Chapter 9 - Dreaming, Floating, Drifting Away.
It was 8:30 at night and Sam was in the hallway of the ICU talking to Carter, Abby and Susan. No one, not even the nurses on call in the unit, saw Alex enter Luka's room. When he asked his mom if he could visit Luka, she had told him that Luka had a seizure and he had gotten sicker and was not able to have visitors for a while. But Alex was determined to see him. In his mind, if he didn't go to him, Luka would die without him having a chance to say goodbye. He waited for the nurses in pediatrics to do their rounds before he sneaked into the elevator and went down to ICU, stealthily making his way to Luka.
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Luka never felt this exhausted. He was unaware of it but he'd been in a coma for two and a half weeks. His temperature dropped and he hadn't seized again. He was no better; he was no worse. He knew at one point, something had happened but he was not sure what exactly. His mind and body seemed to be drifting and he felt like he was floating aimlessly. He still did not know if Alex was okay and Sam was not there anymore. He thought he heard Davor and Rahela talking to him about the family at home. But he couldn't make out everything they were saying. Then there were more voices. Women's voices. One was Elizabeth's and the other, Abby's. Susan had been there too. Like with his brother and sister-in-law, everything they had said sounded muffled. He had tried to focus on what they had been saying but the sweet feeling of sleep kept taking him away. As he drifted along the darkness, he heard new voices; familiar ones that seemed to comfort him.
"Daddy? Daddy! The boy is talking to you Daddy. Aren't you going to answer him?"
It was Jasna, speaking in English, which was not possible. Besides, she was dead.
"Luka, he wants you. He's trying to talk to you,"
Okay, that was Danijela but again, in English? She was dead also.
"I'm here," he tried to say.
"That boy needs you daddy" Jasna said again.
"Luka, he needs a father. Stay with them Luka. They need you," said Danijela.
"Don't you need me?" he asked the voices.
"We've always had you and we are waiting for you to be with us again. But not now,"
"But I hear Marko calling me,"
"That's not Marko. You need to stay where you are. You need to be with that little boy. He and his mother need a family. You need a family," Danijela said, in a comforting voice.
"You are my family," Luka felt confused. He kept hearing "Dad" but it was not Jasna and it wasn't Marko.
"We will always be your family. But while we wait for you here, you need a family on earth,"
In his dream, he saw them smiling at him waving and he felt happy. He knew that he'd see them again someday but now he realized it had been Alex calling.
"Luka, please wake up. Don't die. You saved me, so you have to live," cried Alex. "I need a dad, Luka. I want you to be my dad. Please wake up and be my dad," Alex laid his head near Luka's hand on the bed. Luka reached for him with all his strength. He could feel Alex's soft hair with his fingers. It took every ounce of his energy, but he managed to stroke the bit of hair sticking out of the boy's bandages. Alex bolt upright.
"Luka? Luka, you moved,"
"Alex is alive," Luka thought. He was relieved. He tried to open his eyes. He was so tired but he wanted ... needed to see Alex.
"Holy crap! Mom, mom ... MOM!!!" Alex screamed, running over to his mother.
"Luka's waking up! He ...he ... he touched my .. my head and he was trying to open his eyes! He's trying to open them!"
They all rushed to Luka's bedside.
"Luka? It's Carter. Come on, open your eyes. Come on! That's it. Come on back!"
"Page Dr. Corday," Susan said to the nurse on call.
"No need, I'm here. I was coming up to visit. Is he awake?"
"He's getting there," said Carter with an encouraging tone to his voice.
"Hey, Luka, we're all here and we want you to open your eyes. I know you're tired but it's time to wake up now," Sam urged as she stroked his arm.
Luka blinked a few times and groaned a little then he raised his trembling arm to place his hand to Sam's cheek. He brushed his fingers along her teary cheek and opened his eyes. Carter sighed with relief and gave Abby a hug.
Luka weakly motioned to Alex. He tried to put his arm around him, so Alex moved in closer.
"You did it. You heard me and you woke up,"
Luka slowly nodded. He was glad to see that Sam and Alex were alright but waking up had delivered him into a world of pain he had never before experienced.
Sam stood there and smiling at the sight of the two men she loved as they held each other. She bent over and kissed Luka's cheek and whispered "I love you,"
"Okay, let me in here for a moment to have a look. Elizabeth checked his pupils, his blood pressure and Susan checked his pulse and temperature. All the readings had improved to everyone's relief. "I suppose you'd like that tube out now," said Elizabeth and Luka nodded.
"Your vitals aren't the greatest but I think you can manage breathing on your own. It's been in for almost 3 weeks so you throat is going to be very sore. Now, how's the pain? Is it a 10?" she asked Luka and he nodded.
"I'm sure it is. You my dear are very smashed up indeed. We'll give you something to manage your pain. Do you remember what happened?" Luka managed a slight nod then looked at Sam and reached for her. She looked strange almost guilty and he wanted sobadly to tell her how much he loved her and that it was none of what happened was her fault. Looking over at Elizabeth he pointed to the tube.
"Yes, right ... let's get that out shall we?" Elizabeth called on the ICU nurse and briefed her on what needed to be done then she set out to inform Dr. Anspaugh and Dr. Dean and his family that Luka was conscious.