6 Comatoast 2 (1/2)
”I'm afraid, I have some bad news and I have some good news. Which one do you want to hear first?”
Holding her husband's hands tightly Brianna Adler said, ”I want to hear the bad news first.”
The doctor opened the file he was holding, ”The bad news is that your son is comatose. We have no idea when or if he will ever wake up. It may be a week, a month, a few months, we do not know. We have staff looking after Kai 24/7 so as soon as we notice a change in his body, we will let you know immediately.”
Hearing the news Brianna Adler gripped her husband's hand tighter than before. Her respiratory rate started increasing from slow to fast until she started hyperventilating. Then she laid her head on his abdomen seeking his embrace. Zack Adler let go of her hand and placed his right arm around his wife who was not saying a word.
Seeing the state his wife was in, he took control and asked, ”What is the good news?”
The doctor flipped a page on his file, ”We noticed that your son was a second generation surpa.s.ser who had yet to awaken. I'm not sure if you knew but lightning is his elemental gene. When the toaster electrocuted him, he was forcefully awoken now making him a 3rd generation surpa.s.ser. After receiving the lethal dosage, he was forcefully awoken saving his life. However, the issue is the duration in which he had contact with the lethal dosage. In order for a transition from 2nd to 3rd to happen the subject must come in contact with a lethal dosage of an element corresponding to their elemental gene. When this happens the body goes into fight or flight mode which in turn forcefully awakens the elemental gene. Then the body fights off the lethal dosage saving the patient's life. In your son's case, he was lying in a bath so his body could only ward off the electricity for so long until he pa.s.sed out.”
Coming out her daze Brianna Adler asked, ”Is there any damage to my son's body?”
The doctor smiled and then flipped his file to another page, ”That's the other part of the good news. There is no damage to your son's body whatsoever. In fact, your son's body has never been better. The only issue is that he can't breathe by himself. However, we are 100% sure that if or when he wakes up that problem will be rectified... On the good side, we compared your son's current Physical Index (1) to his graduations. We were shocked to find out that not only is there no damage but your son's const.i.tution is two times better than before. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. He is now twice as strong as when he was a second generation. This is what is so puzzling. Your son has never been in a better condition but he won't wake up...”
When the Adler's were gone the one doctor confronted the other, ”We were shocked, really? You couldn't have chosen a better word? You can be glad they never took it the wrong way…”
...
”Honey, I know you love your son but it's been four months and he still hasn't woken up. The bills are piling up and it's becoming overwhelming even for us. We have spent more money these past few months than we have in a year. We can't keep this up, we still have kids of our own that we need to take care of too. What if something bad happens to them and we don't have any money to save them… It's unfair and reckless of us to do that to them... It's already been two months since the doctor called us to tell us that most of the pain receptors in Kai's body are active. Honey, our son is suffering every day in silence. I know how much time and effort we have spent investing in him. I know you wanted to see him grow up and achieve his dreams that he is so proud of. I know you wanted to see him become the King but we cannot put him through this anymore for own selfish reasons. Our boy is suffering in silence. We need to let him go so he can finally rest in peace.” Brianna Adler said to Zack Adler.
Zack Adler nodded his head and then wiped away a tear from his left eye.
”You can call the doctor now.” Brianna Adler said to the nurse.
The nurse nodded her head and then paged the doctor a.s.signed to Kai. A few minutes later the doctor walked in the room, ”Have you made your decision?”
Brianna Adler nodded her head, ”Yes, we have. We would like you to take Kai off life support.”
”Okay before that I am going to need your signatures here and here.” The doctor took two pages out and handed them to Brianna Adler with a pen.
She took a hold of the pen and then read the contents of the page. The t.i.tle was large and in bold. It said, 'Life Support Termination.' Once she had read the contents and was satisfied she signed where she was asked. Then she turned to her son to say her last goodbye before they took him off life support.
However, before she could the doctor looked at her husband, ”As his father, you need to sign the papers too.”
