CHAPTER 10-The Art of Breathing
Ryan's CT scan ended up revealing nothing new. The swelling in his brain had not increased to a more dangerous level than previously and for now Neuro was just choosing to monitor. It seemed the doctor's prediction that the fever had caused the seizure was true.
While Sandy was relieved to hear nothing more was going on with Ryan, his heart still ached to see the boy so weak. Ryan had drifted back to sleep almost immediately upon his return from CT, and now Sandy filled the moments watching the steady rise and fall of his son's chest. As the minutes passed he took note of the fact that the boy's breathing seemed to be a bit more labored than earlier. A fact that was confirmed a few moments later as a nurse stepped into the room.
"Hello again, Mr. Cohen, I'm Jerry, Ryan's lead nurse, we talked a bit earlier. I'm going to start Ryan on a nasal cannula to help his oxygen levels a bit. They aren't too bad, but there is no reason for him to struggle unnecessarily. His body needs to rest so if we can help with a little supplemental oxygen we might as well." The nurse explained as he quickly and with minimal disturbance to Ryan turned on a valve behind his bed and fitted the nasal cannula onto Ryan's face through his nostrils.
Sandy merrily nodded as he watched the procedure. Jerry left again quietly after taken a few glances at the monitors surrounding Ryan.
It was another hour before someone came into the room. This time it was a friendly face that Sandy was grateful for.
"Sandyford." The gentlemanly figure of Dr. Peter's voiced in a compassionate greeting.
"Hey Doc."
"How is our young man doing? Causing any more excitement?"
"Not really. Just the seizure earlier. His breathing is a little rugged but the nurse didn't seem too worried."
"Hmmm I noticed that, but your right for now it doesn't seem too bad. I am glad the lad is resting though. I know it has been a frightful ordeal for him."
"Tell me about it. I'd much rather being giving lectures on fist fights and partying."
"Amazing how things like this put everything in perspective."
"Yeah."
"Well I was around doing my rounds and just thought I'd stop in and see if you needed anything- clarification on what's happening or something more practical like lunch."
Sandy chuckled at that. Dr. Peter's sure was a rare breed this day in age, but he certainly meant what he said and he always went the extra mile for his patients. Kirsten mentioned he was a church member of her mom's old parish and that she always called him a shining star for the faith.
"Any chance you could just sit with Ryan a minute while I visit the facilities and get a drink? I don't want him waking up alone."
"Sounds good to me these old bones can always use a break."
With that said Sandy smiled gratefully and that kind doctor and switched places with him.
Dr. Peter's hummed softly to himself while he sat beside Ryan's bed. It had been about five minutes since Sandy left, when Ryan's eyes began to flutter open. Ryan looked about wildly once awake clearly startled at the thought of being alone in a hospital.
"Easy young man you're okay. Sandy just stepped out for a brief respite and should return in quick notice. He graciously offered me his chair for a rest while he went. You've been rather good company for me these last minutes- no complaining like so many folks these days."
A brief snort escaped Ryan's lips at the doctor's attempt at humor.
"Was that you humming. It sounded familiar."
"Well that all depends was it a pleasant sound?"
"Yeah brings back memories of this kind neighbor I once had." Ryan responded pausing every few words in his delivery to catch his breath which was more labored than earlier.
"Ah well in that case it was indeed me. It's an old Spiritual called 'All is Well with my Soul'."
"Pretty." Ryan huffed out.
"Quite. You, young man, seem to be struggling a bit. Are you in pain?"
"Chest's tight."
"Well we don't want that let me just ring your nurse and get you some official assistance- I'm off duty at the moment." Dr. Peters added following up his words by hitting the call button.
Jerry was in the room in less than a minute.
"Having some trouble breathing aren't you champ? M I had just noticed a drop in your stats when your doc here paged us. Let's sit you up a bit higher. I'm afraid it may aggravate your headache a bit not to be so flat, but lungs have priority I'm afraid."
"Whatever helps." Ryan gasped out a bit of an urgent tone underlining his statement.
Jerry soon had Ryan at a slight angle and had replaced his nasal cannula with a non-rebreather oxygen mask on high flow.
"How's that?"
"Better." Ryan replied.
"Good. I'll give respiratory a call and see if they can come do a treatment to help some also. Your other doc had left orders for that in case of such a complication especially considering your childhood history of asthma. I may tamper your pain medications a little too because sometimes those can have adverse respiratory reactions. We want to keep the pain manageable too though so let me know if it gets too bad sooner rather than later."
Ryan gave a thumbs up to indicate his understanding and at that moment Sandy walked back in.
"What's wrong ?" He stated his fear obvious to all in the room.
"Settle Down sandy." Dr. Peters quickly interjected. "It is nothing we didn't predict. Ryan just needs a bit more oxygen and some medications to loosen his airways. His history let us know this was likely. We can get past this."
"Okay." Sandy said even as he moved to stroke Ryan's hand. Ryan in turn squeezed his hand back letting him know not to worry too much.
"It's my job to worry kid. You're important to us." Sandy replied in a whisper to Ryan's silent statement.
It was to this scene Kirsten would later walk in. It was a scene of love and trust between a father and son signified by clinging hands.