Fateful Encounters

Chapter 37

The flight took entirely too long.  And they had wanted him to drive- no way would his frayed nerves have survived a drive back to LA. He had attempted to get information on Lisa’s condition, but once again, medical staff was utterly uncooperative, repeating in robotic voices that he was not her next of kin.  As if he had forgotten. Dam this frigging divorce!  In a flash of genius illuminating the chaos of his mind, he called Janet who was in LA and filled her in on a short version of Lisa’s accident.  Janet immediately, and without grilling him, agreed to meet him at UCLA.  He asked her to find out what she could and to get back to him as soon as possible.  Janet did not linger or ask unnecessary questions, and assured him she was on her way to see her friend.  Bless her competent nature and her ability to keep a cool head!

Debbie had been pissed as he raced off, but for once he had not invested any time into efforts to pacify her.  He could only attend to one distressed wife at a time.  And right now, Lisa and his worry about a possible pregnancy trumped Debbie who was healthy as a horse.

Lisa had to be ok, right?  She had finally opened her eyes, which had to be good news.  He had followed the EMTs out to the medical transport, and had witnessed her becoming increasingly alert.  Still, she was pale like a ghost and looked like a little girl, lying there, bundled up on that gurney. For a second he thought her heard her call his name, but then decided it must have been wishful thinking and that surely her voice would have been drowned out by the noise of the idling engine.  Had she really called out, no force in this world would have sufficed to keep him behind, and he would have fought his way into the helicopter. 

In midflight, he frantically made some more calls and twisted enough arms, pulling strings that allowed him to land on the medical landing spot of the hospital.  He was rushed downstairs by a cantankerous administrator, who assured him he was honored to meet him, and in the next breath commented on the irregularity of having a private chopper land on site.  Well, Michael would make sure to write an extra large donation check to make up for any inconvenience.  And if they fixed Lisa up, he would even build them a new wing.  Right now, all he wanted to do was see her.

“Mister Jackson, we will take you to a private waiting room downstairs.  Your sister arrived a short while ago and is also waiting there.  Miss Presley has been moved to a private, sectioned off room.”

“I don’t want to see my sister, I want to see my…Miss Presley, please.” It took all the control he could muster to remain calm. 

“Sir, I understand.  However, she is being examined right now, and if she is up to it, you will get to see her.  We also have notified her mother, who is her next of kin.”

Wonderful.  Priscilla would be here soon, no doubt breathing fire and ready to decapitate him for harming Lisa.  If she was in a good mood, she might kill him before she took him apart limb by limb. The logical part of his brain knew full well he had nothing to do with Lisa’s fall.  However, every time he was almost successful in believing his own story, he flashed back to Lisa’s eyes, huge and full of agony, thinking he had ordered her from the house.  She must have thought he had finally done it and chosen Debbie over her.  Why would she ever think that?  It had never been about a choice between her and Debbie.  He never loved Debbie like that.  All he had done was make a choice to have a child. 

The thoughts of a child caused his guts to twist again and he felt his heart pounding in his chest, firing up his breathing, increasing his temperature.  He fell into a chair, his head dropped into his hands, and he fought nausea and dizziness as he felt cold sweet gathering on his forehead.