Hey, guys! Back with another chapter for you.
Disclaimer: Bob's Burgers and its characters belong to Loren Bouchard
A Cry in the Park
Chapter 8
After eight days in the hospital, Louise was beginning to perk up. She had been too exhausted to do anything but sleep, now she was able to sit up and make conversation.
The doctors and nurses, and her parents, had been okay with Louise constantly sleeping, for it made it easier for them to treat her. Bob knew Louise, he knew she was stubborn, and afraid of hospitals – if Louise didn't want to have blood taken, she wasn't going to have blood taken. But the state the girl was in made her hyperbaric treatments and trips to the operating room much easier. Plus, as Cabell had said, sleep was one of the best things for her. They had even tried to wake her a few times, but Louise could not physically stay awake, so it was decided to let the girl wake up by herself.
For that first week, Louise slept while she was taken to the hyperbaric chamber three times a day; she slept while her fasciotomy dressings were changed every other day; she slept as she was taken off the dialysis; she slept while she had debridement surgery on her arms, legs and back thrice that week; she slept while tissue was taken from her hips and buttocks for skin grafts on her arms and legs, hands and feet; she slept during her daily bed-baths, she slept while her hair was washed and brushed, she slept while her teeth were cleaned twice a day, she slept while more skin grafts were placed on her back, and she slept while her pressure wounds were cleaned daily.
Because Louise slept so much, the family's visits consisted of sitting around and talking in whispers. On the occasions the girl did wake up, she was unaware of her surroundings, and she didn't have the energy to do anything except lie there.
She was able to eat, and every morning, Louise was given either porridge or cereal, which she would sleepily eat a few mouthfuls of, and she would do the same with lunch and dinner, which usually consisted of soup or chicken broth. She was given food and nutrients through an IV line.
Throughout the day, she was given cups of Oral Rehydrating Solution, along with ice chips and ice lollies, all of which she gladly accepted.
For the rest of the week, the restaurant had been closed; Bob had reopened it the following Monday, five days after the rescue, and it had been shockingly busy. He knew why; every customer that came in asked him about Louise.
The Belcher family had now gotten themselves into a routine; Bob and Linda would wake Gene and Tina, give them breakfast and see them off to school, and then one parent would open the restaurant, and the other parent would go to the hospital. The working parent would close the diner at three p.m., pick up the kids' from school, and they would all go to the hospital. After a few hours, the working parent would take the kids' home, give them dinner and put them to bed. They would then go back to the hospital, and the other parent would go home to sleep. The next day, they would switch over.
It had been a struggle for the first few days, but they had soon gotten into the swing of it. Running a busy restaurant on their own wasn't easy, but it needed to be done; unfortunately, money was something they had to have.
While all of this was going on, several local and major newspapers in New Jersey were keeping their readers updated with Louise's recovery and progress. Different reporters and journalists interviewed as many people involved in the rescue as they could, so as to have something new to print. Many people were still very invested in the story, and they wanted to see how Louise was doing. Due to social media, and the fact that Louise was pushed into the well, the story was able to get international attention, reaching many major countries.
Most of the volunteers were happy to talk about their experiences, and how glad they were that Louise was out, and that everything was going back to normal.
Just as before, as not much was happening, only short updates could be given; as the doctors and nurses were complying with the Belchers' request to not speak to the press, there was little in the way of new information. Mainly, the little stories would be re-tellings of the rescue; Louise's current condition and that there was still a chance for amputation; that messages were still coming in from all over the country; that the trust fund for the hospital bills was still in operation and here was where they could donate, and all of the compassion that was shown during the previous week.
Gene and Tina had returned to school that Monday, five days after Louise had been rescued. It felt surreal to be back, but also, they was glad that everything was finally getting back to normal.
When they had stepped through the gates that morning, a few of the kids surrounded them, asking all sorts of questions about Louise. It was strange to see all these kids so concerned over their scary little sister, but the Belcher children happily obliged, and told the kids what they wanted to know, and they were both heartily welcomed back into class.
"How's she doing?" asked a girl Tina did not know.
"She'll be okay," was all Tina said before sitting down. Louise's condition wasn't really spoken about, either at home or the hospital; they were just taking everything one day at a time, and whatever happens, happens.
At break time, they were accosted by Mr. Frond.
"How are you guys doing?" he asked.
"We're fine," said Tina.
