Chapter 19

Belatedly, late Sunday night, Paul contacted Jemison and made arrangements to be away from WNUT-AM until further notice. Maybe the old manager, from Chillicothe, Ohio, could be brought back, temporarily.

He would call the radio school sometime on Monday to notify them that he would be unavailable for classes, probably forever.

The Silverthorn family had arrived back in the hospital early Monday morning. Like Paul, they looked worried and drawn, but everyone had gotten at least some sleep.

Lois' parents, initially, were the only ones permitted to see her in the recovery room.

When they came out, the entire family gathered around anxiously. "She's awake," Raymond said. "She's conscious, and she's too sedated to be in much pain. But she was sensible. She asked about you, Paul, whether you knew about her being here. She hadn't been aware that you were already here. We told her you had been the first one to find her."

"When can I... can we... When can we see her?"

"Her doctor said that this afternoon we could take turns, one at a time, going in briefly."

"God! I've got to see her!"

"In a few hours, Paul. Come on, let's all leave this place -- just for a little while. They're not going to change their minds about our getting in there. We'll go and have lunch together -- somewhere away from here. When we come back, I'll make certain you'll be the first one in to see her."

"All right."

True to his word, Raymond Silverthorn arranged for Paul to be the first visitor in to see Lois that afternoon.

She was, again, awake, but Paul was terrified to see how heavily bandaged her entire upper body, and her head, seemed to be.

But she was alert and her eyes flashed when she saw Paul.

"They wouldn't let me in, until now!" he said. "Everyone -- the whole family -- wants to see you. They're all here! But your Dad said I could come in first."

"Oh, Paul! Is it bad?"

"No, Baby! No, it isn't bad. You're alive! You're alive and we're together, and that means things can't be too bad, right?

"The doctor told me I was out of danger."

"Yes! He told us that -- last night, even! We were all so relieved!"

"But. It's -- bad, isn't it?"

"No, Baby! God, I'm so happy to see you, to talk to you again!"

"Do I look awful?"

"You look beautiful."

"Now I know you're lying. What did they say -- the doctors?... Are the plaintiffs... ?... Is the Bradley and Connors brief OK? Is it, has it been, reassigned? What about Opal?"

"What? Baby, I don't -- understand what you're..."

"This room looks just like -- the paint is..."

Lois wasn't making any sense now, and Paul assumed it was the painkillers that were making her ramble incoherently, probably not for the first time. She seemed to be fading into unconsciousness. When he was certain she was completely out, he left the room and explained to her waiting family that she was asleep.

Ray, Jr. went in to wait for her to awaken.

"She's concerned about how she looks," Paul told them. "She's been told by the doctors that she's going to be all right, and she's registered that fact, but now she's worried about her appearance."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her she was beautiful. She was skeptical about that, but then she started fading out, and that was it."

Ray came back out. A doctor had visited the room while Ray was waiting for Lois to revive, and had pronounced her in-and-out consciousness "normal." He said it would be all right for one member of the family at a time to stay by her bedside.

Edwina appointed herself bedside monitor and promised to let the others know the moment Lois was awake again.

Before the hospital staff required everyone to leave for the night, all the family members except Amelie had at least exchanged a few words with Lois. Their patient was heavily sedated and reasonably calm, but, clearly, Lois was concerned about her future.

Paul asked for, but was not given, permission to spend the night in Lois' room. "I go off duty at 5:30 in the morning," the night nurse told him. If you can come back here at 5, I'll let you in to see her."

Paul wheeled himself back to his faraway guest room and, before going to bed, extremely early and without a thought of dinner, he set the alarm for 4:15 a.m.

It was still dark when the nurse let Paul into Lois' room. But he found her awake and, seemingly, alert.

Only a dim nightlight illuminated the bed, but Lois evidently was outlasting her most-recent dose of sleep-inducing painkillers. She didn't so much see Paul as hear him as he rose from his wheelchair and walked the last few steps across the room to her bedside.

"Paul?"

"Yep. It's me, Babe."

"How'd you -- what time is it?"

"It's 5 a.m. Nurse told me last night I could come back."

"I'm so glad! When I come out of the drugs, everything seems so -- weird. Kind of -- stark. And this time of night. It's creepy."

"Be daylight pretty soon."

"You kidding? It's December! It won't be daylight for -- hours."

"OK. Have it your way. It's always darkest before the dawn."

"What made you think of that?" Lois asked.

"Why wouldn't I? It's before the dawn, right? And it's pretty dark out there!"

She smiled. Maybe for the first time. "This sure has put a crimp in my Christmas shopping," she said.

"I've gotta start over," Paul said.

"Why?"

"I came down here -- well, I came down to where you were, in New Brunswick?... And I left all my Christmas packages in the cab! The first cab, I think it was."