We're a Wonderful Wife Ch. 12

"Only Grandma Noah called me that, who are you?" demanded the child that will become the Karole that Lanh knows.

"Things have changed little one. I suppose you can call me Grandpa Noah now, if you want."

Karole walked up to the edge of the porch, she wasn't angry, but she was confused, and she hates being confused. "What happened? Where is Grandma Noah?" Karole looked out over the sweltering hot swamp, what would this place do without their witch to make sure the swamp was taken care of?

"To answer your last question first," said Grandpa Noah, "ah'll be takin' care of the swamp just like ah always used to."

Karole sighed and pulled herself up on the other rocking chair. He sure talks like Grandma Noah, she always ignored what Karole asked and answered the questions that Karole never said out loud. "You sure are Grandma Noah, you never answer my questions."

"It's probably because you don't ask the right question," smiled the old man mysteriously.

"What happened?" she demanded loudly and crossed her arms letting Grandpa Noah know she wasn't moving until he answered her question.

"What happened?" he laughed with a loud hoot, "What happened was that you learned how to walk on ice. No one ever thought you could do it, but you sure did!" he slapped his skinny thigh with a laugh.

"Walk on ice?!?" Karole wrinkled her nose in confusion. Walk on ice? That was impossible to young Karole who has never been north of Waycross Georgia where the coldest day in winter bottomed out at forty-five degrees. To her ice exists only inside freezers. In nature it is only found in small cubes cooling drinks like cola or lemonade.

Grandpa Noah nodded, "Up north where winter will kill you just as soon as look at you, ice can grow several feet thick, and you can drive a semi across a lake."

Karole shook her head like she just tasted something sour. "Why would anyone wanna live there?"

"Because it's where they are. It's as simple as that. When you grow up making snowmen and throwing snowballs it's what you do every winter."

"So where is Grandma Noah!" Karole nearly shouted, her fine blond hair waiving as she waved her hands madly.

Grandpa Noah pulled the pail of fish to his feet and made an inventory of the fish as they squirmed in the shallow water. "One day, years from now, you were offered a choice, you could have had A, or you could have had B, either way you could have ended up happy with a man that you loved, but your best friend would have died. Instead, you went right past J and K. You ignored L and grabbed for M. The man remained happily married and your best friend lived."

"But what happened to ME?" demanded Karole.

"Now that really is the right question, isn't it?" smiled Grandpa Noah. "Let's go get these fish filleted and fried up, it's almost time for you to wake up.

"Ok!"

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"Karole honey, don't try to talk, shhh, shhh, shhh." The ICU nurse was working to get the ICU bed ready for Karole's first breaths on her own in two weeks. Removing the endotracheal tube that has been her connection to the mechanical ventilator for the past two weeks is a process called extubation that is long and complicated and actually began as the tube was being put into her trachea to save her life on that horrible Christmas Eve.

As the nurse started to remove the tape that held the tube in place she explained to Karole, "This is Nancy, she's the respiratory therapist, and this is Doctor Witcomb who will be taking the tube out and I'm Crystal, I'll get you anything you need. Are you ready?"

Karole nodded; she was terrified but she had to get this thing out of her mouth.

"That's great, just a moment we'll get this out and you'll be singing again," said Dr. Witcomb. He nodded to Crystal who took a suction hose and vacuumed all the saliva and other gook out of Karole's mouth. "Now take a deep, deep breath, now exhale hard." As she exhaled Dr. Witcomb eased the endotracheal tube out of Karole's trachea. "Now cough out all that stuff," he said.

There was no way she could do anything but cough. A mouthful of glop came out that was caught in a pan that was held under her chin. A nasal canula was put on her and pure oxygen was being blown into her nose as she began breathing on her own. She didn't realize how much work breathing is when you have to relearn it all over again.

The nurses fussed over her, cleaning the goo from the tape off of her face, bandages were changed. Finally, she croaked her first word in weeks, "stop."

"We have to get you all pretty, there's a crowd of people out there waiting to talk to you."

Karole didn't want to see anyone. Didn't they know that this whole thing was a supernatural attempt to steal Don from Lanh? It was supposed to be Lanh laying here dead and Karole was supposed to be comforting Don right now, they were supposed to be burying Lanh's ashes out by the pond and marking the site with a piece of rose quartz. She suddenly felt nauseous. She closed her eyes and wished this would all go away, and when she opened them again there was Tam and Mai. Karole tried to say, "I want to sleep, leave me alone," but all that came out was "Ah..."

