LEAP OF FAITH (10 page)

The doctor nodded to the nurse, who had just removed the first bag. “Start the second bag,” he told her, “and stay with her the entire time. If she shows any signs of trouble, let me know.” He checked the blood pressure monitor before leaving the room, looking rather agitated.

Sam moved to her side and caressed her cheek, a gesture Abby recognized as a sign he was extremely anxious. 

“Are you sure about this, baby?”

“He would do it for me,” she said firmly.

“He’s stronger than you, Abby.”

“Not right now, he’s not, Daddy. He needs me. Besides,” she offered him a mischievous grin, “think of all the ways I can use this against him later.”

“He’s going to be mad as hell when he finds out,” Sam warned his daughter.

She shrugged indifferently. “By the time he knows about it, it will be too late.” She stopped talking when a second nurse came into the room and took the first unit of blood away. “Is Mom with Gage?”

“Yes. Jenna and Nick are in the waiting room, and Adam should be here any time. Your mom talked to Scott and said he was able to get a more direct flight and should be here early tomorrow afternoon.”

“What about Maggie?” 

Maggie had originally been hired as a cook and maid but after Scott was born, she became more of a grandmother to the Travis children. She was eighty-four years old, but no one would
never
ever
know it. Sometimes Abby wondered where the woman got all her energy, but Maggie had always thrived on taking care of the Travis family, and as long as someone needed her, she was in her element. 

Sam chuckled. “You know Maggie. She’s at home cooking up a storm. She insists when Gage comes home, he’ll mend faster if he gets home cooked meals. By now she’s probably thrown together a week’s worth of meals and half a dozen cakes.”

“Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting,” she laughed. 

Gage never could resist Maggie’s cakes, so she knew her dad wasn’t exaggerating about Maggie baking up a storm. Abby reached out and took her Dad’s hand.  

“We’ll all be eating that cake with Gage in a few days.”

“I know, baby.”

Abby had started to feel the effects of losing so much blood several minutes before and hadn’t wanted to upset her Dad by telling him. But now she was beginning to feel faint and was having trouble concentrating on their conversation. She glanced at the bag and saw it was only half full.
Be strong
, she told herself. Just a few more minutes and Gage would have the blood the needed.

Turning a bright smile on her dad, she said, “Daddy, could you go check on Gage and make sure they’ve started the transfusion? Give Mom a kiss for me and tell her I’ll be done here in no time.”

“Are you sure you don’t need me to stay?”

“Mom needs you now and I’ll be fine. Send Nick over to sit with me if you’re worried.”

“The other two will throw a fit because you asked for Nick.”

Abby smiled. “I know, but it will help keep their minds off of Gage.”

Sam leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You always were ornerier than you let on.”

She watched him leave before letting the smile slip from her face. She felt nauseous and so incredibly weak, as if all the energy had been zapped from her. 

“How much longer, nurse?”

“About ten minutes, Miss Travis.”

“Can I get some water? I’m so thirsty…” Her voice trailed off.

The nurse was leaning over to check the heart and blood pressure monitors, a slight frown forming on her face, and that worried Abby. She wanted to assure the woman she was fine and that all she needed was a glass of water, but the nurse had already turned away and picked up the phone. A few minutes later, the doctor hurried in looking very grim as he checked the monitor readings.

“Take the tube out,” he ordered the nurse.

Abby looked at the bag. “It’s not full yet,” she said in a hoarse whisper.

His reply was firm. “It’s all we’re going to take.”

The nurse reached out to unhook the tube but Abby clamped her free hand over the spot where it entered her arm. “It’s not full,” she repeated. “You can take it out when it is.” 

The nurse’s eyes turned to the doctor. Abby almost felt sorry for her.

“Miss Travis,” the doctor attempted to reason with her, “you’re going into shock, we need to stop the procedure now.”

She shook her head. “No.”

Her brother, Nick, must have heard her obstinate reply because he barreled through the door without knocking first. He took one look at Abby’s pale skin and shot a withering glare at the doctor. 

“What the hell is going on here?” Nick demanded.

“She won’t let us stop the procedure,” the doctor told him, “and right now, she’s in serious danger of going into shock.”

Abby’s eyes pleaded with Nick. “Gage needs it.”

Her brother slipped past the doctor and stood over her. “He wouldn’t want you to risk your life for him, honey,” he said gently.

“This is my decision.”

“Abby, you’re so weak you can hardly talk and you’re white as a sheet. Honey, let them take it off. It’s almost full anyway.”

She tried to move her head to look at the nurse but just didn’t have the strength. “How much longer, nurse?”

“Five minutes, but…”

“Five minutes…we wait five…”

“Abby?” Nick stepped back so the doctor could examine her.

“She’s becoming unresponsive,” he told the nurse. He tried to pull Abby’s hand away from the I.V. tube, but she had a death grip on her arm. “Miss Travis, we have to take it out now.”

She didn’t speak, but neither would she let go of her arm. When it was full, that’s when she would let go and not a second sooner. She watched the nurse usher Nick from the room and caught the frantic look on his face before the door closed behind him. A few more people entered the room and they all seemed very anxious about something, but Abby couldn’t seem to form a clear thought. The doctor leaned over her and spoke slowly, which made her want to laugh because it sounded like he was talking into a tin can.

“It’s full, Miss Travis. You can let go now, it’s full.”

Abby loosened her grip and smiled. Gage would have the blood he needed. That was the last thing that drifted through her mind before everything went black. 

