Just Remember

Chapter 14 Whispers in the Dark

It had continued on in this fashion, with J.J. playing only in home games, and staying by his unresponsive wife's side up until early morning on the date of September fifth in the year of 2017, when her waters broke and she was rushed into the operating room still unresponsive while the doctors brought her son into the world. The entire Texans team, Brad, Becky, and J.J.'s parents were all by his side as he paced the waiting room frantically as they all awaited news of his wife and their son. Fifteen minutes felt like hours to J.J. as he walked the floor until a nurse wearing scrubs carried in a tiny blue wrapped bundle making him stop instantly in his tracks upon her voice calling his name.


"Mr. Watt, your wife is in the recovery room, at this moment. She will be moved back to her normal room within the hour. The Doctor thought that you'd like to hold your healthy baby boy," she said as she tenderly placed his son into his arms. J.J. slowly moved towards a chair with his son in his arms and sat down before lifting the bottom of the blanket and counting his son's tiny toes, and his little fingers with a large smile upon his face for the first time in months. Tears filled his eyes as he ran his finger tenderly over his son's soft skin, and he shook with silent sobs as he wished that Grace had been awake to see her son take his first breath.


"Mr. Watt, I know that it's too soon to ask, but do you have a name that you'd like us to put down on his birth certificate," the nurse asked with a clipboard in hand?
"His name is Leeroy John Watt. It's what we decided on when she told me that she was pregnant," J.J. said as he gazed down at little Leeroy snuggled safely in his arms.
"Very well, Mr. Watt, I'll be right over here when you've finished introducing little Leeroy to the rest of his large family," the nurse said as she stepped away and allowed the entire Texans team and J.J.'s family and neighbors to coo over the baby. Forty Eight hours later found J.J. living back with his parents in their house, so that they could help him attend to the needs of their grandchild. He continued to visit Grace and to talk to her in the hopes of her waking for the next months until it was the anniversary of their re-wedding when it would all change drastically yet again.


-------

During that year Grace was locked in Darkness that only lightened slightly when she'd hear whispers that slid into the darkness of her comatose state. She saw flashes of blurred images, that confused her, when certain voices penetrated her mind, but whenever she heard a certain voice the images that flashed before her were so clear that she wanted to struggle against the pain, and the heavy darkness that surrounded her and held her down. The first words that she heard was the frantic voice of a man screaming no over and over again, and calling out her name, calling her babe, and begging her not to leave him.


That was when she got a flash of a sad man's face with sky blue eyes, and short cropped blond hair. He was wearing a football jersey and had black lines painted onto his face upon his cheekbones like war paint. The man's voice came to her often in the darkness, bringing with it more and more visions that made her long to crawl out from this dark frightening place. She had no concept of time, no memories of what had happened to bring her to this place and only flashes of memories that she had trouble deciding if they were reality or not until one day her world lightened and she could see herself standing in a bright world of flowers.


She walked through the flowers enjoying the smell of them and laughed as a large black horse galloped around her and stopped blocking her forward path head butting her pushing her back and away from the light that was growing brighter as she moved forward. "Don't be silly, boy, it's so lovely here, so warm. I just want to go a bit farther," she said as she tried to get passed the black horse only to turn sharply to find a tall red headed man in Military uniform smiling at her with light hazel eyes shaking his head.
"Grace Gwenivear Watt, no child of mine is a quitter. The General and I both agree that despite how much we both love you, and how much we'd love to have you with us, that your place is not here," Lee said as he gently turned her away from the warm inviting light and over to a fallen tree where he made her sit down with him gazing out onto the green field dotted with flowers and a blue sky.


"Daddy what do you mean?"
"Grace, baby girl, listen to me. Use your ears and listen to the wind, and you'll hear it," Lee ordered as the wind blew gently moving the flowers.
"Listen for what exactly Daddy," Grace asked before falling silent as she heard a familiar voice sobbing and pleading for her to wake up and to come home to them.
"Do you hear them now, Grace? That voice who has been calling to you is your husband, Justin James Watt. I don't know how long he will be able to hold up if you walk into the light and join General and I in the afterlife. He'd have fallen apart months ago if not for your son and his parents. If you follow us, he'll certainly leave my grandson an orphan by joining you. Don't let him go there, Grace, that's an order. You need to wake up before he loses it completely," Lee Ordered.