Tam brushed Karoles bruised and battered cheek with her elegant hand and said, "Thank you for saving our little girl."

"I tried..." Karole wanted to say that she tried to steal Don, but Mai interrupted her.

"If you ever run out in traffic again, so help me you'll be grounded! You scared us!"

She was crying! Poor Mai who suffered so much with her own family was in tears over some random redneck loser. Karole was so moved that she said something she has never said in her entire life. "I'm sorry momma." Her own mother was Ma or Mother, never momma or mommy. Karole now realized that she had a mommy, and she was crying with Mai and Tam.

Out in the main lobby waiting area Don and Lanh nervously waited their turn to see Karole, how do you properly thank the person who saved your life at the risk of their own? Krissy lay face down on Don's lap, she's been a fussy child this morning, she even pushed Danh away, she just wanted Don. Unfortunately, she doesn't get to see mommy, there's too many wires and tubes attached to momma, each one a temptation to little hands, so until Karole can get to a ward where the monitoring equipment can be removed, the little one will have to wait to see her momma.

Mai came near Don and Lanh to sit down after her talk with Karole, her eyes still filled with tears, but Duong gently tugged her sleeve and whispered in her ear. Mai's eyes opened with a combination of concern and delight, and she hustled away with Duong. "What was that about?" Don asked Lanh. She was sitting closer to the door and whatever Duong said was in Vietnamese. Don can understand Vietnamese, but it needs to be clear and distinct for him to get a full understanding of what was said.

"Someone is here. I didn't catch who it was, but ba is happy about it," said Lanh. Then she watched what Don was doing with Krissy. The baby was lying face down sideways across his thighs and laying limp. Don's feet were up on his toes, and he was shaking his legs causing little Krissy to vibrate. She lay there, drool coming out of her mouth enjoying being vibrated when suddenly she sang out with a loud, raucous belch. "Very ladylike," Lanh scolded the infant with a laugh.

"Don't listen to her," said Don as he sat a much happier Krissy upright and wiped her mouth, "she gets cranky because I don't burp her too."

"Only babies get cranky," corrected Lanh, "grownups get grumpy."

"My mistake," said Don and he let Krissy go and she began to crawl along the long couch he was sitting on.

The next people to see Karole were Don's parents Sandy and Ralph. Poor Ralph was so shattered he could barely speak, and he left it to Sandy. Ralph always considered Lanh his daughter, but there was obviously more that needed to be said. Sandy finally spoke, "On Christmas Day, twenty-five years ago we lost Don's mom Emily, she was my best friend. If we lost Lanh on that dark anniversary, we would have lost Don also. I know for a fact that he would not have waited to follow her." Sandy took a deep shaking breath, she had a long, sorrowful talk with Kim-ly and Kim-ly told her about Don's stash of pills and is still in shock over how close they came to losing them both.

Karole looked at Ralph who suddenly looked so old and frail. "I'm sorry daddy."

Ralph was confused, she saved Lanh's life and she's saying that she's sorry. "Don't be sorry," he said. "It's us who are sorry you went through such pain."

I deserve it for thinking I could steal Don, thought Karole. "I'm going to get better daddy and help with the farm. You're not going to have to work never again."

"I'm going to hold you to that," said Ralph.

Karole closed her eyes, she was so tired, and when she opened them there was Huy and Ahnjong. "Hey dangsin," said Ahnjong. Karole did not know them well, but they came to her rescue with legal help when the DEA, FBI, DHS, and RCMP treated her like a MAGA hat wearing veteran at an ANTIFA rally... and she had fun playing with the twins last summer.

"What did y'all call me?"

"That was Korean for sweetheart," said Huy. "We just want you to know that Don retained us again. I'm heading back to Minnesota tonight, Ahnie will stay and clean up the legalities. Is there anything you want? Bigger TV? Cold glass of coke?

"Ah don' think ah kin afford the ice to put in that coke, but thank you," rasped Karole.

"Don't worry about price," smiled Ahnjong, "Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting will be footing the bill."

"Huh?" Karole had no charity in her heart for that organization, only pity for the workers on the phones. What would those cheap bastards be doing..."

