Back to Fan FictionAll the characters involved in this story are the property of Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson.
by
Debi
(roarrrr35@hotmail.com)
Fran Fine woke up and looked over at her clock on her night stand. It was 6:27 a.m. She was wide awake. Today was December 31st, the last day of the year and it had not been a good year for her. She laid there for a while and contemplated the past year. First of all, the year had included a long line of disastrous relationships including Mike LaVoe, her cantor boyfriend, Phillipe, and her "so called" man of her dreams that she was supposed to have danced on water with, but who ended up being a stowaway.
Then her dream finally came true. Max told he loved her on the way back from Paris, only to take it back the minute they got home. She had been devastated. She knew she loved him more than she had ever loved any man in her life. She just didn’t love him, she was madly, crazy in love with him. His taking back his declaration of love for her broke her heart into a million pieces. She knew he did it because he was afraid to commit, but how long did he expect her to wait? It had already been over seven months.
Then, a few months after "The Thing", at a particular vulnerable point in her life, Nigel came to visit and Max totally ignored the both of them. He all but threw the two of them together. She really fell for Nigel’s attentiveness to her and Nigel was crazy about her. Although she wasn’t in love with him, he adored her and he made her feel alive again. He proposed and asked her to meet him at the QE II, and go back with him to England to get married. She missed the boat. That was probably fate’s way of stepping in to keep her from making the biggest mistake of her life.
So, here she was, another new year coming and she was still in the same rut she was in last year at this time, still single and lonely and waiting for Max to make his move. Val had talked her into going to a new Latin dance club for the evening, and although she wasn’t real excited about it, she decided it was better than staying home on New Year’s Eve watching romantic videos, being reminded that there was absolutely no romance in her life whatsoever.
She got herself out of bed and started her daily routine of making herself look gorgeous.
***
"Good Morning everyone," Fran said as she breezed into the dining room.
Max looked at her and his heart fluttered as she walked past his chair. She had on one of her fuzzy robes and slippers and she must have put some perfume on, because he could smell it as she walked behind his chair. Just as she was sitting down, he had an overwhelming desire to grab her and kiss her, and tell her how much he loved her. But his British reserve always won out when he had one of these "bursts" of anti-British behavior where he wanted to express his love for her. This was, of course, one of those many times.
"Miss Fine, you seem very chipper this morning," Max said, wondering what had put her into such a good mood that she would dab some perfume on before she even got dressed.
"Thanks Mr. Sheffield!" Fran said as she sat in her usual chair to his right. "Well, today is the last day of the year and I was just telling myself, ‘Fran, this new year is going to be the best year of your life!’ Everything you want in life will come to you this year,’ Fran said with a smile that went from ear to ear.
Max looked at her and was a little bewildered by the comment. He knew what she wanted in life, and that was to get married and have children. Was this her way of telling him she wasn’t waiting for him any longer? He was always trying to read something into one of her comments. He knew she wouldn’t wait for him forever and perhaps this was a hint.
"Well, that’s a very positive outlook, Miss Fine," he said, with a little worry in his voice.
"So, what is everyone doing this evening?" Fran asked.
Maggie spoke up and said "We’re all going to "First Night", and it should be a lot of fun.
Maggie, her boyfriend, Brighton and Gracie were planning on taking in the festivities of "First Night", a huge event being sponsored by the City to let children and adults celebrate the event with their family and friends, but at the same time keep children and young adults out of trouble on this very festive evening. A big portion of downtown was roped off. Tents and all sorts of food vendors were being set up to help celebrate the coming new year. There would be tons of games, food and dances for children and adults of all ages, and there would be a lot of security to make sure it would be a fun and safe night for all. At midnight, there would be a fantastic fireworks show.
"Oh , that should be lots of fun," Fran responded.
"So, what are you doing Dad," Brighton asked. "You can come to "First Night" with us if you’d like."
"Thanks son, but I have a ton of work I need to get done. I’m afraid I’ll have to decline and spend New Year’s Eve in my office," Max answered him.
"So, what are your plans Miss Fine," Max asked her, hoping he wasn’t sounding too inquisitive. He was praying she didn’t have a date.
"Oh, there’s a new Latin dance club that just opened up called "The Mambo Room" and they are having a big celebration for its opening and New Year’s Eve combined. Val and I thought we would go check it out."
Max breathed a little easier and then he realized that just because she didn’t have a date tonight, didn’t mean she wouldn’t meet someone there. And where was she going to, a Latin dance club? What had he heard about Latin men? What was the old saying, Latin men were great lovers. Max’s breathing started getting more difficult.
***
Fran was just putting the finishing touches on her face. She had chosen a snug tight black dress for the evening that was extremely short and extremely low cut. She was wearing her hair down and very loose, unlike her "big" hair that she usually wore. She wasn’t sure what Latin guys liked, but she thought her hair would look great as they swung her around the dance floor.
The door bell rang, and Max answered it knowing that Niles was gone. He had asked him to take the kids over to "First Night" and then pick them up a little after midnight. He opened the door and Val came in.
"Hello Mr. Sheffield, I’m here to get Fran. Is she ready yet?" Val said, a little uncomfortable being around him alone. She was always so intimidated by him, she didn’t know why.
"Please come in and sit down Miss Toriello, I’m sure she’ll be down soon." Max said.
Just at that moment, Fran came walking down the stairs. Max looked up and he had to catch his breath. She looked absolutely gorgeous. She was wearing "that" dress again and he wasn’t pleased. No man would be able to resist her in that dress. He made a mental note that when they were finally a couple, he was going to have her burn it. She had worn it for too many other men, and she would never wear it again and remind him of that. He started to have a knot as big as his fist in his stomach, knowing that he could have been the one she was wearing that dress for tonight. She could have been coming down the stairs looking like that for him, but instead his stupid fears of commitment kept him away from her, and now she was going out to meet some other men, Latin men at that. He shuddered a little at what that might mean.
"Oh, Miss Fine, you look.......well, you look really... fine," Max said as he emphasized the word "fine"as she descended the last step.
Fran could see by the look on his face that he was not at all happy with the dress she was wearing. She wanted to say, ‘Eat your heart out, Mr. Sheffield. This is all your fault, because I could be going out with you.’ But, instead she just smiled at him and said, "Well, thank you Mr. Sheffield, that is the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long time."
"Well, don’t work too hard Mr. Sheffield and don’t worry if I’m not home until very, very late. I mean it is New Year’s Eve and we’re going to party hearty, right Val?" Fran said as she winked at Val.
Max’s stomach did a double twist as he opened the door for them. "Well ladies, enjoy yourselves and please be careful."
"Thanks Mr. Sheffield," Val said, and Max closed the door behind them. Then he turned and ran to the bathroom to get some Maalox because he felt he might throw up.
***
Max could hear the front door open and he looked at the clock in his office. It was 12:40am. He could hear the children laughing and he came out to greet them.
"Well, Happy New Year children, did you have a good time?" He asked.
"Happy New Year Daddy," Gracie ran to her father and hugged him. "It was so much fun. There were so many fun things to do, and look what I did!" Gracie said as she pointed toward her face. There had been several face painters at the celebration, and Gracie’s face was painted like a puppy dog.
"Oh, it was great Dad, you really should have come with us. The fireworks were fantastic, better than the 4th of July," Maggie added.
