OOOOOOO
See part 1 for disclaimer…
Part 5
OOOO
Harm
"Is she back up yet?" Tessa asks, when she returns from using the pay-phone.
Paula shakes her head, but asks, "Did you manage to speak to Mrs. Bailey's doctors."
Tessa nods her head, telling us, "Yes, and I think I'm starting to understand a bit more about this all, now. The doctor was very upset when I told him about Carol-Anne, but he explained to me that Carol-Anne had been eager to find out about her Mother's condition when she was at the centre, today. She wanted to know if her Mother was going to be out of hospital in time for her birthday, next week…"
"The doctor told her no," Paula figures the answer out.
Tessa nods, confirming her suspicion.
"Yeah, he told her that as much as he'd like to, he just couldn't discharge Cheryl when her condition was still so fragile. He told Carol-Anne that she was welcome to come and spend the day with her mother at the center, but there was just no question of her leaving in-patient care. He really didn't realize just how upset Carol-Anne was about the news he gave her."
Paula sighs and drops her head into her hands. Rafael leans forward and places a hand to the back of her neck, rubbing comfortingly.
When Paula has pulled herself back together, she looks to where the boys are still sitting next to them.
"Kev," she tells the oldest boy, "I want you to take Jeremy and Jimmy home. There's no sense in us all waiting for news…Raffie, do you want to go with them?"
But the boys do not give Rafael a chance to say anything.
"No, I'm staying here…"
"I'm not going anywhere…"
"I'm not going home…"
Paula gives a sigh, but doesn't seem to have to energy to argue. Rafael takes her hand within his, communicating his intentions as well. The group settles down to wait for the doctors to return Carol-Anne to the ICU.
OOOO
Mac
Some of us have dozed off by the time that Carol-Anne's doctor reappears.
Once Paula is awake and alert again, he tells her, "Good news, Mrs. Mason. Carol-Anne's brain function seems to be intact. Not strong, like we'd expect if a person were awake, but strong for an individual who presents in a vegetative state. At this point, we cannot tell why exactly she isn't responding to stimuli, but we do know that her brain functioning isn't permanently impaired."
"So what do we do now, doctor?" Rafael speaks up, on behalf of his wife, who seems lost for words just now.
"I'm afraid, other than what we are already doing," the doctor tells us, "there's little else we can do. We're going to continue the treatment and monitor her condition, but Carol-Anne's going to have to do the rest on her own."
And with those monumental words, we are all left on our own again.
OOOO
It is nearly five by the time we get to Harm's place.
"Hey," he invites me in, softly, "Why don't you come in and crash for a while?"
"No," I shake my head, "I'm just going to go home, shower and get ready for…"
"Mac," Harm objects, "you really can't go into work after getting almost no sleep, all last night…and we're just back from investigation…"
"Actually," I tell him, "I was just going to go into headquarters, request some time off from the General and go back to the hospital…"
Harm seems surprised I'm going to request time off, but then again, I've had a bad enough time over the past few weeks and now with Carol-Anne, I really don't think I could continue to function at all if I tried to get on with work as usual. Maybe in times past, but I really can't, now. I'm past pretending that I'm made of tin and don't have emotions. After Paraguay, the un-death of Webb and the time I spent in counseling, I'm past the point where I just bottle my emotions away. The past year has been a hard one, dredging up all of the past issues I stuffed away inside me all of these years and working through them, resolving them. There's no way I can go back to hoarding my emotions. It's the pathway to self-destruction.
"Good," Harm nods, "do you want me to come with you, to see the General?"
"Yes," I tell him, "because you should ask for some time off, as well. At least today, so you can catch up on your sleep…"
"Maaac…" he goes to object, I can tell by the way he is drawing my name out like that.
"I mean it, Harm," I cut him off, "We go in there, report on the investigation findings, explain what has happened since and request some personal time. Believe me, trying to carry on as normal just isn't going to work. Not when we're both this tired."
There's no way he can convince me otherwise, I can see the dark rings underneath his eyes, they're as clear as day.
Eventually he relents.
"Okay," he nods, "but if I'm taking time off, I want to go to the hospital with you."
I can't argue with that point. He's about as involved in this as I am. If our positions were switched, I'd want him to allow me to support him as much as I could. And with Mattie back to living with her father, he's taken more of an interest in how things have been going for Carol-Anne.
"Okay," I nod, "I'll meet you at headquarters later, then?"
"Okay," he agrees, "see you at 0730?"
"See you then," I smile and turn to make the journey home.
