THE STRONG MEDICINE
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Georgia groaned. She swirled her neck around before opening her eyes squintedly. A completely white room. "What?" Georgia said confused. She then looked around her and realised she was in the hospital. She tried to turn around. "Ugh!…Oww!" She must have dislocated her left shoulder when she fell. It was tightly strapped in a sling but it still hurt. There were no nurses around and she didn't want to wait around to find out if her mum and dad were ok. She slowly swung her legs around the edge of the bed. She slid off. "Oww!" She looked at her side where she had pulled the glass out. 13 stitches. "Cheesy peeps man." Georgia whined.
She slid on some slippers that were in the corner of the room and snuck out the door pulling her fluids with her. She walked down a short corridor marked 'Trauma'. Searching through the windows she finally caught sight of Kirsten.
"Hey."
"Oh thank god you're ok." Kirsten said from her bed relieved. Georgia waddled over and gave her a hug. Kirsten kissed her head and held her tightly. "You are ok?"
"Yes I'm fine. Just probably gotta wear this thing for a few weeks." She said gesturing to her cast. "And…I have stitches." She showed them off.
"What happened?" Kirsten asked concerned.
"Airborne glass blade." Kirsten's eyes grew wide. "Don't worry; its all Robin Hood, I'm Calvin Klein."
Kirsten laughed and gave her a very confused look. Georgia waved her hand in the air. "It's Cockney. Never mind." She said.
"How's your back?" Georgia asked eagerly.
"Uh…" Kirsten said looking down at her hands.
"Mum, what is it? What's wrong?" Georgia asked taking hold of her hands.
"I still can't move my legs and I might never be able to." Kirsten said looking up.
"You're paralysed?"
Kirsten nodded awkwardly. "From the waist down."
Georgia frowned and choked up. "Mum…gosh I…I don't know what to say…I'm sorry." She said softly before quickly embracing her mum in a tight hug. Kirsten closed her eyes relieved. All she needed was that hug. She gripped her back tightly. "Hey, listen, this doesn't change anything, Okay?" Kirsten told Georgia out of the hug. "You aren't gonna have to take care of me. I'll still be able to do most things myself. But if we paint a room you'll have to help me because it'll only get half done."
Georgia giggled and Kirsten grinned. At least she had some humour abut this. "And I'm going to go to physio."
"Well that's good, right? Some hope lies." Georgia said.
Kirsten changed the subject. "Have you heard anything about your dad?"
"No, haven't they told you anything?" Georgia asked and Kirsten shook her head. "I'll take care of it." Georgia said.
Georgia headed back to her room, picking up some jeans and a t-shirt she found on the way. She felt weird wearing them cos they weren't her clothes and probably off a dead person but they fitted and were clean. Georgia figured that if she went around asking for her dad in a hospital gown the nurses and doctors would just send her back to her room.
So she snuck out and headed to the reception desk. "Hi I'm looking for my dad, Sandy Cohen; he was in the attack in Publix." The lady searched through her files. Georgia thought it was pretty handy that her last name was still McRoberts; they wouldn't be able to trace her on the computer under Cohen. "Right Miss Cohen you're dad is in ward 7; second floor."
"Thank you."
Georgia finally found her dad but not in the condition that she wished. She walked into the private room and Sandy was completely unconscious. The door shut behind her. "Dad?" She said slowly walking over to him. "Dad?" She gulped. She grew out of her skin and ran towards him. "Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, DAD!" She said shaking him and raising her voice. He wouldn't wake up. It was like she was in the fire all over again. Georgia felt a rush of pain rush through her body. She assumed once he got to the hospital he would be ok. She grabbed onto the necklace he had given her which was still safely around her neck. Scared, she backed off.
She gulped then stared blankly at him. Tears started to form in her eyes. What would she do without her daddy? Pretty much all her life Georgia had dreamt of the perfect dad; 'perfect' doesn't even begin to cover Sandy.
Just as the water in her eyes were about to break their boundaries she felt soft hands land on her shoulders. She knew who it was right away. She turned around and buried her head into her Aunty Julie.
