was still in more pain than he wanted to admit.
“Hi, Doc,” Peter said as he looked up, and Jamie glanced at Bill with a look of suspicion.
“Are you going to bed?” Jamie asked politely, staring at the green scrubs he was wearing.
“No. I get to wear these to work, isn’t that silly? That way, I can fall asleep anytime I want.” He was teasing, but Jamie looked up at him with big, serious brown eyes. Despite Jamie’s dark brown hair, and Peter’s red, there was a striking resemblance between them. “Introduce me to your brother,” he said to Peter, who duly introduced Jamie to the doctor.
“I don’t want a shot,” Jamie explained, so there would be no misunderstanding between them from the first.
“Neither do I,” he said, keeping a respectful distance, not wanting to upset the boy. He knew of his limitations from his mother. “I’ll promise not to give you one, if you don’t give me one either.” Jamie laughed as Bill said it.
“I promise,” Jamie said solemnly. And then for no particular reason, he volunteered a piece of information about himself, as though he thought some kind of social exchange was expected of him. “I won three medals at the Special Olympics. Mom coached me.”
“What did you compete in?” Bill asked with a look of profound interest.
“Running long jump, hundred yard dash, and sack race.” He reeled them off with pride, and Liz smiled as she watched him.
“Your mom must be a pretty good coach if you won all that.”
“She is. I only won fourth place with my dad. He shouted a lot more than Mom did. But Mom made me work harder and stay out later while we trained.”
“Persistence wins the prize,” Bill said more to Liz than to Jamie and she smiled at him, slightly embarrassed to have Jamie extolling her virtues. “That must have been pretty exciting.”
“It was,” Jamie said, smiling, and then turned back to his brother and asked if he could work the bed again. And although Peter didn’t look too happy about it, he let Jamie do it, as Bill and Liz stepped outside for a moment to talk.
“How’s he doing?” Liz asked. Peter still looked very tired to her, and she could see that his head and neck were hurting.
“He’s doing fine,” Bill reassured her, “he’s my star patient. Your younger son is a great kid, you must be proud of him,” he said, glancing at Jamie through the windows of the ICU.
“I am.” And then she smiled at Bill. “Thank you for letting me bring him. He was panicked about Peter. This really reassured him. He hasn’t looked this happy in two days.”
“He can come back anytime, as long as he doesn’t give me a shot.” Bill smiled at her and she laughed as they wandered back into the ICU, and Liz rescued Peter from Jamie, who was wreaking havoc with the bed.
“I think it’s time to go home, gentlemen. Peter needs to get some rest, and so do you.” She looked at Jamie solemnly. “The doctor says you can come back soon.”
“Next time, bring a pizza,” Peter added, and kissed Jamie good-bye a few minutes later. Jamie waved from the door of the ICU, and then walked back to the elevator with his mother. They were still standing there when Bill saw them, and came over to thank Jamie for coming.
“I liked it. It was cool. I thought it would scare me,” Jamie said honestly, which was part of his charm. He always said what was on his mind. “The ambulance made a lot of noise when it took Peter away,” Jamie informed him, and Bill nodded.
“Ambulances do that. But it’s usually pretty quiet here. Come back and visit again.” He smiled at him, and Jamie nodded.
“My sisters are coming tomorrow. They talk a lot, they might make Peter tired.” Bill laughed out loud at that, and didn’t dare add that sometimes women did that. He didn’t know Liz well enough to say it, and wasn’t sure yet of her sense of humor, but he was amused by the comment Jamie had made.
“I’ll make sure they don’t wear him out. Thanks for telling me.” The elevator arrived then, and Jamie waved as the doors closed. Bill had already asked her if she’d be back that night, but she had decided to spend the night at home with her children, and come back in the morning to see Peter again. And she had thanked Bill again for making Jamie’s visit so easy and so successful. He was very pleased with it as they drove back to Tiburon and he said so.
“I like Peter’s bed, and the doctor. He’s nice. And he hates shots too,” he reminded his mother. “I think Peter likes him.”
“We all do,” Liz agreed. “He saved your brother’s life.”
“Then I like him too.” He told his sisters all about his visit to Peter and about the bed that went up and down, and the doctor who hated shots and had saved Peter’s life. It had been a big adventure for him. He slept in his mother’s bed that night, but he slept peacefully, and didn’t have nightmares. Unlike his mother, who dreamed endlessly about Jack, and Peter’s accident, and Bill, and Jamie and the girls. It was a night filled with anxieties and accidents and people. And she felt as though she’d ridden in a rodeo all night when she awoke the next morning.
“Are you tired, Mommy?” Jamie asked when he woke her up at six.
“Very,” she said with a groan. The past few days had taken a toll on her. The terror of nearly losing her son made her feel as though she had been beaten, and she had been. It was like a small replay of what she had gone through when she lost Jack, but at least this time, it had a happy ending.
She made breakfast for the kids, left for work, appeared in court, and went back to the hospital to meet Carole and the girls. Jamie stayed with a neighbor because Liz didn’t want him to overdo it, and it was the girls’ turn. They laughed and talked and cried, and checked out everything, gave him the news, told him about their romances and friends, and told him how happy they were that he was okay. But Jamie had been right, Liz realized. Peter was exhausted when they left an hour later, and needed a shot of pain medication. And when he was finally asleep, Bill and Liz stood in the waiting room to talk.
