Frigate Cove Ch. 07-08

Chapter 7 The Changing Tide

Frigate Cove 2013

Cam waited until after nine the next morning before he called the hospital.

"Can you tell me if Ms. Glynnis Urquhart is allowed to have visitors, please," he asked the receptionist.

"Let me check, Sir," she said, pausing for a moment before speaking. "No, Sir. She is still in Intensive Care. Are your Mr. Stuart?" she asked.

"Yes, that's right. Is there a problem?"

"I can't answer that, Sir, but Doctor Chan would like to see you on Monday morning."

"Oh ... okay ... what time?"

"If you come to the regular reception desk, they will page him for you. I'd suggest some time after nine in the morning, as he'll have rounds."

"Very well. I'll call then. Thank you," he said, hanging up and sitting back in his chair.

This did not sound good. The worry from yesterday was back in a big way. What was wrong? What weren't they saying about her condition? She was still in ICU. Was that normal? The doctor had said she might be in a ward today.

"When can we go see Mom?" Jamie asked a few minutes later.

"I'm sorry, Jamie, you mother is still not well enough for visitors. I'm going to see the Doctor on Monday morning."

"But you said she was going to be okay. You said she could come home soon," the boy said, his face a mask of fear.

"I don't think it's anything serious, Jamie. But, she had an operation, and that can be hard to predict how quickly someone will heal from it. I don't want you to worry. I'll talk to the doctor on Monday and we'll find out exactly what is going on. It may be something quite simple that just needs a few extra days to heal."

Jamie didn't look like he was satisfied with Cam's answers, but didn't know what to ask next. He was frightened. His mother was all he had in this world ... well ... until Cam came along. Now, she was sick and in hospital and no one could tell him when she was going to get better. The boy felt the worry in the pit of his stomach.

The next twenty-four hours were nerve-wracking for Cam. Jamie accepted that he couldn't see his mother yet, but remained sceptical that she would get well. Cam, on the other hand, had no idea what Glynnis's situation was, and wouldn't know until he talked to Dr. Chan. The short, Asian doctor exuded an aura of confidence and it was this that Cam clung to, praying that nothing had gone wrong during the operation.

Finally, just before nine o'clock on Monday morning, he presented himself to the reception desk with Jamie in tow.

"My name is Cameron Stuart and I was told to have Dr. Chan paged."

"Yes, Mr. Stuart. I'll page him now. He should be just about finished his rounds," the young lady advised politely.

Cam and Jamie found a seat in the reception area and waited for the doctor to appear. Jamie found a magazine that interested him, but Cam couldn't concentrate on anything at that point. He was worried and upset that there might be more to Jamie's mother's condition that had been let on. It was almost a half-hour before the doctor made an appearance, and he indicated Cam and Jamie should follow him into a small room.

"Doctor Chan, this is Jamie, Ms. Urquhart's son. I hope you don't mind my bringing him along. He's in my care right now."

"No, that's fine. I wanted to bring you up to date on Ms. Urquhart's situation. As I told you on Saturday, she went through the operation with no problems arising. However, when we reviewed the printout from the heart monitor, we saw an anomaly we didn't expect. I contacted our senior resident cardiologist and had him look at the situation. He believes Ms. Urquhart has a problem with one of her heart valves.

"She wouldn't realize it and wouldn't have been made aware of it until a full cardio workup was done. We conducted some further tests this morning and Dr. Rippen is confident that it is a heart valve problem. If that is confirmed, we can do a valve replacement fairly easily. This is a much less invasive procedure than in the past. However, we won't be able to confirm the diagnosis until she has healed from Saturday's operation. I'd say it would be October before we could conduct a full examination of the situation."

"Does she know?" Cam asked.

"No, she's a little slow coming out of the anaesthetic, so we won't drop that on her until she in much further along in her recovery. You'll be able to visit her this afternoon, but only briefly. If there's just the two of you, I'm sure the ward nurse won't object to her son being with you," he smiled.

"Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate your forthright explanation. I'll need to know how to proceed in October, however."

"Don't worry. Doctor Rippen's office will contact her to have her come in for a consultation and further testing."

Cam nodded and thanked the doctor once more before taking Jamie by the hand and leading him back to the parking area.

"Can't we see Mom now?" he asked.

"This afternoon, we'll both go and see her," Cam promised.

"What's a heart valve?" the boy asked.

"Well, it's a muscle that controls the amount of blood that comes in or out of the heart. We each have four valves in our heart and they think maybe that one of your mom's valves isn't working properly. They can fix that, but not until your mom is good and strong once more."

"But she'll be okay, won't she?"

