Sue and Tom (7 page)

Chapter 12

Sue

I couldn’t get to Tom fast enough. What were the chances that each of us would be at the other’s house at the same time
? Talk about bad timing.

I kept thinking about what I would say to him. My cellphone rang. It was in my purse, which had fallen off the front seat and onto the floor. I could tell by the ring that it was Gina, probably checking up on me. I reached down to get my purse, having to stretch a little farther than I anticipated. I answered the phone and when I sat back up I realized I was over the yellow line. The driver in the oncoming car was blowing his horn. I swerved back over into my lane but skidded and found myself airborne.

There were sirens and flashing lights. I was pinned in my car, which was on its roof. My heart raced. I imagined the car was going to burst into flames at any moment. I thought of Chloe and how I wasn’t going to see her grow up, marry, and have children of her own. My chest hurt. I was having trouble breathing. Blood was everywhere. I could taste it in my mouth. I could hear Gina yelling my name.

“Sue! Sue! Are you all right! Sue! Answer me!”

And then everything went black.

***

Tom

I kept checking the clock. Where was Sue? I had expected her to be home by now. I called her cell, but it kept going into voicemail. Maybe she changed her mind about wanting to talk. But I wasn’t going anywhere. I figured sooner or later she had to come home. I wasn’t going to lose her again.

An hour passed and then another thirty minutes. Just when I was thinking that leaving might not be a bad idea after all, give Sue more time if she wasn’t quite ready, there was a knock at the door. It was Mike and he looked white.

“Mike, what’s up? You look terrible.”

Mike stepped inside. “It’s Sue. She’s been in an accident.”

“Oh God. Is she okay? Where is she?”

“At the hospital. That’s all I know. Gina was on the phone with Sue when it happened. Gina heard everything. She’s taking the first flight she can get home. I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“And Chloe?”

“Sue called her,” Mike explained. “She was at the mall with her girlfriend. Her dad is going to pick her up and take her to the hospital.”

I locked Sue’s door and jumped into Mike’s car. “Fuck! I can’t lose her now, Mike. We were going to talk, work everything out.”

“Gina told me,” Mike said. “Think positive thoughts, Tom. We won’t know how bad the accident was until we get to the hospital.”

Mike and I pulled into the emergency room parking lot right behind Chloe and her dad.

I jumped out of the car and ran over to Chloe. “Hear anything?”

Her face was red and blotchy. She shook her head. “I only know what Aunt Gina said. She was talking to Mom when it happened.”

We walked inside and were whisked back to a small room. Mike and Steve stayed in the waiting room.

When the nurse opened the door, Sue’s mom was inside, sitting on a vinyl couch with a big box of tissues by her side.

“Gram,” said Chloe, sitting down beside her. “Is Mom going to be all right? Did you hear anything yet?”

Chloe remembered I was in the room. “Grandma, you remember Tom, right?”

Grandma nodded. “Thank you for coming, Tim. I mean Tom. Can I just call you T? I have trouble remembering names.”

“‘T’ is fine,” I told her.

Th
e doctor walked into the room. “Hi. I’m Dr. Andersen.” He shook each of our hands. “I’ve been taking care of Sue.” He looked at Chloe. “Are you Sue’s daughter?”

Chloe nodded.

Sue’s mother stood. “And I’m her mother. Is my Suzy going to be all right?”

“She has some serious injuries,” Dr. Andersen said. “We had to reduce the swelling and pressure on the brain, which can cut off blood flow and kill healthy brain tissue. By reducing the brain activity, we lessen the pressure. Sue was
n’t responding to other measures, so we had to place her in a drug-induced coma. Give the brain time to heal.”

“Will she come out of it?” Chloe asked.

Dr. Andersen nodded. “We put the brain to sleep using sedatives. And we’ll closely monitor the brain’s activity. We’ll keep it asleep for a couple of days. Just to get your mom through this critical period. Then we’ll wean her off the drugs, bring her out of it.”

“You mean wake her up?” Chloe asked.

“Yes, once the pressure starts to stabilize, we’ll reduce the medicine and start the waking process. If the pressure starts to increase, we might have to slow it down,” Dr. Andersen said.

The doctor said some more stuff about fractured ribs and a punctured lung
, but it was all a blur. The only thing I could think about was Sue, how much I wanted to hold her and tell her I loved her. And my greatest fear was that I would never get that chance.

***

I’ve never felt so helpless in all my life. The days seemed to crawl by. Each day after work, I’d visit Sue. Even though I wasn’t immediate family, Chloe and her grandmother told them I was Sue’s boyfriend and they allowed me into the ICU.