"Yeah, we really had fun Dad. Thanks for letting us go. We need to go every year. Maybe next year you can join us," Brighton also added in.
"Well, I’m very glad you all enjoyed yourselves, but it’s way past your bedtime, especially you Grace. You’d better head on up to bed," Max smiled at them, thinking to himself what wonderful children he had.
"Goodnight Dad, and Happy New Year!" they all said as they made their way up the stairs.
Max went back into his office and starting going over some papers. He glanced at the clock and it was 1:35am. He was starting to get that knot again in his stomach and he said out loud, "she must really be having fun." He was tired and he knew he should be going to bed, but he couldn’t stand the thought of going to sleep not knowing that Fran was tucked in her own bed across the hall. He decided to stay up another half hour.
He headed up the stairs at 2:15am and Fran still wasn’t home. He thought to himself that it wasn’t like her to be out so late, although she did warn him that she was really going to party tonight. What did that partying entail? That was what was really making him worry.
***
The dancing and celebration at "The Mambo Room" was in full swing. Fran and Val were having a great time. Fran wondered why she hadn’t frequented Latin clubs before because she was having such a wonderful time and she seemed to be extremely popular with the men here. She had already given her number out to several of them. She had danced all night and she had paired up with an extremely good looking guy named Raoul, who had come to the US from Cuba a few years ago.
"Fran, you really are a great dancer. You should learn more Latin moves," Raoul said.
"What do you mean?" Fran asked him.
"You know, the Rhumba, Cha Cha, Salsa, Mambo...Latin dances," Raoul explained to her. There are a few of us here that compete in dancing competitions. You really should join our group."
"Really?" Fran asked him. She loved listening to his accent. He was extremely good looking and he made her heart flutter somewhat. No one had done that to her since Max.
"Yes, we practice here in the back of the club every afternoon. You should stop by tomorrow, ok?" he asked her. "There’s always someone here and they would love to teach you some new dances."
"Sure, that would be great!" Fran looked around her and noticed what the Latin women were wearing. They had on looser, more free flowing clothes that spun in the air when they danced with their partners. They were still very sexy, but gave the inhabitant more room to really let loose. Her snug dress was definitely not the thing to wear for dancing here. She’d have to go shopping tomorrow.
***
Max heard Fran’s bedroom door close at 4:15 am and he was furious. Had she been dancing all this time, and if not, where had she been? He knew he had no right to ask why she had been out so late. Well, he did know one thing, as he reached for the Maalox on his end table, it meant she really had a great time at that club and could only mean that she met someone. "Bloody hell," he muttered to himself, "this woman is giving me an ulcer."
***
"Good Morning everyone!" Fran said as she made her way to her seat at breakfast. She noticed that the only one at the table was Max.
"Miss Fine, I didn’t think I would be seeing you at breakfast this morning, considering the hour that you got in last night," Max said with a little sarcasm in his voice. He wanted her to know she hadn’t gotten away with how late she got in.
Fran knew he was making a dig, she didn’t care. She woke up floating on air. Last night she had enjoyed herself more than she had in ages, and he wasn’t going to spoil it for her. She ignored his comment and said, "Yeah, I had the most wonderful time last night," she said almost dreamily. I guess the children had a late night too, since they’re still in bed."
It was becoming evident to Fran that Max was not in a good mood, and she decided it was best not to be around him. He was obviously upset with her because she had stayed out so late. She thought he had probably waited up and knew exactly what time she had come through that front door. ‘Well, who’s fault was that?’ she thought to herself. ‘He could have taken me out and then he would have had control over who I was out with on New Year’s Eve and what time I returned home.’ The last thing she wanted to do was get in an argument with him. "I think I’ll just take a small plate of food up to my room," she said, " I have a really full day ahead of me and I need to get ready."
Max looked at her surprised. He couldn’t believe she had as much energy as she did after dancing into the wee hours of the morning, and then getting up at her usual time after only three hours of sleep. "Big plans for the day Miss Fine?" he asked, hoping he didn’t sound too nosey, but wanting to know what she had planned for the day.
"Yeah, I need to go shopping," she said as she looked at him with a huge smile. "I need to get some proper clothes to dance in," she said as she floated out the room.
Max looked at her grin and thought to himself, ‘proper clothes to dance in?’ His stomach was beginning to give him problems and he wondered how long he could go on like this. He knew what she meant. She was going back to that club. Who knows, she could have been going back to some specific guy. He sat all alone at the dining room table feeling sorry for himself.
***
For the next two weeks, Fran was out of the house every afternoon right after lunch and headed for "The Mambo Room" to learn how to salsa dance. Then she returned home before the kids came back from school. Then almost every evening she would get herself all dressed up to go dancing and she would leave around 11pm. She wouldn’t get home until around 2am in the morning.
It did not go unnoticed by Max. It was Saturday and everyone was gone. Max had the house all to himself. The phone rang and he picked it up. "Sheffield residence," he answered.
"Hello, is Fran there?" the person on the other end asked. "This is Raphael Ramirez."
Max knew right off it was one of her Latin friends. They had been calling all week and he recognized the accent right off.
"Miss Fine, ..Fran isn’t home right now, can you call back later?" Max said with a touch of aggravation and impatience. He didn’t even wait for the man to respond, he just hung up.
A few minutes later, Fran walked in the door and headed for the kitchen. Max was rummaging around in the refrigerator for a snack.
"Oh, Miss Fine, you’re back. Someone just called for you," he said.
"Oh, who was it, did they leave a message?" Fran asked him excitedly as she walked toward him.
"Uh, no," Max said, not wanting to tell her he didn’t stay on the phone long enough to take one. He said his name was..." Max paused, trying to remember the name. "Well, there’s been so many of them lately," he said, making another little dig. Then he started naming some of the men that had been calling for her, "It was...Antonio, Carlos, Raoul, Raphael,....yes, that’s who it was, Raphael," he said with a bit of jealousy in his voice.
Fran could detect the jealousy and hostility in his voice. It was getting very old. "He didn’t say what time he was going to pick me up tonight?" Fran asked him, taking great delight in the fact that she was informing him of her date with Raphael that evening. She was getting tired of these little games, but he was the one perpetuating them.
"No, he said he would call back later." Max lied. He told him to call back later, but then he abruptly hung up, so he had no idea if the guy would call back.
"Oh, ok," Fran said, "Guess, I’d better get going and get myself gorgeous then." and she gave him a big smile.
An hour later the phone rang and Niles picked it up. It was Raphael calling for Fran to tell her what time he would pick her up.
Fran came down the stairs a few hours later and actually had a few minutes before Raphael would be there. She decided to put some music on and practice some new steps she had learned today. She pushed aside a little table that was in the way and put a cassette in her cassette player.
