Chapter 9: Braver and Stronger than you Think

Author: zeusfluff.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Blue Blood's characters. They belong to CBS. I do own all originals. Date Started: 10/14/24. Date Finished: 10/16/24.

Enjoy!

"You're braver and stronger than you think baby girl."

Cora could only stare at Jamie. She didn't feel very brave or strong right now. She felt completely helpless. She couldn't do much for herself. She didn't like feeling like a baby. She was almost grown up.

"I'm not brave or strong dad."

Jamie squeezed Cora's hand.

"Yes, you are ladybug. It will take time to heal. Now two serious questions: Does your head still hurt? Is it hard to move it from side to side?"

Cora furrowed her eyebrows and winced.

"My head does still hurt daddy. I can't turn my head. What's going on?"

Jamie frowned and looked Cora in the eye.

"I don't know honey. Just stay still for me. You're going to feel my hand on the back of your neck. Try and relax."

Sighing, Jamie shook his head and helped Cora sit up slightly. The frown stayed on his face, and he continued his conversation with Cora.

"Everything's going to be ok honey. You have a little bit of swelling along your spinal cord. It will go down in a few days. Now is your head hurting worse right now? Or less?"

Cora squinted her eyes and closed them to try and block out the light.

"My head hurts worse, and the light is too bright."

Eddie had just come back into the room with a cup of coffee for Jamie and a warm cup of tea for herself.

"What's going on bub?"

Jamie helped Cora leaned back against the pillows in the bed and he kissed her forehead.

"I'll have the nurse get you something for the pain ok honey?"

Cora blinked her eyes at Jamie and stayed still in the bed. Jamie motioned for Eddie to followed him towards the window of the hospital room.

"She's got a little bit of swelling along her spinal cord. It should resolve in a few days. She may need another MRI just to make sure it's not something more serious."

Eddie sat down heavily in the chair next to the bed. She took a sip of her tea before she spoke.

"Jamie there's something else isn't there?"

Jamie still having his professional mask on, explained his other possible findings.

"She's got a headache, and her eyes are sensitive to bright light. Those symptoms indicate a concussion. We'll check on that. She hasn't had any other symptoms that coincide with a concussion though. We'll get through this babe."

Eddie sighed and took another sip of her tea. One of her hands landed on her slightly larger baby bump and she rubbed it. Jamie smiled at Eddie and took a chair, sitting next to her. He continued his conversation with her.

"How are you feeling?"

Eddie smiled and looked down at her baby bump.

"I'm fine. I think I felt the baby move a little while ago."

Smiling, Jamie took his stethoscope out, putting the earpieces in his ears, he put the bell up to Eddie's belly, listening. The smile stayed plastered on Jamie's face and he took the stethoscope away, placing it back into his pocket.

"Good strong heartbeat. It's a little early. But you would feel the baby moving before anyone else if you asked them."

Eddie was about to answer when a group of doctors came into the room. Jamie stood up when one of them placed some scans onto a light box and switched it on. Walking over to the small group of doctors, Jamie cleared his throat.

"What do we got?"

A Doctor Jensen looked Jamie in the eye and then pointed towards one of Cora's scans.

"Cora has some swelling along her spinal cord. It should resolve itself in a few days."

Jamie sighed and nodded.

"Yes, we know that already. What else is going on? I just talked to her a few minutes ago and she's complaining about her head hurts and her eyes are sensitive to bright light. Indicative of a concussion don't you think?"

Doctor Jensen frowned and shook his head.

"She may need another MRI."

Jamie nodded and crossed his arms over his chest and ventured into his next train of thought.

"Where are we with her feeding protocols? Are we still on strict tubal feedings? Or are we at a point where the feeding tube can be removed?"

Jamie felt like he was standing on pins and needles waiting for Doctor Jensen's answer. He looked Jamie in the eye and spread his hands in front of him.

"The feeding protocol stays in place for now. Cora's still not able to keep anything down without being tube fed. Her throat muscles are still weak, and she can't chew."

Jamie let out a frustrated sigh.

"Well, she's going to need therapy to help her muscles get stronger. I don't want to have to subject her to tube feeding the rest of the life."