Hearing he had to sign his son to death, Zack Adler began trembling. Brianna Adler saw his condition, ”We are not killing Kai. We are sending him off peacefully. He is currently in a whole lot of pain. We are freeing him of that pain.” Then she handed him the pen and papers.
Zack Adler picked up the papers and then the pen. While holding the pen, his hand began shaking irrepressibly as he brought it closer to the page. This was the heaviest pen he had ever picked up, the pen of life and death. Seeing her husband's hand quivering, Brianna clasped both her hands over his, ”You are not giving up on him. It's going to be okay. Kai will be okay.”
Regaining his composure, he took the pen and signed the papers. Then he handed them over to the doctor.
The doctor gave the papers to a nurse and then she left the room. Once the nurse was gone the doctor walked to the machine that was keeping Kai alive, ”I will now switch the machine off in 3, 2, 1-”
”Do not switch off that machine!” A hoa.r.s.e voice sounded out behind the Adler's.
The Adler's turned around as they wanted to see who was rude enough to interrupt a very emotional part of their life. Turning around they saw a young beautiful girl around the same age as Kai. They also saw an older man with a black beard presumably the girl's father. He wore a snazzy black and white suit.
Seeing the two the doctor walked up to them, ”You cannot be here. This is a very emotional time for these two.” He pointed to the Adler's.
The man took some papers out of his file and gave them to the doctor, ”Yes, I can be here.”
The doctor looked at the papers and was startled, ”My sincerest apologies what does the former Duke of The Lightning Clan need from me?”
Seeing that he had the doctor's attention, ”I want you to keep this boy on life support.”
Hearing what the man had to say Brianna Adler flung into a rage, ”What?! You want to keep him on life support. Former Duke or whatever, you can't do that! We are his parents and have already signed it off.”
The man looked at the Adler's, ”I understand you are grieving so I'll try to be as soft as possible. Yes, you are Kai's parents but you are only his foster parents am I right?”
They nodded their head.
”Since he isn't adopted and you are only his foster parents then by law, death decisions such as 'Life Support Termination' are to be made by the hospital when there are two opposing parties.” Then he looked at the doctor, ”And I'm sure the hospital won't mind keeping him alive if I take over the bill. I've also added an extra inconvenience payment which I will pay at the end of each month for taking up s.p.a.ce that the hospital could have used for other patients.” He handed a few papers over to the doctor.
After the doctor read the papers, ”I'm sure you know I cannot make this decision. I will hand it over to the board and let them decide.”
”That's all we ask.” He said rubbing his daughter's head who was smiling.
”This is preposterous! You cannot do that we are his parents.” Brianna Adler shouted.
The doctor just looked at her and revealed a sympathetic smile and then left the room with the papers.
Seeing that the doctor was gone Brianna Adler looked at the man and furrowed her eyebrows, ”Why are you doing this? Why are you keeping my son alive? He is in pain.”
The man looked at Brianna Adler who was now in her husband's embrace, ”Because of my daughter. She seems to believe that your son has the potential to be King. She wants to be Queen and has been searching for a capable partner for a while now. All of her previous suitors were not to her liking. We were running out of hope until she heard of your son who graduated number one in the world. However, like always problems arose, we didn't know what element he would awaken since you two are pa.s.sers. But more importantly, it's your son's inadequate educational background. My daughter doesn't seem to mind but I do. You see he was raised in Drauton; a place known for agriculture so no matter how high his Physical Index, his combat prowess is pathetic. It takes more than just a strong body to be successful. It takes swift and decisive movement, weapon mastery, talent, intelligence, control, strategy etc. Yes, Drauton teaches these cla.s.ses but what do they know about weapons other than how to use a sickle to harvest crops? What do they know about strategy other than the strategy to irrigate all their plants? It's no secret that I'm against this and I have delayed their meeting as much as I could. But after another person I personally selected was not to her liking and we heard that he awakened as a lightning wielder. I conceded to her constant nagging and here we are. I'm sure you as parents of your own can understand the will to give your children what they want. ”