Chapter 8 A Difficult Decision
A week later found Sam sitting in Annabelle's ICU room listening to the monotous beeps emitting from the machine that read Annabelle's heart rate. There had been no change at all since she had been moved into this room. Sam looked around the room at the various tubes hooked up to Annabelle's body, put her head in her hands, and sighed. Why wouldn't she wake up?! Sam had met with the case manager for Annabelle to turn in all the necessary forms that needed to be filled out to ensure Annabelle got the best care possible. Since Sam was Annabelle's health care proxy it was up to her to decide what to do next. Sam knew Annabelle would never have wanted to be hooked up to machines to keep her alive, but she didn't know if she wanted to make the choice to remove Annabelle from the machine that was breathing for her. The doctor and the nurses had all explained to Sam that Annabelle had been put in a medical induced coma to allow her to heal from the injuries she had sustained in her wreck but they had also warned her that complications could arise at any time during the course of her treatment and there were no guarantees that Annabelle would make a full recovery. Sam sat there listening to the machines beep and trying to make her mind up. The case manager had explained to her that in the event something happened to Annabelle and life saving measures were needed, would Annabelle want them to perform them or would she prefer to be let go. They had given Sam time to decide on what she thought was best for Annabelle, but she hadn't been able to decide yet. Sam looked at her watch and saw that it was almost 5 pm.
"Maybe she will still be awake." Sam murmured to herself as she got up from her chair, grabbed the folder off the tray next to Annabelle's bed, and walked over to the door. Sam let herself out and exited the ICU department. Once out in the hallway, Sam walked to the waiting area that was just outside the ICU and pulled her cell phone from her pocket. She opened up her list of contacts until she found the "K"s and dialed Kara's number.
On the other part of the world in London, England, it was approaching 11:35 pm. Kara was just getting into bed with her girlfriend that she has been dating for the past six months when she heard her cell phone go off.
"Who the bloody hell would be calling you at this time of night?!" her girlfriend demanded in her strong English voice.
Kara laughed and shrugged her shoulders as she picked the phone up. Seeing it was Sam, Kara's blood went a little cold. Sam would never call her this late unless there was some kind of emergency.
"Hello?" Kara asked cautiously dreading the call already.
"Kara?" Sam asked trying to keep her voice calm and steady.
"What is it Sam? What's happened?!" Kara urged her hearing the tone and recognizing what it was at once. She had only heard Sam say her name like that once before, back when Annabelle had been raped at the party they had gone to.
"It's Annabelle. She was in an accident. They have her hooked up to all these machines and don't know if she is gonna make it or not. I have to decide whether to sign a DNR form for her or not since I'm her health care proxy. I don't know what to do Kara!" Sam said as her voice cracked and tears came streaming out of her eyes.
"Oh my god, Sam! Why didn't someone call me sooner?! I will be on the next flight back to the States as fast as I can. Don't do anything til I get there, alright?!" Kara said already jumping out of her bed to find her suitcase.
"Kara, I know this is a big favor, but you need to bring him. He needs to see her one last time in case it's too late." Sam replied wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.
"I will. See you soon." Kara promised and hung up the phone.
