Clouds and Rain

it as well. He turned toward Gable and took his lover‟s hand. It was cold and clammy and didn‟t feel like Gable‟s at all. “We have to do this, love. I can‟t lose another lover. I can‟t sit by and watch you die without knowing I‟ve done everything possible to save you, and although you might never forgive us, at least we‟ll give you a chance to live.” Flynn turned toward Calley, wiping his face with the back of his hand. “Let‟s do it.”

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    Zahra Owens

    Chapter 11

    FLYNN spent the next few days driving back and forth between the ranch and the hospital, since they would only let him into the ward to sit next to Gable‟s bed at set times in the afternoon and the evening.
    At night Flynn lay in Gable‟s bed, trying to catch his scent and his presence, but it faded fast, so after tossing and turning all night long, he would get up at dawn to start his work at the ranch. Working hard had always served him well when it came to getting the time to pass more quickly, and making sure Gable had a well-maintained ranch to come home to was an added incentive. By the early afternoon, Flynn would drive to the city to sit next to Gable‟s bed.
    Despite the amputation they‟d given their reluctant consent for, Gable wasn‟t recuperating like Dr. Isaacs had predicted. He was still sedated, still having bouts of extreme fever when he would become so unstable they‟d sometimes ask Flynn to leave the room so they could take care of him, and he was slowly becoming unrecognizable to his friends. During the times when Gable was calm and seemingly pain-free, Flynn would untie his hand and hold it to his face, talking to him in soothing tones, hoping that small talk about the horses and Bridget would somehow reach Gable‟s brain. As Flynn got more accustomed to the goings-on in the ward, he would sometimes wash Gable‟s sweat-soaked face and chest, what little pieces of skin weren‟t covered by monitoring stickers or IV bandages. It helped him to feel like he was somehow taking care of his lover, despite knowing he had to relinquish most of that task to the nurses. Under his hands, Flynn could feel Gable‟s muscles wasting away, and the fact he looked paler and more bloated with every passing day meant Flynn had to will himself not to give up hope.

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    Hope became even harder to hold onto when he arrived one afternoon and found that more equipment had been added around Gable‟s bed. Heart racing, he went in search of Dr. Isaacs.
    “I don‟t think I need to explain to you that he‟s not doing well,” Isaacs told Flynn compassionately. “His kidneys were having a hard time dealing with the toxins from the infection, and now they‟ve shut down completely, so we needed to help them out a bit.” Flynn nodded, trying to process the information. “So the operation did no good? He‟s dying anyway?”
    “Don‟t lose hope, Mr. Tomlinson. We have to give his body the time to heal itself. In the meantime, we‟re giving it all the help we can.” Although the doctor was compassionate enough and seemed to know what he was doing, Flynn still wasn‟t convinced they‟d done the right thing. Especially now there was another setback. “So what will happen next?”
    Dr. Isaacs interlocked his fingers and inhaled deeply. “We‟ve put him on dialysis to help his body get rid of all the toxins that are causing his organs to shut down. We hope this will give us the chance to lower all the medication he needs to stay alive so we can slowly wean him off it.”
    Flynn didn‟t pretend to understand, but he needed to know the basics. “So there‟s still a chance we‟ll lose him?” Isaacs nodded.
    “How much chance?”
    Dr. Isaacs bit the inside of his lip. “I don‟t want to put a number on it.”
    “I need to know,” Flynn asked calmly. He did need to know. For days now he‟d been expecting a call saying Gable had died. He needed to know what to expect.
    “I think he‟s got a fifty-fifty chance.”
    Flynn nodded. It wasn‟t an answer he wanted to hear, but at least he now knew that it was a gamble even for the doctor who‟d so diligently been there every single day to take care of Gable.

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    Zahra Owens

    “Thank you. I think I‟d better go see him now,” Flynn stated softly as he got up from the office chair and walked out without shaking Dr. Isaacs‟ hand. He needed to be with Gable right now, spend as much time with him as he could, despite the fact he had no idea