As promised, Kim returned at 3:00 on the dot. Adam was still not back in his room, but the nurses assured her everything was running smoothly. Adam had handled the collarbone and rotator cuff surgery like a champ so they decided to keep him under a bit longer and work on his hand a little more. Even though the thought of keeping Adam under anesthesia longer worried Kim, she trusted the doctors enough to know when Adam's had enough.
Around dinner time, Adam was rolled back into the room. Will assured her everything went according to plan. His rotator cuff and collarbone looked great and his hand was coming along. It would still need about two more surgeries before it would be fully functional again but they were optimistic that there wouldn't be any permanent damage to it.
The next two weeks went the same. Every few days they would take Adam back for surgery, fixing his hip, ACL and continuing to work on his hand. All going according to plan. His lung had healed enough for the chest tube to be removed and some of the bruising and swelling on his face had started to go down. Kim was now finding herself hopeful more times than doubtful at this point except for one major thing. Adam still hasn't shown any signs of waking up.
The doctors kept assuring her Adam was heading in the right direction and Kim believed them. It was obvious just by looking at Adam that he was healing, but she wouldn't be able to breathe until he actually opened his eyes.
On day 16, Will had entered the room a little quieter than he usually does. Kim picked up on It right away but didn't say anything. After doing his check, he pulled up a chair next to Kim and waited for her to look at him. "What's wrong?" Kim asked cautiously.
"Nothing is necessarily wrong." Will stated. "But I did want to talk to you about something."
"Kim looked at him and nodded, waiting for him to go on.
"He's been on a ventilator now for 16 days. We've tested him multiple times to see if we can take him off of it, but as of right now it's just not in his best interest." Will paused to make sure Kim was understanding what he was saying. "It's not safe to keep a patient on a ventilator for more than three weeks. It can begin to cause some pretty serious complications, including ventilator-assisted pneumonia, which could be disastrous for Adam. We're going to give him a few more days, but I just wanted to keep you up to date on everything and let you know that there have been talks about removing the ventilator and performing a tracheostomy."
Kim's eyes grew. Adam had been making so much progress but his felt like a major setback. To her, a trach tube was much more permanent than a ventilator. The idea alone scared the shit out of her and cause her to longer be able to think straight. "You want to cut a hole in his neck?"
"I know it sounds scary, but it's the best thing to do for him. We have no idea when he is going to wake up or how long he will need help breathing. This way once he wakes up, if he still needs help breathing, he won't have to undergo another procedure. It could really benefit him." Will explained.
Kim was still hesitant about it but she knew it might be what Adam needed. "When would you do it?"
"We'd give him a few more days, but if there's no improvements by day 21, we would like to proceed with it. And if it's ok with you, we'd like to get it on the schedule now, just as a precausion." Will offered her a sad but supportive smile. He knew this was going to be a hard conversation. "You know I wouldn't have suggested it unless I felt he needed it. And hopefully he doesn't, but it's best to be prepared."
"Schedule it." Kim nodded. She hated being the one to make all these decisions, but until Adam was able to do it for himself, the responsibility fell to her.
Will gave her a reassuring pat on the back. "You're making the right choice Kim. Hopefully we can get him breathing on his own in the next few days and this whole conversation will be for nothing."
"Thanks Will. For everything." Kim meant that sincerely. She had no idea how she would ever be able to thank him for everything he's done not just for Adam, but her as well.
"No need to thank me. I'm just doing my job, besides, you guys are family." Will smiled before giving Kim a hug and walking out the door.
Day 18 started the same way the last two days had, with Kim begging Adam to wake up. Her anxiety grew every day as they got closer and closer to day 21. Not just because she didn't want him to need a tracheostomy, but also because they are pushing three weeks now with no signs of Adam waking up. Thats what worried her the most.
She would spend her mornings catching up on paper work, a deal she made with Hank in order to stay by Adams side without having to take days off. Often times she would have company, usually someone from the district but occasionally his sister and a few of his old high school buddies would pop in. She wasn't overly surprised that she hasn't seen Bob yet, but according to his sister 'he was planning on visiting, just hasn't found the time yet.
Around lunch time, Kim was scrolling through a take out menu Jay had sent her. Him and Hailey were heading over at 2:00 and offered to bring her something decent to eat. After she decided, she began texting Jay her order when she started hearing all sorts of alarms going off. Her heart skipped a beat as she stood up and leaned over Adam. "Adam!" She started yelling.