Max heard music and it wasn’t the usual rock and roll music he heard coming from his children’s bedrooms. He stepped out of his office to see where it was coming from. He followed the sounds and he made his way toward the living room. When he put one foot into the living room, he saw her dancing. He almost stopped breathing right there. She wasn’t wearing a whole lot on top. It was basically a bra, but it matched her skin tight pants and was in an animal print. Every bit of cleavage that she had could be seen in that top. The pants started just below her navel and hugged her buttocks and thighs and then flared a bit from her knees to her ankles. She was wearing three inch spike heels with the outfit. As Max’s eyes fell on her shoes, he asked himself, ‘How can she dance in those shoes?’ Then his eyes went back up her body slowly and fell on her buttocks as she was circling and had her back to him. Those pants showed every curve, and he desperately wanted to go over to her and kiss her and move his hands down to that ass. He couldn’t believe what he was thinking. He didn’t think the word "ass" was in his vocabulary and he had never associated that word to Fran’s hips until he saw her in those pants. Then his eyes continued back up and he looked at her face. She’d done something really different with her hair. It had just a bit of curl and she’d pulled it back with a comb headband. He was astonished how beautiful she was. His heart started beating abnormally fast, and he could feel himself getting extremely aroused. He continued to watch her dance for another minute.
Fran noticed him out of the corner of her eye and she stopped. She reached over and turned the music off and said, "Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Sheffield, I probably have this too loud. I was just practicing some new steps I learned today. I’m really sorry if I interrupted your work."
Max looked at her and was so flustered by her outfit and her dancing, all he could get out was, "Miss Fine, you’re not leaving the house looking like that are you?" The minute he said it, he knew he’d put his foot in his mouth again.
"Well, yes as a matter of fact, I am," Fran said, getting a little defensive at his attitude. "Why?" she asked him. She knew why he was upset. He didn’t want her looking like this for other men to see. "I’m an adult and I can choose my own wardrobe," she responded to him. She was starting to get a little sarcastic, but he was getting her ire up.
Max knew he needed to say something to save himself, but he did not want her leaving the house tonight looking like that. "It’s just....."
"Just what?" Fran asked him, taking a few steps toward him and looking at him intently for an answer.
He could see her heart pounding in her chest from dancing and he couldn’t take his eyes off it.
Fran saw his eyes directed right at her chest, and although she would have been amused at any other time, right now he was really making her mad. "It’s just what?" she said in a little more demanding voice.
"Nothing, forget I said it. I take it you won’t be home again until very late," he said backing down and trying to alleviate some of the tension between them. Then as an afterthought, he said, "tomorrow is a working day you know," he reminded her sounding a little sarcastic again.
That did it. Fran was furious. She stepped closer to him, took a deep breath to keep from getting angrier and said, "Ya know, Mr. Sheffield, this has got to stop."
"I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean Miss Fine," Max responded, sounding a little defensive.
Fran knew she shouldn’t keep going. She knew it would result in a full blown argument, but she was incensed with him. She stepped even closer to him and Max could smell her perfume and he could see droplets of sweat on her chest. This threw his hormones into full gear and his arousal was getting worse. He hoped Fran didn’t look down and notice, but she was so angry, she had eye contact with him.
Fran was almost right in his face, she was so infuriated. She tried to calm herself and she stepped back and said, "Mr. Sheffield, I have my own life. You have made it very clear to me that you don’t want to commit at this point in your life. I’ve accepted that, but my life is not going to stop waiting for you either. You may think that my being out late is taking me away from my duties, but it isn’t. I only go out after the children have gone to bed and I’m up every morning to see them off to school." She paused for a few seconds and said, "Do you feel I have been shirking my duties?"
"Well, no.... I only meant...," Max couldn’t quite get anything out, because what he really wanted to say was that he didn’t want her going out every evening to dance in clothes like that, in the arms of other men.
Fran interrupted him and said, "Good." She paused and then decided now was as good a time as any to tell him,"I’ve been thinking a lot about this, and I think it would be best if I find my own apartment. I know I tried it before and it didn’t work out, but a lot of things have happened since then, and I feel now may be a good time to get my own place."
Max couldn’t keep his eye contact with her. His eyes kept roaming over her body. But the minute he heard her say she was going to move out, his eyes met hers again. He knew what she was referring to when she said a lot of things had happened. She was referring to "The Thing" again. She would never let him forget it. His face must have looked worried because Fran immediately interjected, "Don’t worry, I’m still going to be your nanny. I love those kids and nothing will take me away from them, but it will be an 8 to5 kind of job, and then I’ll go home like a normal employee."
Max could feel his stomach starting to do its regular churning and he knew he had blown it royally. He couldn’t let her move out. He knew if she did, he would surely loose her and there would never be any chance to get her back. He tried to get the words out to apologize and ask her not to leave, but he just couldn’t vocalize them. He thought to himself, ‘You bloody fool, say something! This fear of commitment is going to ruin your life.’
Fran could see the worried look on his face. She knew he didn’t want her to move out. She looked at him and said to herself, ‘Look at me! Tell me not to go. You only need to say three small words and they don’t even need to be I love you. You just need to say PLEASE DON’T LEAVE!’
"Well, Miss Fine, if that’s what you want, then we will all just have to adjust," Max said, extremely disgusted with himself that he couldn’t get the courage to ask her to stay.
Fran started feeling a little sick. She could read all over his face he didn’t want her to move out, but he couldn’t even make one tiny commitment to ask her to stay. He was really going to let her move out. "Ok, well, I’ll start looking for an apartment tomorrow," she said, and the door bell chimed.
Fran immediately opened the door and saw Raphael in the entrance. Max took one look at him and knew he was in deep trouble if all her male Latin friends were as good looking as him.
***
The next evening rolled around and Fran found herself in front of the TV around 7:00pm watching "Maid in Manhattan." She had a paper in front of her and she had circled all the possible apartments that she could check into.
"Hi Fran, what are you watching," Maggie asked, as she plopped herself down on the couch.
"Hi ya sweetie, just thought I’d take in a sappy romance," Fran said as she noticed how grownup and beautiful Maggie was getting to be.
Max walked in and saw the two of them watching TV together. He noticed how lovely Fran looked and decided to take a break and watch it too. Perhaps he could talk to her and convince her not to move out.
"Mind if I join you ladies," he said, looking at Fran for her approval.
"Sure, come sit down Mr. Sheffield," as she patted the seat next to her. "Maybe I should go pop some popcorn," Fran said.
"No, you stay here Fran, I’ll go do it," Maggie said. She could feel there was tension in the air between them. She thought maybe they needed some time together and this was a good way to let them be alone. She’d pop the popcorn and then make an excuse about some homework she’d forgotten.
Max sat down and he noticed the paper on her lap. Then he looked at it and noticed that she had circled several entries, probably possible apartments she would be checking out. He knew he had to do something fast to get her to change her mind.
"So, Miss Fine, what have I missed?" Max asked her smiling.
"Oh, not much, the credits are just barely are over."
They sat there for 15 minutes and didn’t say one word to each other. Max casually looked over and noticed her looking at the paper and circling another entry.
"Still intent on the idea of moving out?" he asked a little hesitantly.
"I think it’s for the best Mr. Sheffield, but I’d really rather not discuss it," and she pushed the paper aside. Fran knew if they started discussing it, it would only end in another argument. They continued watching the movie.
Max knew she was telling him that the matter was beyond discussion. A few minutes later, he looked down and noticed that Fran’s hand was lying on the couch right beside her body. His hand was no more than inches from hers. His heart ached to reach out and intertwine his fingers with hers, but he was so afraid of doing or saying something wrong. He realized that was his exact problem. He was afraid to do something wrong, he was afraid she would interpret something he said wrong, he was afraid to commit to just about anything that had to do with her, he was afraid of losing her, he was AFRAID! ‘God, I’m so pathetic,’ he thought to himself. He glanced at her quickly. She was so exquisite. How could any man not want her. He knew if he didn’t get himself together soon, some other man was going find happiness with her the moment he met her. He glanced at her again and his stomach suddenly had butterflies. He couldn’t believe how much he loved her. Why was it so difficult for him to tell her? He just wanted to be as close to her as possible for what little time he had left. If, or when she moved out, there would be no more watching sappy love stories with her. They watched the rest of the movie and not one more word was said between them.
