The Journey Home

“Don’t do this to me,” I whispered. Jack looked up, confused. I repeated myself: “Don’t you take this from me.”

Jack was about to speak when the doors to the waiting room opened and Tim came walking out. Everyone jumped up and made their way to him.

Tim looked at me, nodded, and smiled before turning back to Mitchel and Mary.

“Tim, please tell us what’s going on,” Mary said as she wiped tears away.

Tim took a deep breath before speaking. “He’s in a medically-induced coma.”

I closed my eyes briefly and silently prayed.

“There’s some swelling in his brain, and they’re not sure if there has been any brain damage.” Tim looked at me and then at Mitchel and Mary. “To allow the swelling to go down, and allow faster healing the doctor’s feel it’s best to take this approach. I’ll let them talk to you more about that. He broke his left femur, along with three ribs. Cale also suffered a splenic rupture. The doctors were able to repair it without having to remove the whole spleen.”

Mary let out a small sob as she said, “Oh, thank God.”

Mitchel cleared his throat. “How long will they keep him in the induced coma?”

Tim shook his head. “That will be up to his doctor. They will schedule him for a CT either first thing in the morning or possibly even later this evening. He’ll talk to you about all of that.”

Jack walked up to Tim and reached for his hand. “Jesus, dude. I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t been on the boat with us.”

Tim smiled weakly. “I’m glad I was there.” He walked up to me. “May I talk to you in private, Maddie?”

“Sure,” I said as I followed him down the hall to the elevator. He sighed and pushed his hand through his hair as we stepped in. We stood in silence until the doors opened and we walked to the cafeteria where he ordered a cup of coffee and a bottled water.

When the girl looked at me, I smiled and said, “Just a bottle of water for me, please.”

We sat down at a table and I tried to smile, but he was scaring me. What if he didn’t tell Cale’s parents everything? What if something else was terribly wrong?

“You’re starting to scare me,” I said.

He frowned and said, “I’m sorry. Shit. I didn’t mean to scare you, Maddie. I just didn’t want to ask you this in front of everyone.”

I stared at him. “Okay. Ask me what?”

He looked down at his coffee, then back up at me. “Are you pregnant, Maddie?”

My jaw dropped. “How did…how did you know?” I asked. “I just found out this morning.”

He smiled and nodded. “The way you kept touching your stomach today. The flush on your cheeks. My wife did the same thing when she found out she was pregnant. When they say you glow…you really do glow. Cale had told me something was different about you today. He said you were so happy. I overheard you telling him you wanted to talk to him alone. I wasn’t being noisy, I just overheard and figured it out.”

I smiled and felt heat move across my face. “You have a child?”

“Almost. She’s due in two weeks,” he said, sitting up taller.

“I didn’t know. Congratulations!” I said, looking away. He reached to take my hand.

“What is it?”

I chewed on my bottom lip and I fought like hell to keep my tears at bay. “A little bit ago, I felt a pain. A sharp pain, like a cramp. What if…” A sob escaped my throat and I sniffled loudly. “What if I lose the baby?”

He shook his head. “Maddie, cramping is normal, especially in a first pregnancy. Don’t stress about it. Stress is the worst thing for…” He stopped talking and looked away. “Well, shit. Just try not to stress about Cale. I promise, he’s going to be okay.”

I let my head hang as the tears began to fall. “What if he has brain damage? Or he can’t remember me or Lily?”

He squeezed my hand tighter. “Have faith. Pray hard and keep positive.”

I nodded and said, “I will, yes. I will, for sure.” I saw Monica and Jack approaching us. I smiled as Jack helped Monica to sit down.

“Man, before you know it, I’ll need to be lugged around by a cart or something.” Monica said. She looked between Tim and me. “Is everything okay? Tim, were you holding something back up there?”

“No. I just wanted a few moments alone with Maddie. Just making sure she’s okay and all that.” He turned to me and winked. I smiled and mouthed, Thank you.

I spent the rest of the evening convincing Mitchel and Mary to go home to shower and change. Jack and Monica were picking up Lily from my neighbors’ and were planning on staying at our house so that Lily would be more comfortable. My heart hurt for her—I’d left with her so upset.

When they finally got Cale into an ICU room, and everyone had left, I made my way to his room. I sat at the side of his bed and took his hand. The nurse told me that Cale could hear everything I said. I’d tried to stay strong and positive, but I couldn’t. I lost it and began crying.

“Please don’t leave us. Please, God. Please don’t take him from the kids or me. Please.”

MY BODY HURT everywhere. I tried like hell to respond to Maddie. Was I just dreaming she was talking to me? She kept crying. Asking me not to leave her. But I would never leave her.

Jesus it felt like I had been hit by a bus. Where was I?

“The swelling is completely gone,” a voice said, “and all scans show normal brain activity. We just need him to wake up now.”

I didn’t recognize whoever was talking. His voice was deep, and I didn’t know it.

“Why isn’t he waking up?”

Maddie.

“Just keep talking to him. He’ll wake up when his body is ready.”

I felt someone touch my hand and warmth spread through my achy body.

Maddie.

“Cale? Baby, please wake up now. Lily keeps asking for you. She’s been saying ‘Daddy.’ Not ‘Dada,’ but ‘Daddy.’” She sniffled, faintly crying. “I really need you. Please. Please come back to me. I can’t live without you. I can’t lose you.”

I forced my eyes open. Everything was blurry. I looked around and my head was pounding. I’d never had such an awful headache in my life. I tried to take a deep breath and stopped almost immediately.

Oh, fuck. I’d hit the side of that boat. It was all coming back to me. I’d turned my body as best I could, but my left leg hit first. I remembered hearing a cracking sound. I’d closed my eyes before the rest of my body slammed into the boat, and that was the last thing I remembered.

I was pretty damn sure my ribs were broken, since it hurt to breathe. My left leg hurt like a son of a bitch.

Maddie had her eyes closed and she was holding my hand. I wanted to just look at her before I said anything. When I saw a tear slide down her face, my world about fell apart. Our wedding. I’d fucked up our wedding.

I tried to talk, but nothing came out. Maddie dropped her head onto the bed as she cried. I lifted my fingers some to show her I was awake and could see and hear her.

Nothing.

Swallowing hard, I forced myself to talk. “Maddie…” It came out barely a whisper.

I moved my hand more and she lifted her head and looked at our hands.

“Maddie…” I whispered again. She snapped her head up and looked at me. Tears streamed down her face as she jumped up.

“Cale? Did you say something?”

I nodded. “Maddie,” I whispered, hoarse.

The smile that spread across her face lit up the entire room. “I love you so much.” She started crying harder, but she also laughed. She gently kissed my lips. When she pulled back, her eyes searched my face. “We’re selling the boat.”

I laughed, then quickly stopped and groaned. “Ribs…so sore.”

“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.” She kissed me again before hitting the call button. A few seconds later, a voice spoke.

“May I help you, Ms. Powers?” a nurse said.

She grin

ned bigger. “He’s awake.”

“I’ll page the doctor now.”

Maddie’s smile faded as she wiped away more tears. “You scared me, Cale.”

I shook my head. “I’m so sorry. I would never do anything on purpose to hurt or scare you. I hate knowing that you’ve been so upset.” I remembered the wedding. “What day is it?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head as if she, too, had lost track of the days. “It’s Tuesday.”

“Tuesday? What? The wedding is in three days. How long…holy shit. I’ve been out since last Thursday?”