Okay, the usual disclaimers apply. Canadian spelling, eh. Thanks for the
kind words. You guys rock. To the powers that be...I have no money. I'm
not making any money off this and yadda yadda yadda.
Chapter 5
Caleb got up and stretched. If anything could make him feel his age, sitting in that chair for the last 8 hours was it. He walked over to Ryan's bed and studied him carefully. He looked beyond the bruising on Ryan's face. Caleb was looking for something deeper. Something about Ryan that would make his mother dump him like last weeks garbage. As overbearing and even heartless as he could be at times, family was still his number 0ne priority. Looking down, he noticed that Ryan's right arm had escaped the accident relatively unscathed.
A small round scar caught his eye. Caleb looked at his own forearm. An almost identical sized scar was just barely visible. All of his childhood friends had one. The proud branding from a "wuss" test. But there was something else..There wasn't just one of those marks. Little round scars dotted the boy's arm. Some looked like they were years old..not quite as noticeable. Others were darker.. more pronounced..more recent. Caleb gingerly lifted the short sleeve of Ryan's hospital gown to see how far the scars went. He closed his eyes and lowered the sleeve...He knew there'd be a matching set on the boy's other arm.
Caleb was just about to return to his seat when he noticed Ryan's right hand had twitched, followed by a slight movement of head.
Caleb reached over and pressed the call button, asking for a nurse.
He looked back down at Ryan.
Ryan's hand was slowly moving towards the ventilator.
"Ryan...don't..."
Caleb gently moved Ryan's hand back down.
"It's okay.."
A nurse quickly entered the room. Caleb looked at her." I think he's starting to come around..."
The nurse reached over and pressed the intercom.
"..Yes, Denise, could you please page Dr. Meyer stat."
Dr. Meyers strode into the unit. Caleb was asked to leave for a few minutes. He used that time to quickly call Sandy and Kirsten.
Kirsten fought to stay calm as Caleb told her the news. She stated that she and Sandy would be there right away.
Dr. Meyers motioned for Caleb to come back into the unit. Before Caleb could ask it, Dr. Meyers answered his question.
"It looks like Ryan is starting to wake up. It'll still take some time before he's fully conscious. We'd like to try to remove the breathing tube now. If he wakes up more, he could fight the ventilator and damage his esophagus."
Caleb tried to enter the room.
Dr. Meyers shook his head. I can't let you in the room while we remove the tube.."
Caleb pulled himself up to his best "I'm Caleb Nichol" stance and was about to argue that decision when Dr. Meyers continued.
"Taking Ryan off a respirator isn't going to be the easiest thing to watch. He's going to struggle to breathe. It's going to sound like he's choking for a minute or so. We may not be successful at removing the tube and we might have to re-insert it and try again later...I'll let you know when we're finished.."
Dr. Meyers had just returned into Ryan's room when Caleb spotted Kirsten and Sandy running down the corridor.
"Dad..How is he..?"
Caleb stopped his daughter from entering the unit.
"They're going to try to take Ryan off the respirator...They won't let us in..we have to wait out here..."
Sandy held Kirsten in his arms.
"It's okay..We'll see him soon..."
Sandy was interrupted by the sound of Dr. Meyers voice and the unmistakable sounds of gagging.
"C'mon Ryan..breathe...you can do it...in..out...c'mon buddy...RYAN! IN!......OUT!..... I don't want to put the tube back down your throat..Let's go...that's it...again...again...once more...keep going....okay..again..good..."
Dr. Meyers voice faded.
Kirsten's face was pale as she looked at Sandy.
"Is Ryan..."
Sandy nodded his head
"It sounds like it.."
Kirsten looked like she was going to storm the room when Dr. Meyers emerged.
"Well..that was the hard part...the rest is up to Ryan...He's not out of the woods yet, but this is a good start."
Sandy looked at Dr. Meyers.
"Thank-you."