OOOO
Harm
"Enter!"
Well, it's 0732 and Mac and I are outside the General's office and luckily he is able to see us straight away.
He seems very please with the job we did on our last assignment.
"Very messy business, very messy," he shakes his head, "But the two of you managed to handle it well. The SECNAV is very pleased, as well. The two of you seem worn out…I take it the case affected you out of work hours, too?"
"Yes, Sir," I nod, telling our CO, "As you said, it was very messy business, even before we were brought into it and the Colonel and I had to work hard to make sure things didn't degrade further…The details of the case itself are disturbing enough, Sir."
The General nods his head.
"Sir," Mac takes her turn, "may the Commander and I respectfully request a favor?"
"You two need some personal time…separate personal time, of course," the General is not only on the ball today, but also showing traces of humor.
Regretfully,Macand I are in no mood for his humor today.
"Uh, yes, Sir,"I tell him, "of course, but…"
"What the Commander is trying to say, Sir, is that upon our arrival at Norfolk, last night, our presence was requested at the hospital in Georgetown. A friend of mine is in a very serious condition there and unfortunately the Commander got dragged along for the ride…"
"I chose to attend, Sir,"I interrupt, "This is a friend of my own, also, though I do not know her as well as the Colonel…"
"Oh," the General's jolly mood disappears as quickly as it materialized, "I'm sorry to hear that…an accident, Colonel?"
"You could say that, Sir,"she chosesher words carefully, "Although we do not know all the details involved, it appears to be a case of attempted suicide…"
The General seems taken aback, but manages to speak through his shock.
"Very, very sorry to hear that, Colonel, Commander…Of course, take the time you need, I'll try to make do here without the two of you for as long as I can. And again, my sincere regrets. Do let me know how your friend is doing, though."
"Thank you, Sir," we both salute him as he dismisses us and retreat to our offices, to wrap up what work we can and pass the rest off to other staff-members. Luckily all members of staff are currently here, so the General is not even more short-handed than he has been over the past couple of weeks.
OOOO
"Any change?" Mac asks, when we join Paula and Rafael, who have been at the hospital since we left, last night.
"A slight improvement in her vital signs," is the good news, "but only slight."
Over the next hour, Mac and I manage to convince Paula and Rafael to go home and get some sleep and see the other kids. They finally agree, when Tessa arrives back and tells them the same thing. Hopefully, they won't be back before midday and will manage to get some good sleep. In the meantime, we'll keep an eye out for the doctor on duty, who began rounds a couple of hours ago. With a last promise to call if there is any more important news, we bid the Masons goodbye.
A couple of hours pass slowly and I catch Mac dozing off once or twice. Finally, the nurse comes to us with some news we can really digest.
"Dr Thomas has detected a marked improvement in Carol-Anne's EEG readings," she tells us, "He'll be out in just a minute to talk to you, but I think it's safe to say that this is what we've been waiting for."
The doctor tells us as much.
"There's been an improvement in Carol-Anne's condition. An EEG has showed us that her brain activity is much more like those of a person unconscious, rather than that of a person comatose. I think the medication may be finally leaving her system. In cases of overdose involving painkillers like Carol-Anne's it is common for the patient to lapse into coma and for their breathing to shut down. That's the effect painkillers are supposed to have upon the Central Nervous System. But in huge quantities, it will have a devastating effect upon the brain stem, which controls breathing and other important bodily functions. But it's always difficult to know if brain function has been permanently compromised, especially if oxygen deprivation is possible, like in this case. We've continued treatment overnight and I think we're now starting to see the benefits. However, it's going to take longer to ascertain whether any secondary organ damage has taken place."
"But if she's emerging from the coma, that's good, right?" I ask then feel a little foolish; of course that is a good sign.
The doctor seems to understand what a long night we've all had and smiles, sympathetically.
"Yes," he confirms, nodding, "it's a very good sign. Are any of you in touch with Carol-Anne's mother?"
"I am," Tessa tells him, explaining, "At the moment Mrs. Bailey is a patient at a psychiatric care facility in Virginia. But I'm in contact with her doctors, who are breaking the news gradually to her. I'm sure they'll be very glad to hear that Carol-Anne's condition is improving. If you'll excuse me, I think I should go and make the call."
As Tessa disappears, Mac and I talk to the doctor for a minute or two longer, about the time-period we're looking at for Carol-Anne to wake up within.
"I really can't say for certain," Doctor Thomas tells us, "But I suspect that she should regain consciousness within the next day or two."