"Daddy how do I do that, I don't want to leave the light and bee stuck in the darkness where it's cold and lonely and frightening. I'm scared of the Darkness," Grace cried into her father's chest.
"I know baby girl, but we have to fight for those that we love who love us just as much. You have what it takes to fight the darkness. Remember the Geek Squad, Grace they can help you. All you have to do is remember," Lee said as he got to his feet and pushed her into the field gently as the world around her faded, and new sounds and smells surrounded her in the darkness. An alarm sounded as her hand suddenly jerked and she groaned as she rolled off of the bed and hit the floor before trying to push herself to her feet unsuccessfully.


Suddenly she felt the warm hands of at least two people and could hear their voices clear as day as they hoisted her back into the bed. "Mrs. Watt, welcome back to the living. Are you in any pain at all," asked a male voice to her right?
"N-no," she croaked with a soft scratchy voice that was not used to speaking after a year of inactivity.
"Can you see the light from my hand," the voice asked?
"N-no, what happened to my eyes, where am I, who are you," Grace asked becoming very frightened?


"Calm down, Mrs. Watt, I'm Doctor Thomas Jacobs, your primary care specialist. You've been in a comatose state for the past year. You are in your private room that your husband insisted upon at Methodist Hospital in Down Town Houston. What's the last thing that you remember," Doctor Thomas asked? Grace scrunched up her face in concentration as she thought getting nothing accept for a vision of a tattoo of the name Justin James Wat on her leg, followed by blue eyes and blond hair and his voice in a football uniform.
"Blue eyes, blond hair , a football uniform , a name tattooed on my inner left thigh just below the panty line, and his words begging me to come back to him. Where's my husband? Why is he not here," Grace asked as she placed a shaking hand to her forehead?


"Mrs. Watt, it's one in the morning on December the fifteenth. Your husband is more than likely in his bed asleep after taking care of your son who is three months old now," Doctor Thomas said as he took notes.
"My son, I don't have a son, do I," Grace asked in concern as she felt her flat stomach and found the scar from the surgery that brought her son into the world?
"Yes, you have a son, he was born on September fifth at around nine in the morning You were still under the effects of your comatose state so, I'm not surprised that you don't remember his birth. We need to do some tests on you, and then once it's a sensible hour we'll contact your family to inform them that you've woke up. Is that okay with you," Doctor Thomas asked in a gentle voice?
"Yes, just make sure that you call them. I want my husband with me, I'm hating this darkness and he's the only one that makes me feel safe," Grace nodded before allowing the nurses and Doctors to start with their tests.


The hospital had tried to get ahold of J.J. and the family but by the time that someone answered the phone it was noon and Grace had fallen into a sullen, and brooding mood upon the news of the extent of the damage to her person. The doctors were unsure if she'd ever walk again, at this point and her retina's had both detached locking her eternally in the dark that she feared. She slid into an unresponsive catatonic state refusing to speak to anyone or to even acknowledge their presence. The fact she didn't respond to her brothers or even remember the fact that she had brother's for that fact was another problem. Voices came into her room, and tried to get her to remember them, but nothing clicked until he arrived late that afternoon smelling like grass dirt and sweat, before she snapped.


J.J. had been in the middle of practice when his dad, had come running onto the field screaming his name waving J.J.'s phone that he had forgotten at home that morning after handing his son off to his mother. He feared the worse when he ripped his helmet off of his head and clenched it so hard in his grasp that the protective bars bent under the pressure of his grip. "J.J., it's Grace, she's , she's,," gasped his dad as he tried to catch his breath.
"She's what dad, please don't tell me that she's," begged J.J. as he began to shake violently at the thought of losing his wife?
"She's awake," was the only thing that John could get out before J.J. ran from the field and into the locker room for his keys without a word or even looking back to see if anyone was following him.


His foot hit the floorboard as he pushed Grace's Humvee as fast as it could go, narrowly missing getting into a few wrecks as he drove through the late afternoon traffic of Down town Houston with tears of joy blurring his vision. The Valet parking attendant narrowly missed getting hit as he brought the Humvee to a screeching stop and tossed the keys to him without even stopping to get a claim ticket. He ran up to the private room in the ICU only to completely freak out finding it empty, and looking like he was about to have a heart attack before a nurse noticed him and directed him down to the new room that his wife had been taken too since she was no longer in need of Intensive Care.


When he finally found the right place a stern nurse blocked his path to the room where his wife sat in a wheel chair staring blindly out the window unmoving. "I'm sorry sir, but nobody gets in there without having their identity checked to see if they are on the approved visitor list. May I have your name please," the nurse asked obviously not recognizing him or taking notice of the fact that the initials J.J. Watt was clearly printed across his back?
"Are you blind or just plain stupid. I'm the one who made the approved list, if you'll open your fucking eyes, perhaps you'd see that my name is clearly on the top of the list as a priority visitor with top level clearance to be here whenever I like. Or are you in need of reading lessons as well," he growled angrily as the nurse looked down at the list and held her hand out for his identification.


