“My God, what happened to you?”
“I don't know …we'll talk about it sometime.”
“How is she?” He looked concerned.
“Better. The same. She came through the surgery yesterday, and after a little scare last night, they say she's stable, that's something.” But there was much more to tell, it was just too much to try to say in a hallway. “Chloe's asleep, by the way, I just saw her. But she was awake when I came in. She was complaining a lot, which must be a good sign, and she looks better.”
“Thank God. Are you coming back?” he asked with interest.
She shook her head. “I don't think so. I want to pick Andy up and take him to baseball. And I thought I'd try and stay home for dinner, unless Miss Allyson pulls our chain again.” But Page felt absolutely certain she wouldn't. Whatever happened, she knew that another moment like that would never come again. Something like that happened once in a lifetime.
“I'll see you tomorrow then.” He looked disappointed. They kept each other company in ICU, and brightened the difficult moments.
“I'll be in after I drop Andy off at school in the morning.” She smiled and left him then, and went to pick up Andy.
They had a nice time that afternoon, and he did well at the game, although not as well as usual. He was still upset, but even he responded to Page's calm, and he cuddled up next to her in the car with an ice cream. It reminded her suddenly of Saturday. It was hard to believe that only five days before, their lives had been normal. It had been five days since the accident, four since the bottom had fallen out of her life with Brad, and it felt like a lifetime.
He didn't come home for dinner that night, but this time he called and said he had to work late at the office, and it would be “easier” to stay in the city. She knew what that meant, but at least he had called her and she wouldn't worry, and she could give some excuse to Andy. She was surprised by how little it bothered her. She was happy to be at home with her son, and relieved that there had been no additional crisis with Allie.
She put Andy to bed and called Jane, who had gathered a very disturbing piece of information. She had talked to a friend of hers in the city that day, a woman who had known Laura Hutchinson for years. She said she'd had a drinking problem ever since she was in her teens. She had gotten treatment for it years before, and as far as the friend knew, she hadn't slipped since then. “But what if something's changed?” Jane asked in a worried tone. “What if she's drinking again, or drank that night?” They would never know. Page listened to what Jane said, and mulled it over. It was all gossip, all conjecture, all wanting to blame someone. But none of it would change what had happened.
“She's probably clean,” Page said in a spirit of fairness.
“If she isn't, you'll be reading about it one of these days in the tabloids,” Jane said. “The papers certainly seemed interested in her when it happened.”
“I hope for her sake that's not the case,” Page said quietly. “I hope she's fine. I don't think gossip helps anyone.”
“I just thought you'd be interested in hearing her history,” Jane said. She'd been very excited by the information. What if it had been the older woman's fault, and not Phillip's?
“It's not really fair to judge her by a problem she had that long ago,” Page said to her friend. “Anyway, thanks for the information.”
“I'll let you know if I hear anything else.” And then they exchanged the usual information about Allie. There never seemed to be time to talk about anything else these days, and afterward Page paid some bills and caught up on some mail. It was the first time all week that she had taken a few moments to catch up on things, and it felt good to do that.
The next morning she took Andy to school, and then went back to the hospital to see Allie. In the past two days, she felt as though she had accomplished some things. She had spent some time with Andy, which he had needed desperately. And she felt calmer than she had before. She knew now that if this was going to be a long haul, she'd have to keep her wits about her, and her strength up.
Allie was still holding her own when Page got to the hospital shortly before nine o'clock in the morning and the nurses all smiled cautiously when they saw her. They all knew how close Allyson had come to dying the night of her surgery, and suddenly it made every moment, every day, more of a gift and infinitely more precious.
“How is she?” Page asked hesitantly. She had called several times since the night before, and they had assured her that nothing had changed. She was still stable.