Fran could feel Max’s eyes on her throughout the movie. It took all the willpower she could muster not to slide over the few inches between them and throw herself into his arms. But she knew he was going to have the take the lead now. He knew how she felt about him. She reminded him of it every time she brought up "The Thing." He should know that if she didn’t love him so much, she wouldn’t have cared that he took back saying he loved her. ‘No, the ball is in your park now, mister,’ she thought to herself.
"That’s such a good movie," Fran said as she went over and turned off the TV. Well I’d better go get dressed for the club," she said as she headed for the stairs.
"Dancing another night away Miss Fine?" Max asked her, trying to lighten up the conversation.
Fran looked at him and wasn’t sure if he was making another little dig or just commenting on her plans for the evening. "Yeah, Good night Mr. Sheffield," she said with a little hesitation and she started up the steps.
She spent the next hour taking a nice hot bath and getting herself all ready for dancing. She was just about to head down the stairs, and she suddenly had the feeling she just couldn’t go. She really needed to talk to someone and she found herself calling Val.
"Val, hi, are ya busy right now?" Fran asked her.
"No, just sitting here watching TV, do you have something fun in mind," Val asked her back.
"Val, I really need to talk, I was wondering if you could meet me half way. There is a little all night café called "The Painted Oasis" and they have a chocolate pound cake that is to die for. Would you meet me there in a half an hour?"
"Sure, give me the address and let me just get some clothes on, but I’ll probably need more like an hour. Is that ok?"
"Thanks Val, you are such a great friend. I’ll see ya in an hour," Fran said and she hung up the phone. She took off her dress and found some jeans and a sweater and changed into them.
***
When Fran headed out the door, the house was quiet. Everyone was already in bed and asleep except for Max, and he had gone in his office to do some more work.
***
Val and Fran sat and talked for the next two hours while Fran told her all about the events of the last couple of days. They were on their second piece of pound cake and Val said, "Well, I agree with you Fran, he doesn’t have any right to tell you what or what not to wear. He doesn’t own you." Val paused a second and then said, "You know he’s in love with you and that’s why he’s acting this way?"
Fran looked at Val, shocked at what she had just said.
"Well, he is. I can tell just by the way he looks at you," Val added at her defense.
"Then why can’t he just tell me!" Fran said in frustration, quite a bit louder than she had been talking. A couple of people at the next table turned and looked at her. "I’m sorry Val, but this whole situation between us is driving me crazy . If I move out and I’m only there from 8 to 5, my stress level will be greatly reduced. But yet, if I’m not there, I’ll wonder every night what he’s doing or if he’s thinking about me, or if he’s out on a date. Oh, I’m just torturing myself. What am I going to do?"
"Well, I think you really need to think this over before you commit to moving out," Val said. "Once you’re out, you two may never get together. Besides, those kids really do need you there all the time."
Fran looked at her watch and suddenly realized how late it was. "Oh, thanks Val for your advice. Now I’m not sure that moving out is the right thing to do. I think I’ll put it on hold for a few days and give it some more thought," Fran said as she paid their bill and walked out of the café.
"Thanks for meeting me Val," Fran said and she hugged her. They both said their goodbyes and headed in different directions to pick up the subway. Fran had only walked a block, when she felt something hit her on the back of her head. She felt herself falling to the ground and everything went black.
***
Max sat staring at the papers in front of him. He had so much work to catch up on, but he just couldn’t keep his mind on it. He found himself reading the same paragraph over and over, and then his mind would always find its way back to Fran. He knew desperate measures were called for to get her to change her mind about moving out. ‘What can I do to get her to stay?’ he thought to himself. He thought maybe some music would calm his mind and he went over and pulled open a drawer that had several cd’s in there. His eyes fell on Madonna’s Immaculate Collection and he wondered what one of Maggie’s cd’s was doing his drawer. He’d always liked Madonna’s music, but he thought it was interesting that one of his children liked the same music he did. He took the cd out and put it in the stereo and started listening to each song. His mind started trying to come up with ideas to get Fran to change her mind. Then he started listening to one particular song and the words hit him like a brick.
"You are my destiny, I can’t let go, baby can’t you see. Cherish the thought of always having you here by my side. Cherish the joy, you keep bringing it into my life. Cherish the strength, you’ve got the power to make me feel good. I perish the thought of ever leaving, I never would."
Max knew it was his fault that she was leaving him. Deep down inside he knew how much she loved him, and he knew she would never leave unless he was pushing her into it. He knew he’d done that every time he gave her a hard time about going out with other men, or wearing clothes that he didn’t approve of. He only did it because he was so jealous, but he realized how hard it must be on her, all because he couldn’t commit. If he had not been such a coward and had not taken back saying he loved her, they would now be happily together as a couple.
He went back over to the stereo and played the song again. Everything he was thinking about, he’d known all along. But, all of a sudden, the words to the song made everything so clear to him. She was his destiny, and he did cherish the thought of having her with him forever. In fact, he counted on it. But he needed to do something fast or that would never happen. It was such an epiphany for him, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t felt this way before. He needed to tell her he loved her and he needed to do it now. As of that moment, he wasn’t afraid anymore. In fact, he wanted to yell right then and tell the whole world that he loved Fran Fine. Why couldn’t she have been home, instead of that dance club. He needed to tell her right now. He looked at the clock and it was 12:55am. He decided to go to bed. The sooner he fell asleep, the sooner he could wake and start his new life with her. He was going to tell Fran he loved her and ask her to marry him.
***
Max woke up and remembered that this was going to be the day that Fran would become his fiancee. He was going to tell her he was madly in love with her and then tell her she wasn’t going anywhere but in his arms. He got dressed and started down the hall. He was up earlier than usual and he had intended on working in his office for an hour before breakfast, but when he passed her room, he knew he couldn’t wait another minute. He stopped in front of her door and knocked softly.
"Miss Fine..., Fran, may I come in?"
There was no answer and he repeated it. There was still no answer and he opened the door and looked in. She was not in bed. In fact, the bed had not been slept in. He stepped in her room and looked around and saw that the bathroom door was open. She wasn’t in there either. He wasn’t sure what was going on and then it hit him. ‘It finally happened. She went out dancing last night and spent the night with some bloke,’ he said to himself. He suddenly felt as though a knife had been thrust through his heart. He couldn’t believe his terrible timing, just when he was going to commit to her. He left her room and headed back to his bedroom. He was shaking so bad, he barely made it to a chair. He stayed in his bedroom for another hour and kept the door slightly ajar so he could hear her if she returned to her bedroom before breakfast. After an hour, he made his way to the dining room. The children were already around the table, and at that point anger started setting in. How could she stay out all night with someone and not come back in time to see the children off to school?
"Sir, is Miss Fine ok," Niles asked Max. "Is she coming down to breakfast?"
"I’m sure she’s fine Niles, why don’t we just let her sleep," Max answered him as the children looked at their father for a reason why their nanny wasn’t at the breakfast table. "She’s been having some late evenings, perhaps she needs a little more rest." He didn’t want to tell Niles that she wasn’t even home. She was not being a good role model for the children.
