tensed when the door opened and a man in surgical
scrubs and a clipboard called to an elderly woman who had been sitting, alone,
clutching her purse on her lap. The man smiled at the woman as she approached,
and said, “He’s doing just fine.” The woman’s relief, as she passed Maggie and
John, was tangible.

“We’ve been here for almost two hours,” Maggie
said, “and no word. That can’t be good.”

John had been thinking the same thing. “No news is
just that, sweetheart. No news. I’m sure someone will be out shortly.” But no
one came for them, and they sat, watching the door open and close three more
times, as people who entered the waiting area, long after she and John had
arrived, were called back to see their loved ones. Finally, it was their turn.

The nurse ushered them into a small private
consultation room. “The doctor will be right in,” he said.

“How’s my daughter?” Maggie asked the young man.

“The doctor will be right in” was his only reply.

Maggie turned scared eyes to John. John put his
arms around her and pulled her to him.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Alex
leaned into the room. “Aaron called me about twenty minutes ago. Do you mind if
I wait with you?”

John motioned him into the room. Maggie bowed her
head and they waited in silence.

Aaron and an older man finally entered the room.
“She’s had a close call, but we think she’ll be all right,” Aaron said.

Maggie leaned forward. “What do you mean, ‘close
call’?” she asked shrilly.

The older man stepped toward her. “I’m Dr. Jacobson,”
he said, extending his hand. “Susan is stable and will be moved to a room in
the ICU. Her surgical site is infected, and she’s had a severe allergic
reaction to the antibiotic she was taking. Her throat was almost completely
swollen shut, and she was in anaphylactic shock. We had to intubate her to
allow her to breathe. We’ve put her into a medically induced coma and are
giving her a different intravenous antibiotic to fight the infection.”

Maggie shook her head, trying to take it all in.

“How long do you plan to keep her under?” John
asked.

“Hopefully, only a day or two. It’s a very mild
coma, and we’ll bring her up each day to assess her situation.”

“Is the new antibiotic going to work?” Maggie
asked, seeking reassurance.

“We’ve had good luck with this one and have every
confidence that it will,” the doctor replied.

“Can I see her?”

“Normally, we don’t allow visitors until the
patient is moved to a room, but I think we can make an exception this time.
I’ll take you back. But you can only stay a few minutes.”

Maggie nodded.

“One of you can be with her when she moves to the
ICU,” the doctor said.

Maggie turned to Aaron. “I hate the idea of
leaving her, but since you’re a doctor, I think you should be the one to stay.”

“Thank you, Maggie,” Aaron said. “I think so, too.
I promise you, I’ll call you the minute anything happens.”

“Will she know me?” Maggie asked.

“We can’t be certain,” the doctor answered.
“There’s no scientific proof, but I believe she will.”

The doctor held the door for Maggie, and they
headed down the corridor toward a long room with curtained partitions lining
each side.

When they had gone, John turned to Aaron. “I think
it’s time to call Mike. Should I tell him that he needs to come?”

The sadness in Aaron’s eyes was unmistakable. He
nodded slowly. “Yes. I think you’d better. These superbugs are unpredictable.
We don’t know if we’ll be able to stop this infection.”

***

Maggie steeled herself for what she
was about to see as she followed the doctor to the last partition on the right
side of the room. The doctor drew the curtain aside, and there was
Susan—her Susan—caged in a hospital bed, dwarfed by monitors
forming a semi-circle around her. A tube emerged from her mouth and a noisy
breathing machine wheezed at her side. The doctor put his hand under Maggie’s
elbow. She drew a deep breath and stepped to the side of the bed opposite the
breathing apparatus.

She took her daughter’s hand, being careful not to
dislodge the electronic probe attached to her finger, and leaned over to kiss a
spot on the top of her head that she could reach without disturbing any tubes.
“You’re going to be fine,” she whispered in her ear. “The new medicine is doing
its job, and all of this is helping you while it works. You’ll be home in no
time, my love. And you’re the best daughter any mother could ever hope to have.
I’m so proud of you, and I love you so much.”

The doctor motioned toward the door.

“Aaron will stay with you, and I’ll be back
tomorrow. You just rest and get better.” Maggie couldn’t be sure, but she
thought Susan squeezed her hand before she stepped away from the bed.