"Are you sure? Things like this can affect you, too."
"We're fine," said Gene.
"Okay, well, just remember; if you ever need to talk, stop by my office. We can use my new therapy doll, 'Expressing Yourself Jeff.'"
"That's a terrible name," Gene observed, raising an eyebrow. Frond looked quite hurt.
"There are no names ending with "elf!" Jeff was the closest one!" he whined, before composing himself, "so, again, feel free to talk to me or Jeff any time."
Both of them left school that day weighed down with dozens of get-well cards for Louise.
Now, on a Thursday morning, eight days after she had been freed, Louise awoke. She felt uncomfortable and tried to stretch unsuccessfully, before looking around. Instantly, she knew she was in hospital, and she, looking down, saw that she was connected to IV's. Her arms and legs felt a bit stiff.
Lucy noticed that she was awake at the same time Robin entered carrying a breakfast tray.
"Good morning, Louise" Robin smiled as she and Lucy approached her. She placed the tray on the little, movable table beside the bed and moved quickly, for Louise was trying to sit up. "Oh, no, honey, don't do that. Here.." she pressed the button next to the bed, and it adjusted itself so that Louise was sitting up. Her hand quickly reached up, and when she felt her bunny ears, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Robin then moved the table so it was over Louise's lap. On the tray was a simple breakfast of porridge, a glass of water, and a little bowl of apple slices and grapes; they were keeping her on a diet that was high in water content. Louise thought it was the most wonderful sight she had ever seen. The food was gone in an unsurprisingly short amount of time, and now that she was awake and aware of her surroundings, they began to fill her on everything that had happened.
"How are you feeling?" Robin asked the most important question.
"Okay," muttered Louise, rubbing her eyes, her voice a little hoarse from disuse. "Can I have another drink?" she asked, and Lucy gave her a tall glass of water, which Louise drank in two gulps, and Lucy went to refill it.
"Louise, my name is Robin, and myself and Lucy here have been taking care of you. You've been in hospital for just over a week, and you've been sleeping for practically all that time. Do you remember being pulled out of the well?"
Flashbacks of pain, intense fear, strange voices, and a constant hammering noise came rushing into Louise's head. "Yeah," she said, as Lucy gave the glass back to her.
"And do you remember coming to hospital, to the emergency room?" That was vague, as everything had happened very quickly. Oddly enough, she remembered at how good it had felt to have her legs stretched out after almost a week of the opposite. Louise remembered a lot of people leaning closely over her, she remembered needles, and having her head strapped down onto the bed, amongst other things. "Yeah," she repeated.
"Okay, what else do you remember?" That was tricky. Louise remembered vaguely being moved about a lot that night; she remembered the X-ray machine, and the CT scans, and that needle being pressed into her neck. She couldn't remember anything else, and she said all of this.
"Your mother will be here soon," said Lucy.
"You've had some surgery," Robin told her. "Your left ankle is broken, and you have a fractured coccyx; your tail bone. You've had what's called a fasciotomy, to help relieve pressure in your arms and legs, and you've also had some debridement surgery, where we remove dead skin."
"What?" Louise had thrown the blanket up and stared at her legs. The swelling had gone down, but her toes were still completely black. Her arms and hands had regained their usual colour. She was lucky in the fact that her fasciotomy wounds had recently been closed, and now black stitches ran down both sides of her legs from knee to ankle, and both sides of the bottom half of her thighs, and the tops of her feet. Her inner forearms had wavy stitches from elbow to wrist, and also on the backs of her hands. Louise gaped at the limbs, horrified.
"It's looking much better," Robin assured her. "It's improved significantly since you arrived." She decided to tell her about the chance of amputation, because the doctors were still uncertain whether or not they could avoid it. "Louise," she began gently. "They might have to amputate if the circulation doesn't improve, but we hope not to." The only thing Louise heard was the word 'amputate,' and she was shocked. She didn't want that, didn't want them to cut her arms and legs off. The very thought of it horrified her; living the rest of her life in a wheelchair, or limping around with prosthetics; she didn't want that. She felt like screaming; if she had just raised her arms, then she would have gotten out immediately; she would be fine, carrying on with her life as normal, and not be lying in a hospital bed staring at toes that looked like they were about to fall off.
"Don't cut them off!" she gasped, as Lucy gently pulled the blanket out of her hand and replaced it. "I need my legs! You can't cut them off!"