Julie held her tightly for a moment letting her cry. "Shhh it's ok. Sandy will be fine. Have you ever known your dad to lose a battle?" Georgia smiled out of the corner of her mouth at Julie. She shook her head. Julie tucked Georgia's tuggy hair behind her ears. "Where's your mum?"
"She's uh…"
"Oh god. She's alright isn't she!" Julie asked panicking.
"Yeah no she's…alive but she…can't walk."
Julie was shocked. "She's in a wheelchair?"
"She will be. The shelves landed on her back."
"Oh my god." Julie said quietly completely in shock. "Don't worry sweetie; I am going to totally take care of you both. The three of you." She corrected herself.
There was a knock at the door and middle-aged man in a long white coat walked in. "Ah, you must be Mr Cohen's daughter and…"
"Family friend." Julie said.
"Right. I'm Dr Philips."
"What's wrong with my dad? Why won't he wake up?" Georgia asked.
"Well we've done a cat scan on your father and it appears that prior to the explosion he was suffering from a brain haemorrhage."
"Wait, prior to the attack?" Julie said.
"Yes. The severe trauma to his head has caused major problems but he was definatly haemorrhaging before that."
"He had a sore head." Georgia said softly as she remembered.
"Yes, there was aspirin in his blood stream and blood thinners like that can be a cause of haemorrhaging."
"When will he wake up?" Georgia asked.
"It's hard to tell. We'll have to do more tests. Depending on the severity that the injuries and haemorrhage caused to his brain, well…he might not wake up at all."
Georgia froze and no one spoke for a minute.
"Thank you doctor." Julie said, and Dr Philips left.
Georgia glanced back at Sandy. "I don't know how I am going to tell mum," She said in a quiet voice.
"I can talk to her if you want." Julie said warmly.
Georgia shook her head. "Could you come in with me though?"
Julie smiled and put her hand on Georgia's shoulder. "Of course I will."
Julie and Georgia walked into Kirsten's room as some nurses made their way out. "Julie?" Kirsten said surprised.
"Hey Kiki." She said walking over to her. "The boys called me."
"Are they here?" Kirsten asked impatiently.
"No. They'll try to drive back as soon as they can though." Kirsten nodded.
"Have you seen your dad?" Kirsten asked smiling. Georgia fell silent. She couldn't speak. How could she tell her mum, who had the perfect marriage and loved her daddy so much, that he is close to dying? Tears welled up in her eyes and she looked down at the ground, biting her thumb.
Kirsten looked at her worriedly. Julie sat down on the bed. "Kiki…Sandy breathed in a lot of smoke, he had a massive blow to the head and he haemorrhaged."
Kirsten shook her head. "No, no, no."
Julie cupped her face to keep her head still. "He's not dead. He's not." Kirsten sighed and smiled a wee bit. "He is unconscious though and there isn't a way to tell if he'll wake up."
Kirsten frowned, looking into space. Julie delicately had placed her arm on Kirsten and used her other to rub her shoulder.
Life without Sandy? Those words didn't belong in the same sentence. Without Sandy, life had no meaning. They loved with a love that was more than love.
Kirsten snapped out of her daydream. She held out her arms for Georgia who came over, sat on the bed and hugged her. Kirsten was giving the hug, not receiving it. There is no drug to cure emotional pain, so it's lucky that hugs are the universal medicine. Georgia started to cry again while burying her head into her mum's shoulder. She didn't want to upset her mum but the thought of losing her dad was more powerful than the ability to hide her pain. Kirsten just silently held her, rubbed her back, kissed her forehead and comforted her baby. Julie rubbed Georgia's back too.
Sometimes it's better to put love into hugs than to put it into words.
Later the nurses had tracked down Georgia and took her back to her room to change her cast. Julie and Kirsten watched her leave. "Will she be ok?" Julie asked.
Kirsten frowned. "Mmm, I think so. She just needs some time."
Julie nodded and paused. "Sandy'll be fine." She said reassuringly.
"He better be." Kirsten said. "Cos god knows, girls need their dads."
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