Chapter 39
The next morning, Joci woke up feeling better. Jeremiah couldn’t be swayed to leave her alone at the hospital, so he slept in the recliner next to her bed, holding her hand.
The night before, Jackie had asked if there was anything she needed, and Joci had asked her to bring something else to wear besides hospital gowns.
The doctor had said they were taking the catheter out today, and she would have to start venturing all the way across the room to the bathroom.
She wasn’t sure how she was going to do that, but at least she wanted to have something that fit a bit better and wasn’t so baggy.
She thought a pair of yoga pants and a tank top would be great and was oddly excited about the prospect of wearing real clothes again.
She looked over at Jeremiah. He still slept in the chair.
His breathing was steady and strong. His beautiful face was relaxed in sleep.
Their baby was going to be beautiful, whether it was a boy or a girl.
She couldn’t blame LuAnn for wanting him.
What normal, red-blooded woman could look at Jeremiah and not want him?
She reached down and touched her belly where their baby rested. It had been three days now. The doctors were feeling more and more positive that she wouldn’t miscarry. She had been trying not to get too excited about having another baby. If she did miscarry, it would be heartbreaking.
While she lay here in the hospital, she found herself dreaming about their lives together. Having the girls around chatting about the baby increased her excitement. Now she found that she couldn’t think of the future without thinking about the baby.
She whispered as she caressed her tummy, “Please be okay, little one.”
Jeremiah opened his eyes. “I love watching you talk to her.” He smiled and leaned forward.
She looked into his eyes and grinned. “I love that you place your hand on my tummy every time you kiss me as if you’re telling her hello as well.”
“I am. I can’t wait to hold her in my arms and kiss her.”
She sighed. She was still sore, but she was happy.
“You know it could be a boy, right? I don’t want you to be disappointed.”
Jeremiah laughed. “Baby, I could never be disappointed with a child we made together…but it’s a girl. I’ve dreamed about her.”
She giggled. “You know we have a lot of work to do at the house, right? We aren’t exactly set up for a baby. I was getting overwhelmed listening to the girls talk about it yesterday. There are so many things to buy, so much stuff to get. God, I forgot about all the stuff!”
He put his hand on her tummy. “We’ll be fine, sweetheart. Whatever we need, our families will have it in a snap. We’re fortunate this time. Money isn’t an issue like before.” He leaned up and kissed her tummy. “Good morning, little one.”
Then he looked at Joci, leaned in, and kissed her good morning. “Good morning, little one. How are you feeling this morning?”
“I feel better. I’m excited about getting to put clothes on. Simple little things like that, and it was the first thing I thought of this morning—although the prospect of trekking to the bathroom has me practically hyperventilating.”
“I hate that you have to go through this. I would take it myself in a second if I could. I’m here for as long as it takes. I hope you know that.”
She smiled. She knew.
There was a knock on the door. “Glad you’re awake. I have clothes.” Jackie’s smile could light the sky. “I knew you couldn’t wait to get dressed. So, I got up early and picked up some of your things.” She walked in and set a bag on the bed near Joci’s feet. “How are you this morning?”
“I’m better today. Thank you so much for bringing me real clothes.” Joci giggled.
“You’re welcome. How are we going to do this?”
Joci tried adjusting herself in the bed. “I think I have to wait for the nurse to remove the catheter before I can put pants on.”
Jackie nodded. “I had forgotten about the catheter.”
The nurse rounded the door just then. “I saw a bag of clothing walk through the door. I bet you’re ready to take off that designer gown you’ve been wearing.”
Joci nodded.
“Okay, the first thing is to remove the catheter. Then we can work on getting you dressed. If you still have some strength, we’ll take a trial run to the bathroom.”
The nurse looked at Jackie as if to say, “You need to leave.” Jackie got the message, raised her hands in the air. “I’ll be out in the hall.”
Then the nurse looked at Jeremiah. “I’m not leaving.”
