Memories of a lifetime- Chapter 15

                            

Everyone at the house looked very grim and depressed. It had been a horrifying unexpected turn of events, and their happiness had been crushed in seconds after they heard what happened.  There had not been much news about the explosion, but terrorism was suspected which made it even worse.  Chloe made sandwiches for everyone, and Henry put Alicia to bed shortly after.  Alicia had no broken bones, and refused to stay in hospital for observation, she wanted to be with Henry, and the doctor in charge of the trauma unit discharged her against her will.  Henry assured her that they would come back immediately if anything should happen but they were willing to take the risk. 

Everyone was just waiting for news from the hospital before going to bed. Alex drove home feeling as if a piece of him was missing. He couldn't imagine living his life without Lorraine, and walked into the house looking grim and exhausted. Henry poured him a stiff drink which he declined, but Jonathan promised to drive him to the hospital if there was any change. 

Alex explained to them that Lorraine had temporary amnesia due to the blow to her head and Chloe started crying. She felt terrible because she left them to go shopping on their own, but Jonathan assured her that everything was going to be okay. He took Chloe upstairs and put her to bed, and then went back downstairs to join Alex and Henry in the kitchen. Just before twelve they went upstairs, but none of them had a good night's rest.  Alex couldn't sleep at all and he kept seeing that note over and over again.  

"What if she never remembers him again? They haven't known each other that long, and he just hoped and prayed that the amnesia was temporary." 

At the hospital things were not going as smoothly as everyone hoped. After Alex left, things took a turn for the worst. One of the nurses noticed that Lorraine started to talk funny and they immediately took her for another CT scan, and even before they could start that, Lorraine's heart stopped, and the cardiac team worked frantically to get it going again. Her blood pressure dropped dramatically and it was nearly an hour before they stabilized her again. They had to put her on a respirator and the situation looked far worse than when Alex left. 

The main concern was swelling to her brain, and it was difficult to assess how hard she fell on the sidewalk. At this stage it was impossible to determine the damage to her brain, and if she would have permanent brain damage. The doctor still didn't want to operate and decided to wait a few days to see if the swelling went down. It was too early to make any definite decisions and all that anyone could do was wait. 

The sun woke up Alex just after five o clock. He phoned Francois to put up a notice at the gallery, and then meet him at the hospital. Jonathan and Chloe knocked on his door shortly after he hung up the phone, and they were already ready to go with him to the hospital.  

He told them to meet him downstairs and took a quick shower to wake him properly.  He was ready to go in twenty minutes, and half an hour later they stopped in front of the hospital. There were lots of photographers and paparazzi hanging around the front of the hospital, but they were not allowed to go enter. Alex knew that he had to protect Lorraine at every cost and decided to hire a security team that would keep the photographers out of her room. 

The three of them had a big shock when they saw Lorraine a few minutes later. They had not expected her to be on a respirator, and one of the nurses immediately came to explain what had happened. Chloe cried uncontrollably and all that Jonathan could do was to nurture her. He even put his arm around Alex when he saw that Alex couldn't stand to see his mom like that. He had to be strong for everyone, even though he himself was crushed inside. 

Alex left the twins with their mother to go and check on Caroline. She looked good in comparison to Lorraine, and the doctor gave the go ahead for her discharge. Francois showed up a few minutes later and Alex asked him to drive her back to the chateau. Alex tried to phone her mother to tell her what happened, but she was on a safari with her friend somewhere in Africa and it was impossible to reach her.  He left a message for her to call him as soon as she could. 

There was nothing anyone could do, except to sit there and wait.  There was no change in Lorraine's condition and at twelve, they came to fetch her to do another CT scan. This would determine whether they needed to operate or not, and the result showed that the swelling did not worsen. Although nothing changed, this was good news to the doctor, and he immediately went to explain the situation to the three of them waiting for any kind of news. 

They sat there until four, and then decided to go home for the day.  The nurse promised to call if there were any change in her condition. Alex kissed her on her forehead and told her that he loved her. Chloe cried all the way home, and immediately went up to her bedroom when they got home. Caroline followed her and Alicia went to check on them later.  They were both fast asleep and she didn't want to bother them.  

Henry gave Alex a sleeping tablet and assured him that they would wake him if there were any news from the hospital.  Henry had a flight in the morning because he only took off a few days and Alicia and Henry spent a quiet night together.  Alicia decided to stay behind to support the twins, and Henry totally understood her decision. 

After they dropped off Henry at the airport, everyone went back to the hospital. Francois came to pick up Caroline so that she could spend the day with him at the gallery and the other four went up to Lorraine's room. There was still no change and after a few hours they had worked out a schedule so that they did not all have to stay at the hospital all the time. 

Caroline was due to fly back in two days, so it was necessary for Alex to spend some time with her. Alicia suggested that they book into the Ritz so that they were closer to the hospital and that they could go and rest whenever they needed to, and phoned the Ritz to do the booking.  

She sent the twins back to the hotel a few hours later and told them that they could go back to the chateau later to pick up their things. They didn't want to impose on Alex any longer, and it was too far to drive in case of emergency.  They were all expecting the worst, and Alicia shuddered to think about Alex if something should happen.  He really loved Lorraine, and she could see how hurt and traumatized he was.  

Alicia spend the rest of the day talking to her friend, and encouraged her to wake up. She bought Lorraine's favorite magazines, and sat there reading to Lorraine. She kept on talking to her and told her all about Henry and how much she loved him. She believed that Lorraine could hear everything she said and she had the most faith that everything was going to turn out okay. 

Caroline flew back two days later and Jonathan and Chloe went with Francois and Alex to see her off.  They were still discussing whether they should go back, but Jonathan refused to go anywhere until his mother woke up. Alicia spent most of her time at the hospital over the next few days, and Alex tried to focus on work more, although it was difficult. 

Life had to go on..... 

-To be continued-

 

                           

                          

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