Everyone finished their breakfast and the children headed out the door for school. Max went to his office and starting working, but he couldn’t keep his mind on business. The more he thought about what she had done, the more impatient he became for her to return. His impatience turned to anger and hurt, and then he started having flashes in his mind of her in bed making love to some Latin guy. These thoughts plagued his mind for hours. His jealousy and anger started mounting and mounting.
Niles came into his office three hours later with a tray of tea, "Niles, have you seen Miss Fine this morning?"
"No Sir, I haven’t," Niles answered him.
"Well, when you do see her, would you please tell her I’d like to speak with her... immediately."
"Yes sir," Niles could hear the anger in his voice, especially when he said "immediately."
Niles was scared for Fran. What had she done wrong now? As he began to serve the tea, the phone started ringing.
"I’ll get it Niles," Max said as he saw Niles had his hands full. "Sheffield residence," Max said.
"Oh, hello Mr. Sheffield," Val was a little surprised that Niles didn’t answer the phone.
"Oh, hello Miss Toriello, what can I do for you?" Max asked her, knowing she was calling for Fran.
"Could I speak with Fran?" she asked.
"I’m afraid she isn’t here," Max said. He wasn’t quite sure if he should tell her she didn’t come home last night. "It seems she didn’t come home last night after her night at the club," Max said a little hesitantly.
Niles shot him a glance and immediately knew why he wanted to talk with her.
"Mr. Sheffield, you’re mistaken. Fran didn’t go to the club last night. She was with me until almost 2:30 in the morning. We met quite late at a little coffee shop. She called around 11pm and said she needed to talk. After we talked for quite a while, we both headed in different directions to take the subway home.
Val went silent for a few seconds and then Max could hear her start crying. "Oh, Mr. Sheffield, she didn’t come home? Oh, are you absolutely sure she didn’t come home last night? We need to do something, something is terribly wrong."
Max could hear the worry in her voice building up and he started feeling it too. "Miss Toriello, give me the address of the coffee shop you were at. I’ll call the police and the hospitals near by."
Max hung up the phone. Niles could only hear one side of the conversation, but he understood enough to know his best friend could be in serious trouble.
Max spent the next hour calling her family, the police and several hospital ER rooms. He asked the hospitals if a brunette woman in her mid thirties had been treated early that morning. He described her a little more and told them her name.
"Sir, do you have any idea how many women by that description come in every night?" Max heard the voice on the phone say. But we didn’t have any Jane Doe’s come in last evening."
"What exactly do you mean by Jane Doe?" Max asked, worried by the comment.
"Everyone that has come in has been identified, so we have notified their families. There was no one that came in without identification."
"I see, thank you," Max said and he hung up. He knew that if anything had happened to Fran and Sylvia was notified, she would call him immediately.
He called the last hospital he knew was in the area. "Just one moment sir," he heard the woman tell him. A few moments later she came back to the phone. "Yes, as a matter of fact, we did have a woman come in with severe brain trauma. She came in around 3am and she didn’t have any ID on her. She does fit your description. She’s been admitted to the hospital and is in Intensive Care."
Max felt as though someone has kicked him in the stomach and knocked the breath out of him. He knew it was Fran. He threw the phone down, waited a few seconds to catch his breath and yelled, "Niles, Niles, get the Towncar out. We need to get to the hospital, fast."
***
"Niles, just park as close to the ER as possible. We can go in there and see where Intensive Care is from there," Max explained to Niles. They looked at each other and could see the worry emanating from each other’s faces.
They ran in as fast as they could, asked about the unidentified woman, and were directed to the Intensive Care Unit. A nurse at the front entrance of ICU asked them who they were here to see.
"I’m here to see Fran Fine. I just called and was told a woman with no ID on her was brought in early this morning around 3am with brain trauma. Fran didn’t come home last night. She was in this vicinity and I need to see if it’s her," Max explained to the nurse, breathing short winded from running through the hospital.
"Are you her next of kin?" she asked.
"Yes, I’m her..," Max paused for a second and said, "I’m her fiancee." Please, can I see her now?" Max said impatiently. He knew he lied, but he wasn’t going to have anyone telling him that he couldn’t see her because she was just his nanny. He saw Niles glance at him the minute he told the nurse he was her fiancee, but he knew Niles understood.
"Yes, but just you may go in," she addressed Max.
"Niles, please stay here for a while. I’ll come back as soon as I know more."
"Yes sir, " Niles looked at him with the most worried expression Max had ever seen on his face.
Max followed the nurse into an area that had several beds partitioned off to have privacy for each individual patient, with the nurses station almost right in the middle, in case of an emergency. When the nurse stopped at the bed, he took one look at the occupant and felt faint. "Oh no, Fran." He looked at her and he could feel his heart start pounding in his chest so hard and fast that he started getting light headed. He did not want to accept what he saw. Flashes of Sarah in the Intensive Care Ward as she was breathing her last moments on earth brought back graphic memories.
He could hardly tell it was Fran. She was lying in a bed with an IV in her arm. She had more tubes going in and out of her than he had ever seen on anyone, even Sarah before she died. They had all her hair tucked up in a surgical cap and she was as white as the sheets that were covering her. There was a heart monitor next to her that was beeping regularly, but the thing that scared him the most was the sound that was coming from the corner of the room. She had a respirator tube down her throat. It came out of her mouth and along the bed up to the respirator machine in the corner of the room which was inhaling and exhaling for her at a constant pace. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, praying that when he opened them, it would all have been a terrible nightmare. He opened them hoping that she would be sitting up in bed smiling at him instead of lying in that bed among medicine’s modern machinery to keep a person alive. His legs finally gave way when he realized she couldn’t even breath for herself. He barely grabbed the chair next to him and sat down before his legs completely gave out.
The nurse could see that he recognized her and she also could see that he was immediately shaken up. She looked at him and said, "Are you all right? Can I get you a drink of water?"
Max didn’t respond, he just kept staring at Fran and that machine that was keeping her alive.
"I’ll leave you here and I’ll get the doctor," she said.
***
"Sir, I thought I’d let you know that the man you came in with did identify our patient as your friend. I thought you’d like to know," the nurse said to Niles in a soft manner, looking at his worried face.
"Is she going to be ok?" Niles asked her. He paused a moment and said, "She’s my best friend, I’m so worried about her."
"I’m going to call the doctor on duty right now, and he’ll come and explain her condition to her fiancee." Then I’m sure he will let you know what the doctor said.
"Thank you, thank you very much," Niles said to her.
"Do you think you can come over here to my desk and give me some information on her. Her name, address and other information we need for our records?" She smiled as she asked him, and he knew she was trying to allay some of his fears about Fran’s condition by keeping him busy.
"Of course, anything you need." Niles responded back to her. He followed her and gave her the information. Then he looked for a payphone to call Fran’s family.
