Romance: Altered Engagement (Wild Hearts, Contemporary Romance Book 1) Read online

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  Dr. Capshaw came hurrying into the room as the Magnetron was shut down and the carriage slid out of the machine. Allen was staring at Katie's face, her eyes wide open and looking at him, and then Judy and Kylie were there, too. Dr. Capshaw and the tech got the helmet off of her, and began unstrapping her.

  Dr. Capshaw said, “Katie, I'm Dr. Capshaw, your doctor. Can you hear me okay?”

  Katie looked at him and nodded. “Yes,” she said, though it came out “es.”

  He grinned from ear to ear. “Okay, now stay still for a minute, and let's see where we're at as far as movement, okay? Can you move your hands at all?”

  Everyone sucked in a breath, and they all looked at her hands. Katie couldn't look down at them yet; she hadn’t even raised her head off the carriage. But when her fingers began to curl, and then her fists were closing and opening, there was a restrained cheer in the room, and even Katie was able to smile.

  Dr. Capshaw called for orderlies, and they carefully moved Katie back onto the bed and wheeled her back to her room before he would allow any more testing. He didn't have to ask if she could move her arms, because when Judy stepped up beside the bed and reached for Katie's hand, he saw Katie lift her arm to meet her mother's hand with her own. He started humming, then, something he always did when he saw a patient actually responding to treatment, or even spontaneously recovering any use of limbs or cognizance. This was a special day, and he was delighted to see it.

  He spent the next couple of hours testing Katie for nerve response, checking to see if she had feeling in her hands, her arms, her face. All of these seemed to be at least partially back to normal, but her legs, she said, had no feeling. Dr. Capshaw had her try to move them, and the best she managed to do was a small flex of the toes on her right foot. Her legs would not respond at all. They got her sitting up in the bed, with the head raised up to let her lean back on it like a chair, and he poked and prodded some more, and it became obvious that she had no feeling below her waist.

  “Well,” Dr. Capshaw said, “I don't want anyone to get disheartened at this point. Just seeing Katie awake is an amazing step, considering where we were just a few hours ago.”

  “I've been awake,” Katie Lou said. “Most of the time, anyway. I just couldn't say anything, or move, but then when Daddy was talking to me, I just got so upset, and I wanted to go home, and all of a sudden I could move some, and talk.”

  Capshaw nodded. “Sometimes that's how it happens,” he said. “I've had patients who said they were trapped like that for weeks, even months. We can all be thankful it wasn't so long for you, Katie.”

  Her eyes grew large. “Oh, I'm thankful,” she said, “I'm thankful! I was miserable like that, I woulda gone crazy if it lasted too long.” She looked at him sheepishly. “So, can I go home now?”

  Dr. Capshaw grimaced. “I think it's a little early for that,” he said. “I think we need to wait a couple days and see how things go, and there are some more tests we need to run to determine the extent of your injuries. Certainly, if we don't find any serious physiological problems, and assuming you don't lapse back into unresponsiveness, I can't see why you'd need to be here more than a day or two more, but I'd really like to see how your legs progress for a bit. Right at the moment, I can't see why they wouldn't come back, but I'd like to get more of an idea of just how much damage the nerves there might have suffered before we just pack you up and send you home, okay?”

  She looked sad, but nodded. “Okay,” she said. “You're the doctor, I guess.”

  He grinned. “Well, last time I checked, I was. I'll talk with Dr. Meeks, he's your regular rounds guy, and see what he thinks, but right now, barring anything unforeseen, I'd say you'll probably be going home tomorrow or the day after. That good enough for now?”

  Katie tried to hide her smile, but it didn't work. “I guess I can live with it,” she said, “for right now.”

  “Katie?” Everyone turned as a group toward the door. Darren stood there, his eyes bruised and wide. “Katie, Baby,” he said. “I'd heard you were in a coma, Babe, I'm so glad to see you up and out of it!” He hobbled in, moving stiffly because of his broken ribs, and carefully leaned in to give her a hug. His father, who had driven him up to Columbia, waved at everyone and then wandered away down the hall.

  “Hey, Babe!” she said, smiling. “You didn't think you could get rid of me that easy, did you?”