"So you don't think that it will be within the next few hours?" Mac asks him.
"It would be unlikely," the doctor shakes his head, "given the rate of her recovery so far. Her last exam was last night, which Doctor Hanson conducted, but I suspect the improvement has been taking place since then. I think she should be unconscious for another day or so, but perhaps we might be able to take her off the ventilator as soon as tomorrow."
We both thank the doctor then debate about whether we should call Paula and Rafael. It's only 1020 and if they're getting some sleep, it probably wouldn't do them any harm to put the call off for an hour or so. In the end, once we've discussed it with Tessa, we agree to give it until 1130 then call them. There might even possibly be more good news before then.
OOOO
Paula
"Where are the Colonel and the Commander?" I ask, as I spot Tessa in the waiting area.
"They're just spending some time with Carol-Anne," Tessa tells me, "The doctor said they could go in just after Colonel MacKenzie called you. But they'll only be a couple of minutes more. They knew you and Raffie would want to see her right away."
She's right and Harm and Mac appear just a couple of minutes later.
"How is she?" I ask Mac, nervously.
"She's looking better," she tells me, "the doctor thinks we might even be able to take her off the ventilator as soon as tomorrow. And he seems to think it is only a matter of time before she wakes up, if her brain activity continues to improve as it has since last night."
Beside me, I hear a whoosh of a breath being exhaled. After a second, I realize that it actually came from me. Rafael puts his arms around my waist to steady me as I get my faculties back.
"Oh, thank God…"
"She's going to be okay," Raffie comforts me, softly, "she'll be alright, Paula."
"Can we go in to see her?" I ask, eagerly and Mac nods and shows Rafael and I the way.
"She does look better, doesn't she?" I ask Mac, as we enter the room.
Last night she looked so pale, so lifeless (I suppose she essentially was, or at least would have been without the aid of the machines doing her body's work for her. Now, her skin has more color to it, though her dark hair is still a stark contrast against it. I brush the soft dark strands where they lie, framing her face. Mac's probably been doing the same thing since she and Harm were let in here.
"She looks much better," Mac nods in agreement.
She pauses for a couple of minutes, studying the pre-teen girl before bringing herself back to action and leaving.
"I'll just be outside," she tells us, quietly, "Doctor Thomas said that he'd come and check on her again in an hour or so."
I nod, but just go about fussing over Carol-Anne, the only thing I can think of doing in order to keep my hands busy.
OOOO
Mac
"Did you call the center?" I ask, rejoining Harm and Tessa in the waiting room.
Tessa nods.
"The doctors were very encouraged to hear the good news," she reveals, "They've been trying to break the news slowly to Cheryl, so it doesn't overwhelm her. For now, she only needs to know Carol-Anne's current state. There'll be time to let her know just how serious her condition was, but not until she's more stable and able to handle it. But I think that we need to start considering the best way to help Carol-Anne."
Harm and I nod. We both know that this is going to be an exceedingly difficult and long path.
"I'd like to ask you a favor," Tessa asks, taking both Harm and I by surprise, "It's not that Paula hasn't been doing the best she can, but she's so busy with caring for the other children, too…Mac, could you take Carol-Anne for a while?"
It takes me a while to find my breath.
"You want me to take her home with me?" I stare at the woman, as if thinking that she can't possibly be serious.
"Just until we can get her home with her Mom," Tessa adds.
"But we have no idea how long that'll be," I point out.
"I wouldn't ask if I didn't think this was the best thing for her," Tessa tells me, "She's going to be in the hospital for a while, but once she's ready to be released…you have a close bond with her, you seem to understand what she's going through…"
"I come from a broken family, myself," I tell her, but question, "but I work full-time. How can I possibly provide her with the stability she needs, right now?"
"Is there any way you can take some time off work?" Tessa asks, "Of course, you will be compensated for it…"
"It's not about the money," I tell her, "If I take her home with me, how on earth am I going to help her get through this? She tried to take her own life…her burden has just increased substantially. This is going to stay with her forever."
Tessa just looks at me as if she doesn't know quite what to say.
"I can't answer that for you," she eventually speaks up, quietly, "At this moment, I can only tell you that you are the best thing for her and that I can't find any other alternative other than handing her over to a new set of strangers…"
And so, we just sit in silence, as I pour through all of the conflicting thoughts in my head.
"Alright," I tell her, after a few minutes to think, "Okay…"
TBC – The story will be continued in 'Homeward Bound.' Working on it as we speak, shouldn't be too long, now…Jules