***
Max reached out for Fran’s hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed the back of her fingers and then he brought the palm of her hand to his cheek. When he felt her skin on his cheek, he closed his eyes for a few seconds and then he kissed her palm. Tears started falling on his cheeks. He started talking to her very softly. "Please Fran, don’t leave me, I’m begging you." He paused for a moment and started crying harder. "Please don’t say goodbye to me. I can’t go on if you leave me," he said slowly and with such emotion that his voice broke. "You’re the reason I wake up every day. Listen to me. Listen to my voice, I love you. I love you so much it hurts sometimes." He paused for a few moments as he watched and listened to the respirator suck in a breath for her and then exhale it for her. "I’m so sorry I have been such a bloody fool. Please Fran, please wake up and let me make it up to you." Max was on the verge of sobbing and he paused for a moment to get his emotions under control. He’d heard that coma patients were aware of their outside surroundings and he wanted to remain strong for her.
"Excuse me, my name is Dr. Robert Williams. I’m the neurosurgeon assigned to this case."
Max turned and saw a tall, slender man standing next to him. He was upset when he heard him refer to Fran as his case. "Her name is Fran Fine," Max said, emphasizing her name, thinking that the love of his life was not just another case.
"I was told you are Miss Fine’s fiancee?" he said, realizing that Max was upset because of the situation, but he made a mental note to himself not to call a patient a case anymore.
"Yes, I am." Max said, praying that no one would find out that he really wasn’t. ‘Well, God willing, when she woke up, she would be’, Max thought to himself as he stood up. "My name is Maxwell Sheffield," and he reached out to shake his hand. Then he raised his hand to his face and wiped away some tears. "Is Fran going to be ok? What happened? When will she wake up," he asked one question after another.
"Mr. Sheffield, my office is just down the hall. Why don’t we go sit down and I’ll tell you all about Miss Fine’s condition, ok?" he said as he looked at Max’s extremely worried face.
They moved down the hall and entered a small office with several diplomas hanging on the wall. He offered Max some coffee and Max refused. They both sat down and Dr. Williams started explaining what happened to Fran.
"Very early this morning, Miss Fine was found unconscious, bleeding profusely from the head. Someone had hit her on the back of the head with a very heavy object. The police think it was a mugging, since no ID could be found on her. The perpetrator must have taken her purse. I’m sure the police will want to speak with you at a later time." He looked at Max and continued. "Miss Fine has sustained a cerebral edema which frequently accompanies traumatic brain injuries. There has been swelling of the brain in the area that was traumatized." Dr. Williams could see Max holding on to every word he spoke. The moment he mentioned the swelling of the brain, he could see Max stiffen up.
"Why is she on a respirator? Why can’t she breath for herself," Max asked him.
"There is a great deal of stress that is put on the body with a brain injury." Dr. Roberts continued and tried to explain what was happening in Fran’s body. "The actual blow to the head causes a sudden lack of oxygen, and the result is brain cell death and a shock response to other cells. This causes an immediate cessation of the functions controlled by those cells, which in turn causes a loss of balance between the cells. It’s kind of a rippling effect with each stress causing more stress, which in turn results in the swelling of the brain. The swelling causes other various functions to be lost. With Miss Fine, she needed to be put on a ventilator to keep her breathing constant. We have done everything we can to stop the swelling of her brain, but I’m afraid that if the swelling doesn’t subside, we’ll have to go in and do surgery."
"Brain surgery?" Max asked in an almost incredulous tone.
Yes, sometimes it’s necessary to go in and drill a small hole to alleviate the pressure." He could see Max go almost white when he mentioned drilling a hole in her brain.
"Will she recover, I mean will she wake up?" Max asked him.
"Well, that depends on a lot of things. The pace and extent of recovery from brain injury can vary considerably, even between patients with similar injuries. The majority of patients who recover from brain injuries occur within the first six months to a year after trauma. The sooner she wakes up from the coma, the better her prognosis will be.
Max could feel himself shaking his head, but he was still so confused about so much of her injury. His brain wasn’t functioning at its maximum and he knew he would have a lot of questions for later.
Dr. Williams could see that Max was confused. Most of the patients families were confused when he started explaining the problems with brain trauma. "Look, Mr. Sheffield, we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other and I want you to know that I’m going to do everything I can to see that Miss Fine..."
Max interrupted him and said, "Please, call her Fran." He wanted Dr. Williams to think of Fran as a walking, breathing person, not just another "case" lying in a coma. He wanted him to be a doctor who would do everything he could to bring her back from this deep sleep that she couldn’t awaken from.
"Thank you," he said, "I’m going to do everything in my power to see that Fran has a full recovery."
"Thank you Dr. Williams," Max smiled a little and responded, "that means a great deal to me."
"In the mean time, she needs all her family and friends to rally around her and let her know that they care about her. There has been a lot of indications that coma patients can sense what is going on around them," Dr. Williams explained to him.
***
Max left Dr. Williams’ office and found Niles still sitting in the area that he had left him in. He sat down with him and told him everything that the doctor had just told him.
"Niles, I think you need to come visit with Fran, Max said as he stood up.
Niles looked at his boss with almost trepidation. "Yes, I would like to see her," he said and then Max led him to Fran’s bed. Niles took one look at her and Max could see on Niles’ face what he must have looked like the moment he saw her for the first time. Niles looked absolutely terrified at what he saw.
Max went over to the bed and took her hand again. "Fran, Niles is here to see you," and he looked to Niles to start a conversation with her. He stood up and said, "I’ll leave you two alone for a few minutes.
Niles went over and sat in the same chair that Max had sat in. He also took her hand and he paused for a few seconds and said, "Well, Miss Fine, did you have to go to such extreme measures to get our boss to start telling everyone you were his fiancee?" He chuckled out loud and then paused for a few moments. "Well, it worked." Niles smiled when he thought about how excited she would be at Max introducing her to others as his fiancee. Niles’ face turned very serious. He sat very still and then his mouth turned upwards in a little smile and he said, "Fran, you have to wake up and get better. I can’t handle Miss Babcock by myself. I need your advice. I need you there to share in my joy when I give her a really good zinger. It’s no fun to banter with her without you to dish about it later. I need my best friend to talk to. Please wake up, ok?" Niles looked up and saw Max coming back into the room. He looked back down at Fran and said, "Well, I’m going to leave now, but I’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll tell you all about what the children have been up to and all the gossip I’ve heard lately, ok? " He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
"Niles, I’m going to stay for a while and then I’ll be home later when the children come home. I want to tell them myself about Miss Fine. I’m going to be spending a lot of time here until she gets better, so I’m really depending on you to run things at home for me," Max explained.
"You can count on me sir," Niles said. "Don’t worry sir, Miss Fine is a fighter. I know she’s going to pull through this and be back with us in no time."
"Yes Niles, I’m sure she is," Max said, but he knew deep down he wasn’t as convinced as much as he was letting on to Niles.
***
Niles arrived home and waited for the children to come home from school. They came in the door in their usually noisy manner and when they realized Fran wasn’t there, and she hadn’t been at the breakfast table either, they started asking Niles questions. As they were questioning him, Max came in the front door. He could see what was going on and he said, "Let’s go sit in the living room. I have something I need to tell you about Miss Fine."
Max could see their expressions get very serious. They all sat down and looked at him, just waiting intently for what he was about to tell them. "The reason that Miss Fine wasn’t at breakfast this morning was because she went out very late last night and didn’t return home."
Gracie started panicking, "Daddy, she didn’t leave us did she?"
"No Gracie, please let me finish. Miss Fine met Val at a coffee shop last night and on her way back to the subway, someone mugged her and hit her on the back of the head." He kept looking at his children’s faces and they were all staring at him waiting for what he would say next. "Someone found her and called an ambulance."
