Jac and Jack

Series: Jac and Jack, Part 1

 

Haffina

Fuzzy Teenage Bunny

*
646 Posts
Karma: +17/-0
   The indicator showed pink.  Jacintah was pregnant again, at last.  It had taken two years, and Jacintah was beginning to think it would never happen.  With the twins it had only taken two weeks.  They were nearly four, now was the time for a new baby.  She looked back at the pregnancy test, joy lifting her heart.  Last night Kane and her had had another fight.  The stress of working towards his promotion was taking its toll.  His chances of getting the promotion were pretty slim, if the truth be known.  In the two and half years he had been working at the Lynal Wool Mills, he’d had far too many work related injuries for them to seriously consider him as Supervisor material.  If he didn’t get it this time, it wouldn’t be the first time, but it would make him even more difficult to live with.  Maybe the new baby would make things better.  Their relationship had always been hard, but lately it was becoming unbearable.  The move to Ralley three years ago had helped,  but now Kane seemed to be angry all the time.
   Jacintah shook herself, now was no time for reflection.  The twins, Daniel and Michael, needed breakfast and they were due at Kindy in an hour.  The lack of a car, for the whole of her and Kane’s four and a half year relationship, meant a twenty minute walk.
   She had just poured the milk over the cereal when the boys came barrelling into the kitchen.  Her heart turned over as she smiled at their sunny faces.  They were so like their father in many ways, fearless and dark-haired, but also very different, sweet and sensitive.
   The next two hours flew by in a flurry of Kindy snacks, lost shoes, friendly mums and bill paying.  Jacintah arrived home feeling slightly ruffled.  There always seemed to be more bills to pay than money allowed.  She’d gotten used to delaying some payments to meet more pressing ones, but is still worried her  when several bills arrived at once.  She’d just put down her bags of shopping when the phone rang.  She pushed back her long, red curls as she picked up the phone.
   “Hello?” She didn’t get many calls during the day, and she had a moment of fear that one of the boys might have been hurt at Kindy.
   “Mrs Lawly?  This is Paul Windsor, from Lynal Wool Mills.”
   “What can I do for you?  Kane’s not hers, in fact, he should be with you.”
   “He is, or more specifically, he was.”
   “Was?”
   “I’m afraid there has been a serious accident, and Kane has been taken to hospital.  He was in a pretty bad way.  I’m really sorry, Mrs Lawly.”  Paul sounded very worried and shocked.  “Will you be okay?  I could send someone to take you to the hospital.”
   “No!”  Jacintah was stunned.  This couldn’t be happening.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.  I can make my own way there.  Thank you for letting me know.”  She put the phone down, her hand shaking violently.  She had to pull herself together.  The boys! She would have to get someone to pick them up for her.  And how would she tell them what had happened.
   Thirty minutes later she was sitting in the hospital waiting room.  Kane was to be transported to the larger Frazer hospital.  Ralley didn’t have the facilities to deal with really serious cases.  The doctors had stabilised him, but he needed specialist treatment.  Jacintah still had no idea what had happened, or how badly hurt Kane was.  At that moment a doctor entered the room, looking particularly grim.
   “Mrs Lawly?  I’m Dr William Richards.  We have your husband’s condition stabilised for transfer.  He is seriously hurt.”
   “What …what sort of injuries does he have?”
   “He has massive head injuries and several broken bones in his arms and ribcage.  To be blunt,  Mrs Lawly, your husband doesn’t have a very good chance of surviving.  We doctors will do what we can, but I suggest you prepare yourself for the worst.  A nurse will come for you in a couple of minutes and take you out to the ambulance.  I ask that you sit up front.  If something happens during transfer, the ambulance officers will need all the room they can get.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”
   As the doctor left, Jacintah’s thoughts turned to the new life growing inside her.  It was possible this child would never know its father, and the boys.  Oh, God, how was she going to explain all this to them.  She’d have to call her mum.  She glanced at the clock on the wall.   A quarter to twelve, her mum would be picking the boys up in three-quarters of an hour.  By then she’d be at Frazer hospital.  Jacintah sighed, just as well it was her mum’s day off, she had no idea what she would have done otherwise.  A cough from the doorway brought Jacintah’s head up.
   “Mrs Lawly, the ambulance is ready to go.  If you’ll follow me please.”
   The trip down to Frazer was uneventful.  Jacintah took it as a good sign.  At least Kane’s condition hadn’t gotten any worse. His head was wrapped in bandages, and he had a neck brace on.  Numerous tubes came out from beneath bandages and the blanket that covered his body.  A couple of small machines had beeped and flashed.  As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Kane was whisked off to undergo surgery.  Jacintah took the time to make some calls.
   “Mum, its me.  Did you pick up Daniel and Michael okay?”
   “Yes, I did.  Where are you/’  Jacintah heard the anxious note in her mother’s voice.
   “At Frazer hospital.  They transferred Kane down here.  He’s in a really bad way.  He’s in surgery now.”  She swallowed back tears. “They aren’t sure if he’ll survive.  He’s got massive head injuries.”
   “Do you know what happened?”
   “No.  I guess someone will tell me sooner or later.  I’m not sure that I want to know.”
   “Right.  Now, don’t worry about the twins.  I’ll get a few days off work and look after them.  Ring me if you need anything, or if you want me to bring the boys down.  Have you rung Penelope yet?”
   “Not yet.  I’m going to call her next.  Thanks for looking after the boys, Mum.  I’ll ring later to talk to them.  I’d better ring Penelope.”  Jacintah rang off, and then took a few deep breaths before calling Penelope, Kane’s mother.