It was a statement that brooked no argument. The nurse looked at Joci, and she smirked. “Pick your battles.” Once the catheter was removed, it was now time to get dressed. The nurse helped remove Joci’s hospital gown, and Jeremiah gasped at all the bruises and marks on her body.
“God, Joci. Oh, honey, I’m so damned sorry.”
She looked at him and touched his face. “Please don’t worry. They’ll heal.”
They wrestled with her clothing. Jeremiah helped where he could.
The nurse cut the right strap of her tank top and then slid the right side of the tank top up under her arm and over her breast. Then she pulled the straps back up over her shoulder and, with a couple of safety pins, fastened them together.
They laughed—it wasn’t designer, but it would keep her from showing her visitors anything they shouldn’t see.
“Do you feel like trying to get to the bathroom?” the nurse asked.
She nodded. “I need to know I can do it. Dreading it won’t help. I need to try.”
Jeremiah stood close to Joci. “I want to help her.”
The nurse nodded and instructed him on how to be of the most assistance. She was cut and bruised everywhere. Joci slowly stood and grabbed Jeremiah’s arm. She shook from head to toe.
“We don’t have to do this, honey.”
She shook her head. “Yes, we do. I need to do this.”
She took a tentative step. Then another.
With long pauses between each step, it took them forever to get there.
Once they made it, Joci was exhausted. She wanted to brush her teeth and wash up a little.
Jeremiah insisted on helping her. They filled the sink with water, and he grabbed a washcloth.
He wet the cloth and added soap. Gingerly, Joci sat on the edge of the toilet and washed her face, then her underarms. After the two of them wrestled her yoga pants down, she finally washed her lower region.
It wasn’t great, but it felt better to feel a little cleaner.
“I never would have dreamed you would have to help me take a sponge bath. It’s embarrassing.”
“Joci, there isn’t a part of you I haven’t already seen. Besides, do you know how impossibly useless I feel not being able to help you? This at least makes me feel like I’m of some use.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. I have no idea what you must be feeling. But I can guess.”
“Ready?” he asked.
She took a deep breath and nodded. He held out his arm, and she grabbed it and hoisted herself up.
She cried out a little at the pain, but it wasn’t as bad as yesterday.
They slowly made their way back to the bed, and she eased her exhausted self into it.
She shook and sweated from the exertion.
But she felt great that she had accomplished what she had.
He leaned down and kissed her. “I’m very proud of you. You are one tough cookie.”
Joci smiled. “You better believe it.”
Jackie came back in and saw how pale Joci looked. “God, Joci. Are you okay?”
She opened her eyes. “I went to the bathroom.”
Jackie looked at her sister, her brows furrowed. “Ooooookay.”
Jeremiah laughed. “She means she walked to the bathroom.”
“Ohhhhh. How great. How did it go?”
“Well, I’m exhausted now. So I guess I’m still pretty helpless,” Joci quipped.
Jackie smiled. “But yesterday, you wouldn’t have been able to do that much, so you did great.”
Joci closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.
People floated in and out all day. She took catnaps between visitors. She just couldn’t help it. Jeremiah never left. Around 6:30 that evening, Jeremiah’s phone rang. Most of the family was there visiting. He looked at his phone. “Tommy. Hopefully, he has some news.”
He answered his phone and took Joci’s hand in his. “Tommy, what’s up? When?”
Jeremiah looked at Joci and watched her face.
“That’s bullshit. You saw the recording. She knew exactly what she was doing… Okay. I know…sorry. Thanks, Tommy.”
Jeremiah put his phone back in his pocket. “They have LuAnn. They found her in Upper Michigan, hiding in a run-down motel. She’s claiming she didn’t know what she was doing with the bike; she was just mad at Joci.”
Gunnar jumped up. “That’s fucking bullshit.”
Jeremiah held his hand up. “I didn’t say it was true, Gunnar. I was simply repeating what Tommy said. We have the video of her cutting the brake lines. We could clearly see the look on her face. She’ll go to jail.”