"So Dad, she’s going to be all right isn’t she?" Brighton asked, just hanging on what his father’s response would be.
Max paused for a moment, getting his thoughts together to tell them about her condition. He wanted to tell them in a way that wouldn’t scare them too much. Unfortunately, that pause did just the opposite. Gracie misunderstood the silence in the worst possible way. She immediately started crying first and was followed by Maggie and then Brighton.
"She’s dead isn’t she?" Gracie said, almost sobbing.
Max realized what he’d done and he immediately responded to her, "No, no sweetie, she’s not dead. But Fran is in a coma right now and the doctors aren’t sure when she will come out of it." He looked at them and they were all crying very hard at this point. "But, I know she will wake up, and she’s going to come back home very soon." He emphasized, "I know" and he tried to sound as positive as he could to give hope to his children.
For the next few minutes, he answered any questions they had and he tried to console them as much as possible. He left out the serious complications that the doctor had told him about, the swelling of the brain and her being on a respirator. They immediately asked when they could see her, and he didn’t think they could handle seeing her the way she looked right now. He could barely handle it. "Perhaps, when she’s stabilized a bit more, in a couple of days, I’ll take you over to the hospital," he said. He looked at them and wished so desperately he could tell them when she would be coming home.
***
For the next two days, there wasn’t much change in her condition. Max spent almost every waking moment by her side, talking to her, reading to her, and playing her favorite music. On the third day, he received the most wonderful news. Dr. Williams told him that the swelling was starting to subside and they wouldn’t need to do surgery. Max knew this was a sign. He knew his Fran would be ok. She just needed to wake up and come back to him.
Max spent a great deal of the day reminiscing with her and talking about all the times that meant the most to him about her. "Do you remember the first day you walked into my home," Max asked Fran as he held her hand in both of his. "I knew the minute I walked in that room and saw you for the first time that there was something very special about you. And the next evening, when you walked down those stairs in that red dress...." Max paused for a moment as his heart started beating faster, "Well, I started to feel just like I am now just thinking about you in that dress." He laughed out loud and brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her fingers. "Wake up Fran, I really want to take you to the Rainbow Room and I want you to wear that dress."
Max paused for a minute and said to her, "Have I told you today how much I love you?" He knew is was probably the forth or fifth time he had told her today, but he didn’t care. He wanted her to know every minute of every day how much he loved her. Just at that moment, he could feel her squeeze his hand. That little squeeze sent him into eurphoria. "Fran, Fran, I felt that. Please come back to me. Just open your eyes, please open your eyes." Nothing happened, but deep inside he knew it was the beginning of her recovery.
***
Another two days had passed and they were able to take her off the respirator. They moved her to IMC (Intermediate Care) which thrilled Max because it meant she was getter better. Fran’s family and Val traipsed in all hours of the day and night, and sat and talked to her. Her small room almost looked like a florist shop, it had so many flowers. There were several little packages placed randomly around the room, all decorated in the most beautiful wrap and bows sitting in the laps of several stuffed animals. Max brought her a present every day, and everyone who came to visit always brought her a little something.
"Darling, you should see this room you’re in, it looks like Christmas. Maybe I should go out and cut down a tree and decorate it so we can put all these packages under it." Max smiled when he looked around the room. It was a beautiful tribute to Fran from of all the people who loved and cared about her.
"Oh, I wish I knew what you were thinking right now. I hope you’re dreaming about me," Max said as he played with some of her curls in her hair.
All of a sudden, Fran’s body started convulsing. Max was so frightened, he stood up immediately and stepped back a couple of steps. He watched it get worse and worse as her body suffered violent spasmodic contractions. He started panicking and yelling, "Nurse, nurse," as he ran toward the nurses station. Two nurses came running in and one of them literally started pushing him out of the room as she was saying, "Please Mr. Sheffield, you’ll need to leave for a while."
A few minutes later, the nurse found him and said that he could come back in. She could see that he was beyond frightened. Max just stared at her for a few moments and then said, "What happened... is she...?" just waiting for the nurse to tell him that Fran had died.
"No, Mr. Sheffield, she’s fine now." She put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. " This happens a lot with brain injury patients. An injury like this disrupts the pathways of the brain. A seizure is kind of a short circuit of the brain’s electrical functioning. When a seizure happens, the electrical fields in the brain are overloaded, resulting in what you just saw." She looked at him and could see that he had calmed down a little.
"Oh, it scared the hell out of me," Max said to her.
"I know, it usually does to anyone who is around to see them, " she responded, still patting his shoulder.
"Go ahead, sit down and be with her. Let her know everything is going to be ok," and she left the room.
Max sat back down next to Fran and said, "Please sweetheart, don’t do that again. You need to wake up. Can you hear me Fran? I love you and I need you to wake up. Squeeze my hand if you can hear me," but there was no response.
***
It had been five days and Max decided it was time for the children to see their beloved friend and nanny. Her coloring was so much better and she was off the respirator. She hadn’t had another seizure, and Max prayed she wouldn’t, especially while the children were there. Sylvia had done her hair and had put a little makeup on her. They brought her favorite pair of pajamas and she was wearing them. She looked like Sleeping Beauty. The children inched their way into the room, not quite sure what they would see. Max had tried to prepare them for their visit.
"Go on children, just go in and have a visit with her. You all need to take a turn and tell her what you have all been up to. She can hear you, her body just can’t respond back to you yet." When Max saw they were a little hesitant, he walked in first and reached over to her and placed a sweet kiss on her lips. "Fran, I’ve brought the kids to see you, they couldn’t wait another day," he said.
For the next hour, they all talked and talked their heads off. Each one took turns telling her what was happening in their life, how school was going and expressing how much they loved and missed her.
When their visit was over, Max went over to her and said, "Ok, Fran, I’m going to be gone just a few minutes to get the children to the limo and I’ll be right back." He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips as his hand grabbed hers in his. The children saw their dad kiss her and they all smiled at each other. For the second time, Max could feel her squeeze his hand.
"Fran, I felt that," he looked at the children and beamed. "She squeezed my hand. Fran, open your eyes, please! Fran, it’s Max, open your eyes!" but again nothing more happened. The children could see how happy he looked, and they knew this was a very good sign that Fran was getting better.
***
Two weeks had passed by and Fran was still in a coma. Max settled back in his chair and started reading some paperwork he had brought with him. He fell asleep in the chair almost immediately with a pile of papers all over his lap.
Fran opened her eyes and was very disoriented. She looked around her surroundings and finally realized she was in a hospital. Her mind felt numb and fuzzy and she had a terrible headache. She looked up and saw a small night light on above her bed. The light hurt her eyes and she squinted to see her surroundings. She kept looking around her and she smiled when she saw Max asleep in a chair not too far from her bed. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. It was so dry and her throat hurt like hell. She opened it again and barely got out, "Mr. Sheffield....Max.. Max."
Max was awakened to someone saying his name. He looked over at Fran and saw her smiling at him. It took a couple of seconds to register that Fran was awake and smiling at him, then he stood up so quickly all the papers on his lap went flying. He didn’t care. All he could think about was getting to her side as fast as possible.
"Oh, sweetheart, you’re awake. I was so worried. I’m so happy you’re awake. How do you feel?" Max asked her looking at her with more love in his face than she had ever seen. He leaned over and kissed her and she could see he was on the verge of tears.