Dr Meyers left. Kirsten, Sandy and Caleb went to Ryan's bedside. The ventilator was gone and in its place was a nasal canula under Ryan's nose. His breathing was ragged sounding but steady. It was one of the nicest sounds they'd heard in the last 4 days.
Sandy returned home around midnight. He entered the house and heard sounds coming from the den. He walked in and saw Seth draped on the couch, watching...a hockey game..?
"I thought you said you couldn't find any redeeming qualities in hockey.."
Seth looked up at his dad.
"Yeah, well..500 channels and this is all I could find. Like who names these teams...The Mighty Ducks..The Maple Leafs...I mean shouldn't it be 'leaves' and not 'leafs'? What's up with that..do they speak a whole different language in the great white north..Some secret code that us mere mortals are not meant to understand.?"
Seth stopped his rant.
"What is it.."
Sandy had a sly smile on his face..His "I've got a secret" smile.
"Dad...tell me.."
Sandy walked over to the arm of the couch and sat dowm.
"Dr. Meyers took the breathing tube out..Ryan's breathing on his own..It doesn't sound very pretty, but he's doing it. Your Grandfather said that Ryan moved his hand today.."
Seth's face lit up and then he quickly frowned.
"Why didn't you guys tell me earlier..I had no clue what was going on.."
Sandy put his hand on Seth's shoulder.
"I didn't want to get your hopes up.It was scary when they took the breathing tube out...We weren't allowed in the room when they removed it, but we could hear Dr. Meyers talking to Ryan..telling him to breathe..It took a little bit of coaxing but he did it.."
Seth moved his shoulders in a seated "dance of happiness."
"Is mom going to stay with Ryan tonight..?"
Sandy smiled.
"It's actually morning..You need to get some sleep."
Seth yawned.
"You too dad..."
Monday, January 5.
Sandy woke up to a ringing in his head. It took a moment to realize that it wasn't his head. Rolling over he picked up the phone.
"Sandy Cohen.."
"Sandy..it's Steve Jennings..Ryan's parole officer. We had an appointment this morning and he hasn't shown up yet."
Sandy rubbed his eyes and sat up. He looked at the clock and realized it was 10am.
"Yeah, uh, Steve..Ryan was in an accident on New Years Eve.
Steve's voice was concerned.
"How is he..?"
Sandy sighed.
"He's at HOAG in the CCU. It was a hit and run...Yeah, they've got the vehicle but no driver. The driver took off. You should be getting a copy of the police report."
There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence before Steve spoke again.
You'll keep me posted to how he's doing.?"
"Yeah."
Steve tried to sound positive.
"He's a good kid Sandy...I wish all the kids I dealt with were like him.."
"Thanks for calling Steve."
Sandy hung up the phone.
He wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep and wake up when this was all over, or better yet, go back to sleep and wake up from this nightmare.
Seth padded into Sandy's bedroom.
"Good morning sunshine.."
Seth ignored the death rays shooting out of Sandy's eyes.
"Can you drive me to see Mom and Ryan.."
Sandy looked blankly at his son. Seth waved his hand in front of Sandy's face.
"Dad..........head injury...concussion...can't drive for 2 weeks...any of this ring a bell.."
Sandy's eyes came back into focus.
"Yeah, sure Seth.give me a few minutes to get dressed...make some coffee...drink the coffee.."
Seth flopped down beside his dad.
"Coffee was made a couple of hours ago...You can chew it in the beamer.."
Kirsten yawned and rubbed her eyes. She didn't sleep at all last night. She sat curled up in the chair and watched Ryan breathe. It had seemed to take forever for his breathing to even out and become a natural response as opposed to something forced and calculated.
She leaned over to Ryan's bed and gently stroked his cheek, speaking softly.
"Hey sleepy head..it's time to wake up...I think you've had a long enough nap...C'mon Ryan..."
Just then, Ryan's body started shaking violently. He whimpered in pain. Kirsten frantically pressed the call button.
"It's Ryan..He's in pain..please help him.."