"I still need to see your Identification sir, anyone could buy a Texans Jersey with the name J.J. Watt on it, and claim to be Mr. Watt, how do I know that you're not just trying to get to Mrs. Watt and don't have proper clearance to do so," she asked in a cold tone before screaming as a hand suddenly pulled down forcefully on her ponytail and a voice snarled in her ear.
"My Husband, is not now, and has never been a liar, you stupid cow. Either you let him pass or I'm going out even if I have to run you over to get to him," Grace snarled as she released her grip on the nurses hair and rolled her chair back in preparation to do as she had threatened. Doctor Thomas stepped between the Irate nurse and his patient before he snatched the clipboard out of her hand and pushed her from the room.
"Forgive her Mr. and Mrs. Watt, she's new here, and needs to re-evaluate whether or not she wishes to remain employed by this hospital, " he said as he elbowed and shut the door leaving J.J. alone with his wife who backed away until the chair hit the edge of the bed making her curse.


"Grace, I-I'm so, so," he stammered as he sank to his knees and sobbed uncontrollably into her lap shaking hard with tears of joy and relief.
"Justin, I can't see you anymore. Please stop crying, you're soaking my legs, Grace said as she ran her hands over his hair and laughed softly when she felt his shoulder pads beneath his uniform. J.J. looked up and tears flowed down his cheeks as he gazed into her sightless eyes. He tried to speak again only to sit there in stunned silence while Grace tenderly ran her hands over his face, and wiped away his tears. "No husband of mine is a big cry baby. Man up and grow a pair, Justin. I need you to be strong for me, because you are the only person out of everyone that I've seen so far today, that I can remember," Grace said as she started to shake with the effort of holding back her own tears.


J.J. stood abruptly and turned away from her while he wiped away his tears and then spun back around and pulled her out of the wheel chair and into his arms, refusing to put her back into the chair, and just sat there holding her while she sobbed into his padded shoulder in his lap. It's Okay, Grace, I'm right here. It doesn't matter if you didn't remember me at all, as long as you're awake and alive, that's all I've wanted and prayed for since that horrible day that I almost lost you and our little Leeroy," J.J. soothed as he rocked with her in his strong embrace.
"Leeroy, is that what you named our son," Grace asked in a puzzled tone?
"Yes, babe, we named him Leeroy after your dad, who died last January shortly after our re-wedding and honey moon, and John after my dad, who is helping my mother keep an eye on our son," J.J. said in a soft whisper as he rocked with Grace in his arms and she clung to him.


"Leeroy John Watt, I like it," Grace said as there was a knock at the door.
"Come in, J.J. said as the Doctor poked his head in.
"Well Mr. Watt, your wife here, is making excellent progress. Regrettably there's no way for us to give her back her sight, but in a few months' time if she's placed into a good therapy program, we see no reason why she won't regain the use of her legs and walk again. Her memory loss, however is an alarming condition. We'd like her to stay here for a few more days for testing, so that we can see if anymore of her memories return at all or if the condition is more permanent, it that's alright with the two of you," Doctor Thomas said as he allowed J.J. to glance over Grace's chart.


"That's fine, when can I bring our son to meet his mother," J.J. asked knowing the question that was showing in Grace's face?
"He's a healthy little baby boy. Since it is his mother who is in care here, You can bring him as soon as tomorrow since she's no longer in ICU, if you'd like," Doctor Thomas said with a smile as he left the couple alone in the room. J.J. smiled as he kissed Grace passionately , making her melt into his arms.
"I've missed you, Babe, You've made this the best first actual wedding anniversary that a man could ever ask for just by waking up and remembering me. What was it that brought you back to me," J.J. whispered into her ear making her smile.


It was your voice whispering in the Dark, Justin. Every time that I heard your voice the darkness that surrounded me seemed to go away briefly bringing with it just a glimpse of something that we said or did together. The first thing that I remembered was your beautiful blue eyes and your blond hair. And a pen in your hand as you personally gave me your very first autograph and wrote the date that we first made love . As far as where that happened, I can't remember, but I know that you'll help me remember whatever I've lost that's worth remembering, Won't you," Grace asked as she smoothed her hand over his face with a smile on her face?
"Yes, I'll do whatever it takes to bring you back to the amazing woman that I married. Just remember, babe, it doesn't matter if you never remember, we can make new memories," Justin said as he kissed her again deeply making her moan into his mouth with pleasure at his touch.'