Claire Penderwick was extremely confused. Why were all of her family members in her hospital room? She had seen them only a few hours ago, and she had watched them leave. Why were they here now? In the middle of the night, for crying out loud.
"Well, hello, everyone! Why are you here? This hospital does have visiting hours, does it not?" The silence that followed was frightening.
"Not for comatose patients." It was Skye who finally spoke up.
"Comatose - Oh, God. I wasn't... ?"
"No, Claire darling. It's Martin. I'm so sorry dear." Iantha moved to sit on her sister-in-law's bed, patting her hand.
"But - why?"
"I'm sorry, Aunt Claire, but they don't know why. They think that..."
Skye slowly walked over to the window, tuning out Jane's explanation of their father's condition. The sun was slowly coming up over the hills, and the sky was just beginning to light up, pastel yellows and pinks.
Sighing, she rested her head on the window pane. She still couldn't believe that this was happening. When that sun had set last night, she had been a different person, her only worry being how the guests at the party were going to react to her kissing her fiancé, rather passionately, in the middle of the ballroom. Now, that seemed like a different lifetime. In fact, when she thought about it, it most likely was a different lifetime. It was during her father's lifetime, and the same couldn't definitely be said about this morning.
Skye was a practical person. She was logical and straightforward, and she always considered all the possible courses things could take. But she had never anticipated this. She had never considered the possibility that she wouldn't see her father again, ever. There were so many things she longed to say to him. So many things she wanted to confess. So many things she wanted him to know. And now she would, most likely, never have the chance.
Never being a sappy person, Skye hadn't told her father how much she loved him as often as her sisters. Now she regretted every missed opportunity. She regretted every time she had snapped at him, or hurt him in any way. Because she couldn't change any of that now. Time had run out, and she couldn't do a thing about it.
Fighting the tears that were threatening to fall, she turned around, to find a young woman in a white coat smiling sadly at her. "Are you Skye?"
"Yes. I am."
"I'm Dr. Melinda Thompson. I was told to talk to you. Apparently, you have been nominated 'Most Likely To Remain Rational In The Face Of Grief'." She smiled, and her eyes twinkled. "I figured that at least one of you should know what progress we have made."
"Please. I would give anything to have some substantial facts to go on, depressing or otherwise."
"Can we go to my office? I have some things I would like to show you."
As the two walked into yet another white room, Skye finally began to relax again. What was it Jeffrey had told her? Things will work out like they are supposed to. That was something she had to force herself to believe right now. She needed whatever hope she could get.
"Now, Miss Pendewick-"
"Please, call me Skye."
"Skye, then. I'm not going to sugar-coat it for you. Your father's condition is critical. I'm sorry, but none of the traditional methods seem to have an affect on him. We've tried them all."
"Then what do we do?"
"Well, usually, in a case like this, the family has two options. They can either keep the patient on life-support, hoping that, but some act of God, that they miraculously recover, or they can..."
"Pull the plug."
"Yes. In your case, however, we do have one more option. Because we don't know exactly what caused your dad's coma, this is risky, but there is a new, experimental treatment that we could try. It involves sending waves of energy, the kind that is usually found in the brain, through the affected area, in hopes that it could 'restart the circuits', so to speak. Because of its risk, though, that would have to be a decision for your family to make together."
"Of course. Thank you very much, Dr Thompson. You have been very, very helpful. I'll talk to my family and then let you know what we decide." Now, she had an even bigger weight on her shoulders. She had to decide her father's fate.
Dinner that night was nothing special. At least, it wasn't to everyone but Skye. She had concurred that dinner, when the whole family was together, would be the best time to bring up her conversation with Dr. Thompson. Unfortunately, she was having difficulty bringing it up.
It wasn't simple to tell a group of people that the life of someone they all cared deeply about was in their hands. Taking a deep breath, she set down her fork. "I talked to Dr. Thompson today. She told me what out options are." This got their attention.
Frowning, Skye continued. "We have three options right now. Two of them, we already know. We can keep him on life-support or we could," here she had to stop and swallow, "We could pull the plug. But we also have a third option. There is a new, experimental, treatment that has just been created. It is very risky, but it's the only treatment option left to us. I think it's something that we need to discuss."
Hi! I hope you enjoyed this. I know I keep promising to be done with the grief, but a really am bringing it to a close - you just can't tell yet. :-)
drawnoflife - That is one of the best reviews I have ever gotten. :-) Sometimes I'm a bit worried that I am making it too depressing, so it is always nice to be assured otherwise. Haha. We all need tension-free moments at times... :-) Thanks for all of the kind words.
Rachel Alexandra 9 - Thanks! I will. :-)
Guest - Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this one.
Thanks for all the reviews! Please keep them coming. They really make my day!