Page 19 of Someone Like You
Still his best friend.
Dawson ran his thumb along her hand. Her fingers felt even colder. A few feet away, Larry helped Louise to her feet and they took up their posts on the opposite side.
“Why aren’t they helping her?” Louise buried her face in her husband’s shirt. “I can’t bear this.”
Yes,Dawson thought. Louise was right. He wanted to step into the hall and shout at someone, tell them to get in here and give her medication. Something powerful, maybe through an IV. He watched her chest rise and fall, steady, rhythmic. Her breathing was louder, still. And too slow. Then his eyes found the monitors. Why hadn’t he noticed them before? The doctors were right. What he saw was terrible. Just eight breaths per minute, her blood pressure a sickening 60 over 40. Worse than what the doctors had reported.
He stared at the numbers. The 8 became a 7. Panic pulsed through his body. They were losing her, right now in front of them. “Please, Lord … don’t take her.” His tortured words came through clenched teeth. This couldn’t be happening.
But it was.
On the other side of the bed, Louise came up close to London’s face. She stroked her daughter’s hair and whispered near her ear. Dawson couldn’t make out what she said, but tears streamed down her face. She kissed London’s head and brushed her cheek against her daughter’s much paler one.
Suddenly Dawson realized maybe he shouldn’t be here. If this was … if she left them this hour, Larry and Louise might want to be alone. “I … I can leave.” He took a step back from London’s bed.
“No.” Louise’s answer came fast and sharp. “You have to stay, Dawson. Stand by her and pray. Please don’t stop praying.”
Dawson nodded. He moved back to London and took her hand again. The terrible way she showed no response made him sick to his stomach. He prayed anyway. “Please, Lord, give her life. She needs You. We all need You.”
Then London did something she hadn’t done in three days.
She opened her eyes.
A quiet gasp came from all three of them, and they moved closer to her bed. London blinked a few times, slow, dreamlike, and she looked at Dawson. The hint of a smile lifted her lips. “Hi.” She gave his hand the slightest squeeze, then she looked at her parents. “I … love you … Mom … Dad.”
Her parents were both crying now, silent, stunned. Louise had her hand to her mouth. “Sweetheart. We love you … we love you with everything we have.”
Dawson’s heart pounded so hard he wondered if he would pass out. Was this really happening? He looked at the monitors. Her breaths per minute were 23 now and her blood pressure was higher, too. “London.” He bent low and kissed her hand. “How are you, baby?”
It took effort, but she looked straight to the part of his heart that had belonged to her for as long as he could remember. “I … love you, Dawson.”
London recognized him! Dawson couldn’t contain his joy. “I love you, too.” Tears filled his eyes and he felt himself smile bigger than he had since the accident. “You’re getting better! It’s a miracle.” There were a hundred things he wanted to say, but they’d have time for that now.
She turned to her mom and the two shared a look that held a lifetime of love and memories. Then she did the same with her dad. The sort of look a bride gives her father on her wedding day. Like there was no one else in all the world she would rather call daddy.
For a few seconds, London struggled to form her next words. She coughed a few times, heavy, terrible coughs. When she caught her breath she looked at Dawson first. “I asked God … and He answered me.” She smiled and shifted her gaze to her mom and dad. Her words were slow and soft. “I … asked Him … to for … forgive me. And … to give me Jesus.”
In all her life, London had never looked more radiant. The color was back in her face and she seemed well again, like everything really was going to be okay. “He did it,Dawson. God … gave me … what I asked for.” Tears filled her eyes, even though her smile never wavered.
Louise kissed London’s cheek again. “We’ve been praying for you, sweetheart.”
“Yes.” Her dad took her other hand. “Baby girl, we love you so much.”
She looked at her parents again and struggled to speak, more than before. “I … think I have … a sister.” For a handful of seconds her eyes closed. When she opened them, she looked at her mother. “Did you … know that?”
“London.” Her mom looked at Larry, then back at their daughter. “You mean … you had a dream?”
“I don’t … know.” Her face grew pale again. Weakness was clearly consuming her once more, but still she smiled.
Louise seemed to gather herself. “Sweet daughter … you were … conceived through IVF. There were three … three other embryos.”
Peace seemed to come over London. “I have … a sister.”
Dawson’s mind raced. Was London talking about the embryos? And if so, how could she possibly know that? Dawson checked the monitors. Her numbers were falling. “London … what did you see?”
Her eyes were soft as she turned to him. “Someone … like me.” The gurgling sound was back with her next breath. Worse now. She turned to her parents once more. “Daddy … Mama.” She blinked and tears slid down the sides of her face. “I have to go. He’s …” She turned her head and stared at a spot at the front of the room. Where no one was standing. That gentle smile Dawson loved so much filled her face. “He’s … He’s here.”
“No.” Dawson didn’t want her talking like that. “Noone’s here, baby. Just us. And God is healing you.” He ran his free hand over her hair. “You’re talking to us!”