"Yes ... I'm absolutely sure she'll be okay. But here's the bad news, Jamie."

The boy looked at him in alarm.

"You and I are going to have to do the housekeeping and most of the cooking. Your mom is going to have to take it easy until she is completely healed. Are you up for that?"

"Yeah. I just want Mom to get better. I don't want her to die," he said, tears forming.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to let her die. That's a promise," Cam said forcefully, pulling the boy into a warm hug. "But please don't say anything about the heart valve to your mom. We don't want to worry her, okay? It's our secret for now." Jamie agreed, looking a little more confident, but still worried.

It was Tuesday afternoon before they could get to see Glynnis. Cam was shocked at her appearance as he led Jamie into the private room. She looked pale and gaunt, despite the fact that she'd only been in the hospital three days. She turned her head as they entered and smiled and Cam immediately felt better.

"Hi, guys. Thanks for coming," she said weakly.

Jamie walked directly to her bedside. "Are you okay, Mom?"

"I will be, Jamie," she smiled as she stroked his head. "Are you being good and helping Cam around the house?"

"Yeah. He told me we would have to do that stuff while you were sick. I just want you to get better. I miss you."

That brought another smile to Glynnis. "I miss you too, Jamie. And how are you, Cam. I'm so grateful you brought me here. I had no idea what was wrong with me. You might have saved my life. You keep doing that, you know. My white knight," she smiled.

Cam stepped to the bedside and took her hand, holding it gently. "You had us pretty worried for a while. I'm glad we were able to get you here in time."

"I'll be okay, now. I've got my two guardian angels to look after me," she smiled, her eyes never leaving Cam's.

"I'm not an angel, Mom. I'm just a kid," Jamie said with a mystified look at his mother.

"Okay, well, I'll think of something to thank you for helping me when I get home. How about that?"

"I just want you to get better," Jamie said, tears beginning to show.

It was Thursday before Glynnis was released into their care. She was weak and pale, but anxious to return to the house. She was adamant that she wasn't going to be lying in bed any more. She wanted to sit in the great room and have a view of the cove.

"Is there anything I can get you, Glynnis?" Cam asked.

"No ... no Cam ... you've done so much for me. I just want to rest and get better. I have to phone Howard and let him know what happened."

"I've already taken care of that," Cam said. "He wished you a speedy recovery and hoped you would be back to work soon. He really misses you."

"Oh, Cam, I seem to be continually thanking you. I'm so lucky to be here with you."

"I consider myself very lucky to have you and Jamie here with me," he smiled. "Now, I have to get back to work. I'm a little behind. Call me if you need something."

"Yes," she smiled with a fond gaze at the man who was working his way into her heart.

~*~

Ten days later it was Jamie's first day at school. His mother and Cam accompanied him to the end of the driveway where the school bus would pick him up. He was excited to go, unafraid of being on his own, and assured he would be seeing his new friends as well. Cam marvelled at how independent and confident he was for a six-year-old.

Glynnis was moving more actively now, but still not back to her usual energetic self. She was returning to work on a limited basis later that morning, ostensibly to bring the inventory and purchasing schedule up to date. She would be finished at two in the afternoon and Cam would pick her up and bring her home. She was gaining strength each day, but Cam was adamant that she shouldn't push herself too fast. He had explained the issue with the heart valve and that she would be going for some tests in October.

Glynnis seemed puzzled by this turn of events.

"I wonder why I didn't know about this problem."

"Have you ever had an EKG?" Cam asked. "That probably would have revealed it."

"I don't know. I guess not. I've lived all these years and not known about it. It's scary to think what might have happened."

"Nothing to worry about now, Glynn. The new surgery technique is nothing like the old one where they had to crack your chest open. Now, you probably won't be able to find the scar," he smiled fondly.

Her head had snapped up when he used the once familiar short version of her name.

"You called me Glynn. What prompted that?"

"I don't know," Cam admitted honestly. "It just came out ... unplanned."

"My parents used to call me that," she said, her face betraying memories of a happier past."

"Do you mind?" he asked.

She looked at him and smiled. "No ... not at all."

"Good," he said, a look of relief evident. "Anyway, what were we talking about?"

"The heart valve thing. You said it wouldn't be too bad ... maybe just a little scar."

He nodded. "That's what the doctor said."

"That's a relief. He had me scared for a while when explained what was wrong. I'm going to look it up on the Internet and see what it says."

"Good idea. I did that and it's very reassuring," Cam confirmed.

~*~

"I hate sitting around and doing nothing, Cam," Glynnis said after a brief lunch on Saturday.

