Chapter
13
A Serialized Story of the
Not So Distant Future
March 21, 2005
Part One
Sam was lying in bed, he was in that pleasant dreamy state when you just become aware of the outside world, and wind up incorporating its sounds into your dreams.
It must be Sunday morning, he thought for a moment, as the sounds of a Christian radio program were syphoning in. The droning of the Preacher reminded him of Reverend Lovejoy from the Simpsons, and he drifted back to sleep happily envisioning some of his favorite Simpsons moments.
He awoke again, to voices. They sounded more urgent this time, was he supposed to do something today? Someone was holding his hand, what the hell?! He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't, he heard his Mom's voice speaking to him:
"Sam, can you hear me son? I know you're there! Come back to us!"
"Ma, what the hell are you talking about?" Sam said, or at least that's what he tried to say. What he heard was this weird sort of whistling whimper, more like a dying tea kettle.
"Sam, Oh my God he's responding! Robbie, go get a doctor!"
"Doctor, what? Mom, what is going on?" Again, all Sam heard was this
weird whimpering sound.
Sam tried to move and realized that his body ached. It ached as if he had overslept, but this was a thousand times worse. His mind reeled as he realized that he didn't know where he was. The light and shadows coming through his eyelids were all wrong, he should have been in his bedroom, was he sick or something.
His mother kept repeating pleas for him to wake up, it was kind of annoying really, but Sam figured she must have gotten scared and took him to the hospital.
Maybe it was that Avian flu, he figured. It must've knocked me out
for a couple of days and Mom just panicked.
Noises indicated that Robbie had returned with a nurse in tow.
"Nurse, we need a doctor, Sam's waking up."
"That's wonderful Mrs. Quinn, just keep talking to him, that's the only thing we can do right now." The Nurse sounded a bit bored, as if she had had this conversation many times before.
"Can't you give him a stimulant or something?" Mrs Quinn asked.
"At this stage, that could kill him, the best medicine is to keep encouraging him. I'll take his vitals, and report them to the doctor on call."
Sam felt the nurse put a thermometer in his mouth and he turned his head away.
"Oh! He is responding isn't he?" The nurses voice jumped an octave.
"Of course he is," snapped Mrs. Quinn. "Did you think I was just wasting your time?"
"I'm sorry," the Nurse answered, "but you have had false alarms before."
Sam wished he could open his eyes, he wanted to see if the nurse was hot. He was becoming more aware now and he realized that his mouth was pasty and dry.
"Water." He tried to say, at least this time it sounded like a word.
"He said Mama!" Mrs Quinn said, "yes honey I'm here!"
The nurse took Sam's wrist and monitored his pulse. "His blood pressure is higher than usual. You keep stimulating him, I'll get the doctor."
"WATER!" Sam tried to say it more clearly this time.
"I think he's asking for water Mom." Robbie said.
"I don't think we can do that," Mrs. Quinn said, "what if he
chokes?"
Reality was coming back to Sam in waves. For a brief moment, he could smell everything, his mother's perfume, the hospital linens, but then it would fade. Next he could feel everything, his body was a mass of pains and there was something annoying his right arm. He also realized that something was lodged in his mouth and throat, no wonder he couldn't talk. Finally, he was able to open his eyes, the daylight stabbed them and he shut them quickly.
"He's awake! Oh Sam, you opened your eyes!" Mrs. Quinn said. Sam
could hear her start to cry and he was embarrassed that she was
making such a big deal over the flu.
"Welcome back brother!" Robbie said.
Sam decided to try smiling, since he couldn't speak yet, and this
created another bout of tears from his mother.
"It's been so long," she sobbed. "We prayed every night."
It hurt like hell to move his hand, but Sam squeezed his mother's
hand gently.
Sam opened his eyes again, they took a moment to focus, but he was able to keep them open this time. His Mom's hair looked a lot grayer than it should (didn't she dye it?) and he didn't recognize the man standing behind her, although he looked like a younger version of their late father.
"Hey! Can you see us bro?" Robbie asked.
Robbie? Sam couldn't put it together. Robbie was only 18 years old,
two years Sam's junior. What the hell had happened.
The nurse returned with a doctor. Sam was disappointed to see that
she was middle aged and matronly looking.
"Well, what do we have here?" The doctor looked about sixty, with a round face, gray hair with flecks of brown in it, and that "oh so professional" manner that Sam always found condescending.
"I'm Dr. Weiss, you probably don't remember me, but I've been your
doctor since you arrived here. Can you speak?"
"Yeth." Sam managed through the feeding tube.
"I don't mean to interrupt this time with your family," Dr. Weiss
said, "but I'd like to ask you a few simple questions."
"Ok"
"Do you know your name?"
"Tham Quinn."
"What is today's date?"
"Febway twenny fife, two fousand fife."
"Who was the first president of the United States?"
"Gow Wathington"
"Good enough." Dr. Weiss said, "I'd like to talk to your mother
outside for a moment while the nurse takes your blood pressure."
"Ok."
Dr. Weiss indicated that Robbie should come as well and ushered them
over to the Nurse's station.
"The good news is that Sam doesn't have any obvious brain damage from his coma, although he still could be lacking in cognitive or motor coordination skills."
"He recognized me, he called me Mama." Mrs. Quinn said.
"That's excellent, after ten years in a coma, we're never sure what to expect from a patient. We're also never sure how to break the news of exactly how long its been for him as well. He's going to ask very soon about what happened. If we tell him too quickly there's a chance that the shock will throw him back into the coma. Avoid telling him the real date, and don't give him a TV, radio or newspapers to read."
"What do we do when he asks what day it is?" Robbie said.
"Just stall, and tell him that we want his conscious mind to recall what happened as much as possible." Dr Weiss said, "this is true of course, but frequently in these long term coma's the patient has no recollection of what happened before."
"What if he asks about Gaby?" Robbie said.
"I almost forgot about poor Gaby," Mrs. Quinn said. "Gabrielle was
his girlfriend, she died in the same car accident."
"Avoid telling him that for as long as possible, we'll know in a few days how strong he is mentally. I should warn you that it's not uncommon for patients to slip back into coma's after brief awakenings."
"He's come back to me, I know it." Mrs. Quinn said, "but we'll make
sure we don't tell him anything, right Robbie?"
"Yeah Mom."
"I would also like to restrict vistiations to just you two for the
time being." Dr. Weiss said.
"What about my prayer group?" Robbie asked. "I think they've been
helping Sam's recovery."
"I'm sorry, but just for the next few days at least. Once we have
ascertained Sam's mental and physical condition, we can make better
choices about his recovery." Dr. Weiss said.
"Your group isn't due back until next Saturday anyway Robbie, he
might be well enough by then." Mrs Quinn said.
Robbie looked a little cross at the doctor, but didn't say
anything.
"Why don't you go back and visit with Sam now, and I'll start
scheduling some tests."
Mrs Quinn practically ran back to Sam's room, while Robbie followed
at a more leissurely pace.
Sam watched as they came back into the room.
"How rong?" He asked.
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