A nurse was there in an instant. She quickly drew a hypodermic needle and inserted it into Ryan's central I.V. After what seemed like an eternity, Ryan stopped whimpering and his body relaxed.
Kirsten let out a breath. Her hands were trembling. The nurse put the needle in the collection box and then turned to Kirsten.
"It's okay...we expected this. Dr. Meyers has a standing order for Demerol on demand..We won't let it get this bad again. He's okay..his pain should be gone now..I'll be back to check on him in half an hour."
Kirsten nodded and thanked the nurse. The nursing staff had been wonderful and supportive, yet Kirsten couldn't remember any of their names. She was so worried about Ryan and Seth and was trying to hold her emotions together that names didn't register.
She took a shaky breath and resumed stroking Ryan's cheek. She struggled to keep her voice low and steady.
"You are not allowed to do that to me again young man...Between you and Seth I'm going to be completely grey haired before I know it...Speaking of Seth, he's going to be here any minute..Sandy said he's climbing the walls without you.."
Kirsten heard the familiar jabbering in the hallway.
"Seth's here now sweetie..I'm going to let you boys have some guy time.okay.."
Kirsten gently lifted Ryan's left hand and kissed the back of it, nearly jumping out of her skin when Ryan's fingers wrapped around hers for a second before becoming limp.
"Sandy...Seth...I think Ryan squeezed my fingers.."
Kirsten had her first genuine smile in almost a week.
"He's coming back to us.."
Kirsten and Sandy had gone down to the cafeteria for some much needed lunch and a caffeine fix. Kirsten would bring Seth home after his visit with Ryan and Sandy would stay. He had his briefcase crammed with files but she doubted he'd even look at any of them.
Seth sat at Ryan's bedside launching into a non-stop monologue extolling the virtues of Canadian television.
"I'm telling you man...it's so funny...I've been watching Jeopardy in French..I know, I know it's a little minty but it can only help my AP French grades...They actually televise their parliament meetings...seriously dude, that's one of the funniest things to watch...and hockey..I'm just really starting to understand the appeal...I just don't get why they throw octopus on the ice...I don't know, maybe it's some weird Canadian custom.."
Seth took a breath and continued.
"You've got to wake up and save me from myself. It's like crack..or so I imagine crack would be like if I've ever done crack..which I haven't and never will, but I need you to wake up before I go over the deep end and turn into a babbling idiot.."
At that point a nurse identifying herself as Denise came into the CCU followed by a plice officer.
Seth stood up, recognizing the officer from a few nights ago.
"Officer..Off...Officer Riley..."
The police officer smiled at Seth..
"Hi Seth, how is Ryan doing..?"
"He's getting better...He's sort of the broody silent type so I don't think this is the best time to talk to him.."
Officer Riley rolled her eyes.
"I'm looking for your parents..I have some information for them.."
Seth became serious.
"What is it..is it about the investigation?"
Officer Riley stepped back into police mode.
"You'll have to ask them later..are they here.?"
Seth nodded.
"They're in the cafeteria.."
The officer thanked Seth and left the room.
Denise finished with Ryan and looked at Seth.
"Your 10 minutes were up about 15 minutes ago, but since your parents are going to be busy for a little while, I'll just forget how long you've been in here.
Seth was subdued as he thanked Denise. He sat back down in the chair and picked up a book from Ryan's bedside table. It was an older John Irving book. Seth knew that "A Prayer for Owen Meaney" was one of his mom's favourite books. He opened the book to where it was marked off and started reading aloud.
Officer Riley walked into the cafeteria and spotted the Cohens sitting at a table. They both looked exhausted. She approached their table.
Kirsten and Sandy looked up.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cohen...I have some news on the truck that crashed into your sons' vehicle. The truck hadn't been registered yet which is why it took us a little longer to find out who it belonged to..."
Sandy stood up, his jaw tight.
"Who...?"
The police officer flipped her note pad.
"Campbell,...Dr. Harold Campbell..."