"Don't you worry, darling. You need to concentrate on getting out of the ICU so you can see Krissy," said Huy as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"I'll be back tomorrow and we'll go over some paperwork and we'll have Don with us to sign documents for you and make sure everything is legal... ok?"

"Ok," Karole said weakly, and she drifted off to sleep.

"I'm sorry, that's enough for tonight," said the nurse as Ahnjong and Huy packed up to leave. As they turned to go, they saw a familiar figure turn and walk out of the ICU.

"I've got to go get him," Huy said to Ahnjong, then he dashed out after the figure, wanting to call out his name but because it's a hospital he remained quiet until they hit the main lobby and his quarry didn't show any signs of slowing. Huy couldn't hold back. "Trung! Wait!"

Lanh perked up from the book she was reading. Trung? She hasn't seen her older brother Trung in almost two years. She looked up and there he was fast walking through the big lobby with Huy coming up behind. "TRUNG!"

Trung stopped when he heard his little sister call, he has had so many failures in his life and the one he regrets most of all is not spending more time with Lanh. He had blinked and the tiny annoyance became a fairy princess getting married to a man that adores her. He blinked again and she became an elegant professional woman teaching at a college, practicing at a hospital, and he had nothing to connect the dots. Sadly, he turned to look and here she comes, in a wheelchair, her face covered in bruises, a black eye that is fading to yellow, her leg pinned and splinted, her hand and wrist wrapped with an ace bandage. "Please don't leave me!"

With her husband Don pushing, and a blond baby on her lap Lanh was chasing after him calling "Trung! Trung wait for me! Please?" in that same little voice that broke his heart when he went away to college and left her life.

He couldn't leave her again, not again... not now. His shoulders slumped and he stopped and turned; his face was a mask of sorrow and embarrassment. "Hey little bit," he said softly, calling Lanh by the nickname he used to call her. Huy came up to Trung, and as Trung held his hand out to shake Huy's hand, Huy pushed Trung's hand aside and threw his arms around his younger brother.

"God, I missed you," said Huy and Lanh saw Trung's face become a mask of surprise. Trung clearly didn't know what to do with his hands, so eventually he settled on returning Huy's hugs. As he was hugging his older brother Trung felt a tug at his jacket and he saw his little sister looking up at him with a lost, longing look on her face.

"Where have you been?" she asked softly.

"Somewhere else," he said as he tapped his temple with a finger.

"Sit!" Huy ordered and he indicated a couch nearby. They ended up sitting on a couch in front of a fireplace where a fire burned happily, in the background a player baby grand piano played soft classical music and soon they were joined by the rest of their brothers and sisters. The whole family was in Loveland Colorado to welcome Karole back to the land of the living.

"Where's Angela?" asked Lanh.

"I guess..." Trung frowned and took a deep breath. "I thought she wanted to marry an agronomist, turns out she was more interested in a hockey player. She's living with a semi-professional up in Regina Saskatchewan, they're expecting their second kid."

"I'm sorry dude," gasped Don. He was sure that Trung and Angela were on vacation or something like that, it's been ages since he's seen his brother-in-law.

"Why didn't you come and talk with us?" asked Bao as he and Rosa sat down on the couch. Kim-ly came in with them and sat down between Don and Trung and she rested her head on her big brother's shoulder.

"I was embarrassed," said Trung. "You guys have these perfect marriages; all Angela and I did after we got married was fight." He shook his head, "God, we fought over everything."

"Nobody's marriage here is perfect," said Bao. "Chicka and I work so much we barely have any time for each other." Rosa nodded sadly, this trip to visit Karole was their first "vacation" together in years.

"All Lanh and I do is swap hospital stories," said Don.

"I don't know," shrugged Tam. "Jake never complains about what I'm wearing, and I can never tell if he's reading porn, so we're doing ok." Which brought groans from all of her siblings.

Meanwhile Krissy crawled off of Don's lap, across Kim-ly's lap and on to Trung's lap then stood up on his lap and started smacking her lips. "Aww, she wants a kiss!" sighed Rosa. "Give her a kiss, ya big lug." Trung gave Krissy a kiss and the baby smiled and hit him in the face with a wet little hand.

"Typical blond," groaned Trung to the laughter of his family.

"Ok, it's late, Karole is asleep, let's call it a night," said Don. "Trung, you're staying with us, we have a spare room and I'm keeping an eye on you. I don't want to lose you again."

