Happily Ever After (The Drug Lord's Wife #5)

I Blinked

Chapter 34

Adam

"Okay, I'm going to need you to follow the light with your eyes", Elliott said. Out of all the doctors I had I liked him the most. He was straightforward, never condescending and was honest with me. I know he and Jennifer made every phone call they could imagine to get the best experts for me but I still prefer it Elliott. Not that I could articulate that. Hell I couldn't eat without the tube at my side.

"Daddy, can I ride in your chair?" Alma asked already climbing onto my electric wheelchair. I opened my mouth to say,' I didn't care, hop on', only to have the words not come out and all. Sometimes my mouth worked sometimes it didn't. And right now it didn't.

"Come here",  Jennifer said pulling her away and making her sit down in a nearby chair,"Play on this", she said handing Alma her phone.

"I'm hungry", Alma complained.

"You just ate", Jennifer said quickly losing her patients.

"You have snacks in your purse, Mommy".

"No, I don't", she said.

"I saw gum in there!"

"Trying to work here", Elliott said moving the flashlight back and forth and I followed it.

"Alma, I need you to---"

"Let's go to the play area?" Connie said looking to Jennifer for a yes. She nodded in agreeance and all but pushed Alma out of the door. The twins were sleeping in their car seats by Jennifer and Lara sat by her side.

Elliot went back to his testing before Jennifer stood up with her heels clicking on the concrete floor to stand over his shoulders. She wore one of her mom dresses. She smelled good, I could tell she was wearing the Miss Dior that always drives me crazy.

Without fail, Jennifer and the kids have been at the hospital for at least a month. My dates were kind of swirled together, but I knew we were towards the end of November. Maybe? Jennifer healed relatively quickly, if I didn't know any better I would say she didn't even get hit. My mom and Rodger still came and visited me everyday. After a few days, Jennifer encourage Michael and and Brandon to go to their own safe houses. If we were all together that's too easy of a target, after this last attack we truly did need to go underground.

"Did you check his ears", Jennifer said to  Elliott as  he was checking my breathing with his stethoscope.

"Yup", he said not even turning to face her but remained focused on me.

"Neck and throat, because---".

"Yes, I went to the same medical school you did. I know what I'm doing", he pulled up a stool and sat in front of me,"Now, Mrs. Caffery if you would step back and let me do my job".

"I'm not in your way. I'm checking your work", I know Jennifer wanted to help me. But, apparently there was some kind of rules against operating on family. And she couldn't... legally.

Elliott rolled his eyes and put his stethoscope over his neck,"Out, I need to talk to mine patient in private".

I saw Jennifer get excited,"You think he's going to---"

"Get out, please. You're not helping him by mothering him. You can leave the baby's here just walk down the hallway and get a cup of coffee", I was curious to see what Elliot had to say.

" I can come too", Lara said jumping up,"We can go to the cafeteria, stretch our legs a little".

"Go feed your starving kids. Before, I call Child Services on you", Elliott joked laughing to himself.

I could tell by the way Jennifer crossed her arms she was not happy about that comment. Even though she didn't like it she listen to Elliott. She kiss my cheek and led Lara outside of the room.

Once Elliot and I were finally alone he started to talk,"Okay, some good news, I think by January you won't need the feeding tube anymore. Some more good news, you are very lucky to be in the state you are. Because most people that get shot in the head died on site. Also you can understand this conversation by your attentiveness and..."

I blinked twice for a yes.

"The blinking. But I want to be honest with you because I would want somebody to be honest with me. You're in a state of minimal consciousness that's why you can't talk all the time, and sometimes movement is hard. Now you have a very good chance of coming out of this the way you were before the shooting. But on a realistic scale, there's also the chance you won't. And if you don't get better within five years I would upgrade you to permanent minimum consciousness. Which means just that, you're stuck this way forever".

God, damn it!

Fucking shit!

"That's me giving you my honest medical opinion. Me as a person, I think you will pull through this. Money makes a huge difference, you can afford nurses, wheelchairs,"he said pointing down to the one I was in now,"And you have a wife that knows what to look for as far as complications are concerned. I say give it a year or a year-and-a-half and you'll be walking again. As far as your speech is concerned, Jennifer has already signed up a pathologist to help you there. Apparently you guys are going somewhere and Finland so the house is being renovated to help make you more mobile. So no worries there, you're just going to have to learn to be patient with yourself. And that may be the hardest thing of all", Elliott finished and I blink twice. Of fucking course it was! I'm a grown man in a diaper!

"Man to man, your penis will work again with time. But we won't know until you're strong enough to perform", Maria started to get fussy in her car seat and Elliot went and picked her up. He came and sat back down by me,"Are you thinking about having more kids?"

I didn't know how to blink for that.

Yes.

Of course I wanted more kids before the accident but now? If I could never walk again or barely communicate... Did I really want kids like this? It seemed unfair, that I wouldn't be able to really parent. Most of it would fall on Jennifer now.

I blinked no.

"Ok, I just wanted to check because we don't know what will happen five years from now. And if you wanted to, we can keep a sperm sample and then you would have baby number.... whenever you're on", He said.

I looked down to Maria in Elliot's arms. Would I never get to hold her again? I'll never take Lara driving again? And no teaching Fitz how to ride a bike. It was all gone.

I was alive but not really. I was just stuck.

And would Jennifer, eventually get fed up and leave? I knew she wouldn't, but I couldn't blame her if she wanted to. At least with a cripple, she could have a normal life but I'm basically just a meat sack in a chair. How long until, she starts wanting more? More help with the kids. More help for herself, someone she can rely on and not have to take care of.

I started to think of every situation that could happen. Lost in my own thoughts.

In that moment of self-pity Jennifer knock on the door and let herself back in with Lara following behind her. She had the most radiant smile I just hope it lasts.

I don't know what I would do without her. I hope I never find out.