***

Jack paced restlessly back and forth across his bedroom floor. Abby had been gone for hours and hadn’t called yet, and he was starting to worry that something had gone wrong. She would be devastated if her brother didn’t pull through. It was after one o’clock in the morning now and he didn’t really think she would call this late, but he waited another fifteen minutes before giving up hope and finally tumbled into bed. She would probably call first thing in the morning, he assured himself. 

It felt strange not to have Abby lying beside him. He tossed and turned restlessly. If something had happened to her brother, he was sure she would have called him. She was probably so exhausted after giving blood and worrying about Gage that she went straight to bed afterwards. That had to be it. If he didn’t hear from her in the morning, he would call the hospital and see what he could find out.

At exactly five thirty in the morning, his eyes snapped open. 
Abby.
 Something was wrong, he knew it,
felt
it. He reached for his phone and dialed her number, but after several rings her voice mail picked up. He left a message, told her he missed her and asked her to call when she had a few minutes. He’d tried to keep his voice calm but wasn’t sure how successful he’d been. Jack called directory assistance and got the number to the hospital Abby had told him her brother was at, and then asked for patient information and inquired about Gage’s condition.

“Are you a relative?” The nurse asked.

“Yes,” he told her after hesitating for only a second. “I’m his brother, Scott.” 

He knew her older brother was still on his way back to the states from Greece and felt fairly safe in pretending to be Scott.

“Hold on for just a moment while I get his information.”

Jack waited impatiently. He had to ask about Gage first or it would seem strange to inquire if they knew how to reach Abby. It was several minutes before the nurse returned to the line. He only hoped the nurse didn’t mention his call to the Travis family.

“Mr. Travis? Your brother is doing much better this morning. He finished the second I.V. drip about an hour ago and was taken off the critical list. It looks like they’re just waiting for you to show up so they can draw your blood and administer the third unit.”

Jack was confused. “Wait, I don’t understand. You said he finished receiving a transfusion from the
second
unit of blood?”

“That’s right.”

“So they found a compatible donor?”

“No, sir. Both units were taken from your sister, Abigail.

The blood drained from his face. “How is that possible? Isn’t that dangerous? Is Abby okay?”

“Just a minute, Mr. Travis, and I’ll pull her information.”

Jack almost dropped the phone. “
Her
information? She was admitted?”

"She was admitted last night. It looks like she’s being treated for shock. After she gave the second unit of blood, the doctor admitted her because she was unresponsive and her blood pressure had dropped…”

“How is she now? Is she okay?” 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Travis, the doctor hasn’t updated her chart yet this morning. You can check back in a few hours if you like.”

Jack hung up, beside himself with worry. He tried to remember what happened when a person went into shock. It had to do with circulation and he thought he remembered reading somewhere that if it progressed too far, it could be fatal. He tried to tell himself she was in the hospital when it happened and would have been treated right away, but it did very little to alleviate his fear. 

He walked absently out to the balcony and leaned against the rail, remembering the first night Abby had been here and how he had watched her from this exact spot, so certain she was playing him. How had it happened? How had she worked her way into his heart so fast? God, he missed her. It was like having a big gaping hole in his heart without her, and every minute she was gone, that hole got bigger and bigger. 

Two pints of blood, the nurse had told him. That was a lot of blood for someone as small as Abby was. She could have died, he thought angrily. What had they been thinking to allow her to give so much? Then Jack suddenly felt himself smiling. He could almost see that stubborn lift of her chin. She probably bullied them into taking the second pint. 

He went back inside and stared at his laptop for a minute before settling down in front of it. He closed his eyes and thought of Abby; the way she smiled, the scent of her skin, the way her lips parted when he kissed her, the look in her eyes when he made love to her. Jack’s fingers flew across the keyboard. He’d always dreaded writing love scenes, but now with the image of Abby in his mind, the words came easily. 

This time, when his editor held the manuscript in her hands, she would read how the hero’s heart ached at the sight of the heroine, how the taste of her soft, sweet mouth drove him half mad, and how a man who had avoided relationships his entire life now knew he would willingly give his last breath just to hold her in his arms once more.

***

“I’m fine,” Abby insisted, “would you all stop fussing over me. It’s Gage you should be hovering over.”

“You scared the hell out of us,” Nick chastised.

Her sister, Jenna, agreed. “Dad was going crazy, running back and forth between your room and Gage’s. Mom is still shaking.”

Abby’s mother squeezed her hand. “I’m just happy both my babies are doing better.”

“Except for feeling a little weak, there’s not a thing wrong with me, and Gage is going to pull through. That’s all that matters. Now, all of you need to go bother him for a while so I can get dressed and go see him myself.”

It have been a waste of breath to remind Abby that the doctor advised her to remain in bed for a few more hours – something her mother obviously knew because she kissed Abby on the check and shook her head with an indulgent smile. “I’ll have your dad come for you in about thirty minutes, okay?”

Abby waited until everyone left before throwing back the covers. She eased her legs over the side of the bed and drew in a few deep breaths to dispel the dizziness before cautiously making her way to the closet. Clutching her purse in her hand, she wobbled unsteadily back to bed. It took a few minutes for the world to stop spinning and even longer for her hands to stop shaking enough so she could key in Jack’s number. His phone didn’t complete one full ring before it was picked up.

“Abby? Thank God, honey, are you okay?”

She laughed softly. “I’m fine, Jack. I’m sorry I didn’t call you last night, but things got a little…emotional around here and I lost track of time.”

“I know what happened, Abby.”

Abby didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t possibly know the lengths she’d gone to in order to save Gage, she assured herself. Besides, she had already upset her family and didn’t see any reason to upset Jack too. “I’m fine,” she repeated. “I got a little woozy, that’s all.”