"We might not need to," Robin repeated. "As I said, you have improved lots, so we might not." Upon learning that there was a slight chance, just a slight one, was enough to calm Louise down somewhat.
Fortunately, at that moment, Linda arrived, looking immensely relieved when she saw Louise awake and sitting up.
"Louise, you're awake!" she cried, rushing over to Louise's bedside. "Oh, my baby, I'm so glad you're all right!" Linda hugged her tightly, before stepping back. Louise had not hugged her mother at first, but after a few seconds, her arm slowly crept up and wrapped itself around Linda. "How are you feeling, sweetie?" she asked.
"Okay, I guess, but I'm still tired actually," said Louise, still clutching the empty glass.
"You shouldn't be," chuckled Linda, "you slept for practically a week straight. To be fair, I felt like doing that last week, as well," said the mother, her eyes misting over slightly.
"Didn't you sleep?" asked Louise.
"We didn't," said Linda."That first night was the worst; well, so were the others..."
"Other nights?" Louise asked. "How – how long was I down there?" It was then that Linda realised that Louise had no idea how long she had been trapped, and how could she? Being stuck underground, she would have had trouble distinguishing between night and day.
"Five days," Linda told her and Louise's jaw dropped. She would never had guessed she had been trapped for that long; it felt to her like six weeks, but she would have said two or three days at the most if she had to be logical. She had tried to keep track of the days, by checking the light from the well opening; but when she had no idea how long she'd slept for, it became difficult.
"Really?" she asked and Linda nodded.
"Yeah, they drilled non stop to get you out." Louise was about to ask why it took so long when Lucy brought in a cup of ice chips; which were to prevent her from getting ill from drinking too quickly. Linda noted that Louise actually ate them, rather than sucking on them.
"What took so long?" she asked, and Linda hesitated slightly.
"They just really struggled with the drilling; it would take them a whole day to dig about ten inches, but then they got better stuff. They had to dig the last foot by hand, which took more than a day. But they got you out," she smiled, trying to look at the positives. "Do you feel up to having visitors?" she asked, "there are a lot of people who want to see you."
"Like who?" Louise popped another ice chip into her mouth.
"All the people who got you out."
"Huh?"
"There werea lot of people who worked to get you out," she told her. "And if you want them to visit, then it's up to you."
"Okay, I guess," said Louise.
"Okay, well, I'll go and let them know later," she said, and Louise nodded. Linda felt that Louise had dealt with enough information for today, so she stopped talking about the rescue, and they just chatted until lunch time, and Linda was relieved to see that Louise's appetite had returned.
"Where's everyone else? Dad, Tina..."
"Tina and Gene are at school, and your father's at the restaurant," said Linda.
"What? Why is Dad at the restaurant?"
"Well, we need to keep it open at lunchtime, sweetie," said Linda. "When your brother and sister finish school, they'll all come here to see you."
"Louise," said Robin, when the girl had finished eating, "we're going to take you for your hyperbaric chamber treatment now."
"My what?"
"It's nothing to worry about," she assured her. "You just lie on this bed inside a chamber, and it releases oxygen; it helps to speed up the healing process." It didn't sound too bad to Louise, and Linda accompanied her to the chamber.
Louise soon changed her mind when she saw the chamber for herself. She didn't want to go in there; she didn't know why, she just knew that she would rather not.
Of course, she had no choice; her broken ankle, combined with the fact that she was still too weak to walk, ascertained that Louise would not be able to avoid going in the chamber.
Just as before, her bed was slid into the giant clear tube, and the IV's were reattached to her. Louise could only look around, wondering what was going to happen.
"Okay, Louise," came Robin's voice from a small speaker inside the tube. "We're going to turn on the oxygen now."
Almost at once the oxygen began to pressurise inside the tube and Louise gasped at the feeling in her ears; she felt as if they had popped, and she brought up her hands to cover them.
For a while, she tried to concentrate on the television that was playing cartoons above her, but being in this tube reminded her too much of being stuck in the well and she did not like it. The glass casing helped, as it did not make the chamber seem so small, but, once again, she was in an enclosed space with no way of getting out. She placed her hand on the side of the chamber, and took a deep breath. It was very strange; she was in this closed acrylic tube, and yet she could breathe, but she still couldn't relax. She felt as though she was underwater.
