Harmony turned around and went to the door that the nurse pointed to. 463 was painted on it in green. She bowed her head for a moment and prayed quietly to herself "God, please give me the strength to help Cal. Please make him OK, let him live. Please help Brian. I know he is going to miss having Cal around. Please put his heart at ease. Let him know that Cal is OK. Please protect us all as we go threw this. Amen". She opens the door to find a dimly lit room. Cal is facing away from her, she can see bandages on his neck and upper back. Harmony sets her stuff out of the way, she grabs her camera from her bag and snaps off a few shots. She always imagined she would meet Cal when Brian came home. They would both be in there fatigues, getting off a plane, Brian would give her a big kiss and Cal would fallow with a hug, they would go to the lake first thing.She never thought that something would happen to either of them.
Things change. She washes her hands and then with no way to put off seeing Cal she walks over to the side of the bed, his face looks peaceful but she can see scrapes and bruises covering what she could see of his body. The shadows from the machines casting a eerie green and red glow over him, the beeps letting her know he is alive, some how there comforting. Harmony pulls a chair over and sits down, leaning forward she puts her hand on the bed afraid to touch him but needs to be close to him. The nurse knocks and enters. She turns on the bedside light and begins to talk in a hushed tone "Hi, I'm Brenda. You look scared, I cant imagine, Mr. Cal probably wont wake up for a bit but when he is awake he asks for you. I gather your someone special to him?"
"I'm Harmony, Cal is my boyfriends best friend. They were serving together."
"Well Harmony, Cal is lucky to have a friend like you, right now everything is looking good. I need to change his iv bag, and check his vitals but he is doing OK. I wont tell you not to worry because I know you will. You look tired. Can I get you some coffee?"
"No thanks, I have iced in my bag. I'm the lucky one. Cal well Cal is a great person. I feel helpless. Is there anything I can do?"
"You being here is enough for now. You can hold his hand if you want, wipe his face down, ohh and if his lips get dry you can use the lip balm on the stand, it gets dry in here.He probably wont wake up till morning. If you need anything let one of us know. I'll be back in a couple of hours, Nice meeting you" she says as she closes the door leaving Harmony alone with her thoughts and Cal again. Harmony puts her hand under the blanket and finds his fingers, gently as she could she pushes one hand under them and lays her other over them then lays her head down on the bed and lets her tears flow. Her feelings are a mess, its great to see Cal but it makes it real. She feel scared and alone and so far from Momma C and she cant bake to make it all go away but at least she has him and he is alive. His hand is warm and the machines tell her he is alive but its not enough. She is great full but she wants to see his eyes, hear his voice. See him awake. To know the Cal she knows and loves even is in there. Right now all she has is his body but she wants his mind. She wants her Cal. Her shy but honest best friend.
What feels like a few hours later, but must be closer to six Harmony wakes briefly to Brenda coming back in to check Cal again. She puts a blanket over her and tells her to go back to sleep Its only 3 am. The doctor wont be in for a few more hours around eight or so. and by then he should be waking up a bit. Harmony cant believe she has been away from home for almost a full day. In the same clothes even longer but that stuff does not matter to her. She has Cal.
Harmony comes to when she feels a a hand on her face and the fingers she has wrapped around hers move.
"Cal you awake, ohh my god"
"Harm your here, I thought I was dreaming" Cal says in a whisper
"shh don't talk, let me get a nurse"
Harmony pushes the button and Brenda comes in. "Brenda, Cal is awake"
"I see Harmony. So Mr. Cal I'm Brenda. How are you feeling? Are you in pain"
"my throat, it hurts, I'm thirsty, , Pain yes, don't knock me out Please?"
"No sir, wont knock you out again as long as you stay calm. How about some ice water? Or some apple juice? Sound like a plan?" Brenda says to him while she puts pain meds in his iv. She leaves the room and comes back with two large cups of juice with ice, she hands one to Harmony and helps Cal take a few sips of the other.