   Penelope freaked out, much as Jacintah had thought.  She’d barely bothered hanging up before her trip to the hospital.  Jacintah wasn’t sure she could cope with her mother-in-law right now.  A nurse entered the waiting area, and Jacintah eyed her expectantly.
   “Mrs Lawly?”  At Jacintah’s nod she continued.  “The doctors are still operating.  They don’t know how much longer it will be.  I thought it best that someone let you know.  Also, there are two police officers here who want to talk to you about the accident.  Should I show them in?”
   “Yes.  Thank you. And thank you for letting me know what’s happening.”
   “No problem.  I let you know more when I hear it.  I’ll show the officers in now.”  With that she walked out , returning moments later with two uniformed officers.  Jacintah recognised them as members of Ralley’s constabulary.  They both wore grim expressions, and neither seemed to know how to start.
   “Hello, Sergeant McKay.  Remember me?  You arrested me once when I was a teenager.  Drunk and Disorderly, I believe.  You dropped the charges after I slept it off in the cells.”  McKay nodded and smiled.
   “I remember you, Jacintah.  As I recall, I arrested you several times.  It seems I made the right decision letting you off all those times.  You’ve turned out pretty well.”  Jacintah nodded and looked at the younger officer.  He seemed dazed by the remarkably normal exchange.
   “You’re new, aren’t you?”  she addressed the younger man.  “I’ve seen you around Ralley.  What’s your name?”  the officer stared for a second.  She wasn’t acting like a woman whose husband was fighting for his life, at least to his mind.
   “Constable Dave Short.  If you don’t mind me saying, Ma’am, you seem amazingly calm, considering.”
   “Constable, I’m sure you’ll soon learn that everybody has a different way of dealing with trauma.  If I don’t at least try to act normally, I’ll fall in a screaming heap.  Now, if you don’t mind, can you please tell me how my husband ended up in his present condition?”  The Constable looked uncomfortable.  McKay eyed him, and then sent him for coffee.
   “He’s young.  He’s not used to this type of thing.”  He paused.  “Do you know anything about what happened?”  Jacintah shook her head.  McKay studied her for a moment.  She was handling it better than most.  “I’d better start at the beginning then.”  He took a deep breath.  “They were loading three tonne packs onto the back of a truck using the building mounted crane.  Kane was supervising the lift.  When the pack was about two metres off the ground, one of the cables came loose or broke, we don’t yet know which.  The momentum of the pack caused it to swing down and across.  The pack hit Kane on its way back up.  He was standing right in its path.  The pack hit him full in the chest and face.  The force threw him against the concrete wall of the building, crushing the back of his skull.  It happened so fast there was nothing anybody could do.”  He paused. “I’m really sorry, Jacintah.  I wish there was something I could say to make it easier for you.”
   “No.  It’s okay, really.  At least I know what happened, and why the doctors don’t think he’ll survive.”
   “Jacintah?”  The voice from the doorway turned her head.  Penelope, her mother-in-law stood there, tears streaming down her cheeks.  “What happened to my baby?  Who hurt him?”
   Jacintah stared at her for a moment, then stood and walked from the room.  She felt guilty about leaving McKay to explain, but she’d had an almost uncontrollable urge to slap Penelope as soon as she’d opened her mouth.  It wasn’t that she disliked her mother-in-law, quite the opposite, but she was prone to hysteria and Jacintah didn’t think she had enough energy left to calm Penelope down and stay in control of her emotions.
   Jacintah headed outside, digging in her shoulder bag as she went.  It took her a few minutes to find the cigarette package stowed in her bag.  They’d been there, untouched, for nearly a year.  Right now, Jacintah was glad she’d kept them.  She lit one up and took a deep drag.  The smoke made her cough at first, but soon she felt a familiar calm come over her.  She knew it was a horrible, expensive habit.  A habit she was proud she’d kicked, until now.  If she’d been a drinker she’d have had a stiff scotch. She heard a sound behind her and turned.  McKay was striding across the lawn towards her.
   “You okay, Jacintah?”  his face was creased with concern.  “I take it you don’t like your mother-in-law much?”
   “No, no.  I like her, we’re pretty good friends really.  I just didn’t want to hear what happened again. I figured you’d tell her.”
   “Yeah, I did.  Shorty made her a cuppa.  He’s doing his best to keep her calm.”
   “Without much luck, I’ll bet.”  Jacintah butted out her cigarette.  “I guess I should go see what I can do.”  She got to her feet.  “Thanks, Sarg.  I know this can’t have been easy for you.”
   “It’s my job, love.  If you need anything, just let me know.”  He squeezed her shoulder.  “I know you’re going to be fine.  You’re a lot stronger than you’re appearance suggests.”  They smiled in understanding.
   Jacintah’s early years had been marked by abuse, poverty and death.  She’d survived, but the scars still remained.  McKay remembered seeing her beautiful face marred by blood and bruising, after a particularly vicious beating at the hands of her stepfather.  McKay had felt a certain satisfaction when the bastard was finally locked up.  Her physical injuries had healed quickly, but it had taken years of therapy, and quite a few run-ins with the law, to soothe the inner injuries.  She’d probably have record now if he and his fellow officers hadn’t repeatedly given her another chance.  None of them blamed her for her rebellion, but all had breathed a sigh of relief when she finally turned over a new leaf.
   McKay followed Jacintah back into the hospital.  He figured she’d need all the moral support she could get when facing Penelope Lawly.  As soon as Jacintah entered the waiting room, a weeping Penelope enveloped her in a smothering embrace.
