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“I’m Dr. Larson. First, let me just say how very sorry I am that this is happening. I know it’s a lot, but I assure you we are doing everything we can to ensure Muriel is well taken care of.”
“Can you tell me what happened?” Quinn asked softly. She sniffled.
“Yes, your mother has developed what we call end-stage kidney failure. It means that in order to help her kidneys function, we need to get her on dialysis to help her clean the blood in her body.”
“Why can’t she wake up?” I asked.
“She’s been put in a medically induced coma to prevent swelling in her brain from the fall. We'll take her off the anesthetics as soon as the swelling has gone down. In the meantime, she’s in a deep state of rest. These machines are all helping her body function. And subconsciously, she is still here.”
Quinn nodded her understanding and took Muriel’s hand in her own.
“We’ll continuously monitor her. We have a great team of nurses and doctors that will be with her around the clock. Unfortunately, right now, visiting hours are over. You can come back in the morning, but there will be only one visitor allowed at a time.”
Dr. Larson checked the monitors and typed something on her tablet. Then, with a sympathetic nod, she escorted us out of the room.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
QUINN
The days tickedby slowly as I sat at mama’s bedside—talking to her, reading to her, praying for her. Weston made sure I ate by either bringing me food himself to the hospital or having it delivered by Lucy, Jax, or Dray. I wasn’t hungry, though.
Little by little, the cold room in the ICU was filled with colorful flowers and plants. I don’t know how word got back to everyone in Cedar Grove, but Jerri and Abigail flew out and met me at the hospital. They both held me as I cried on their shoulders, assuring me that Muriel would be just fine.
She was a fighter.
They prepared meals and froze them for when we’d return home. Having a piece of home there in Seattle gave me some peace I desperately needed.
But on the eighth day, I started to get frantic. She had been in that bed for longer than a week. I tried to remember the last thing I heard her say. She was so excited to go on a proper date after so long. She was giddy with anticipation.
Tom stopped by every day and brought a new bouquet of beautiful flowers for mama and a cup of coffee for me.
I would step out so he could say hi and catch her up on his day. Then we’d switch places again.
I was reading from a little house on the prairie book, mama’s favorite as a child when Dr. Larson arrived with some news.
“Looks like Muriel is seeing amazing progress. Her scans came back, and the swelling has gone down significantly. The dialysis has been doing its job of cleaning the blood. We’ve decided that if she continues like this, tomorrow is the day to take her off the anesthesia.”
My heart jumped with joy and was quickly overtaken by nerves.
“How long will it take for her to wake up?” I asked as the doctor shifted around the cords and machines.
“That’ll depend on when our dear Muriel is ready, which seeing by the color in this room, she is very loved and has a lot of people to get back to.” She smiled at me.
“She does,” I replied trying not to cry.
“We’ll need to clear the room now to run some more tests,” she told me gently.
I stood and gathered my things, heading to the waiting room. I saw Weston get off the elevator and stride over to me. He read the emotions on my face.
“Is she waking up?” he asked excitedly.
“She will soon. Hopefully tomorrow.” I crashed into his embrace as he wrapped big warm arms around me. I breathed in the scent of his fresh soap.
“That’s incredible news,” he said, relieved. “I was thinking maybe I can get you out of here for a bit and take you home to get some rest.”
“I don’t know,” I resisted. “I want to be here in case anything changes.”
“Bunny, you’ve been here all day, every day, for the last two weeks.”