"I expect you to drink that, both of you. We cant have either of you dehydrating on my watch, The doctor will be in in about hour, Harmony if you want there is a shower threw there and then you can go down and grab breakfast? I'll walk you down my break is in a half hour if you want? As for Cal his breakfast is sleep and juice" Brenda says as she smiles as Cal.
"A shower sounds amazing. I don't have shampoo or anything, is there a place I can get some? Ill take my shower after the doctor leaves if that's OK?"
"Sounds like a plan, Ill come get you before I leave" Brenda tells her as she closes the door.
"So you came?" Cal whispers.
"nothing could keep me away Cal. Your Brian's best friend, and my best friend too" Harmony tells him looking into his eyes.
"I"m sorry harm"
"Cal, Don't be sorry, I'm here and will not leave until we leave."
"I'm tired, Hold my hand" Cal asks her as his eyes start to droop, Harmony sits down on the edge of the bed and hold his hand. Rubbing circles on his knuckles. Brenda knocks on the door a half hour later and Harmony leaves but not before she kisses Cal on his cheek.
Brenda shows her the cafeteria and then tells her she will see her tonight. She is getting off early. Harmony grabs breakfast and a supply of iced coffee and juice and snacks and is checking out when she hears her name being paged over the intercom to come back to Cal's floor. She takes off running and makes it to his room in two minutes. She hears Cal yelling her name as soon as she gets off the elevator. She runs in to find Cal in a panic and a nurse and doctor trying to calm him.
"Harmony, Where are you? Cal yells
"Cal I'm right here, Calm down" harmony tells him lowering her voice. This is how Brian did it for her.
"you said you would not leave me" He said panic in his voice.
"Cal I told you I was going to get breakfast, its OK". Harmony sets down her bag and rushes to him, She grabs his hand and puts her head near his. Talking quietly she whispers "Cal, its OK, its OK, I'm here. I wont leave again, I'm sorry. Take a deep breath. I'm here, Can you hear me? Look into my eyes Cal, I'm not going anywhere. I'm here" She repeats herself over and over until his breathing goes back to normal. She straightens and looks around.
"Mam, I take it your Harmony" Said the doctor.
"That's me"
"Cal awoke in a panic and we could not get him calm down. He tried to pull out his iv s and what not to go looking for you"
"I'm sorry, I had to get breakfast,"
"we understand, being as this seems to be something that is going to be a regular thing and we cant ask you to sleep in a chair. If your willing would you mind staying in a family room? Its a room that we have that is bigger and has an extra bed in it. It would mean you would not have to leave him. It also has a fridge and a kitchen area. So you can cook. It would mean we don't have to keep sedating him"
"That would be amazing. Anything I can do to help him" Harmony tells them. This man.
"Thank you, I'll get that set in motion. Cal now that your calm, how is your pain? Your bandages are going to need to be changed today, the burn team will be by after lunch and the surgeon will pop in at some point to check your incisions, by the way I'm Dr. Baker. I'll be your primary doc while your here."
"Thirsty, throat, hungry,Thank you" Cal whispered. Harmony reached for the cup and brought the straw to his cracked lips. When he was done she wiped his mouth, she turned back to the doc "So what can he drink? What can I do for his throat and he is hungry, that must be a good sign right?"
"as for his throat you can give him hard candy, or throat lozenges. Those would help before eating. He can start eating when he wants but I would stick to soft foods for the next few meals, just to get him back to eating normally. I am going to write up the orders but note that he can eat what he wants.", Turning to Cal "Are you doing OK on the new pain meds?
"Dont knock me out please" He says not wanting to go to sleep.
"Fine, No stronger ones!"
"Sounds like a plan, but if you need them to sleep then they can give them to you. Laying on one side is going to be hard and you don't want bed sores, so we can try giving you something just a little stronger and let you try sleeping on your back, but we will wait till the burn docs come in and see what they say"
"great"
The doctor leaves and Harmony goes to get up, Cal tightens his hold on her hands "Cal. I need to get my bags, I'm hungry, and I gotta pee. And I want my phone and my camera and laptop. I also want a shower, I wont leave the room"
"No go, please, I need you here. I need you Harm. You make me OK." panic rising in his voice. His eyes going dark. His voice quivering.
