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There were some shocked gasps in the room. The doctor tried not to frown, concerned for his young patient.
“I did? How can you tell?”
“You were unconscious for five hours. That was a big indication. You had a positive CAT scan.”
“Five hours—”
“It doesn’t require surgery, yet. The bleeding appears to have stopped.”
“How long was I out? What time is it even?”
“It’s nighttime,” Clare said.
He lay back on the pillow, surprised.
“We’ll keep an eye on you overnight, and in the morning, we’ll scan you again.”
Numb, speechless, Oliver didn’t respond, letting his parents take over the discussion with the doctor.
“Do you want to be alone?” Wendy whispered.
All he could do was nod his head.
“We should take this out in the hall,” she announced. “Joanne, you stay. Everyone else, let Oliver rest.”
It took a few minutes for his family to say goodbye to him and filter out of the room.
Only the coach and Joanne stayed behind.
“Can I talk openly?” Coach Clark asked.
Oliver nodded.
“We won the game, Oliver.”
“That’s good.”
“You have a serious injury. It’s not something you want to ever repeat.”
Staring off into space, Oliver tried not to read between the lines.
“We’ll talk about it when you’re out of here. Hopefully, the scan in the morning will be stable and you can go back home and recuperate.”
“How long do I have to be off?”
“We’ll talk about it.”
What he wouldn’t say in front of the girlfriend: Oliver Saint wasn’t going to play professional football again.
***
The relatives would catch their flights home early Sunday morning. Clare and Charlie would stay until he was discharged. On Monday morning, his headache was beginning to resolve. Since blood anywhere out of a vessel was irritating and caused pain, that fact was a good sign.
A repeat CAT scan confirmed no changes; he wasn’t bleeding. The doctor came in smiling.
“What’s the story?” Charlie asked.
“It’s mixed, Oliver,” he answered. “Good news is that the bleeding has stopped. When we compared the scan on Saturday with the one today, the size of the subdural hematoma is the same.”