"How are you doing in there?" came Robin's gentle voice, and Louise looked over to where she was sat next to her, occasionally looking over at a computer screen.
"I don't like it," she admitted, her voice still hoarse.
"I'm sorry, Louise, but we need to do this," she smiled apologetically. "It's going to increase the blood flow. You're going to have three sessions of these a day." Louise did not answer her and looked back up at the television.
"Hey, Louise," came a voice to her left and Louise turned her head to see her mother standing there.
"Mom, get me out," she croaked, trying not to panic. She couldn't stop thinking about the well; about how she had said the very same thing to her mother so many times that she'd lost count. She never wanted to be in an enclosed space ever again.
"It's alright," Linda said, sitting down next to her daughter. "This is gonna help you; it's gonna make you better," she smiled comfortingly as she laid eyes on Louise's damaged toes. She knew she had to remain calm, because if she panicked, then Louise surely would, and she was already anxious enough. "A few more of these and you're gonna be fine," she assured her.
"Mom, I don't like it in here," she told her, and Linda felt her stomach clench; as a mother, she wanted nothing more than to protect her children, but she couldn't do anything about this, and it hurt. It hurt to see her daughter like this.
"I know, sweetie," she soothed. "But it'll be over before you know it. Talk to me, about anything," she began to talk about mundane topics, trying to take Louise's mind off of being in the chamber. To her delight, it began to work, as Louise started talking to her.
To her relief, the session was finally over and she was removed from the tube. Her ears had popped again, but Louise didn't care. She was just glad to be out, she thought, as she was placed back on the gurney and taken back to her room.
Linda resumed her seat as Louise was placed back into her bed and covered over. She reached over onto the bedside table, and picked up Bakeneko, handed him to Louise, who took the toy and held him close.
"Where's Kuchi Kopi?" she asked. "They didn't leave him down there, did they?"
"No, they brought him up; he's right here," Linda picked up Kuchi Kopi from the night stand, and gave him to her daughter. Louise took the night light, glad to see it again. She noticed that her bedside table was full of cards, many of them handmade, bright and colourful, but some of them were store bought.
"What are these?" she gestured to them, and Linda picked one up.
"These are get-well cards from your friends at school, sweetie," she handed it to Louise, who examined the front. Instantly, she knew it was from Regular-sized Rudy; it had a drawing of the two of them hunting Burobu.
The others appeared to be from the rest of her class, but before she could look at them, Robin approached her.
"Okay, Louise," Robin said, "we're just going to clean your back wounds." She helped Louise sit up and parted her hospital gown.
Again, the two nurses cleaned the pressure wounds, as they had done every day, which were looking much better. Louise cringed as the saltwater solution touched the sores. Linda once again jumped in and started talking to Louise to distract her, and she hissed in pain every so often as she answered her mother.
"There you go," Robin smiled when they had finished, "all done."
"Yeah," said Louise, grimacing. "Mom, I'm thirsty," before Linda could blink, Lucy had popped up as if from nowhere with another cup of ice chips.
Despite all of the sleep she had recently had, Louise felt rather tired, and she rested back against her pillow, letting the now empty glass be taken from her. Soon enough, she was asleep, with Bakeneko tucked under her arm, and Kuchi Kopi in her other hand.
Linda gently stroked her head, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. Seeing Louise awake and talking was such a relief that she almost felt like crying. It meant that she was improving; seeing her child lying in a hospital bed, too exhausted to even move, was one of the most horrible things in the world. But now, she was getting better.
While her daughter slept, Linda pulled a magazine out of her bag, moved to the chair in the corner, and began to read. After the first few days, they had quickly learnt to bring some form of entertainment with them, and to keep out of the nurses' way.
Back at the restaurant, it was 3pm, and so Bob switched the lights off, and locked the doors, heading for the car.
It had gotten less and less busy as the days went by, and Bob suspected it was because he didn't talk about Louise. The reason he suspected this was because every time someone stepped through the door, one of the first things out of their mouths was a question about Louise. Every time Bob simply answered, "she's okay," and nothing else, their faces would drop, and most of them would not return the following day.
Still, the place had picked up a lot of business, which he was extremely grateful for. He was also grateful to Teddy for offering to help out once again; he had fared much better this time around.