  “Ha, ha,” he said, “very funny. I've been a complete wreck for the past two days! When your mom said you were in a coma and the doctor didn't know if you were going to get any better—Babe, I was just about devastated. I'm planning to spend my life with you, I couldn't handle it if something happened to you!”

  Katie kissed his cheek. “Hey, I'm glad you're okay! I gather we had a pretty bad wreck, but I don't really remember it.”

  “That's also normal,” Dr. Capshaw said. “Most of us block out traumatic events at times, especially ones that are very painful. Your brain didn't like what happened, so it just refuses to remember it. It might come back, sometime, or it may not ever. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.”

  Allen clapped Darren on the back, and the younger man winced. “Good to see you, Son,” he said. “And when you get time, I want to go over some things with you. I've been thinking about what happened to you kids, and I think there may be a case of equipment failure, here.”

  Darren turned and looked at him, nodding. “Yes, Sir,” he said. “Something happened to the steering, and I couldn't control the car. I've had what’s left of the car taken to your shop, and I'm hoping you'll be able to find out what it was.”

  Allen nodded, and felt a mixture of excitement and fear at the prospect of going through the car that had almost killed his little girl. He was certainly curious about the steering failure, but the truth was that he wanted to look at the seat belt mechanism that had failed to keep her in the car; if she hadn’t gone through the windshield, she might have ended up in no worse shape than Darren was, rather than facing the possibility of being a paraplegic for the rest of her life.

  Darren was talking to the doctor. “...the prognosis for her recovery?”

  “Well,” Dr. Capshaw said, “while it's still far too early to make any predictions, we can say that we haven’t found any physical damage that would mean permanent paralysis. The rest is dependent on the amount of trauma suffered by the spinal cord and nervous system; if there was enough swelling on spinal cord tissues, then it's possible we could be looking at a permanent situation, but the fact that she's not showing paralysis above the waist at this time suggests to me that we're going to see further recovery.” He smiled, but held up a hand to forestall any questions or comments. “Now, that doesn't mean there won't be some residual effects that linger for years, possibly even for the rest of her life. We just don't know enough, yet, to make any kind of accurate and definitive predictions.”

  Darren nodded. “I understand,” he said. “You know that Katie Lou and I are planning to be married soon, don't you? It's actually in three weeks, and naturally we're hoping she'll be able to walk down the aisle. I know you said you can't make any definite prediction, but would you hazard a guess?”

  “Darren,” Katie said, “Babe, trust me, I will be walking by then! I'm not staying in this bed, I can tell you that!”

  Darren turned to her and smiled broadly. “Katie Lou, I don't care if you have to ride down the aisle on your dad piggy-back, as long as you get there. No matter how this turns out—Baby, I love you, and nothing is going to change that.”

  Dr. Capshaw smiled. “She can probably make a better prediction than I can, right now, and I think she just did. Seriously, a lot of it is going to be up to Katie, and to her body. If the damage isn't too severe, she could be up by tomorrow; if it's moderate, it may take some time, and of course, if it turns out to be more severe than we think right now, then there could be lifelong implications. Time and God are the only physicians that can determine how this turns out.”


  The doctor left them to visit while he went to arrange for some testing to be done later in the day and to make some changes to Katie's records. Specifically, he wanted to order changes in the monitoring schedule; if she showed any sign of lapsing back into coma or lethargy, he wanted to know it as soon as possible.

  Katie Lou, for her part, was determined to find some feeling or response in her legs, and kept pinching herself. “There!” she exclaimed more than once. “I felt that!”

  Darren smiled after one of those, and reached out to pull her face around to his for a kiss, while motioning for Kylie to pinch the same spot while Katie wasn't looking. When she did, Katie was still smiling into his kiss, and hadn't felt a thing.

  “Katie,” Kylie said, “I just pinched the same place you did, and you didn't even notice. And I pinched it kinda hard, just to be sure.”

  Katie Lou looked at her, and the smile slowly faded from her face. “Well, so what?” she asked. “Like the doctor said, it's too early to try to make any real predictions right now. But you wait and see, I'll be up and walking by my wedding day!”

