His Bundle of Love / the Color of Courage by Patricia Davids Read Free Book Online Page B

the baby’s arm, but it continued to jerk. “Let me get the doctor.”
    She returned with Dr. Myers. “How long?” he asked, watching the baby intently.
    “A minute now,” Sandra replied.
    “You’re right. Looks like a seizure. Let’s get an EEG and give her a loading dose of phenobarbital. I’ll write the orders.”
    Mick caught the doctor’s arm before he could turn away. “What would cause her to have a seizure?”
    “I can’t say for sure. We’ll have to do some tests. We’ll let you know the results as soon as we get them.”
    Mick stayed with Beth for another hour, then he left the NICU and made his way down to the adult intensive care unit where he waited to be allowed in to see Caitlin. Her nurse for the evening gave him the first encouraging news he’d had since the day Beth was born. Caitlin was assisting the ventilator at times by breathing on her own.
    “Does this mean she’s waking up?”
    The nurse shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. Patients in a coma can often breathe without a vent.”
    “I see.” And he did. If Caitlin came off of the ventilator but didn’t wake up, she might live in a vegetative state for years.
    He opened Caitlin’s door and stepped into the dimly lit room. She lay on her side facing the window. Beyond the dark panes of glass, the lights of the city glowed brightly, and traffic streamed by on the streets below. Cars filled with people who had homes and families waiting. Everyone had somewhere to go. Everyone except the woman on the bed.
    What he knew of her life had been filled with pain. Had she ever known a safe night in the arms of someone she loved? Would she have a chance for any of those things, or would she live out her life caught between waking and dying, kept alive by tube feedings and overworked nurses?
    Pulling up a chair, he sat beside her and took her hand. “I had to make a choice today, Caitlin. I signed paternity papers. Beth is now legally my child. Our child, I guess. As strange as this sounds, in my heart I feel sure it’s what you wanted. It’s the only way I can look after her.”
    He watched the ventilator for a while, but he couldn’t tell if it was breathing for her or if she was breathing by herself.
    “I’d like to tell you that things are going well for her, but the truth is, she’s in a lot of trouble. It was touch and go all day today.”
    Tears pricked his eyes, and his throat closed around the words he didn’t want to say. “I don’t know if she’s going to make it, Caitlin. And I don’t know how I’m going to face it if she doesn’t. I love her already—I do.”
    He wiped his eyes with the back of one hand and drew a shaky breath. “I have to believe she’s going to be okay. I have faith, and I’ve prayed more in the past few days than in any time in my life.”
    He leaned forward and brushed his knuckles down the soft skin of her cheek. “Lady, you have no idea of the mess you started. I’m not even sure how I’m going to explain this to my family. Frankly, they’re going to think I’m certifiable.”
    * * *
    “You did what?”
    “That can’t be legal, can it?”
    Mick listened to the protests and objections of his older sisters as they sat at the oak table in his kitchen three days later. He knew they would react this way. That was why he’d called them together, to get the protests over with all at once. Then maybe he could get some sleep.
    Beth’s lung was healing, but an EEG confirmed she was having seizures. The doctors had started her on a drug called phenobarbital to control them. Soon after that, she had gone to surgery to close her patent ductus arteriosus, and Mick had spent agonizing hours in the surgical waiting room with Pastor Frank and Lloyd Winston at his side for support.
    The surgery had gone well, and Beth’s condition had finally stabilized enough for Mick to feel that he could spend some time at home. Thank goodness his mother was better and didn’t require his constant care. The