I was getting daily updates from Gina, who was staying with Chloe. Gina had told me that she hated to leave, but she had to fly home. She had that co-ed rape case to prepare. She wanted to wrap up the case before moving back for good. I knew Gina had a lot to do and promised her that I would keep her updated, just like she had kept me updated.

I hated seeing Sue hooked up to all of the machines. I’d never seen so many gadgets and gizmos and wires.

I kept replaying my last conversation with Sue over in my mind and I was mad that I hadn’t insisted that she be the one to stay put. If I would have, the accident never would have happened.

“No. It was my fault,” Gina had said. “I called her. Probably distracted her.”

“Sue didn’t have to answer the phone,” I told Gina. “She could have let it go into voicemail. You know the last thing she’d want is for you to blame yourself. And if we really want to blame someone, we should blame Rachel. If she hadn’t been in my house waiting for me in that stripper get-up
, none of this would have happened. Sue and I would have been together that night.”

I knew that talking about what-ifs was useless. And blaming ourselves wasn’t productive
, either. But it was hard not to do.

I spent hours holding Sue’s hand, telling her that she had to be strong, had to fight. That, damn it, we had a life to live together.

News of the accident spread quickly and Sue’s friends offered to do anything they could. They dropped off meals at the house, offered to run Chloe to dance lessons. Even her ex, Steve, was pretty decent. I still didn’t like the guy, but at least he was taking good care of Chloe. Sue was right, he might be a jerk to her, but he adored his daughter.

***

Chloe and I were sitting by Sue’s bed chatting when Dr. Andersen came by. He flipped open Sue’s chart. “How’s our girl doing?”

I sat up straight. “You tell us,
Doc.”

He flipped through the papers. “She’s doing well. In fact, I think it’s time to start the weaning process.”

Chloe clapped her hands. “You’re going to wake her up?”

Dr. Andersen nodded. “We’ll slowly reduce the amount of anesthesia we’re giving your mom. It’s been a few days and she’s doing well. If there’s no increase in brain pressure, we’ll continue to decrease the drug. But if the pressure in the brain jumps, we’ll have to increase it again. Do you have any questions?”

“Will she be all right when she wakes up?” Chloe asked.

“I hope so,” Dr. Andersen said. “She might be a little confused. Maybe even a bit annoyed and irritated. Just have patience.”

“When will you start?” I asked.

“Tonight.”

When I got home, I called Gina to tell her the good news. She was still at the office when I called.

“You’re there awfully late,” I said.

“Yeah. I’m determined to nail these bastards. I hope you have good news, because I could use some right now.”

“Doctor Andersen said he
’s going to bring Sue out of the coma.”

Gina’s scream hurt my eardrum.
“Sorry,” she said. “I’m just so excited. “How long will it take to wake her up?”

“Depends. He said he
’ll turn down the anesthesia, and as long as the brain pressure doesn’t increase, he’ll continue to dial it down.”

“What if the pressure increases?” Gina asked.

“Then he has to administer more of the drug. So let’s hope he can back down the drug and Sue’s brain pressure is stable.”

“But he thinks she’s going to be
okay, right?” Gina asked.

“Yes. But he did say she might be confused.”

“I’ll be home next week,” Gina said. “I wish I could come home earlier, but I just can’t. Damn, I hate living so far away.”

“Well, you won’t be for long. How’s the house coming along
, anyway?”

“I just got off the phone with Mike and he said I’d be pleased. The new roof’s on, the house has been painted; it’s all going according to plan. ”

“Great. Glad to hear that.”

I told Gina about my plan. “I figured when Sue comes home, she’ll need someone to stay with her. I know her Mom said she would, but I kind of want to be the one to take care of her.”

“Did you tell Sue’s mom that?”

“Yes. And she said that as long as Sue was
okay with that, she was, too. She said she would come over and stay with Sue during the day while I’m at work and Chloe is in school.”

“Sounds like you have it all figured out,” Gina said.

“Yeah, now we just need Sue to come out of the coma and be okay.”

Chapter 13

Sue

I woke up to a mess of wires
, bleeping machines, and tubes. And fear.

I heard a deep voice. “She opened her eyes.”

I was confused. I didn’t know where I was. Seemed like a bed. I yanked at the thing in my mouth. What was it? I couldn’t breathe. People swarmed the bed. They were disconnecting tubes.

There were more voices. Questions. Commands.

A haze of people and sounds and movements.

“Where am I?” I mumbled. My throat felt dry.

“In the hospital,” the deep voice said. I recognized the voice, but I couldn’t remember. I hate that feeling of almost remembering but having it slip away. It’s like swimming toward the beach and just when you’re about to reach the shore the water pulls you back out. You’re so close, but not quite there.

