Page 101 of Fortunate Miracles
“I suppose tomorrow, if the scans are good. Time is of the essence.”
While Ray makes arrangements to fly back, I help Zander look for medical beds. “We’ll need a contractor to modify the bathroom,” I tell Zander.
“I know, darling. We’ll get to that as soon as we find a house.”
There’s a medical supply company in Charleston, so I call them to discuss hospital beds. They have several in stock as well as wheelchairs and chairs that lift. I order a fancy bed and padded wheelchair, which they agree to hold until we're ready for them.
Shortly after I get off the phone, Leigh pops in telling us she’s giving Jake a bath and will let us know when he’s ready, so I decide to start my schoolwork. Logging into the school portal, I start with psychology. I’ll have a lot of labs to catch up on when we get back, but the guys already offered to help with that.
When Leigh's done, I grab a grape juice and go into Jake’s room. “Morning, handsome,” I greet. Jake looks good. Leigh dressed him in his clothes, and he’s sitting up with the blankets around his waist.
“Morning, Sum,” he smiles. “Is that grape juice?”
“Yup. I bought a case of it last night.” Grabbing a straw, I open a bottle and let him have a drink. Once he’s done, I pull the table over the end of his bed and add water and ice. “How was the scan?”
“Weird, but staying still was easy.”
“There’s the sarcasm,” I smile. “Your dad's on the phone right now with work. He’ll be in shortly,” I tell him.
Dr. Crosby and Ray enter the room just as I take a seat on the edge of Jake’s bed. “Hello Summer,” she nods. “Jake, your scan looks good. No swelling. I’m estimating a few more days before we can discharge you and you can get out of this room.” She reminds Jake and us how important it is to protect the back of his head for a few months and goes into more detail about rehabilitation. I take Jake’s hand as she explains it will take months to get him mobile again, but she expects him to recover.
Once she leaves, I turn to see his face. “You’ve got this, Jake. You’re a hard worker. Nothing to be scared of. We’ll be with you every step of the way. It’s just like training for hockey, just practice.”
I can tell he’s concerned. Jake always needs a little time to work through his thoughts, so we leave the topic alone. Ray tells him he’ll be leaving tomorrow morning to make arrangements for him to come home. I assure him I'll stay with him, though.
He quickly falls asleep, so I run next door to get my schoolwork. I spread out on the couch in Jake’s room and get to work as Ray joins me in the armchair. “I ordered a bed and a wheelchair. They’ll be delivered as soon as you need them.”
“Summer,” he sighs. “You didn’t need to do that. I’ll pay you back out of Jake’s money.”
“No need,” I wave him off. “Consider it my welcome home gift.” Lowering my voice, I lean forward. “Where is Jake’s stuff? Is it with you?”
“No, it’s in storage in Virginia. I’ll have it shipped down as soon as I have an address.”
Nodding, I continue reading my psychology textbook. I fill the rest of the morning with schoolwork and conversations with Jake. Ray and I take turns entertaining him when he wakes so the other can work. I get a text from Zander that he needs Ray to look at some homes at lunchtime, so he leaves to go next door. Zander's going to get me food from downstairs.
Leigh comes in with real soup for Jake today. He takes a while to eat and chokes a few times before getting the hang of it. I offer him the rest of the grape juice bottle, and then he has a nap.
Ray comes back in with a roast turkey platter for me and a soda. I thank him as I dig in, and he shows me the places he’s considering. There’s a condo near Seb. A house closer to Bay, and another condo between Alex’s house and Finn. “So what are you leaning towards?”
“A condo would be easiest, I think. There’s no maintenance or yard work.”
Both condos have virtual tours. After viewing each, I notice that the one by Seb doesn’t have a view, while the other one has a view of the water, and there’s lots of greenery. They both have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and balconies. “The first one is near Seb and Troy in a pleasant area, but the view sucks. I’d go for the other one. It’s newer too.”
We discuss the pros and cons of each. Both are empty already, so move in can be right away. The one by Seb has a pool and exercise room, but the pool looks unappealing. Alex has a heated indoor pool and hot tub, and there’s a gym at Finn, so he has options. I remind him that whatever physiotherapist he hires probably has an office with all the equipment needed, so he doesn’t need to buy a condo with those amenities. “Zander suggested the newer one as well. It’s also more central. I’ll call the realtor and see how fast we can get in.” Ray leaves the room to make the call as I go back to my work.
By the end of the day, Ray and Jake have a new condo, and my friends have nurses to interview tomorrow. We accomplished a lot today.
The next two days are busy. Alex, Steven, Dr. Croft, and Holly’s mom interviewed several nurses and physiotherapists for us. We have video calls set up for tonight to interview them ourselves. Ray offered to do it, but I wanted to be involved.
Troy picked up the condo keys for Ray last night. We aren’t able to get the bathroom renovated until next week, though. Both Ray's and Jake’s stuff are arriving Saturday morning along with the bed andwheelchair I ordered.
The company Ray works for was very understanding of his situation, and they offered to let him keep his health insurance if he works a few hours a week for them, checking on clients. His job will be there for him in the future if he wants it. He arranged movers for his belongings and vehicle, and the movers had an affiliate company to ship Jake’s things from Virginia.
After talking with Ray and Zander, Ray's going to stay up here with Jake while Zander and I head home on Friday. The guys offered to help me set up the condo over the weekend for Ray and Jake.
Chapter 50
Summer