I borrowed the character of Dr. Harold Campbell from Keesha's story "Trust" It's a great story . Read it if you haven't already done so, re-read it if it's been a while.
Chapter 5
Caleb got up and stretched. If anything could make him feel his age, sitting in that chair for the last 8 hours was it. He walked over to Ryan's bed and studied him carefully. He looked beyond the bruising on Ryan's face. Caleb was looking for something deeper. Something about Ryan that would make his mother dump him like last weeks garbage. As overbearing and even heartless as he could be at times, family was still his number 0ne priority. Looking down, he noticed that Ryan's right arm had escaped the accident relatively unscathed.
A small round scar caught his eye. Caleb looked at his own forearm. An almost identical sized scar was just barely visible. All of his childhood friends had one. The proud branding from a "wuss" test. But there was something else..There wasn't just one of those marks. Little round scars dotted the boy's arm. Some looked like they were years old..not quite as noticeable. Others were darker.. more pronounced..more recent. Caleb gingerly lifted the short sleeve of Ryan's hospital gown to see how far the scars went. He closed his eyes and lowered the sleeve...He knew there'd be a matching set on the boy's other arm.
Caleb was just about to return to his seat when he noticed Ryan's right hand had twitched, followed by a slight movement of head.
Caleb reached over and pressed the call button, asking for a nurse.
He looked back down at Ryan.
Ryan's hand was slowly moving towards the ventilator.
"Ryan...don't..."
Caleb gently moved Ryan's hand back down.
"It's okay.."
A nurse quickly entered the room. Caleb looked at her." I think he's starting to come around..."
The nurse reached over and pressed the intercom.
"..Yes, Denise, could you please page Dr. Meyer stat."
Dr. Meyers strode into the unit. Caleb was asked to leave for a few minutes. He used that time to quickly call Sandy and Kirsten.
Kirsten fought to stay calm as Caleb told her the news. She stated that she and Sandy would be there right away.
Dr. Meyers motioned for Caleb to come back into the unit. Before Caleb could ask it, Dr. Meyers answered his question.
"It looks like Ryan is starting to wake up. It'll still take some time before he's fully conscious. We'd like to try to remove the breathing tube now. If he wakes up more, he could fight the ventilator and damage his esophagus."
Caleb tried to enter the room.
Dr. Meyers shook his head. I can't let you in the room while we remove the tube.."
Caleb pulled himself up to his best "I'm Caleb Nichol" stance and was about to argue that decision when Dr. Meyers continued.
"Taking Ryan off a respirator isn't going to be the easiest thing to watch. He's going to struggle to breathe. It's going to sound like he's choking for a minute or so. We may not be successful at removing the tube and we might have to re-insert it and try again later...I'll let you know when we're finished.."
Dr. Meyers had just returned into Ryan's room when Caleb spotted Kirsten and Sandy running down the corridor.
"Dad..How is he..?"
Caleb stopped his daughter from entering the unit.
"They're going to try to take Ryan off the respirator...They won't let us in..we have to wait out here..."
Sandy held Kirsten in his arms.
"It's okay..We'll see him soon..."
Sandy was interrupted by the sound of Dr. Meyers voice and the unmistakable sounds of gagging.
"C'mon Ryan..breathe...you can do it...in..out...c'mon buddy...RYAN! IN!......OUT!..... I don't want to put the tube back down your throat..Let's go...that's it...again...again...once more...keep going....okay..again..good..."
Dr. Meyers voice faded.
Kirsten's face was pale as she looked at Sandy.
"Is Ryan..."
Sandy nodded his head
"It sounds like it.."
Kirsten looked like she was going to storm the room when Dr. Meyers emerged.
"Well..that was the hard part...the rest is up to Ryan...He's not out of the woods yet, but this is a good start."
Sandy looked at Dr. Meyers.
"Thank-you."
Dr Meyers left. Kirsten, Sandy and Caleb went to Ryan's bedside. The ventilator was gone and in its place was a nasal canula under Ryan's nose. His breathing was ragged sounding but steady. It was one of the nicest sounds they'd heard in the last 4 days.
