Making the decision to live with Gini wasn’t easy, but she had made it, and she wanted Lisa to be comfortable with it as well. Lisa would be overseeing the care of the house, and she wanted that to be okay with her. She also knew Lisa would be lonely when she wasn’t there. Lisa depended on her, but Lisa was a grown woman and stronger than she thought.
Bright and early Tuesday morning, Debbie and Dr. Young prepared for surgery.
Lisa was with Franco and Ric in the family waiting room. “Dr. Young will be out to talk to you as soon as the procedure is over. There’s plenty of coffee and goodies, all for your taking. Please, if you have any concerns or questions, let me know. I will do my best to help you. I don’t want either of you to worry. Dr. Young is the best of the best. Gini’s in good hands.”
The plate surgery was finished, and Gini was out of recovery in her bed in her room, her head wrapped with white gauze and tape. Ric sat next to the bed holding her hand. He was serious, a look of worry on his face.
Debbie was changing the IV bag. “Everything okay, Ric?”
“I can’t lose her. I just can’t lose any more people I love.” His voice was low, and she was surprised by his depth of emotion.
“She’s doing well. The surgery was successful, and she’s out of recovery. What are you worried about?”
“My father died suddenly when I was fifteen. He was piloting a plane on a corporate trip to Colorado when the plane went down. Then my mother went into a deep depression. She couldn’t live without him. So I was pretty much on my own after that.”
“I’m sorry, Ric.”
He took Gini’s hand up to his mouth and rubbed her knuckles on his lips. “My wife had two miscarriages in a little over a year.”
“You’re married?”
“Was. I loved her very much. Margarita was Gini’s best friend and roommate in college. When she told me she was pregnant our junior year, I was scared to death. How was I going to finish my law degree and support a family? But I wanted to marry her and do it right. After the second miscarriage, she lost interest in our marriage and walked out on me, and eventually, we divorced. I can’t lose another child or woman I love. I just can’t.”
He got up and walked to the window and leaned against the wall. Seeing Gini with the head bandage took him back to the day of the accident. That terrible, gut-wrenching feeling resurfaced again, the fear of losing the woman he loved so dearly. He had been so hopeful when the doctor said Gini would live. But hope could be painful too.
“Ric, tell me what I can do to help you.”
He forced a sad smile. “Nothing. I’m just having a pity party.”
It wasn’t his gleaming smile she had become accustomed to. The charm and suavity were stripped away to show his vulnerability, his insecurity.
She had read him all wrong. He had had a hard life, and yet he was successful and seemed to have a lot of spirit and energy, generally filling the room with an upbeat mood. But now his shield was falling and his dagger down. The knight in shining armor was losing his grip. She understood now why Gini had loved him. It made her sad all over again, thinking of the young woman losing the life she had had.
The door opened, and Dr. Young walked into the room. “How’s she doing?”
“She’s a bit groggy, but I think she’s doing well.”
Gini moved on the bed. “Ock… tor… rob… ber… un… gee.” The words always came out slowly with her thrusting her tongue a few seconds before vocalizing and then again after. She went back to sleep.
He gently ran his finger on the tape across her forehead and down to her ear. “You just rest now, sweetheart. Debbie and I are here to take care of you.”
She thrust slowly again and then stopped.
Debbie nodded her head toward Ric still at the window.
“Ric, how are you holding up?” Dr. Young asked.
“Good,” he said unconvincingly. “Robert, can I talk to you?”
“Sure, let’s go to my office.”
On their way, the doctor asked about Franco. Ric told him Franco had briefly visited Gini in recovery but felt sick so left abruptly.
When they got to his office, they sat in chairs in front of his desk. “What do you need?”
“I’m happy Gini calls both you and Debbie by name, but she has no reaction to me at all. Do you think she knows who I am?”
“Hard to say.” Robert went on to tell him that he and Debbie were the first people Gini recognized because they had been working so closely with her. It wasn’t uncommon for her to say their names first.
“She feels comfortable with us because we are all she knows. Whether she has any memory of her past is impossible to say. Some of it, all of it, or none of it may come back; we’ll just have to wait and see. If you ask me, she may not know your name or who you are, but she’s comfortable with you. I think she enjoys you reading to her.