Jamie felt like he was on edge suddenly. He didn't like the feeling. Letting out another breath to calm himself, he kept looking at the scans in front of him. Doctor Jensen looked at the next scan.

"Her ribs are looking better. She's breathing on her own. Which is a good thing. What we can't pinpoint is how long she was without oxygen. How long do you think she was without it Doctor Reagan? When you found her in her locker?"

The frown still plastered on Jamie's face, he dipped his head and shook it.

"There's no way of knowing how long she was deprived of oxygen. When I found her, I started CPR right away. What do her other scans look like? What are your findings?"

The small group of doctors turned around as well as Jamie as they heard Cora speak.

"Are those my lungs daddy?"

Jamie nodded seriously and answered her.

"Yes. This other scan is actually an x-ray of your spine. Nothing's broken. We're going to make you better, ok?"

Cora blinked her eyes at Jamie. She wasn't sure she believed him right now.

"One more step honey. That's it. Do you want to try and see if you can take a step or two forward without holding onto the rails?"

Cora looked at Jamie a bit apprehensively, but she took a breath in and then one shaking step forward. She semi-collapsed under her own weight and Jamie caught her, holding her up. She gave out a frustrated groan.

"I can't do this daddy. I just can't."

Jamie carefully helped Cora sit back down in a wheelchair. She clammed up as he knelt down in front of her, hoping a pep talk would help.

"Hey ladybug, you can do this. I'm going to keep telling you this: your braver and stronger than you think. Give yourself a little break. You've been in bed for a couple of months. The swelling in your spine has gone down and everything has returned to normal."

Cora felt her nose flare.

"If I'm back to normal, I should be able to walk and feed myself!"

Jamie hung his head for a moment and then looked up into Cora's eyes.

"I promise you; I am working with your doctors to get that feeding tube removed alright? Now, you'll have to go in and have an endoscopy. That's where you'll be asleep, a tube will be put down your throat and then a camera will go down to your stomach to see what's going on and hopefully find the cause of why you're not able to keep food down. The chewing is a different issue altogether. That is a part of your brain that controls chewing is your brainstem. Are you ready to go home?"

Cora remained silent and looked down at her lap. Sighing, Jamie stood up and went behind the wheelchair and began to wheel her out of the physical therapy room of the hospital.

"Hey ladybug, I just came to say good night are you comfortable…? Cora honey what are you doing?"

Cora was upset. Jamie knew that. He could see she'd been crying. At the moment, he saw Eddie in her. That stubborn spirit was rearing its head. She sat in silence. Jamie grabbed for a few tissues and held them up against her left nostril of her nose.

"Honey. Don't try and pull the tube out. You can't eat without it right now. I know your frustrated with all this. If you pull it out, a new one will have to go in. Everything's going to be ok."

Cora struggled for a moment and tried to swallow. It took her a few moments. Jamie hoped his words were going to sink in. It wasn't long before Cora fell asleep. He tucked the covers over her and kissed her forehead.

"Everything's going to be alright baby girl."

He hadn't notice Patrick standing in the doorway.

"Dad? Is Cora going to be ok?"

Jamie got up from the end of the bed and went to the doorway, going out, he closed Cora's door.

"You should be asleep bud."

Patrick nodded but looked up at Jamie wide eyed.

"Is she going to be ok?"

Jamie nodded and walked with him down to his room.

"Your sister is going to be just fine bud. She's going to get better. It's just going to take time."

Patrick went over to his backpack and reached in for something. Pulling out a notebook, he showed it to Jamie.

"One of the boys at school wrote ACAB all over my notebook. I saved it because they wrote some stuff inside with some really bad words in it."

Handing the notebook to Jamie, Patrick could see his dad was upset.

"Your mom and I will take care of this bud. Everything will be just fine. Get some sleep. I love you."

Patrick climbed into bed and pulled the covers over him. He hoped his dad could help. His mom too.

To Be Continued…

A/N: So, what'd you guys think? Heavy on the emotions in this chapter. I apologize if some of the medical terminology is incorrect.