Once Bob had collected Gene and Tina, they made their way to the hospital. Things had gone back to normal for them, as well; Tina had resumed trying to get Jimmy Jr to notice her, and Gene had gone back to constantly plinking away on his keyboard. Just like the customers, the students had left them alone now that the excitement was over and done with. Regular sized Rudy asked for daily updates about his friend, as, of course, did Millie. Both of the Belcher children were careful not to reveal anything telltale to Millie, lest she take it upon herself to 'help' Louise.
When Bob, Gene and Tina arrived, Louise and Linda were not there.
"Where are they?" Tina asked, looking at the empty bed.
"Louise has gone for a hearing test, and your mother went with her," Lucy told them, adjusting some of the monitors around Louise's bed.
"Hearing test?" Bob looked confused, before remembering. "Oh, right, the drilling."
"Is Louise going to go deaf?" asked Gene, as the three of them sat down by the bed.
"I don't know," said Bob. "I'm sure she can hear, it's just listening to that for days on end must have done some damage." Tina supposed that a partially deaf Louise was better than a fully deaf Louise, and so she said nothing. Gene remained quiet as well, he wasn't too concerned about the supposed lack of hearing; after all, hearing aids were invented for a reason, so there was really no reason for Louise to be too affected by this. Gene had to bite back a grin as he pictured Louise getting in trouble at school, and casually flicking her hearing aids off.
They couldn't ponder this for too long, however, as Louise and Linda returned, accompanied by Cabell and a man they did not know.
Louise's face broke into a big smile when she saw the rest of her family, and her siblings rushed over to hug her. Bob followed, and hugged her gently when Gene and Tina had let go.
Linda turned to her family as Louise was taken off the gurney and placed back into her bed. "There's moderate hearing loss," she said to Bob, "and they won't know yet whether she'll need hearing aids."
"Well, we can manage that," said Bob, as Cabell approached them.
"So, according to our results, Louise has something called bilateral hearing loss in both ears," he began. "Hers is asymmetrical, which means that there's better hearing in one ear than the other. She has a 40% loss in her right ear, and a 60% loss in her left. Now, there are problems that come with this type of hearing loss."
"Like what?" asked Bob.
"Some people have trouble telling where sounds come from, some can't understand speech when there's lots of background noise. With Louise, we won't be able to tell right away, as we would need to see her in those environments. However, if the need arises, she can always be fitted with hearing aids."
"Okay," Bob couldn't see Louise agreeing to that, but he kept quiet as they took seats around Louise's bed.
When Louise had been situated in her bed again, Cabell, along with the other man, approached her.
"Hello, Louise," Cabell smiled. "Are you feeling any better?"
"Little bit," answered Louise. "When can I go home?"
"I'm afraid that won't be for a while; you're going to need to build up your strength first, and we're going to start now. This is Bradley Anderson; he's a physical therapist. We're just going to do a few exercises that'll help you."
Bradley Anderson, a rather short man with dark hair and a matching beard sat down on Louise's right side.
"Now, Louise, the first thing I'd like you to do is flex your fingers," he began, focusing his eyes on Louise's hands. Louise didn't say anything, and instead looked at her hands. The fingers were curled into loose fists, and they didn't seem to want to move, and so Louise found it rather difficult. It took a while, but she managed to stretch her fingers out, it had hurt, but now the pain had stopped. "Great," Anderson grinned, "now, can you curl them back up again?" Louise didn't really see the point, but she silently complied.
After she had done that a few more times, Anderson got Louise to then flex and turn her wrists, before beginning an exercise that was called "swing the pendulum." "What you do for this, is you gently let the arm hang over the side of the bed, and slowly start to rotate your hand, first one way, and then the other, for about thirty seconds each way." Louise had to stop less than ten seconds in because it hurt so much. She felt really embarrassed, but the therapist said nothing, and neither did her family. She wished they weren't all there, watching her. "It's all right," Anderson assured her, "we'll take a rest for a few seconds, and then we'll carry on; it'll take some time to get used to it."
While Louise was struggling with her first round of physical therapy, Linda had left the hospital, and made her way over to the fire station. She entered through the double doors, and made her way to the reception area, where a young woman was sitting behind the desk.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" she smiled.
"Yes, I'm looking for Patrick... Baker, and Simon Landon," Linda struggled to remember their names for a moment, but the lady didn't mind. "I'd like to speak with them, and thank them."