"Let's go for a walk. You're supposed to do that anyway, and besides, it's a lovely day. We can go down to the beach for a change."

"Good idea. Let's go," she smiled, rising from her chair.

"I love this place," she said, gazing out over the water at a passing commercial fishing boat. "The sights, the smell, the sound of the waves on the shore. This is so perfect, Cam. Such a beautiful place you've chosen."

"That's what I thought when I first found it. It was a day like today - a little more windy, but sunny. It captured my imagination right away."

"I'm planning to stay here," she announced. "I don't mean in your house, but in this cove, if I can. I can be happy here and Jamie can go to school and have friends and we can live a good life. My job is rewarding and the people here are so friendly. I think I've found what I've been looking for."

She couldn't see the grimace on Cam's face when she mentioned leaving his home. It wasn't as if she had never mentioned it, but now it seemed like Glynnis had resolved to find her own home and make her own life ... apart from Cam. He fell silent, an empty feeling now residing within. Could he change her mind? Could he declare himself? Would she accept his plea? There was no doubt that he would have to act before she did something precipitous.

It was up to him. Perhaps after her heart valve procedure? That was the most likely time ... when she was healed and not facing any further health problems. There was no doubt left in the man. He was in love with Glynnis Urquhart. Could she love an older man? Surely she must know how he felt about her ... and Jamie. She was comfortable in his home and with his lifestyle, so perhaps he shouldn't be shy about asking her sooner, even before the surgery. He would have to make up his mind soon. The procedure was scheduled for early November and that was only three weeks away.

Chapter 8 The First Blush of Success

New York 2011

"Congratulations, Cam. We've got a hit on our hands. That promotional tour has paid off handsomely."

"Thank you, Marjean. I have to admit, it was more tiring than I expected, but the reception by the public and the sales so far are very rewarding. I've just about finished the first draft of my next novel, so I'll be sending that along in a few days."

"Well, launching a book at Thanksgiving is always a good time. You're catching the Christmas crowd and with all the great reviews, it's being prominently displayed in the book stores. I hope you feel it's been worth all the work."

"Marjean, none of this would have happened without your help and direction. I don't know how to thank you."

"Just keep them coming, Cam," Marjean laughed. "You've got a knack for making history sound exciting and the public seems to agree with me. Now, you'd better get on your way. Your plane leaves LaGuardia in three hours and traffic will be horrific in this weather. I've called a cab and it's waiting for you now. It's on the company tab, so don't worry about anything but getting to the airport."

"Thank you again, Marjean," Cam smiled, giving the woman a warm hug. "Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas. I'll call you as soon as my new manuscript is ready to send."

"Get going, Cam," she laughed. "I'll be here waiting for it."

Cam smiled as the cab splashed its way through the slush and sleet toward the airport. He really didn't worry about being on time. In this kind of weather, very few flights were on time. Between weather delays and de-icing, he was reasonably confident he wouldn't be late.

Two hours later, he looked up at the monitor in the business class lounge and saw that his flight was now scheduled for 8:15 that evening, two hours later than scheduled. However, traffic was moving, so he expected to be back in Toronto before midnight. It gave him time to savour the thrill of success. He would be financially secure for a while and perhaps it was time to look at making this a career rather than a hobby. Did he have that much confidence? Marjean seemed to think he could do it.

He would discuss it with Larry Robertson next Monday. Larry had been very accommodating with his new schedule, particularly during the book tour. Cam had been filing some copy, but generally Larry was moving work in other directions. His boss had been supportive of his writing efforts and did what was necessary for Cam to get this first book into the stores. But Cam knew he couldn't trade on his good nature much longer. Either he worked for Hunter Publishing, or he resigned and became a full time author. That was going to take some courage.

~*~

"Look, Cam, I don't want to lose you just yet. What if this book is a one-hit-wonder? That happens to lots of authors. Why don't you work part time until you see how the second book works out? That way, if it doesn't, you still have a place here. You're really good at what you do here, so even freelance would help me ... and you as well."

"That's very generous of you, Larry. I just don't want to take advantage of you. I owe you and Hunter a fair effort. Let's try the freelance thing and see how it goes. You've got to be honest with me though. If it doesn't work, you've got to say so. I don't want you jeopardizing your job over our friendship."

"Don't worry, Cam. I've got a wife, two kids, and a mortgage that will stop me from doing anything silly. But I know you well enough that if it doesn't work, you'll know it before I do. So, let's go with the freelance proposal and see what happens. Agreed?"

"Agreed. Now, let me buy you lunch and I can catch up on your family and the office gossip."

"Done," he grinned.

To Be Continued