"Sweetheart?" Fran thought, "he called me sweetheart."
She opened her mouth again to speak and could hardly get anything out. "I’m thirsty, could I...?" She could barely talk and it came out extremely raspy.
Max helped her sip a little water and he said, "I’m just going to go get the nurse and tell her you are awake." He was so elated, he leaned over, kissed her again and said, "Oh Fran, I’m so happy you came back to me, I love you so much. I’ll be right back"
Fran looked totally perplexed. ‘Did he just say he loved me?’ she thought to herself. ‘What is going on?’ she asked herself.
The nurse immediately came in and said, "Well, Fran, I’m so happy to see you are awake. Your fiancee is ecstatic," Max heard her say as he was following behind her.
"My fiancee?" Fran asked, but the nurse didn’t hear her. She looked at Max and back at the nurse, surprised at what the nurse said.
Max came close to Fran and she asked again, "My fiancee?" in her raspy voice.
"Yes darling, I’m your fiancee." He looked down at Fran and then at the nurse and then he winked at Fran. "Oh Fran, I am so happy you are awake my love," and he kissed her yet again.
"Mr. Sheffield, what’s going on? Why am I in a hospital and why do you keep saying you’re glad I’m awake. How long have I been asleep?" she asked, emphasizing "asleep." "And why does my throat feel like a rod has been stuck down it for a week?"
The nurse heard Fran ask Max these questions and was a little confused as to why she was calling her fiancee Mr. Sheffield. She took Fran’s vital signs and left the room to call the attending physician.
Max sat down in his chair that was next to her and took her hand. "Fran, you were hit on the back of the head, and you’ve been in a coma for two weeks."
Fran looked at him extremely surprised and said, "I don’t remember what happened, but that’s probably why my head feels like a train hit it." She reached up to touch her head, and her expression made Max laugh, which in turn made her laugh.
When Max heard her laugh, he said, "Oh Fran, how I love that laugh of yours. I was so afraid I would never hear it again."
That made Fran laugh even more and she said, "Are you sure you’re not the sick one? Then she looked at him and said, " Two weeks in a coma huh?"
"Yeah, it’s probably the only time in our relationship when I will have had the last word," Max said, and he continued to laugh. "But, I’ll tell you all about it later," he said. Max was so happy, he thought he was going to float up to the ceiling. He leaned over and said, "Oh Fran, my love, I have so much to tell you."
Fran looked at him questioningly and said to him, "So, when did I miss you asking me to marry you?" Her mouth turned upwards in a little smile when she said it.
"Well," Max paused a little and then said a little sheepishly, " Well, you might have been asleep when I asked. Should I do a repeat performance?"
"Yeah," she said a little excitedly and she winked at him.
Max fished in his pocket and brought something out. Fran couldn’t quite see what it was. He pushed his chair as close to her as he could get it. "Fran Fine, these last two last weeks have shown me that I can’t live a single minute without you. I love you more than life itself. Would you please do me the honor of becoming my wife and mother to my children?" Max looked at her with tears in his eyes.
Fran looked at him, smiled and said, "I would love to." She put her hand up to his face, caressed it and then said softy, " I love you so."
Max smiled and put a beautiful diamond ring on her finger that he had purchased the day after her attack.
She brought her hand up to look at the ring. "You were pretty sure of yourself weren’t you mister?" she said with a big smile on her face. "I guess you were pretty sure I was going to wake up too, huh?"
"I couldn’t think otherwise." He paused and then said, "I knew I couldn’t go on living without you Fran, therefore, you had to wake up." He leaned down and gave her the most passionate and tender kiss he could give her to seal their love and commitment.
"Max, can I see my kids?" Fran said, and Max knew she was referring to his children that she loved as if they were her own.
"Well, why don’t we call them right now," Max said.
Niles answered the phone, "Sheffield residence."
"Hey Niles, would you get the kids to the phone, there’s someone here who wants to say hello to you and them." The minute he heard his boss say this, he smiled. He put the phone down and got all of them on the intercom to tell them to pick up line 1 in their rooms.
"Hey kids, Niles, I miss you!" Fran said to all of them very softly, and still with great difficulty getting anything out of her mouth..
She could hear them all screaming for joy.
***
The next day they moved Fran out of IMC. Max arranged a private suite for her. Although she had a long road of recovery in front of her, he arranged a little celebration in her suite for her family and close friends to celebrate her "awakening" and her impending recovery.
Max, Sylvia and Dr. Williams were all around Fran’s bed talking and asking Dr. Williams what some possible side effects of the brain injury could be. Dr. Williams didn’t want to mention too many, since the chances were small Fran would have any of them, and he didn’t want them to worry them needlessly. He did remember a side effect that one of his patients had, and it was so rare he thought it would liven the conversation.
"Well, I did have a man a few years ago that completely lost his sense of taste," Dr. Williams said.
Everyone went immediately quiet for a few moments and then Sylvia screamed, "Oh, my God, my poor baby," and she immediately started fussing over Fran as if she had lost her best friend. Dr. Williams looked at her and thought perhaps she had mistaken what he had said. Everyone looked so serious. He looked at Max and Fran, and they started laughing hysterically.
"Don’t worry Dr. Williams, you have to know my family to get it," Max said as he continued to laugh. Fran looked at him and her heart went warm when she heard him refer to her family as his.
The last person had left and Fran was exhausted. She fell asleep and Max sat in his chair and waited for her to wake up. He was still a little nervous about the possibility of her going back into a coma.
Two hours later, she woke up and saw Max still sitting in his chair reading a book. "Whoa, I had a weird dream," she said. She paused a few moments and said, "Do I remember you playing Latin music for me when I was in the coma?"
He looked at her as if she had caught his hand in a cookie jar and said, "Well, I know you were kind of into that stuff when you got bumped," he said with a little reservation. "Bumped" was now the term they all used for her experience of getting hit on the head.
Fran looked at him intensely and Max could see her mind at work. Then she said, "You do realize don’t you that down the road when our children ask us how we finally got together, we’re going to have to tell them it was salsa dancing?"
Max looked at her baffled, knowing that they had never salsa danced together. "And how did you come by that my darling?" he asked her.
Fran smiled and said, "Well, I can’t remember a whole lot about the few days before I got bumped, but I do remember us arguing about what I was going to wear to the "The Mambo Room" one evening."
"Yeah, that outfit," Max said, and he smiled a little knowing he was going to book a private dance lesson with her to be held in his bedroom, in the near future. He would request that she wear that outfit. Then when the lesson was over, he would personally take it off her himself. "So, how does our argument fit into salsa dancing and us getting together?" he asked her.
"Well, I was wearing that outfit to go dancing. If you hadn’t been acting so immature about it, I wouldn’t have threatened to move out. And because I was so much in love with you and didn’t want to move out, I needed to talk with Val. And because I needed to talk with Val, I had to meet her at that little coffee shop you told me about, even though I don’t remember going there." She was smiling ear to ear, and then she looked at him and said, "So, are you getting my drift sweetie?"
Max came over to her bed and bent down over her. He looked her in the eyes with the biggest smile she’d ever seen on his face. He leaned in, gave her a kiss and said, "Vivé La Salsa!"
The End
"Cherish" by Madonna/Patrick Leonard
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