"One moment, please," she said as she rose gracefully from her seat, and left through a side door. When she left, Linda wandered about the room, looking around her. It was a large room with tiled flooring; there were two sofas against one side, with a small coffee table bearing a vase of flowers, and several fluorescent ceiling lights made the room look very bright and cold.
The receptionist returned just them, with two men following her. Patrick and Simon recognised Linda immediately, and they both approached her, looking happy. They both looked a lot less stressed out since she had last seen them.
"Hello!" Patrick grinned, and Linda just had to pull them into a hug.
"I just wanted to thank you again for what you did," she said, trying not to cry.
"We're just glad she got out of there," said Simon.
"Louise is feeling better now," Linda told them, "so if you wanted, you both could come and see her sometime; I'm sure she'd like to thank you herself."
"Well, we'd love to," said Patrick. "I'm not sure just when right now, but we'll definitely come and see her."
"That's great," Linda smiled.
"We'd like to bring her a little gift. Is there anything she really likes?" asked Simon, and Linda looked a little taken aback.
"No, you don't have to..." she began but she was cut off by Simon.
"But we'd like to. What does she like?" Linda had to think for a moment.
"Anything Japanese," she said; Louise had been fan of Japanese culture, TV shows, and movies for years. She didn't know how it started, but it seemed there was no stopping her. Louise knew how you had to act in Japan, and where all the major anime theme parks were located, and what characters were there. She even knew a few phrases in Japanese.
"Japanese, okay," Patrick made a mental note of it.
Both men were unable to visit that day, so the three made arrangements for them to come on Monday or Tuesday.
"Great!" beamed Linda, pulling them into a hug once more. "We'll see you then!"
While Linda was out, Louise was again taken to the hyperbaric chamber; Bob accompanied her this time.
Louise shook her head when she was, again, placed on the table that would put her inside the chamber.
"I know you don't like it," said Robin, "but this is something that we need to do."
"You've already done it once," said Louise. "Do you really have to do it again?"
"Yes, we do; the more sessions you have, the faster you will heal." Robin noticed the little girl's apprehension. "Would you like to choose a DVD to watch?" she asked.
"...Maybe," perhaps a distraction would be good, Louise thought. Robin gestured to a pile of DVDs that were lying on a nearby table, and Louise lifted her head, struggling to see them.
"We've got Charlotte's Web, we've got The Secret Garden, we've got all the Disney classics, and there's things like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Wizard of Oz, The Never Ending Story..."
"Do you have any Hawk and Chick?" she asked. Seeing the father and daughter fighting the seaweed monster would be just what she needed.
"Afraid not, and we have to stick to the age ratings," Robin told her, and Louise frowned; that meant she couldn't watch any of the good ones, and she was stuck with – bleh – boring old Disney.
"Fine, The Never Ending Story," she said, as Robin picked up the movie, and her bed was slid into the chamber. At least the wolf was cool, and so was the Rock Biter.
Although Louise enjoyed the movie, and it certainly helped to calm her down a bit, she still did not like going into the chamber.
"That wasn't too bad, was it?" chirped Bob as he walked alongside Louise's bed as they went back to her room.
"I don't like it in there," Louise said, which made Bob's face fall.
"I'm sorry," he said, "but it has to be done."
"I know, I still don't like it." Once Louise was back in her bed, her siblings sat around her, and the three of them began to talk. They talked about anything and everything; their favourite comic books, games, television shows, amongst other things; it was almost like Louise had been away at camp for a week, and now they were catching up.
The room had a television in the upper corner, which was switched on and still tuned to the news, and even though the family had been too focused on Louise to talk to the press, there had been quite a few stories about her since the previous week. Many local and national journalists were still waiting for an update on her condition. Bob and Linda knew about this, but they were going to stick with their idea of letting Louise decide whether or not she wanted to talk to the press.
"So, Louise," Bob began as he sat down next to his daughter, "there are reporters who want to talk to you. Do you wanna talk to them?"
"Reporters?" Louise looked confused.
"Yeah, they were filming the rescue, and they want -" but Louise cut him off.
"What?! Why were reporters there?"
"Because lots of people were interested in what was happening, sweetie," said Linda, but Louise did not look impressed.
"Well, that's stupid; why didn't you make them leave?"
"We were too busy focusing on you; that was all we cared about," said Bob. Louise did not have an answer for that, and so Bob asked her again. "So, do you want to talk to them?"
