Chapter 18

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep...

If I could manage to get my hands on that beeping thing, I swore to myself that I would tear it into little pieces and throw it out the window. I didn't know where it was and I wasn't sure in what body I resided but that damn beep had managed to follow me to wherever it was I ended up.

Just great.

My best guess was that a lot of time had passed but on what I had based that, I had no idea. It just felt like a lot of time had passed since I ... what? Who was I this time? Where was I and what condition was I in? My body was giving me no clues. Between the ache in my head and the pain everywhere else, there was no telling if I was Carl once again, or Brian – or maybe someone else entirely.

What I did know was that I hurt and hurt bad.

Carefully I felt my body. Arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers, toes, chest, neck and head – all there and all in pain, though some more than others. When I tried to turn my head it hurt so badly I gasped. That caused some activity. I heard a female voice tell someone that I was beginning to wake up.

It wasn't more than ten seconds and I could hear footsteps coming towards me. For some reason I couldn't move my head or open my eyes. When I tried to open my eyes, I looked into a darkness that gradually gave way to fuzzy light, which meant my head was wrapped in gauze, or something like it. I managed to slightly raise my right arm but met resistance almost instantly. I was pretty sure that meant my arm was strapped down to keep an IV in place.

After a few seconds a male voice said, "Brian, if you can hear me lift your right index finger." It took a few seconds to plug my brain into the correct circuit to tell my right index finger to twitch but I accomplished it. The voice continued, "Good. Young man you gave us all quite a scare.

"You are in a private room at Springfield Regional Medical Center. You've been asleep for four days, following emergency surgery for an aneurism. We went in and were able to fix what needed fixing.

"Your bleed was very bad but turned out to be manageable and because your family doctor was present when your crisis occurred, any long term damaged to your brain was averted. You should be fine, soon."

It took that long for my head to catch up to my ears. He'd called me Brian. I was still me – well – the new me, not the old me. The relief that news brought me caused me to smile and the doctor must have thought I was responding to his telling me Rebecca managed to keep me from being brain damaged.

Actually I was thrilled. Quite thrilled.

I was thrilled to know I survived and my brain was Ok. My biggest thrill came from knowing that I was present in the version of my life that included Beth Ann. That brought the smile to my lips.

The doctor was still talking. "You had a minor – let's say 'leak' in your skull that was so small the CT scan and MRI wouldn't have been able to detect them when you were here previously. "By the other night, the pressure against the leak had bored a slightly larger hole, which let out more blood and ultimately opened up. That was a good thing, because we were able to take the pressure off, fix the leak, patch you up and keep you asleep until the worst of it healed.

"Your vital signs are excellent and you appear to be in fine shape. The nurse has called your mother and she is on her way over from the hotel. We had to have your friends drag her out of here to make sure she didn't collapse from exhaustion. Your mother stayed by this bed, nonstop until late last night, when Dr. Temple firmly ordered her out of here and then stayed the night at your bedside because that was the only way your mother was willing to leave your side.

"You are a lucky boy. When the helicopter flew you in and we got our look at you, I wouldn't have expected you to survive for an hour, much less tolerate emergency surgery, sleep quietly for four days and then heal up wonderfully.

"Your family doctor saved your life. You need to understand that. Except that Dr. Temple recognized the exact nature of your distress, you would have almost no chance of surviving this kind of bleed.

"I expect your mother and the rest of your entourage will be along any second. You certainly have a dedicated and devoted family. I hope you appreciate how lucky you are to have such wonderful people loving and supporting you."

He finally ran out of steam and I asked, "Doctor, how long will I be ... like this?" I raised my free arm to my head and patted the bandages, showing him what I meant.

"Oh," he half laughed, half coughed. "We will remove many of the bandages later this afternoon and see how you're doing, then – if all goes well – we'll take the rest off tonight. You'll be on your feet tomorrow, walking and getting your sea legs and then we'll be able to see how fast you recuperate and how soon we can get you home."

That was news I could live with. I could tell the doctor was writing and giving instructions to someone at the same time, so I kept quiet. When he was finished he said, "I've been a physician for twenty-eight years and I can't say when I've seen a patient respond so beautifully to so serious a bleed. You are quite remarkable and I hope you grow up to do something great, because God clearly has something for you, or you wouldn't still be here. Keep that in mind as we get you on your feet." I thanked him and he left.

It wasn't long when I heard a commotion, followed by the door bursting open. Beth Ann was crying, saying my name over and over again and hugging me fiercely. She obviously wasn't alone, because I could detect Colleen and Rebecca's voices, along with Mr. Bell's. There was another voice intermingled with them but I couldn't make it out with all the attention I was getting.

Eventually Beth Ann stopped crying, Colleen and Rebecca stopped talking and Mr. Bell stopped giving everyone orders to quiet down. When the hub bub died down I said, "Hey. The doctor says I'm gonna make it. What do think?" My attempt at humor set Beth Ann off once more and she was hugging, crying and repeating my name all over again.

Mr. Bell spoke a little louder. "Brian. You scared the life out of me, boy. Don't you ever do that again, you hear?"

Rebecca sharply ordered everyone to be quiet so she could examine me. "Hey, buddy. How are you feeling?" I was going to answer but she went on as if she was talking to herself.

"You complained about a bad headache at Mr. Bell's house, Monday evening. I kept an eye on you but you weren't showing symptoms like something bad was happening, so I chalked it up to tiredness after your first day of work.

"While we were clearing the supper dishes away, to help Mrs. Bell, Colleen heard you gasp and saw you grab your head, obviously in severe distress. Your gasp alerted us all and while Beth and I tended you, Jim called an ambulance and then ordered a helicopter to get you up here to Springfield.