They all reconvened at Don and Lanh's ten minutes before the pizza delivery arrived. "Don't get used to eating this good," said Lanh. "Tomorrow night we're going to Nordy's for barbeque." After dinner they settled in, Tam, Jake, Huy and Ahnjong settled in the suite in the basement, Bao and Rosa took one spare bedroom upstairs and Trung took the other.

"You ok in here?" Don asked Trung.

"Yeah, it's just..." Trung chuckled, "This is the first time we've all been under the same roof since you met Lanh."

Don sat down on the end of Trung's bed and said, "Look, anything you want, just ask. I just ask that you don't mess the place up, it's on the market."

"You selling?" asked Trung.

"Yeah, Colorado isn't working out. We want to move back home as soon as Karole can move. I've already got a few good offers on her house; we need to talk about it in the morning."

"Where is she moving to?" asked Trung.

"She's moving home with us." Don smiled and smacked Trung's leg, "You should come too, má would love it."

"I don't know. I don't even have a job now..." groaned Trung.

"Hey, you're an agronomist, I have a farm. We should be able to figure something out, right?"

Trung chuckled sadly, "Yeah sure."

"You should have a chat with Karole tomorrow," said Don.

"She's got enough of her own problems; she doesn't need to hear mine."

"Ya know, sometimes two broken people make the nicest couples... just sayin'."

"Good night dad," moaned Trung.

Don slipped into bed with Lanh and Kim-ly, it's starting to become a permanent thing, but tonight Lanh and Kim-ly insisted that he slide in between them.

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"I got a call from Dr. Roberts this morning," said Don.

"Andi?" asked Lanh. She was startled, they hadn't spoken with Dr. Roberts since she disappeared a year ago. They got a card that announced her marriage, she eloped! Then just last month they got a card that showed the picture of the whole family, Andi, her husband Paul, the twins, and their new baby Daniel. "What did she have to say? Are they going to be the first family on the moon?"

"No, she called to say that if there's anything she can do to help, just let her know. And she offered us a ride on her boat."

"Ride on a boat... yeah right," Lanh scoffed. Then Don showed her a picture of the boat, a Riviera 72 sport motor yacht. "Oh my god!" gasped Lanh. "Can we take Kim-ly?"

-

Meanwhile Ahnjong's recitation of the civil suit that they were planning to bring against Karole's former employer Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting didn't take long. She listed the crimes that were committed against Karole, Lanh and Mai including assault on Lanh inside Don Pollo's Margarita Grille, hitting the three of them with a car while drunk as part of a company sponsored party, and Mr. Gaarder Fisk esq. while acting on behalf of Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting fraudulently informing the hospital that he was Karole's attorney. "Is it too late to ask for more?" Karole said weakly. She just found out that Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting was her former employer because when Karole didn't show up for work on the day after Christmas, they fired her. Someone actually brought her notice of termination to the hospital where it was waiting for her when she came out of the coma.

"We originally asked for eight million, but when they asked Don if he had anything to say at our little tête-à-tête he stood up and stared at one of the lawyers then said, "Twelve million" and walked out."

"I know that stare," said Karole softly, her voice still raspy, her throat still sore. "He used it on Jayce once, he had that worm nearly crying." She sighed and twisted a little, trying to change positions. "I'm surprised that they didn't settle."

"We have a feeling that they will," said Ahnie. "So, you need to get your financial ducks together. I'll send in Bao and Kim-ly to talk to you about it, so you're ready if they decide to settle. Maybe Don helped us, maybe they'll go for three million."

"That would be nice," sighed Karole. She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, she saw that Ahnie had become Bao and Kim-ly. "Did I drift off?"

"For a while," said Kim-ly.

"How long?" Karole saw the twins silently conferring with each other then quickly said, "Be honest, I hate it when people hide behind a fib thinking they're protecting me."

"About two hours," said Bao.

"Just enough time," said Kim-ly as Ahnie hustled Don, Lanh, Mai, and Duong into the area with them.

"Enough time for what?" said Karole weakly.

Ahnie took some documents out of a large envelope and scanned them quickly, just to be sure that she didn't misread the documents the first seven times she went over them. "I just received an affidavit from the law firm of Fisk, Damon, Ramirez, & Fisk which states in part that Fisk, Damon, Ramirez, & Fisk along with the company formerly known as Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting now known as TBF Consulting have agreed to settle in whole..." She paused while a collective gasp rose.