They sat Gini in the chair, and he put the bag over his shoulder and wheeled her down to the parking garage. Once he got her settled in the front seat with the seatbelt over her, he took the chair to put in the trunk. He had to move things around, and it took him a couple of tries to get it in right so the lid would close. He opened the front car door and heard Gini crying, “No… uff… No… uff…”
“Sweets, what is it?” He immediately wrapped his arm around her. “Gini, tell me what’s wrong.”
Her hands were flexing, and she pushed against the seatbelt, which had locked. “No… uff. No… uff.”
He tried for a minute to calm her, but realized he couldn’t get her to stop. He took her into his arms, carrying her back to the elevator room. It was awkward to twist to open the outside door while still holding Gini tight. He fumbled to get the keycard for the elevator. Gini’s face was covered with tears, mucus, and saliva.
Debbie was just getting settled with her cup of coffee and reader when she heard a muffled “No… uff.”
She quickly jumped up and opened the door. “What’s going on?” she asked as Ric pushed passed her to go inside.
“I don’t know. She just started crying out.”
Debbie sat on the couch and motioned for him to put Gini in her lap. “It’s okay, baby, you’re home now. It’s okay.” She started rocking and rubbing gently on Gini’s face.
Ric sat in the chair—defeated. He put his elbows on his spread knees and buried his face in his hands, then looked up. “I put the chair in the trunk and…” He abruptly sat back in his seat. “Oh my gosh, that’s it. The noise of me getting the chair in must have scared her. Debbie, that has to be it.”
Debbie was still trying to calm Gini, seemingly unaware of him. He went to the windows and looked out for a minute then turned to leave. “I’ll call you.” His head was down, his steps slow, like a beaten dog with its tail down between its legs. He had failed.
Gini finally calmed and fell asleep in Debbie’s arms.
Debbie looked around. “Ric.” He was gone.
At the next appointment, the patches came off Gini’s eyes. The drops would be administered at night for one more week. Debbie bought dark wraparound glasses for Gini to wear until her eyes could get used to the light.
Dr. Adams asked Debbie how long Gini kept her eyes open when she opened them, and other questions. She told him Gini would open her eyes if you asked her to, but the lids would slowly close. The doctor suggested Debbie sit with Gini and ask her to open her eyes over and over, starting with just a few requests and adding more at each session. Maybe her brain could learn to keep her eyes open without being asked. The camera glasses would do Gini no good if she had her eyes closed.
Ric sat in his office staring out the window when his caller ID showed R Young.
“Robert!”
“Hello, Ric. How are you?”
“Good. And you?”
“I’m quite well, thank you. I just wanted to talk to you.”
Ric’s first thought was something had happened to Gini. He sat up. “Is Gini okay?”
“Yes, she got the patches off her eyes yesterday. The infection is finally gone. But I wanted to warn you.”
Warn him? Was Robert going to tell him he couldn’t be with Gini anymore? “About what? Warn me about what?”
He was disappointed Robert had broken his promise to him. Well, he guessed he himself had broken the promise of being by Gini’s side always, to love and protect her. He couldn’t be too surprised that Robert slipped right in in Ric’s absence. He knew Robert had affection for her when she was in the hospital. But now he was giving him a warning.
“The medication has changed the color of Gini’s eyes. They are a very light blue now. Still beautiful, but it is startling when you first see them. That’s all. I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”
“Okay… thanks. Did the medicine harm her eyes?”
“No, it did its job. Dr. Adams seems to think the color will go back to normal once the drops are stopped, which should be in another week or so.”
There was silence.
“Well, that’s it. Glad to hear you’re doing well.”
“You, too. Thanks again for the warning.”
Debbie hadn’t heard from Ric for a while. Only a text making sure Gini was okay. And Robert was plenty busy with the board so had only stopped in a couple of times for short visits between meetings.
The eye-opening therapy was slow going, but Debbie kept after it.
She called Maggie and asked her to lunch at their place.
“I love coming into the city,” Maggie said. “All the hustle and bustle, so different than sleepy New Haven. Not that I don’t love New Haven, because I do, just a change of pace.”
Gini was quite chatty about all the birds she heard sing in the parks, and the boats on the water.
“What a sweet lady,” Maggie said when Debbie came back from helping Gini go down for her nap.
“I know, she is.”
“You miss the hospital?”
“Nope. Of course, I miss seeing all my friends, but this job is challenging and very rewarding.”
“I’ve seen quite a bit of Ric the last week or so. Poor guy, my heart goes out to him. He’s trying so hard.”
“He is. It’s not easy with brain trauma patients. You never know what’s going to set them off. Even I