   “What are we going to do?  Oh, Lord.  What are we going to do?  I can’t think of my baby dying.  He’s got to live.”  Jacintah pushed Penelope down onto a chair.
   “Now, you listen to me, Penelope.”  Jacintah’s voice sounded harsh, even to her.  “What we are going to do is try and stay as calm as possible until we find out from the doctors how Kane is doing.  Then we’ll decide what’s best for him.  But I’m telling you now, I won’t allow him to suffer because you don’t want to let him go.  I’d rather let him die, than force him to exist in a coma, or in some half life in an institution.  And I know he wouldn’t want that either.”
   “How can you be so cruel, Jacintah?”  Tears welled in Penelope’s eyes again. Jacintah sighed.
   “I’m not being cruel, Penelope.  I’m being realistic.  I don’t want him to die anymore than you do, but we need to be prepared for the worst.”  She was going to say more, but a white coated man entered the room.
   Dr George Vilnor took in the four people in the small waiting room.  Aside from two police officers, were two women.  One sat with her head in her hands sobbing.  The other paced to the window when he’d walked in.  She had the most gorgeous red hair he’d ever seen.  It looked like tongues of fire caressing her back.  He’d heard her last words and things certainly couldn’t be much worse from a medical viewpoint.  He’d just spent two and half hours trying to fix the unfixable.  The redhead turned and eyed him warily.  God, she was gorgeous, not classically beautiful, but one hell of a package.
   “Mrs Lawly?”  He addressed the redhead, but the older woman answered.  He’d expected the younger woman to be the wife.
   “We’re both Mrs Lawly.”  The redhead spoke first.  “This is Kane’s mother, Penelope Lawly.  I’m Jacintah Lawly, Kane’s wife.  You are?”
   “Dr George Vilnor.  I’m the Neurosurgeon who operated on Mr Lawly.”
   “How is he?”  Penelope’s voice wobbled as she spoke.  George took a deep breath.  He hated this part of his job.
   “He’s not good, I’m afraid.  We did what we could, but his brain was badly damaged.  Fragments of his skull were so deeply embedded that we couldn’t remove them.  His spinal cord was severed at the base of his neck.  His right lung was punctured in several places by broken ribs.  Both shoulder blades were broken and his right shoulder joint was completely shattered.  His nose, cheek bones, jaw and brow were also broken."” He paused.  Penelope Lawly looked like she was going to faint.  He couldn’t see Jacintah’s face, she’d turned her back and seemed to be gazing out the window.  When she spoke her voice seemed to come from far away.   
   “What are his chances?”  She turned to face him.  “What sort of quality of life would he have?”  She looked pointedly at Penelope.
   “Truthfully?  He’d be better off if he was allowed to die.  He’ll never walk, talk, feed or clothe himself.  He won’t be able to breathe on his own.  At the moment he’s in a coma, on life support.  The machine is all that is keeping him alive.  Even if he did come out of the coma, he would need to be institutionalised or remain in hospital for the rest of what is sure to be a very short life.  I would advise against prolonging this any longer than is absolutely necessary.”
   Jacintah swung back to the window.  She tried to feel something, anything, that would convince her she hadn’t fallen out of love with Kane.  She’d know for a while that her feelings had changed.  She still cared about him, but he’d hurt her too often.  She was afraid everyone would notice her lack of feelings.  She wanted what was best for Kane, and what was best for her. 
   “We have to let him die.”  Jacintah’s voice sounded hollow to her ears.  She heard Penelope gasp.
   “Jacintah!  How can you say that?  You can’t just let him die!”
   “I’m not just letting him die.  I can’t stand by and let him suffer just so you can satisfy your selfish needs.”  She whirled around to face Penelope.  Her head started to swim.  Oh, God, she thought.  I’m going to faint.  She put her hand to her head, trying to soothe the dizzy feelings that threatened to overwhelm her.  She opened her mouth to say something, but blackness enveloped her mind.
   McKay saw Jacintah start to fall, but was too late to catch her.  Her head struck the edge of the couch arm.  McKay knelt beside her and checked her breathing.  He wasn’t so worried about her fainting but more the blow to her head.  He gently lifted her onto the couch and put a cushion under her head.  Her eyes fluttered open as George Vilnor elbowed McKay out of the way.  The doctor took her hand gently.
   “Do you know your name?”
   “Jacintah Isolde Lawley.”
   “Do you know the date?”
   “Tuesday the twentieth of July.”
   “Do you know where you are?”
   “Frazer Hospital.  Now if you’ve finished with the questions, I’d like to get up now.”  She went to rise, but found a hand on her shoulder.  McKay looked down at her with concern.
   “I think you should rest for a bit.”  Jacintah shrugged off his hand and sat up.
   “I’m fine.  I just fainted and I know why.”
   “And why is it you fainted?”  Dr Vilnor asked.  “Lack of food, too much stress?”  He  sounded sceptical.
   “Yes, that, but also because I’m six weeks pregnant.”  Jacintah heard another gasp from Penelope.
   “Are you sure?”  George clearly didn’t believe her.
   “Yes, I’m sure.  I did the test this morning and it came out positive, and my period is two weeks over due.  Satisfied?”  Her irritation showed in her voice.  George Vilnor was beginning to annoy the hell out of her, especially when he leered at her.
   George studied the woman in front of him.  Didn’t she realise how gorgeous she was, pity she was pregnant really.
   “Dr Vilnor?”  George started at Penelope’s voice.  “I’d like some time alone with my daughter-in-law.”  She turned to the two policemen.  “Thank you officers.  You’ve been most helpful.”  The three men glanced at Jacintah.  She nodded her agreement.  They shrugged in resignation and left the two women alone.
   

