Part 5

Three bright faces bounded into the waiting room and spotting their parents, they squealed with delight. Together, they scurried across the room; Garrett to Becca, but the twins were scooped up by AJ and Kevin. All three were oblivious to the somber mood that hung like a dense fog in the room. They just knew that their ‘family’ was gathered together.

Jesse, Brian, Sonja, Raoul, and Ilse, the nanny hired by Howie to look after the children, followed the toddlers. Jesse was quick to realize that something was terribly wrong. She could tell her mother had been crying and her grandparents were there. The fact that her father was visibly missing was a dead give away.

Jesse moved to Sarah quickly hugging her. "Mom, what’s wrong? Where’s Daddy?"

"Baby, I need to explain to you and the little ones….but I need you to be strong for me."

"Okay," said Jesse.

Sarah held Jesse on her lap while Kevin held Caroline, AJ had DJ and Becca had Garrett. She began, "You know that Daddy hasn’t been feeling well?"

"Yeah, he’s had a lot of headaches," answered Jesse.

"Yes, baby. Well, last night, he got one of those headaches during the show and he fainted. They brought him here to find out what was wrong and right now, a doctor is fixing him."

"What’s wrong with him?"

"He has what the doctor’s call an aneurysm. It’s when the blood vessel gets tired and starts leaking the blood."

"Uncle Howie has a boo-boo?" asked Garrett.

Sarah smiled, "Yeah, GT, he does and the doctors are trying to make him all better."

"Why don’t you just kiss him and make him all better?" asked D.J. "Like you do us."

A sob caught in Sarah’s throat and she saw Mama D and Becca wipe their own tears. She cupped the small face in her hand as she said, "I wish I could, baby, but this boo-boo is too big for Mommy to kiss away…kinda like when you broke your arm at Christmas."

"That was GT’s fault! He pushed me!"

Jesse rolled her eyes and said disgustedly, "You dork! You tripped over your own feet."

"Jessica," Sarah reprimanded. "Daddy doesn’t need you acting like this."

Jesse dropped her head, "I’m sorry. Can we see him?"

"Eventually, baby. Right now, no one can see him until the doctor finishes fixing him."

As Sarah said this, Dr. Anderson entered the waiting room looking extremely tired. All eyes turned to him and Sarah felt her heart in her throat. Momma D took her hand, holding tight.

Wearily, Dr. Anderson asked, "Is there someone in your family called ‘Angel’?"

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief knowing Howie must have called for Sarah.

Jesse spoke up, "That’s my mom!"

Dr. Anderson looked at Sarah and she said, "It’s just what he calls me. How is he?"

"The surgery went very smoothly and he’s in recovery. He’ll be in ICU for forty-eight hours where he’ll be heavily sedated to keep his blood pressure down. We’ll wake him every hour and ask him questions to make him think and once he’s in a private room, we’ll get him up and walking."

"Can we see him?" asked Kevin.

"I’m sorry, but I want to keep his blood pressure down. I’m afraid if he has too many visitors, he’ll get excited. I would like Sarah to go back and see him though, to calm him. Seems he’s worried about her."

"Sounds right," smiled Nick as he put his hand on Sarah’s shoulders. "He’s critically ill but he’s worried about Sarah."

"What about his parents?" asked Sarah.

Mr. Dorough spoke up, "Sarah, we can wait until the doctor says its okay. We don’t want to do anything to jeopardize his health."

"Are you sure, Dad?"

"Positive. Go on, he’s asking for you."

Sarah looked at her children. "You three behave for Ilse. I want her to take you back to the hotel…."

"After breakfast, Sarah," said Kevin. "You’re gonna go visit and then you’re going with ALL of us to get something to eat."

Too tired to argue, Sarah agreed.

Jesse gave Sarah a hug, "Kiss Daddy for me, please."

"I will, baby. You know, this is just to make sure he’s okay, right?"

"Of course, I know."

"Go on, ‘Tigger’…go see him. We’ll wait for you here," urged AJ.

Sarah followed the doctor out and down the hall to recovery. When she reached his room, she took a deep breath and went into the darkened room. A soft glow from the emergency light fell across him and Sarah caught her breath. He looked even more fragile than before the surgery, if that was possible.

Moving to him, she was surprised to find that he was awake. Taking his hand in hers, she kissed him tenderly. "Hey you," she whispered. "How do you feel?"

"Like I’ve been run over," rasped Howie. "What happened?"

"You collapsed on stage. The aneurysm started bleeding. You scared a lot of people…mainly me."

A tear trickled down his cheek as he whispered, "I’m sorry, Angel."

Sarah wiped the tear away. "Shh…don’t think about that now. You’re okay and that’s what matters."

Howie closed his eyes as he held her hand close to his heart. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he squeezed it tight.

"D, don’t be upset. It’s not good for your blood pressure," she urged as she wiped his tears away with her free hand. She began to sing softly to him to calm him…

Within minutes, Sarah heard the soft snoring that told her Howie was asleep again. She kissed him tenderly as she pulled the covers over him. Whispering, she said, "Rest now, D…so you can get well. I love you."

Part 6        Index