Your Time

Chapter 42

"Harrison, you better wake up. Wake up for me. Wake up for the kids."

The heart monitor still showed a single horizontal line.

"Babe please."

Carrie leaned her forehead against his. One of the nurses put her hand on Carrie's shoulder. "He's gone."

"No. No, no. Harry."

The tears began to tumble down her cheeks as she held him close. "Harrison please. I need you. The kids need you. You're my everything. You've been here for me since we were 18. I can't lose you now. We've got a lot ahead of us. I plan on spending the rest of our lives, watching the kids grow up. And I want to do it with you. So please come back to me. Please Harrison."

All of a sudden, vertical lines began to appear once again on the monitor. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes.

"Harrison!"

He smiled, reaching up to remove the oxygen mask. "Carrie."

She held his head against her chest, now crying even harder. "I thought you were dead."

His thumbs caressed her cheeks, wiping the tears away. "I'm here sweetheart. I'll always be here. Now come here."

Carrie made her way around the other side of the hospital bed, crawling over the railing to lay by his side. "What happened to you?"

"I got shot."

"I know that hotshot."

Harrison explained everything that happened to his wife, who patiently listened. He told her everything from showing up to Ben's school, to fighting the man and getting shot.

"Harry, you're a hero," she whispered, gently kissing his forehead and running her gentle fingers through his hair.

"Did you really think I was gonna die?"

Carrie nodded. "You almost did. I thought you were gonna, the doctors thought you were gonna."

He gave her the beloved lopsided grin. "Well I'm here."

At that moment, a few doctors came and and did a few tests on him. They took his blood pressure and unhooked him from the oxygen tank.

"When can I go home?" He asked them.

One of the doctors patted his shoulder. "Mr. Ford, you've got a little while."

"Why's that?"

Before the doctor could answer, Carrie interjected. "Harrison, you almost died. They aren't going to let you walk out of this hospital tonight, and I sure won't be either."

"I want to go home."

"I'm going to take you home," she told him. "Just not right now. You have to recover first."

"Okay Carrie."

•••

A little later, Harrison kept bugging the doctors until they let him go for a walk around the hospital.

"You have a way with people," she told him as they headed out of the room.

The kids followed. Adam, Emma, Billie, and Ben had all come over after dinner when Carrie called to tell them their father had woken up.

"Dad, when are you going to come home?" Emma asked.

"Whenever they let me," he answered, putting his arm around Carrie for support.

"That better be soon dad," Adam told his father. "I want you to help me with my pitching before the season starts."

"I will Adam."

They took a turn. "I really want out of here," he complained.

"Harry, you'll be out real soon okay?"

"Okay."

•••

That night, the doctors had brought in another cot for Carrie to lay on. It was right next to his bed. For most of the night, they just lay there talking. But when he could tell she was getting tired, he told her to go to bed, but she refused.

"Carrie."

"Harrison."

"You need to go to bed."

"Harrison I'm fine."

He took a deep breath. "You're tired. You've spent so much time worrying about me. I'm fine, and I'm not going anywhere. Get some sleep."

Surprisingly, she didn't try to argue. "Goodnight Harrison. I love you."

"I love you too sweetheart."

Once she fell asleep, Harrison reached over to her bed and took her hand in his. For a while he lay there with her fingers laced together with his, spelling out 'I love you' on the back of her palm over and over. He held her hand for hours until he fell asleep, looking at her. Harrison was okay, and he would be there for her and the kids. The bastard that shot him was in jail. He was going to make a recovery.

Harrison closed his eyes. "I love you Carrie," he whispered to her. "So much."

•••

A few days later, Harrison got released from the hospital. He couldn't of been happier to come home to his family.

After initially coming home, Carrie made him go to bed. "It's the middle of the day Carrie."

"I don't care. Sleeping in a hospital bed didn't do you good the last few days. You need to catch up on your sleep."

Harrison didn't try to argue with her. She was right as always. After she grabbed a glass of water and a few snacks, he slowly followed her upstairs.

"You okay?"

He nodded. "I'm just taking my time."

Once he made it to the top of the stairs, Leia bound up the steps after her owners. She sat in front of Harrison, demanding to be pet. He leaned over just a bit to pet her, not too much. Leaning over too much could tear his stitches. "How's my girl?"

She licked his hand before barking. "She's doing good huh?"

He made his way into their bedroom, followed by Leia. Carrie already had everything placed on the nightstand, as she stood there waiting for him. Leia bolted by and jumped onto her spot on the bed.

"Come on slowpoke."

"Hey!"

Carrie laughed. "I'm just teasing."

Once he sat down on the edge of the bed, Carrie instructed him to take his shirt off. He did, with some help from her. She undid the ace bandage that wrapped around his abdomen, and removed the small pad that protected his stitches. She then placed a new one on before rewrapping the ace bandage.

"Good as new," Carrie teased, gently pushing at his chest.

He leaned back in a comfortable position, while she moved to the side of him. "Get some rest okay?"

"I will. Thanks for everything."

"You're welcome Harry."