  Darren grinned. “I know you will, Honey, and I'm so proud of you. I didn't even expect to find you conscious today, and just look at you! I'm so glad you're doing better.”

  Katie Lou blushed and smiled, and put a hand to her head to brush stray hairs back out of her face. “I must look awful,” she said. “I know they cut my hair, in places, so they could put tubes in my head. Somebody give me a mirror, I wanna see how bad it is.”

  They all tried to stall, but she wouldn't have it, so finally Judy produced a small makeup mirror from her purse and handed it over. Katie took a deep breath and then looked at her reflection. A moment later, she began to weep softly, as she saw how badly bruised her face was, and the splotchy look of her once long and glorious hair. The doctor had literally clipped out small sections so that they could get to her scalp and drill into her skull.

  “Oh, my God,” she said, “I look like a raccoon with mange!”

  Everyone stared at her for a moment, no one knowing what to say, until Kylie quipped, “Yeah, a little bit. On the other hand, the two black eyes and the swollen nose go together so well, y'know, I'm—I'm thinkin' this could be a new look for you, Sis. You could make a fashion statement, set a new trend. People would be going out and having car wrecks just to look like you.”

  The entire room was silent for a moment, and then Allen burst out laughing. Katie Lou joined him a second later, and then they were all laughing, hugging one another, with tears of relief and joy and gratitude flowing down all of their faces.

  “So,” Katie asked her sister, “want me to give you tips on how to hit the windshield? I mean, you could be the first to adopt the new 'Katie Brennan' look, be a leader in the new fashion movement.”

  “Nah,” Kylie said with a grin, “I think I'll stick to makeup and such. Your way just seems a bit too dramatic for me, know what I mean?”

  “And way too dramatic for me!” said Judy. “After this, I'm ready to go back to the horse and buggy days!”

  “Hey, no, uh-uh! That'd put me outa work!”

  “Hush, Allen,” Judy said to her husband. “I'll teach you to wash hair and you can work for me!”

  “Yeah, Daddy,” Kylie said, “or you could become a blacksmith and put iron tires on the wagon wheels, and learn to make horseshoes.”

  “Ha, ha, aren't you all so funny?” Allen asked, but the grin said he was playing along with the gag. “Maybe it hasn't dawned on any of you that if we go back to horse and buggy days, it would take us all day to get home from here, instead of an hour. You really want to move that slow?”

  Judy wrapped her arms around one of his and squeezed it. “Oh, not really,” she said. “I just want my babies to be safe when they're out in this big old world, and cars are going to scare me from now on, I'm sure.”

  Darren winked at her. “Don't worry, Miz Judy,” he said. “I've already decided I'm done with flashy sports cars. My next car will be the safest thing I can find. I can't take a chance of anything happening to Katie Lou. This time was almost more than I could handle.” He looked at his fiancé, and a few more tears fell.

  Judy smiled at him. “I'm glad to hear it. Talk to Allen, he'll know what cars are safest!”

  “Chrysler 200!” Allen said. “One of the best overall safety ratings of any car on the road today! Please take note that I drive a Chrysler 200!”

  Darren laughed. “Note taken, Sir, and I'll look at one this week.”

  “Well, well, well,” came a voice from the doorway, and they all turned to see Kathy, the nurse. “I had an appointment at my son's school this morning, and then I get here and find out my favorite patient has surprised us all and woken up! It's about time, Little Missy!” She moved to stand beside the bed, and reached out to shake Katie's hand. “I'm Kathy, your primary nurse, and it's a definite pleasure to finally meet you, young lady! You had us all pretty worried, there, you know. How are you feeling?”

  Katie Lou smiled. “I'm feeling sore, cranky and not nearly as pretty as I usually do, but other than that, I guess I'm doing pretty good. Except my legs aren't working, yet, and that's just not acceptable; I'm walking down the aisle in less than three weeks, to marry this wonderful man”—she grabbed Darren's arm—“so they'd better start listening to what I'm telling them to do, and soon!”

