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The doctor was wearing green scrubs. His face mask was pulled below his chin while his hair cap was still in place. He extended his hand. “I’m Doctor Thompson. I performed the surgery on your mother, Christine Pearson. She’s currently stable and in recovery. Ms. Pearson had a cerebral hemorrhage. We had to perform surgery to stop the bleeding. In addition, she has six cracked ribs, a broken wrist, and severe bruising over her entire body.”
My stomach dropped, and I closed my eyes, taking in all her injuries. “When will she wake up?”
“That’s up to Ms. Pearson. We’re keeping her in an induced coma for the next day while she stabilizes and the swelling recedes in her brain some. From there, we’ll monitor her progress. The surgery went well, and I’m pleased with the results.” His tone was informative and without emotion.
“Will my mom…will she…will she be like she was before this?”
“That’s hard to say. If the trauma had been deeper on the brain stem, the chance of full recovery would decrease significantly. I’m optimistic in this case. If she had been left unattended much longer, I believe the injuries would have been fatal.”
There was so much to process. I’d come close to losing my mom tonight. “Okay. Can I see her?”
The doctor’s pager went off. “It’s another emergency. Your mom is still in recovery, and someone will come get you when you can see her.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
He was already turning and jogging to wherever his next emergency was. I put both hands up to my face.
Adam came up beside me. “Let’s get you something to drink.”
I started heading over to the love seat as I repeatedly swallowed, trying to clear the lump in my throat. “I can’t leave in case the doctors come.”
Adam’s brows were scrunched together in worry. “All right. I’ll get you a drink from the next room. I’ll be right back.”
Once I could see my mom, I would feel a million times better. I sank into the couch.
Within minutes, Adam returned with a ginger ale. “Drink some of this.”
I drank the ginger ale as I started to let my mind process all the facts again. I knew my dad had something to do with this, and Doctor Thompson had said this could have been fatal. If my dad had hit my mom hard enough, he might have thought he’d killed her.
My eyes became wide as I grabbed Adam’s arm. Panic lacing my voice, I said, “Can you call that guy Hampton who you used to find who was taking photos at the club and have someone watch over my mom here at the hospital? I know my dad did this, and he probably meant to kill her. I know it, Adam. He’s going to find out he failed, and I don’t know what he’ll do. The police won’t believe me. I can’t tip him off that we think it’s him until my mom wakes up, and she can prove it. I’ll pay for it. I’ll figure out a way.”
He stood. “Don’t worry about money, Ainsley. Let me call him and get the ball rolling to get someone up here immediately.”
My mind was feeling better, and I wasn’t leaving this hospital until someone was here to watch over my mom. I started to drink the ginger ale. I took small sips, again listening to the second hand of the clock pass away the time.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
An hour later, a nurse came, and I stood.
“Ainsley Pearson, you can see your mother now. Right now, you can only stay for five minutes. You can come back tomorrow and see her again for the entire visitation period. The doctor is limiting it for tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll take whatever I can get.”
Grabbing my purse, Adam and I followed the nurse. We entered into a hallway lined with rooms that had glass windows. All the patients looked immobile. We came to a door, and I could see my mother through the window. The nurse opened the door, and I walked in.
The gasp that left my mouth was audible. Her face was black and blue. Her wrist was in a cast. She looked so fragile, so weak, so vulnerable in this state.
Multiple machines were hooked up to her. The smell of disinfectant was strong. The only sound in the room was her heart rate and some sort of accordion machine that made a pumping noise. Tubes flowed from her in every which way.
Pushing back the tears that were brimming, I found my inner strength. My mom didn’t need to worry about me. She needed to focus on healing.
I came up to the side of her bed and touched her good hand. “Mom, I’m here. They’re going to keep you sleeping for a day or so, but I wanted you to know that I love you, and I’ll come here as much as I possibly can. I can’t stay very long tonight, but I’ll call and check on you regularly. Adam’s with me right now, Mom. He hasn’t left my side. I love you.”
I stood there and rubbed my mom’s hand until the nurse came in.
“It’s time, Ms. Pearson.”
Leaning down, I gently kissed my mom’s hand and whispered, “I love you, Mom. Please come back to me.”
As we left the hospital, Adam pointed to a guy in the waiting room. “He’s going to make sure your mom is okay, baby.”
They both nodded at each other.
“Thank you, Adam.”
“Anything for you and your mom.”
The proverbial clock kept ticking in my mind, passing the time until I was able to see my mother again.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
A week had passed since my mom was admitted. I was sitting in her room while she slept, working on my homework. She still hadn’t woken up. I was now allowed to stay for a few hours a day. For the past few days after class, I would come here and work on homework. Adam was working, but he always stopped in about thirty minutes before I had to leave to say hey to my mom. He had been beyond supportive through this entire situation. I barely slept, and when I did, it was restless.
The night before last, someone questionable had come asking questions about my mom. When the security guy that Adam had hired approached him, the man had run out of the hospital. He had been wearing sunglasses and a hat in the dead of night, and he had yet to be identified. As soon as Adam had gotten the call, we had driven up here, so I could see my mom through the glass window.
My mind still raced with fear, wondering if my dad would find a way to get to my mom. I had a constant prayer in my head to keep her safe.
Until my mom woke up, the police had zero leads as to what had happened to her. Hampton had agreed with us that it was best not to tell them my theory until my mom woke up. Doctor Jacobs had agreed to also not say anything. Plus, she was bound by doctor-patient privileges. The doctors still remained optimistic about my mom’s progress, which was good.
Opening my math book, I started speaking aloud, like I had all the days before. “Shall we learn about statistics tonight, Mom? My homework is on probability theories. It’s going to be an exciting afternoon of homework for you and me.”
When I was in here, I kept my voice cheery and upbeat as I updated my mom on all my life’s happenings. Out of habit, I paused and looked up, encouraging a response, but I got not
hing.
“Looks like the first theory up is central limit theorem. This one is about normal distribution in nature.”
I paused and looked up at my mom. Her fingers twitched. I dropped my books and went to her side.
“Mom, move your fingers again. You can do it.”
My eyes didn’t leave her hand, and then her index finger curled all the way in. I hit the call button, and the nurse came on speaker.
“It’s Ainsley. My mom’s finger just moved twice,” I spoke in excitement, practically jumping.
“That’s good news. We’re coming.”
My mom’s eyes started fluttering and then came open to look into mine.
“Mom, you’re awake. Oh, Mom, you’re back.”
She tried to smile but she was weak. “Ain…Ains…”
“Shh…Mom, it’s okay. Don’t speak. The doctor is coming.”
Doctor Thompson came in. My breaths were coming fast as I felt my mom returning to me bit by bit.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Pearson. I’m Doctor Thompson. We’re going to check you out, and then your daughter can come back in.”
“Mmmkay…” Her voice was small.
I patted my mom’s good hand. “I’ll be right outside the door if you need anything.”
She nodded as she let out a long, tired breath. I had my phone in my hand and hit the speed dial for Adam.
He picked up on the first ring. “Hey, baby. Everything okay?”
Excitement bubbled from my lips. “She’s awake! Adam, she’s awake! She came to while I was teaching her statistics. The doctor is with her now. Adam, she’s alive! My mom is alive!” My voice was cracking as the happiness consumed me.
The sound of a large metal door opened on the other end. “Best news yet. I’m on my way.”
“Okay. I love you, Adam.”