"Cal I have to pee, you don't want me to pee my pants?"
"No, leave door open, Talk?"
"OK, Ill leave the door open and will talk to you, what do you want me to say?"
"Anything"
Harmony gets up heads for the bathroom, she leaves the door open and talks the whole time, glad that her voice covers the sound of her using the facilities. She talks about her bakery and the orders she has coming in. She grabs her bags on the way back to his bed.
"So want a piece of my egg? Its soft? Ohh and I have oatmeal. How about some of that? Ill share with you?"
"egg yes, no oatmeal, Sit here" Cal croaks out as he pats the bed. Harmony takes the egg off her sandwich and feeds him small pieces. As well as a few spoons of the oatmeal he said he would not eat but seem to enjoy the way she made it. Bananas and honey with walnuts, She took out her camera and connected it to her lap top. So Cal could see the pictures. She pulled up the ones she took on her way here and the ones of his truck and the cake from the day before.
"what do you think? Ohh I sent your baby in for a tune up, detail and new tires. It needed it. I think you had a pet living in your seat, I also unpacked your stuff and put it in the closet in the spare room.and I stole your shirt. Your not getting it back." she tells him winking.
"Thank you"
"Welcome. I want to shower. Think You would be ok if I took one?, I'll leave the door open? Just behave your self"
"Sure. Talk to me?"
" what do you wanna hear about this time"
"lake"
"Done" Harmony says as she gets up grabs clean clothes and heads to the bathroom. She finds a small bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap, After stepping in the shower she get undressed and tosses them over the shower curtain. The water is hot and feels amazing. As she washes her hair she tells him about the colors and sounds. Trying to paint a picture with her words. She tells him about the future and how she wants to leave the property as untouched touched as possible by the time she is done and dressed she is out of words. She walks out of the bathroom with her brush getting ready to put her hair up.
"Don't, down, I like it"
"Leave my hair down?"
"yes please"
"I can do that, Do you want a drink? I have iced coffee and sprite, I also have lemon cheese cake from home?"
"ohh please, hmm" Cal moaned.
Harmony got the cheesecake and a spoon as well as her iced coffee. She sat back next to him, once settled she gave him small bites until it was gone.
"Harm, you killing me. Its sinful,"
"glad you like it, now how about that nap?"
"You wont leave" he whispers.
"nope, I may not sit on the bed, there going to move us soon, How about a deal, if I get up out of your line of site, even if your sleeping i'll talk to you? So if you wake you will hear me?"
"Deal, Harm hold my hand?, lips hurts"
Harmony digs into her purse, finding what she is looking for she coats his lips in lemon mint lip balm using it on herself after. She puts her hands under the blanket and holds his hands as his eyes get droopy and he drifts off. A little while later a nurse and orderly comes in to move them to the new room. They offer her a cart to put her stuff on and they take care of moving Cal. Its all done in twenty minutes and Cal never wakes up. The new room is brightly colored and is bigger. The bathroom has a tub in it as well as a handicap accessible shower. There is a cot for her with blankets and pillows in. The nurse shows her a closet where she can put her clothes, a place to plug in her lap top and phone and the cooking area. She hands her a folder with take out menus and a place that delivers food if she wants to cook. She also hands her a bag with shampoo and personal items. "By the way the chapter president of welcome home with help will be by around dinner time. Her name is Monica. She is a doll and wanted to bring you two dinner. She will be a big help while your here."
"That's sweet. Do you mind if I take a nap? I am tired and we have a few hours before lunch."
"Please treat this room as if its home. You can push the cot near his bed if you want, its on wheels for that purpose. Also there are more blankets in the cabinet over there as well as slipper socks with no skid bottoms. There great, don't want you taking a fall. Also down the hall on the right you will find a small room with vending machines and a fridge, Its kept stocked with stuff from volunteers. This area is more a family area so don't be surprised if you run into kids. The play room is a few doors down in the other direction. Also there is a laundry room I can show you if you need your clothes done. If there is anything else you need let me know"