Part 18 (1/2)
She hung up the phone then climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Behind the closed door, she pulled down the shades and knelt in the darkness beside her bed to pray.
The clock over the nurse's station showed it was after ten, and Doctor Thomas had just begun to make rounds. The two ladies sprang to their feet when he entered Jerry's room. Ann had turned on the overhead light to disperse the darkness and shadows that had danced around in her imagination during the night.
”Good morning, Doctor Thomas,” Ann said in a valiant effort to sound hopeful.
”Good morning, Mrs. Blackmon. I've reviewed your husband's chart and the good news is he remained stable through the night. The other good news is the surgery relieved the pressure on his brain, but he is still comatose. He had a severe fracture on the left frontal quadrant of his skull. There's swelling in his neck from the impact, causing pressure on the spinal cord at the base of his brain. If he awakens from the coma, he may be paralyzed and lose his ability to speak.”
”If he wakes up? Are you saying there is a possibility he won't?”
”We just can't tell with this type of injury. We can treat his other injuries. Broken bones can be put back together. But we can only monitor injuries to the head and spinal cord, relieve the pressure, and hope it can heal on its own. The brain is the most powerful and complicated organ in our bodies. He's a strong and healthy young man, which is in his favor.
”We just have to watch and wait. I'll check in on him every day. I a.s.sure you, Mrs. Blackmon, we're doing everything we can for your husband. We'll transfer him to a private room in the trauma wing and keep him under observation twenty-four hours a day. You'll have more privacy and the accommodations for a prolonged stay. The best thing you can do right now is go home, see your children, and get some rest. He's in good hands.” Doctor Thomas excused himself and left the room to visit his other patients.
”Sylvia, we can't go home and leave him here. What if he wakes up? I have to be here!”
”We should take Dr. Thomas's advice,” Sylvia said. ”There isn't anything we can do for him, and sitting here watching isn't doing either one of us any good. And anyway, I can't drive that Jeep back to Winston by myself. The roads are cleared now, so let's go home, freshen up, and spend some time with the children. We can come back later this afternoon. It's the sensible thing to do. We can plan how we are going to do this in a relaxed atmosphere, without all the distractions.”
”I just don't feel right leaving Jerry. You're his mother. You should understand that.”
”I do, and because I'm his mother, I know we're going to be here for him, but we need to take care of ourselves, too. You have two children at home worried about you. You need to be there for them.”
”Okay, but we're coming straight back with suitcases and get a motel room until he wakes up and we can take him home.”
”Fine. Let's get our coats and get on the road.”
Ann pulled on her heavy parka then leaned over and kissed Jerry and whispered, ”We'll be back just as fast as we can.”
Chapter 39.
”The Shops were reduced to skeleton crews to service the few remaining steam engine. Their job was finished.”
Telling the children Anxious to see Libby and Ricky, Ann leaped from the monster Jeep as soon as they pulled into the driveway and landed hard on her right foot. It rolled over, and pain like molten lava shot up her leg. Fortunately the thick blanket of snow padded her fall. Heavy winter gloves spared her hands being ground up by the gravel that paved the driveway beneath the snow.
”Are you okay?” Sylvia scurried around the Jeep and slipped in an effort to help Ann to her feet. Sylvia's feet flew out from under, and she landed sitting down next to Ann.
In spite of her pain, Ann laughed at the two women's predicament.
”It's a good thing I have all that extra padding back there,” Sylvia said, laughing and pulling herself up on one knee. ”Give me your hand, I'll help you up.”
”Okay, but I can't put any weight of on my ankle.”
Sylvia put Ann's arm over her shoulder and wrapped her right arm around Ann's waist then the two women hopped and wobbled up the steps and into the house.
Both her children were waiting to greet her.
”Mommy's home, and I've missed you so much,” she said as she limped through the front door and knelt down. Libby and Ricky ran into her outstretched arms and smothered her with hugs, almost knocking her over.
”What in heaven's name happened?” Alice asked, coming into the foyer from the kitchen.
”I turned my ankle when I jumped down out of that d.a.m.ned Jeep,” Ann responded.
Ann limped into the living room, where a crackling fire warmed her back before she sat on the couch. Sylvia scurried around and located a stool to elevate Ann's ankle.
Alice went back into the kitchen then returned with a pan of heated water spiked with Epson Salt. Ann tried to relax as she soaked her ankle in the hot salt water solution that took away the throbbing pain and replaced it with the burning sensation from salt water.
”Do you know where I've been?” Ann quizzed the children, signing for Libby.
”To visit Daddy in the hospital,” Ricky said.
”That's right. Daddy got hurt really bad in an accident and is unconscious.”
”What is that?” Libby signed.
”He's asleep, silly.” Ricky spoke slowly, looking straight at Libby as he signed. ”Like when you get hit on the head with a baseball and it knocks you out.”
Amazed at her young son's comprehension of the term, Ann continued. ”That's right, Ricky, he got a real hard knock on his head when the truck rolled down the mountain into a big tree.”
”Wow! Daddy rolled his truck down the mountain?”
”He did,” Ann said softly.
A stern glance from Alice conveyed her message. That was enough. She didn't think they needed to know the gory details about the tanker and fire that burned the truck driver.
”Can we go see him?” Ricky asked.
”Let's wait until Daddy feels better, and then you and Libby can go for a visit, okay?”
”Okay, but I hope he wakes up soon, I miss him,” Ricky said.
Ann pulled her children close and hugged them tightly so they couldn't see a tear escape from her br.i.m.m.i.n.g eyes.
”You two go play while Mommy, Nanna, and Grammy visit,” Alice said, ushering the children out of the room.
Ann dabbed her eyes dry while Sylvia brought fresh coffee. The three women planned just how they were going to handle things in the coming weeks.
But Ann noticed someone was missing. ”Where is Marie?”
”Ronnie came by for her,” Alice said. ”She wanted to go home. We asked her to stay, but she felt like she was intruding.”
”I hope she'll be all right,” Ann said. ”Maybe she can go back up with us some time to check on her sister. I'll call her later. Right now I need to get a shower and pack some clothes.”
”You need to soak your ankle for another thirty minutes before you try to walk on it,” Alice advised. ”And just how long do you intend to stay up there? You have two children who need their mother.”
”Until he's well enough to come home, and I don't know how long that will be. Do you mind keeping the kids?”