  Kathy smiled. “Dr. Capshaw says he's pretty confident you'll get at least some control back pretty soon,” she said, “but we'll just have to wait and see how much and how soon. Don't let it get you down if it takes longer than you want, and don't let it stop you from getting married, either of you! You're young, and you've got a lot of time to recover; don't let this stop you from having the happy moments you've been planning on.”

  Katie Lou set her jaw. “The doctor was saying that when I leave here, it'll probably be in a wheelchair,” she said. “I am not getting married in a wheelchair. That's just not gonna happen! Darren will understand, won't you, Babe? If we have to postpone it, I mean, so I can walk down the aisle?”

  Darren looked at her and smiled, but Kylie thought she saw a hesitation in his face. “Of course, I would,” he said, “but I know you, and you won't let that happen! You're sweet and beautiful, Katie Lou, but you're also one of the most stubborn women I've ever known! You'll make it, I know you will!”

  “Of course she will!” Judy said. “If there's one thing she inherited from her father, it's his determination to make the world do things his way! She won't let anything keep her from her wedding day, will you, Sweetheart?”

  Katie was smiling at all of the encouragement. “Not if I can help it, no way! You hear that, legs? Time to get with the program, here!”

  Kathy smiled. “Sounds like you've got a whole cheering section, girl, so I'm gonna go get to work. It's almost lunchtime; you ready to eat?”

  “Oh, God, yes,” Katie Lou said, “I am absolutely starving! Bring it on!”

  Everyone laughed, and Kathy left to get the lunch trays started on their rounds. Allen suggested that he, Judy and Kylie all go get some lunch of their own (“and let these two lovebirds have a little privacy”) so he and his wife and daughter went down to the cafeteria.

  Darren sat down on the edge of Katie's bed. “Okay, now that everyone else is gone, tell me—how are you really doing?”

  Katie's eyes suddenly brimmed over with tears, and she reached out for him. Darren caught her arms and pulled her forward to wrap her in his own. “Oh, Darren,” she wept, “I'm so scared! What if, what if I can't walk again, Darren, what if I can't ever get back on my feet? What do I do then?”

  “Shh,” Darren said, stroking her head and neck gently. “Baby, don't cry. We'll get through this, don't worry, we will. You'll be back on your feet in no time, I know that, and if something goes wrong, then we'll just deal with it, that's all. This isn't the end of the world, you know, not as long as we've got each other. We'll get through it.”

  Katie held onto him and cried, and Ka
thy happened to walk by as she wept. The nurse had the orderly wait a few moments before taking her lunch tray in, to give her time to compose herself, and by the time it was brought in, Katie was smiling again and holding Darren's hand.

  “Hi, there,” the orderly said. “Got you some lunch, here. You ready for that?”

  “That depends on what it is,” Katie said with a mischievous grin.

  “Well, then, let's see what it is,” the orderly said, and lifted the cover off the tray. “Holy cow, you got meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans—that's better than my lunch, and I paid twelve bucks for it down at the cafeteria!”

  Darren gave him an incredulous look. “Have you ever seen what a hospital charges for these meals? For what this one costs on the hospital bill, you could probably feed a family of four for a week!”

  The orderly made a face. “That's probably true,” he said. “I know they charge like eighteen dollars for a single aspirin, can you believe that? I saw that when my mom was in for a broken hip last year, and I couldn't believe it. You'd think, with profit margins like that, they could pay me a little better than just over minimum wage, wouldn't you?” He took the covers and left, pushing his big wheeled rack further down the hall to the next patient room. “We got lunch!” they heard him call to Katie's neighbor.

  Katie picked up her fork and began eating, then looked at Darren. “You want to go down and get yourself something to eat, while I'm eating this?” she asked.

  He glared at her. “Are you serious? Like I would leave you alone to eat that stuff? That is hospital food, Babe, I may have to perform a Heimlich maneuver or something to save your life. You know how dangerous hospital food is, right?”

  Katie stared at him, eyes wide. “No,” she said, “tell me!” She shoved another forkful into her mouth.

  “Why, people have been known to morph into alien monsters after eating hospital food,” Darren said, sounding serious. “I heard of one guy who ate some while he was getting his hemorrhoids removed, and the next thing he knew, he had two heads and a tail!”