Sandy returned home around midnight. He entered the house and heard sounds coming from the den. He walked in and saw Seth draped on the couch, watching...a hockey game..?
"I thought you said you couldn't find any redeeming qualities in hockey.."
Seth looked up at his dad.
"Yeah, well..500 channels and this is all I could find. Like who names these teams...The Mighty Ducks..The Maple Leafs...I mean shouldn't it be 'leaves' and not 'leafs'? What's up with that..do they speak a whole different language in the great white north..Some secret code that us mere mortals are not meant to understand.?"
Seth stopped his rant.
"What is it.."
Sandy had a sly smile on his face..His "I've got a secret" smile.
"Dad...tell me.."
Sandy walked over to the arm of the couch and sat dowm.
"Dr. Meyers took the breathing tube out..Ryan's breathing on his own..It doesn't sound very pretty, but he's doing it. Your Grandfather said that Ryan moved his hand today.."
Seth's face lit up and then he quickly frowned.
"Why didn't you guys tell me earlier..I had no clue what was going on.."
Sandy put his hand on Seth's shoulder.
"I didn't want to get your hopes up.It was scary when they took the breathing tube out...We weren't allowed in the room when they removed it, but we could hear Dr. Meyers talking to Ryan..telling him to breathe..It took a little bit of coaxing but he did it.."
Seth moved his shoulders in a seated "dance of happiness."
"Is mom going to stay with Ryan tonight..?"
Sandy smiled.
"It's actually morning..You need to get some sleep."
Seth yawned.
"You too dad..."
Monday, January 5.
Sandy woke up to a ringing in his head. It took a moment to realize that it wasn't his head. Rolling over he picked up the phone.
"Sandy Cohen.."
"Sandy..it's Steve Jennings..Ryan's parole officer. We had an appointment this morning and he hasn't shown up yet."
Sandy rubbed his eyes and sat up. He looked at the clock and realized it was 10am.
"Yeah, uh, Steve..Ryan was in an accident on New Years Eve.
Steve's voice was concerned.
"How is he..?"
Sandy sighed.
"He's at HOAG in the CCU. It was a hit and run...Yeah, they've got the vehicle but no driver. The driver took off. You should be getting a copy of the police report."
There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence before Steve spoke again.
You'll keep me posted to how he's doing.?"
"Yeah."
Steve tried to sound positive.
"He's a good kid Sandy...I wish all the kids I dealt with were like him.."
"Thanks for calling Steve."
Sandy hung up the phone.
He wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep and wake up when this was all over, or better yet, go back to sleep and wake up from this nightmare.
Seth padded into Sandy's bedroom.
"Good morning sunshine.."
Seth ignored the death rays shooting out of Sandy's eyes.
"Can you drive me to see Mom and Ryan.."
Sandy looked blankly at his son. Seth waved his hand in front of Sandy's face.
"Dad..........head injury...concussion...can't drive for 2 weeks...any of this ring a bell.."
Sandy's eyes came back into focus.
"Yeah, sure Seth.give me a few minutes to get dressed...make some coffee...drink the coffee.."
Seth flopped down beside his dad.
"Coffee was made a couple of hours ago...You can chew it in the beamer.."
Kirsten yawned and rubbed her eyes. She didn't sleep at all last night. She sat curled up in the chair and watched Ryan breathe. It had seemed to take forever for his breathing to even out and become a natural response as opposed to something forced and calculated.
She leaned over to Ryan's bed and gently stroked his cheek, speaking softly.
"Hey sleepy head..it's time to wake up...I think you've had a long enough nap...C'mon Ryan..."
Just then, Ryan's body started shaking violently. He whimpered in pain. Kirsten frantically pressed the call button.
"It's Ryan..He's in pain..please help him.."
A nurse was there in an instant. She quickly drew a hypodermic needle and inserted it into Ryan's central I.V. After what seemed like an eternity, Ryan stopped whimpering and his body relaxed.
