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Authors: Amanda Meredith
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here.”
“The doctor will be doing rounds in a half hour if you have any questions for her and I’ll be right down the hall if you need anything.” Libby only nodded as the nurse left the room.
She nudged the chair closer to Cole’s bed, careful to avoid the tubes and hoses. She leaned forward and laid her lips on his hand, listening to the sound of the respirator breathing for him. His hand began to twitch again and Libby picked it up carefully as she leaned forward.
“Cole?” She tried to control the shaking of her voice as she whispered. “Can you hear me, Cole?”
I was in another nightmare, my body on fire. I was trapped, being strangled by snakes as they choked the life out of me. The laughter echoed in my head, making the pain unbearable, drowning out the sound of my own screams.
Libby. I needed to think of Libby. I tried to picture her face, her smile, but everything in my head was so blurry. I wanted to scream her name but I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t see Libby in the darkness.
***
“Cole has developed a pretty severe infection,” Dr. Heinrich explained as Libby stared numbly at her. It had been over two weeks since Cole was injured and he was still in a medically induced coma. “It isn’t in his bones but the deep muscle tissue of the leg. We’re going to remove some of the muscle that’s infected before it gets any worse.” She knelt down in front of Libby. “I will do everything I can to save his leg, Ms. Michaels but I want to be very clear with you. Saving his life is the priority.” Libby nodded and watched with fear as they began preparing Cole to move to surgery.
Two days later Libby was in another room, just as dark as the first one had been. Cole was being kept near the operating room in case he needed to go back into surgery. His pseudo-seizures were getting worse, though his head had healed enough for Dr. Heinrich to remove the probe. She was going to bring him out of his medically induced coma but he would have to be heavily sedated to keep him from flailing too much and injuring his leg further.
“We’re going to slowly reduce the medications that are keeping him unconscious,” Dr. Heinrich explained. “It will take roughly 24 hours for the anesthetic to wear off completely. We will be monitoring pressure and brain function as well as his heart rate and blood pressure. We might have to put him back under if his body isn’t ready. Do you understand how this is going to work?” Libby nodded. “I want you to talk to him. It might help him stay calm when he’s able to hear and understand you.”
“He can’t hear me now?”
“No one knows. The brain is very complicated. He can hear you, certainly, but whether his brain can process that information and understand what he’s hearing is another matter.”
Eight hours later, Cole still hadn’t moved. Libby had fallen asleep, her head resting on the bed next to his hand when the heart monitor alarm woke her. It seemed like every monitor began going off at once and Libby jumped up, seeing that Cole’s body was convulsing. His arms and legs jerked against the restraints. Nurses rushed in, checking monitors, adjusting levels but Cole continued to shake. They paged for Dr. Heinrich and she arrived minutes later.
“Heart rate at 140, BP 160 over 120.” Dr. Heinrich nodded as the nurse spoke, looking at the EEG report as it printed out of the machine.
“Libby, I want you to talk to him,” she explained as she put a stethoscope onto his chest. “He’s starting to wake up and his brain is trying to process everything it’s feeling. He’s going to feel pain, the restraints. He’ll be extremely confused. He should be able to hear you.” She moved the stethoscope to the other side of his chest. “We’ll see if he can calm down but if this keeps up we’ll have to put him under again, okay?” Libby nodded and stepped closer to the bed.
“Cole,” she whispered, leaning
“The doctor will be doing rounds in a half hour if you have any questions for her and I’ll be right down the hall if you need anything.” Libby only nodded as the nurse left the room.
She nudged the chair closer to Cole’s bed, careful to avoid the tubes and hoses. She leaned forward and laid her lips on his hand, listening to the sound of the respirator breathing for him. His hand began to twitch again and Libby picked it up carefully as she leaned forward.
“Cole?” She tried to control the shaking of her voice as she whispered. “Can you hear me, Cole?”
I was in another nightmare, my body on fire. I was trapped, being strangled by snakes as they choked the life out of me. The laughter echoed in my head, making the pain unbearable, drowning out the sound of my own screams.
Libby. I needed to think of Libby. I tried to picture her face, her smile, but everything in my head was so blurry. I wanted to scream her name but I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t see Libby in the darkness.
***
“Cole has developed a pretty severe infection,” Dr. Heinrich explained as Libby stared numbly at her. It had been over two weeks since Cole was injured and he was still in a medically induced coma. “It isn’t in his bones but the deep muscle tissue of the leg. We’re going to remove some of the muscle that’s infected before it gets any worse.” She knelt down in front of Libby. “I will do everything I can to save his leg, Ms. Michaels but I want to be very clear with you. Saving his life is the priority.” Libby nodded and watched with fear as they began preparing Cole to move to surgery.
Two days later Libby was in another room, just as dark as the first one had been. Cole was being kept near the operating room in case he needed to go back into surgery. His pseudo-seizures were getting worse, though his head had healed enough for Dr. Heinrich to remove the probe. She was going to bring him out of his medically induced coma but he would have to be heavily sedated to keep him from flailing too much and injuring his leg further.
“We’re going to slowly reduce the medications that are keeping him unconscious,” Dr. Heinrich explained. “It will take roughly 24 hours for the anesthetic to wear off completely. We will be monitoring pressure and brain function as well as his heart rate and blood pressure. We might have to put him back under if his body isn’t ready. Do you understand how this is going to work?” Libby nodded. “I want you to talk to him. It might help him stay calm when he’s able to hear and understand you.”
“He can’t hear me now?”
“No one knows. The brain is very complicated. He can hear you, certainly, but whether his brain can process that information and understand what he’s hearing is another matter.”
Eight hours later, Cole still hadn’t moved. Libby had fallen asleep, her head resting on the bed next to his hand when the heart monitor alarm woke her. It seemed like every monitor began going off at once and Libby jumped up, seeing that Cole’s body was convulsing. His arms and legs jerked against the restraints. Nurses rushed in, checking monitors, adjusting levels but Cole continued to shake. They paged for Dr. Heinrich and she arrived minutes later.
“Heart rate at 140, BP 160 over 120.” Dr. Heinrich nodded as the nurse spoke, looking at the EEG report as it printed out of the machine.
“Libby, I want you to talk to him,” she explained as she put a stethoscope onto his chest. “He’s starting to wake up and his brain is trying to process everything it’s feeling. He’s going to feel pain, the restraints. He’ll be extremely confused. He should be able to hear you.” She moved the stethoscope to the other side of his chest. “We’ll see if he can calm down but if this keeps up we’ll have to put him under again, okay?” Libby nodded and stepped closer to the bed.
“Cole,” she whispered, leaning
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