"About what?"
"Well, what it was like down there, how you felt, what it was like to be rescued, that kind of stuff."
"Uh, that sounds really dumb."
"Like I said, it's up to you, so if you ever do want to, let us know."
"Maybe," said Louise. "It would be cool to be on TV." She paused for a moment. "Okay, whatever."
Linda smiled and hugged her once again.
"I feel like everything's gonna be okay!" she beamed.
That statement was the first thing that popped into Linda's head when Cabell beckoned her and Bob outside before dinner was to be served. That was odd; he usually told them everything they needed to know right there in the room. So, she was a little worried, as she and Bob followed him into the hall.
"Mr and Mrs Belcher, as you know we have been treating Louise for potential gangrene, and yesterday, we took a blood test. The results have come back, and I'm afraid Louise has gangrene." Bob and Linda's jaw dropped, and they turned to each other.
"What?" Linda placed a hand over her mouth.
"I thought you said that it wouldn't develop!"
"We thought so; it doesn't normally take this long to show up. But she has it, and so, we need to amputate." Hearing that word made Bob's knees buckle.
"Oh, no!" he gasped, as Linda held him, looking close to tears herself.
"The good news is, the gangrene is just in her toes, in both feet, and if we amputate quickly, there's lesser chance of it spreading. So, what we're going to do is a transmetatarsal amputation, where we remove the tops of the feet."
"Oh, no." Linda shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"It won't affect her walking; she'll be able to walk normally, and there are special shoe fillers that can help with her balance." Cabell paused, letting Bob and Linda take everything. It was a lot to deal with. "If it's okay with you, we can book her in for tomorrow morning," he suggested, and they both nodded, looking fraught. It was awful, but it had to be done.
"Oh, God, how are we gonna tell her?" said Bob, burying his face in his hand. This wasn't going to be easy, and he didn't want to tell her, but she deserved to know.
"Perhaps, given her age, it might be better to -" Cabell began, but Bob cut him off.
"No, no. We can't just knock her out and amputate; she'd never trust us again. No, we've gotta tell her."
Taking a deep breath, he took Linda's hand, and the three of them went back into the room. Linda momentarily debated sending Gene and Tina out, but they deserved to know what was going to happen to their sister. "So, Louise?" began Bob hesitantly, as he sat down next to her.
"Yeah?"
"You – you know you've had some surgery, right?"
"Yeah," Louise put down Kuchi Kopi, and looked at him.
"Well, you need to have another one tomorrow." He instantly saw the flash of fear in her eyes, that was quickly replaced by anger.
"I don't think so."
"Louise, baby, this is something that needs to be done," said Linda gently.
"Well, what is it, 'cause I feel fine, so nothing needs to be done!" Bob paused before answering.
"You have... gangrene," judging from Louise's confused expression, she didn't know what it was. Neither did Gene and Tina, due to their similar faces.
"What's that?" Bob paused again; he didn't know how to explain it, but luckily Cabell stepped in.
"It's when your body tissue dies, because of blood loss. The blood in your feet hasn't been circulating properly, and so your toes don't have any blood flow." Louise stared at him, remembering her blackened toes. "We've done our best to get the blood flowing again, but I'm afraid that we need to amputate." Louise's eyes widened.
"No!" she shouted, sitting up straight, unable to do anything else. "You're not cutting anything off!" She grabbed her empty glass, and threw it to the ground, causing to shatter. She grabbed another glass, and was about to throw it before Bob grabbed her arm, being careful to mind the IV. "Get off!" she hissed, trying to wrench herself free, but her father held tight. "You can't let them do this!" she screamed, her voice cracking and going hoarse, slapping Bob's arm, trying to make him see sense and let her go.
"It needs to be done, Louise," Bob choked, trying not to cry. Louise opened her mouth, but her voice had gone, so she continued hitting her father. Bob wasn't angry with her; he knew she was upset and afraid.
"Louise," said Cabell gently. "If we don't do this, your toes will fall off anyway," Louise stopped hitting and stared at him. "But then the gangrene would spread further up your legs, and then we would have to amputate them."
"It'll be perfectly safe, sweetie, and you won't feel a thing," Linda assured her.
