Read Online Blind Eye by Jan Coffey - Free Book Online

course, she thought, it could be that she herself was getting old. Impossible, she decided.
    The reason she had ended up staying so long after her shift wasn’t because she had anything against young doctors. But the three physicians had managed to fill JD’s room with all kinds of electronics and equipment. Jennifer imagined how terrified her own daughters would be if they were suddenly surrounded by this.
    With her own kids grown up and on their own, Jennifer had only herself and her husband to worry about, and Ed was good about doing things for himself. Tonight, when she’d called home, he was in the basement, working on a wine cabinet he was building for their oldest daughter for Christmas. Jennifer talked about work a lot at home, so tonight all she had to say to him was that she needed to stay with JD. He understood.
    â€œI’m opening the files,” Desmond told the other two.
    If there was any doubt that the young patient understood a great deal of what was going on around her, tonight dispelled it in Jen’s mind. From the moment all the strange faces and equipment arrived in her room, JD hadn’t closed her eyes. She was awake. Mostly, she kept eye contact with Jennifer. But every now and then she would also watch Sid Conway.
    â€œIt’s curious, but I think she already recognizes me,” the young neurologist said.
    Jennifer knew exactly how he felt. There was something extremely rewarding in having JD focus on you.
    â€œTell me if I’m in your way. I can move,” Jennifer told him. Nat Rosen had started taping electrodes to JD’s forehead.
    â€œNo, you’re fine.”
    â€œIdeally, the readings should be done when the patient is awake,” Sid told her. “Of course, that’s not possible when we’re dealing with comatose patients. As you know, patients classified as being in a minimally conscious state demonstrate a wide variety of behaviors pertaining to awareness. JD’s situation right now is ideal…if we can keep her like this.”
    â€œRight now she seems almost entertained with all this activity around her,” Jennifer told them. “How long does the testing take, anyway?”
    â€œWe’ll be doing a number of readings over the next couple of weeks,” Sid explained to her. “As far as the duration of the test, we’ll go as long as she can tolerate it.”
    â€œI thought you said before that the testing was noninvasive,” Jennifer reminded him, frowning.
    â€œIt is,” Sid said quickly. “By tolerating it, I mean that she doesn’t get tired of it and go to sleep, or she doesn’t get agitated by the equipment or the electrodes being attached to her. Like what I said before, we’d like to get the images while she’s in this situation.”
    Jennifer looked at the young woman. She was watching Conway.
    â€œThis is kind of daunting,” Nat Rosen commented, moving to a chair behind the computers. “She looks…so…fully conscious. Are you sure we have the right patient?”
    â€œYes,” Jennifer said with emphasis.
    Everyone was doing something. Jen felt like a fifth wheel, but she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. She turned to Sid, who had taken over from Nat and was positioning the last electrodes. “Can you explain to me how this testing works?”
    He nodded. “Sure. We start with a workable model forhealthy and cognizant individuals. In the past, the way this model was established was to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure activity in the visual cortices of participants’ brains as they looked at photographs of animals, food, people, and other common objects.”
    She found it interesting that Sid was not only directing his explanations to Jennifer but to JD, as well. “Wait. I read something about this. You’re using computers to try to learn the language of the human brain.”
    â€œWell, yes. But