Resting his head against the cold of the stainless steel bars, Michael tried to focus on his reality. The escapism he sought in Virginia was over and now he had to face his problems back in Los Angeles. Trusted employees had abused his kindness, lawsuits continued to pile up and his oldest daughter didn’t care to speak with him any longer. As he thought back on the conversation he had with her; it hurt to know that she felt abandoned and thought that her Mother, at least in her young mind was being used.
Concentrating on controlling the panic that simmered just below the surface of his morose exterior he picked up Lexi’s hand. As always it was tiny resting in his, but now it seemed cold and pale. He longed for her to reach out with her reassuring touch, to hear her soft voice assuring him that everything would be fine…but it was not meant to be. Raising his eyes he watched the IV slowly drip into her arm, enabling her to rest and be out of the pain she had lived with for so long now. The guilt he felt for not being by her side ate away at him. She worked too hard and pushed herself to never give in but now it had caught up with her and stopped her cold. The surgeons said the best they could do at the moment was remove part of her lung and she reluctantly agreed. Bernadette had called earlier in the week when she figured out her sister was not going to let him know what was happening with her health. So he immediately gathered the family and flew back to California, back to the one thing in his life that was stable. Yet seeing her so vulnerable in the ICU caused him to openly weep. He did not care if the nursing staff recognized him or thought he was crazy. He only wanted Lexi alive, well and happy. Alannah initially refused to visit the hospital and was terrified that her Mother was dying like her ‘Dad’. Michael eventually forced her to come with him and spend time there earlier in the day.
Praying silently he reminded God of the promise he had made years before. The promise to take whatever trials that might come his way, trading them for Lexi’s health. It tore at his guts to think that he had lived through so much, dealt with so much and still she could be torn away from him.
Looking away from the machines, the tubes and finally back at her fingers resting in his, He spoke to her lovingly, hoping he might reach her…and it was then that his heart leapt with joy as she gently squeezed his hand in reply.