"It's called a transmetatarsal amputation, and we're just going to remove the tops of your feet. You'll be able to walk just as you did before, and do all the things you used to do." Louise shook her head, her face scrunched up in anger. "I'm sorry, Louise, but there's no other way. This has to be done," Cabell said before he left the room. Linda took Louise's hand, and sat down next to her.
"It'll be okay, baby," she soothed, but Louise, yanking her hand away, stared straight ahead and refused to acknowledge her.
By the time Bob had to take Gene and Tina home, Louise had still not spoken a word. She sat in her bed, arms folded, glaring straight ahead. She didn't even react when Gene and Tina said goodbye to her, nor when Bob kissed her on the cheek. "Come on, Louise," said Linda. "I know you don't want to have it done, but we wouldn't do it if it wasn't necessary." Louise continued to ignore her and scowled heavily. Linda sighed. "You'll be fine; I promise, and we'll all be there for you." Louise still didn't answer her. "Okay, try and get some sleep, baby," she said, stroking Louise's forehead with her thumb, just above her eyebrow, continuing to do so until Louise's eyelids began to droop against her will. It had always soothed her to sleep when she was a baby, and Linda was glad to see that it still worked. When Louise had eventually settled back against her pillows, Linda removed her hand, and moved back, allowing her daughter to get some rest.
When Bob and the children arrived home, it was another silent affair for them. Even when he switched the radio on in the car, as a way to drown out the deafening silence, it still seemed too quiet. Tina didn't even say anything when the latest Boyz 4 Now song was played.
Bob was still trying to fully process what was going to happen to his youngest child the following day.
Almost in a daze, he set about making dinner, while Gene and Tina remained in the living room, watching television. Neither of them spoke; instead they just stared at the cartoons that were playing.
In the middle of dinner, Tina spoke, breaking the silence that had been hanging over them ever since they had left the hospital.
"Does Louise have to have her feet cut off?" she asked quietly, not looking up from her plate.
"No; just her toes," said Bob, swallowing down the bile he felt rising from the back of his throat. Okay, he knew it had to be done, but it didn't stop him from feeling awful about it.
"She's gonna have feet like a Barbie doll!" Gene gasped, his jaw dropping with the realisation.
"Gene."
"But, she'll be okay?" asked Tina, looking worried.
"Of course she will," said Bob, nodding a bit too vigorously. "She'll be fine. It's Louise; she's always fine." Gene and Tina looked at one another. "Are you all finished?" he asked, and they nodded. "Okay, well, then, why don't you go to bed, and get an early night? Tomorrow morning, we'll all go down to see Louise."
"But what about school?" asked Gene.
"Well, if we have time, I'll take you after they wheel her down to surgery. If not... well, Louise needs us with her."
His children merely nodded, and headed off to their respective rooms.
That first night in the ICU (Louise counted it as her first night, since it was the first one she remembered) was something Louise would never forget. The room was brightly lit, all of the machines around her were beeping and clicking, the IV's were bothering her, she couldn't get comfortable because she had to sleep on her back, her ankle felt weird in its splint, there were too many pillows, and the nurses' shoes tapped as they went about their business. Not to mention her mother's snoring as she dozed on a little sofa in the corner.
Louise lay back on her pillow, stared at the ceiling and sighed. She wasn't getting to sleep tonight.
She didn't know how long she lay there, staring at the stark white ceiling, but she knew it was for at least a couple of hours. Every time her eyes began to close, there was something to keep her awake; the nurses' talking quietly to one another, the rustling of the drip bag, the ache in her ankle, or a particularly loud snore from Linda. Louise was the kind of person who needed silence and almost complete darkness to get to sleep, neither of which she had. She groaned and brought her hands up to cover her face. The noise was the worst part; she could block out the light; she could burrow under the blanket, she could place something over her eyes, but she couldn't block out the noise.
"What's the matter?" Robin came over to her, speaking quietly.
"It's too bright and noisy," she complained, not removing her hands from her face.
"I'm sorry, honey. Is there anything we can do to help you?"
"Turn these stupid machines off!" she insisted, parting her fingers so she could look up at the nurse.
"I'm afraid we can't do that; these machines are letting us know that you're okay. But we can dim the lights, will that help?"
"Maybe," the little girl resumed staring at the ceiling, as the lights began to fade. It wasn't helping, but she closed her eyes anyway, unable to do anything about it.
It took several hours, but she was able to fall into a restless sleep.
~ X ~
Done! What did you think?