Kacie and McClanahan had violent disagreements over the amount of time she was allowed to stay in the ICU. She threatened to quit her job, and he vowed to bar her from the ICU entirely. They finally reached a workable compromise where Kacie could spend the daytime hours with Peter, as long as she spent the nights at the Blaisdells. The doctor was all too aware of his nurse's self-sacrificing tendencies. Though Kacie's coldness to him cut him deeply, McClanahan remained firm in his orders that she not be allowed to remain in the room twenty-four hours a day.
Peter's foster sister, Kelly Blaisdell, offered to stay with Kacie back at the apartment, but Kacie couldn't bear the thought of being there without Peter. Paul and Annie were more than happy to have her stay with them. They too, were concerned about the way their daughter-in-law would neglect herself, and it made them feel like they were aiding Peter's recovery to care for his wife in their own home.
McClanahan was pleased with Peter's recuperation; infection and pneumonia were being successfully avoided. Even so, his reassurances did little to dispel Kacie's fears. Nothing he said alleviated the constant harried look on her face.
Annie did her best to tempt Kacie's appetite, but the young woman sat night after night doing little more than toy with her food. She was quiet and subdued, and spent most of her time in her room. Somehow, being surrounded by some of the things there from Peter's past, and the idea of being in his old bed, gave her some solace.
Peter had been in the hospital a week when Paul and Annie decided the time had come to take matters into their own hands.
Kacie was sequestered in her room, as usual, when a soft knock came at the bedroom door. Annie and Paul entered, Paul carrying a small tray. Kacie got up quickly from where she had been lying on the bed, and wiped away traces of tears as she sat wrinkling the bedspread between her fingers.
Paul set down the tray on the bedside table and took Kacie's chin in his hand. He kissed her cheek and said, "I'll leave you girls to talk." He closed the door softly behind himself.
Annie sat next to Kacie and reached to take the younger woman's hands in hers. "Sweetie, you have to stop this. You're acting like Peter is dying, not getting stronger every single day. You know that they're already beginning to wean him from the respirator."
Kacie took a deep breath, gulping hard to swallow back tears. "I know. I know. But, I just, I just miss him so much," she confessed thickly. Tears fell, and she made no attempt to stop them. "I keep having this same nightmare, over and over, that I lose him. He's there, in front of me, and then...some sort of mist comes swirling in and covers him up. I reach out for him, but he's not there. And then I'm running and running, and I call to him, but he doesn't answer me. I'm all alone in the dark, and I'm lost. I'm...so...lost!"
Annie pulled the weeping girl to her breast and rocked with her. "It's only a dream, Kacie. It doesn't mean anything, other than you're not sleeping well and you're not taking care of yourself."
"I try to eat. I really do. But nothing tastes any good."
"Peter wouldn't like this at all, you know. I can hear him right now, throwing a tantrum as only he can, and reading you the riot act about the way you're fretting over him."
"I know. I know. I wish he was yelling at me. Just so I could hear his voice again. Sometimes, I can't even remember what he sounds like."
"Sweetie, listen to me. You know the doctor says that in two more days Peter will probably be completely off the respirator and you can talk to him. And it won't be any time at all and he'll be home with you."
"How can you be so positive?"
"Because I'm his mother. Because I have faith in my son. And because I know how much he loves you and wants to be with you." Annie patted her hand before continuing. "Kacie, Paul and I have been meaning to thank you for a long time now."
"Thank me? Why would you thank me?"
"For loving our son, and making him such a happy man."
"Oh, stop. I'm gonna bawl again." Kacie hugged her mother-in-law and kissed her cheek.
"Now, young lady, we brought you some soup, and I want you to finish every last drop. You didn't eat anything at supper tonight. I know, because I told Paul to watch you."
"Oh, Annie, I..."
"You heard me. No arguments. Eat. Dr. McClanahan told us that if we couldn't get some food into you, he was going to throw you into a hospital bed and feed you intravenously."
"He'd do it, too," Kacie remarked sourly, and then remembered the countless extra hours the doctor had spent monitoring Peter's progress. {I've seen the times noted on the charts. Doctor's been there in the middle of the night, even after he's sent me home.} Smiling wryly to herself, she gave an exaggerated sigh of despair. "Oh, all right! I can't fight all of you. Where's the soup?"