Will and a team of nurses came running in, essentially pushing Kim to the back of the room. She began crying and screaming Adams name, begging anyone to tell her what was going. He began throwing out all sorts of medical terminology that Kim didn't understand until she heard "He's fighting the vent. We have to extubatne him now!" The process itself was pretty quick, but with alarms blaring the whole time, it felt like an eternity.
Once Adam was extubated, Will began manual ventilation until deciding Adam was capable of breathing on his own. His breathing still wasn't entirely where Will would have liked it to be, but it was good enough that he didn't feel a need to re-intubate. Once a mask was placed over Adams mouth and nose to give him a little more assistance and all the chaos of the room died down, Will walked over to the corner of the room where Kim was standing.
She was a sobbing mess. Will pulled her in for a quick hug to try to calm her down. "Kim look at me." He waited till she broke the hug and looked up at him. "I know that was scary as hell, but it's actually a good thing. Look." He pointed over to Adam. "He's breathing on his own. No more ventilator."
"Does that- Does it mean he's waking up?" Kim asked as she walked back over to Adam, still wiping away tears.
"It could be. But only time will tell. Coma's are a tricky thing to navigate. There's no real way to determine when a person is going to wake up." He watched Kim's hope fade with that statement. "But, I would definitely say this is a huge step in the right direction. And on an even brighter side, that tough conversation we had yesterday; All for nothing! I'll cancel the tracheostomy."
That was enough to make Kim's smile return. "Thanks Will."
After Will left, Kim returned to her phone to find two missed calls from Jay and Haley and a text from Jay stating they were on their way and if she decided on lunch. She by no means was hungry right now after what she just witnessed but decided on a chicken Caesar salad that she could eat later. She sent them a quick text with her order, deciding to hold off on Adam's progress until they arrived.
As soon as they walked through the door, Jay stopped dead in his tracks, causing Hailey to walk into him. "Really Jay?" She joked, before seeing the reason Jay stopped.
They shot their eyes over to Kim, "He's breathing on his own?"
"He is!" Kim smiled.
"When!? Why didn't you tell us?" Hailey asked as they placed the food down on a table and walked over to Adam.
"It just happened. He started fighting the ventilator which was super scary, so Will had to extubate and manually ventilate for a few minutes and then he started just started breathing on his own."
"That's great news!" Jay said.
"Definitely a huge sigh of relief. Now he just needs to wake up." Kim sighed. She was so happy Adam was finally breathing on his own again, but she wouldn't be able to relax until Adam opened his eyes.
It didn't take long for Will to come back to the room. Jay had picked up a sandwich for his brother and texted them when they arrived that they were there. "Hey guys. Did you see who decided to quit being lazy and start breathing on his own again?" He joked trying to lighten the mood even more.
"About damn time, huh? It's great to see!" Jay replied as he elbowed his brother.
Will nodded and grabbed his sandwich, having to get back to work. "How much do I owe you?"
"Don't worry about it. It's on us." Hailey responded.
Will thanked them and then continued on his way.
Jay and Hailey hung out for a few more hours. Kim had texted Kevin, Hank and Trudy to update them on Adam's progress, all of which responded with how happy they were.
Once Jay and Hailey left, Kim hung around for a few more hours. Typically she would spend the night, but she had court in the morning for an old case that she absolutely could not miss and she wanted to go home and shower beforehand.
Before leaving she had explained to Adam why she wasn't able to stay and explained the case. She knew Adam worked the case with her, but explaining it out loud helped her prepare for it and it she was really being honest with herself, it was a way to avoid leaving.
Once she got home and put her things down, she quickly hopped in the shower and got ready for bed. She was exhausted but set her alarm for 6 am to give herself a little extra time to wake up in the morning. Around 2 am she woke up to her phone ringing and immediately panicked when she seen it was Dr. Rhodes calling. "Dr. Rhodes? Whats wrong?"
"Sorry to bother you in the middle of the night Kim. I know you had said to call you if anything happened while you weren't here, but I just wanted to let you Adam's awake." Dr. Rhodes explained.
Kim was speechless. Of all nights for him to wake up, he had to pick the one night she couldn't stay. It was such an Adam thing to do, she thought. "He's awake!? Is he ok?"
"He's still really out of it and probably will be for a bit. He didn't say anything, only opened his eyes and looked around for a bit before going back to sleep."
Kims mind became so jumbled that she didn't know how to respond except to say "I'm on my way." And hung up before Conner even had a chance to respond.