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

*
6,253 Posts
Karma: +94/-1
Wow, great part one :D

 

Kimberley

Furry Young Bunny

*
843 Posts
Karma: +9/-0
Aweome work! I Can't wait until part two!

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

*
6,253 Posts
Karma: +94/-1
PART TWO!! PART TWO!! PART TWO!! PART TWO!! PART TWO!! PART TWO!! PART TWO!! PART TWO!! PART TWO!! PART TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

MelissaSt

Newborn Baby Bunny

Regular Member
19 Posts
Karma: +0/-0
That was a very good story, I'm curious to find out what will happen in Part two.

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

*
6,253 Posts
Karma: +94/-1
Part two is up ha ha, top right there's a prev next button :D.

 



More on this Work


FirstNextLast

About the Author

Members Avatar

Membership Info
Jennifer Mercer or Haffina (Haffina) is a Just Creative who has made 646 posts since joining Creative Burrow on 07:03pm Mon, Nov 3, 2008. Haffina was invited by Bunny.

About Haffina
I'm a busy mum of 5 kids, 4 boys and 1 girl, who mainly makes jewellery and polymer clay beads..but who also attempts to write when I have the time..which frankly isnt often at the moment. I love the writings of Terry Pratchett in particular.. but I am also partial to witch or fantasy based stories..like the Witches of Eilianan Series and the work of Cecilia Dart Thornton. I used to write a column for handmadenews.org so I guess that makes me published :P

Writing Style
Poetry, Romance

Other Works by this Author
Coming Soon