Kirsten let out a breath. Her hands were trembling. The nurse put the needle in the collection box and then turned to Kirsten.
"It's okay...we expected this. Dr. Meyers has a standing order for Demerol on demand..We won't let it get this bad again. He's okay..his pain should be gone now..I'll be back to check on him in half an hour."
Kirsten nodded and thanked the nurse. The nursing staff had been wonderful and supportive, yet Kirsten couldn't remember any of their names. She was so worried about Ryan and Seth and was trying to hold her emotions together that names didn't register.
She took a shaky breath and resumed stroking Ryan's cheek. She struggled to keep her voice low and steady.
"You are not allowed to do that to me again young man...Between you and Seth I'm going to be completely grey haired before I know it...Speaking of Seth, he's going to be here any minute..Sandy said he's climbing the walls without you.."
Kirsten heard the familiar jabbering in the hallway.
"Seth's here now sweetie..I'm going to let you boys have some guy time.okay.."
Kirsten gently lifted Ryan's left hand and kissed the back of it, nearly jumping out of her skin when Ryan's fingers wrapped around hers for a second before becoming limp.
"Sandy...Seth...I think Ryan squeezed my fingers.."
Kirsten had her first genuine smile in almost a week.
"He's coming back to us.."
Kirsten and Sandy had gone down to the cafeteria for some much needed lunch and a caffeine fix. Kirsten would bring Seth home after his visit with Ryan and Sandy would stay. He had his briefcase crammed with files but she doubted he'd even look at any of them.
Seth sat at Ryan's bedside launching into a non-stop monologue extolling the virtues of Canadian television.
"I'm telling you man...it's so funny...I've been watching Jeopardy in French..I know, I know it's a little minty but it can only help my AP French grades...They actually televise their parliament meetings...seriously dude, that's one of the funniest things to watch...and hockey..I'm just really starting to understand the appeal...I just don't get why they throw octopus on the ice...I don't know, maybe it's some weird Canadian custom.."
Seth took a breath and continued.
"You've got to wake up and save me from myself. It's like crack..or so I imagine crack would be like if I've ever done crack..which I haven't and never will, but I need you to wake up before I go over the deep end and turn into a babbling idiot.."
At that point a nurse identifying herself as Denise came into the CCU followed by a plice officer.
Seth stood up, recognizing the officer from a few nights ago.
"Officer..Off...Officer Riley..."
The police officer smiled at Seth..
"Hi Seth, how is Ryan doing..?"
"He's getting better...He's sort of the broody silent type so I don't think this is the best time to talk to him.."
Officer Riley rolled her eyes.
"I'm looking for your parents..I have some information for them.."
Seth became serious.
"What is it..is it about the investigation?"
Officer Riley stepped back into police mode.
"You'll have to ask them later..are they here.?"
Seth nodded.
"They're in the cafeteria.."
The officer thanked Seth and left the room.
Denise finished with Ryan and looked at Seth.
"Your 10 minutes were up about 15 minutes ago, but since your parents are going to be busy for a little while, I'll just forget how long you've been in here.
Seth was subdued as he thanked Denise. He sat back down in the chair and picked up a book from Ryan's bedside table. It was an older John Irving book. Seth knew that "A Prayer for Owen Meaney" was one of his mom's favourite books. He opened the book to where it was marked off and started reading aloud.
Officer Riley walked into the cafeteria and spotted the Cohens sitting at a table. They both looked exhausted. She approached their table.
Kirsten and Sandy looked up.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cohen...I have some news on the truck that crashed into your sons' vehicle. The truck hadn't been registered yet which is why it took us a little longer to find out who it belonged to..."
Sandy stood up, his jaw tight.
"Who...?"
The police officer flipped her note pad.
"Campbell,...Dr. Harold Campbell..."
I borrowed the character of Dr. Harold Campbell from Keesha's story "Trust" It's a great story . Read it if you haven't already done so, re-read it if it's been a while.