“Sue, it’s me, Tom.
”

Tom. Familiar name. I was reaching for the shore.

Reaching.

Reaching.

I felt a warm hand cup my hand. “Sue, I’m so glad to see you awake. Everything is going to be okay.”

***

It seemed to take days before I reached the shore. When I finally got there, I recognized Tom and Chloe. I didn’t remember anything that happened. Tom and Chloe fed me bits and pieces. I think they were afraid of overwhelming me. I learned that I had been in a drug-induced coma for several days following a terrible accident. But the last thing I remember was having shower sex with Tom and it made me smile.

***

Tom

Watching Sue was like watching the little arrow on the computer screen going round and round, waiting for a website to load. Her consciousness was gradually improving. There were times when she opened her eyes and stared into space, but she wasn’t quite awake and they’d close again.

But finally the arrow stopped. Sue opened her eyes, this time pulling at the tubes and wires, and I knew she had come back to me. She mumbled. She wanted to know where she was. I remembered what the doctor had said about not giving her too much information too fast. So I waited, answering her questions as they came up.

Still, I wanted to tell her that I loved her. I didn’t get a chance to tell her that and I didn’t want another hour to go by without her knowing.

But I knew I had to be patient. I didn’t know if she had any memory loss. The doctor said she might not remember the events right before the accident. It was killing me not to know if Sue remembered the whole Rachel fiasco. I thought it would be great if she didn’t. It would make things so much easier. But the rational part of my brain kicked in and I realized that was the easy way out.

And if Sue didn’t remember, I wouldn’t feel right keeping that kind of thing from her. It would be akin to keeping a secret, one that everyone knew except Sue. And, most secrets have a way of coming out. Sue would really be furious with me then. Maybe I’d even lose her for good. No. I just had to be patient. See if the bits and pieces came to her and when they did, deal with them the best I could.

Gina was right. Sue’s memory loss could have been worse. I don’t know what I would have done if she wouldn’t have remembered me and what we had become to each other in recent weeks.

Finally, after what seemed like years spent in the chair next to Sue’s bed, the doctor said she could go home. I took off work and Sue’s mom, Rosa, and I decided we’d bring her home together. Chloe wanted to take off school, but Sue insisted Chloe go because she had missed so much already.

***

“You like my Suzy a lot, don’t you, T?” asked Rosa on our way to the hospital.

I nodded. “I always have. Even in high school.”

She put a mint in her mouth. “What took you so long, then?”

I stuttered. “She always had a boyfriend.”

“No good ones,” Rosa said. “You would have been a good one.”

I smiled. “Thanks. Good to know you would have approved.”

“Still do.”

“What?”

“Approve. In fact, I think you should marry my Suzy.”

I coughed. It was clear who Sue got her spunkiness from. And her height, pale eyes
, and blonde hair. The woman was definitely put together. I noticed that her shoes always matched her outfit. And I imagined she had a closet full of flats in every possible color.

“I think it’s a little too soon to talk about marriage, don’t you?”

Rosa waved her hand. “Baloney, boy. If you want something, go get it. If you’re too slow, the other boys will beat you every time.”

I choked but couldn’t hold back my laughter. “You should have given me that talk in high school.”

“Well, I’m given it to you now. My Suzy needs a real man. Not one who thinks he is. I know Steve is Chloe’s dad, but the creep thinks his one-eye snake is king of the jungle. I think it’s a dried up worm. The only good thing that ever came out of that dick was Chloe.”

I started laughing. “I’m sorry. I can’t help it.”

She winked. “There’s something you need to understand about women, T. Sometimes we play hard to get when what we really want is to be caught and held. The trick is letting us think we’ve outsmarted you. Do you think you can do that?”

“What?”

“Let Sue think she’s outsmarted you.”

“I can try, if you think that will work.”

“If we’re lucky, she’s ready to be caught. Good Lord, I hope so. I want to see her married before I’m dead.”

“You’re not ill, are you?”

Rosa shook her tiny head. “Hell, no. But you never know when the good Lord will call me home. And when I get called to go home, I want to make sure my Suzy has a man worthy of her. And from the way you’ve been at her bedside every day, I’d say you’d be a pretty good candidate. Do you make much money?”

I coughed again.

“You don’t have to answer that,” Rosa said. “But I don’t want my Suzy to settle for someone who can’t afford to take her out to dinner or on vacation.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that with me,” I told her.

Rosa nodded. “Good.”

I was relieved when I pulled into the hospital parking lot. I had never spent so much time alone with Rosa and I was just beginning to realize what a firecracker the woman was.
I could see where Sue got her no-bullshit ways.

***

Sue

I was thinking about a nightmare I had the night before when the discharge nurse came into my room.

“Ready to go home?” she asked, setting the clean clothes Chloe had brought in the night before on my bed.

I nodded.

“You look like you were in deep thought,” she said. “Everything
okay?”

“I was just remembering this horrible nightmare.”

“Want to share it? Maybe it will make you feel better.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I was stuck in a dryer and it was going round and round and round. I couldn’t open the door from the inside to get out and everyone kept coming to the dryer and looking in, watching me spin round and round but not opening the door to help me. It was horrible. It was dark and hot and I got dizzy and no one would help me.”

I started to cry and that’s when Mom and Tom walked into the room.

Mom rushed to my bedside and hugged me. “What’s wrong with my Suzy?”

I sniffed. “I’ll be all right, Mom. Just remembering a bad dream, that’s all.”

“Do you need us to get you anything?” Tom asked.

I shook my head. “I just want to get out of here and go home.”

A wheelchair ride later from the sixth floor to the discharge ramp on the first floor and I was headed home. Mom was riding shotgun and I was in the back.

“Gina should be over tonight,” Tom said. “Mike is picking her up at the airport at 5 and I know she wants to see you first thing.”

“How’s her house coming?” I asked.

“Mike said it’s going great. Thinks Gina will be pleased. He said Jack loves his new room.”

I laughed. “Jack’s a sweet kid.”

“Yeah, Mike said we’ll have to go out for dinner when Gina gets back in town.”

“Didn’t we just recently go out to dinner with them?”

Sue surprised me. I knew from talking to her what her last memory was. The dinner happened after that.

“Do you remember that?” I asked.

“Not completely,” Sue said. “A little. Mostly the champagne.”

A sigh of relief escaped my lips. I had a lump in my throat, nervous that she would remember Rachel and what happened several days later. It didn’t come
—yet. But I knew it was only a matter of time.

“Don’t worry,” Rosa said. “You’ll remember. And when you get to be my age, you’ll be glad if there are things you did that you could forget. Like the time I left a tampon in my chocha?”

“Mom! Please! I’m sure Tom doesn’t want to hear about your chocha.”

I had a view of Tom from the back seat and I could see he was mashing his lips together, trying not to laugh.

“Well, at least I didn’t get an 8-ball stuck up there.”

“Mom! I mean it! You’re embarrassing me.”

Tom couldn’t hold it back any longer. He laughed. “Do you mean an 8-ball as in a billiard ball?”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Mom said. “Heard it at the hairdresser
’s. Janice told Karen and Karen told me, but I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, so don’t repeat it. Turned out the girl had to go to her ob-gyn to get the darn thing removed. Now that’s something you’d want to forget.”

I was so happy when we pulled up to my house.

***

Tom

Rosa was definitely a character. I liked her. She made me laugh, even though I knew Sue wanted to crawl under the back seat.

I helped Sue into the house.

“I think I’d like to lay down for a bit,” Sue said. “I’m feeling kind of tired.”

“Where do you want to rest?” Rosa asked.

“In my bed. I feel like I haven’t slept well in forever.”

“T, why don’t you take Suzy upstairs and I’ll make this casserole for later.”

I looked at Sue. “I could just carry you up. That might be easiest.”

Sue smiled and I scooped her up and carried her upstairs. When I put her down on her bed, she pulled me toward her.

“Thank you for everything,” she said.

I looked into her pale blue eyes. I didn’t know if I should, but I wanted to kiss her. God how I wanted to kiss her, to let her know that I was never going to leave her side, unless she wanted me to.

Our lips found one another and we kissed long and hard.

“You know what I’m thinking about?” Sue whispered.

“What?”

She smiled. “The shower sex.”

I nodded. “That’s a good memory, right?”

“Very good,” Sue said. “Want to rest beside me?”

“But your mom’s downstairs.”

“I
’m nearly 40,” Sue said. “And besides, it’s not like we’re going to screw. We’re just going to rest. And it would be nice having you beside me.”

I slipped into bed next to Sue and put my arm around her. It didn’t take her long to fall asleep. She looked so peaceful, curled like a cat. I stared at her, drinking in every detail
—long, feathery eyelashes; a tiny mole on her right temple; pink lips that looked more like a child’s than those of a mature woman. She was beautiful. So different from Rachel in every way imaginable.

I hated that Rachel entered my thoughts while I lay beside Sue. I wondered if Sue would remember finding Rachel in my house and, if she did, if she would be angry all over again and push me away. I couldn’t stand it if that happened again. Once was bad enough. I feel horrible saying this, but I dreaded the day her memory fully returned.