Chapter Five pt. two

Keith fell asleep with his head on the bed next to Maggie's side.  He had been praying.  It wasn't something he was really accustomed to doing.  He and God didn't really see eye to eye as far as he was concerned.  However, he was willing to put their differences aside if it would help Maggie.  They didn't wind up using the defibrillator after all.  It took two nurses to get Maggie to sit upright but as they did, her blood pressure started to slowly rise.  The crash cart wasn't needed.  For that, Keith would praise God the rest of his life.

As Maggie started to wake up she moaned in pain.  Keith woke with a start and as she opened her eyes, he was showered with relief. 

"Heavens to Elizabeth!  And I thought I demanded attention!"  Keith smiled as he attempted to make light of this heinous situation.  "If you wanted more attention, all you had to do was ask.  Was it really necessary to go through all this trouble?  I was setting my hair for God's sakes."  He patted his thinning hair to make an exaggerated point.  Maggie tried to laugh but was caught by a sharp pain.

"You're quite the queen yourself," she moaned, "even without your face on."  She smiled a weak smile, and closed her eyes again.

He took her hand inside his and tears rushed down his cheeks.  He made a mental note of speaking to Mark before the day was over.  He wanted to get to the bottom of this.  What could have happened that caused Maggie to need emergency surgery.  He didn't know what the surgery was yet, but if it was what he suspected, he would never forgive himself for getting Maggie involved.  

Maggie began to wake up from the heavy medication they gave her after surgery.  She never liked to take medication, not even Tylenol, for fear of losing control of her senses.  As she started waking, and her mind became clearer, fear rose in her to the point of almost losing control again.

"What happened?  Why am I here?  Where's my mother and why isn't she here?"  Maggie shook her head.

"Scratch that last one.  I'm glad she's not."

Keith began sobbing as he wondered those same questions.  Why was Joan not here taking care of Maggie?  How could she just leave her here in this...hollow room?  Thoughts flooded his mind, and as he struggled to come up with answers, the doctor came in.

“Hello, Maggie.  I’m Doctor Lichman.  Do you remember me?”

“Yes” Maggie replied weakly.

Dr. Lichman then turned to Keith.  “Are you family?”

“Yes, I am.”  He hoped lying to the doctor wouldn’t get him kicked out. 

“Her parents couldn’t be here and we didn’t want to leave her alone.  Can you tell me how she’s doing?”

“Why don’t you come with me?” Dr. Lichman exited Maggie’s room and closed her door.  Once they were out in the corridor, he continued.

Keith interrupted the doctor and said “I don’t know medical jargon, can you please tell me as plainly as you can what happened?” 

Well, we don’t know what happened exactly.”  The doctor replied “.  When she was first admitted, she was incoherent and in a lot of pain, however, when we tried to examine her she was succumbed by a fit of rage and no one could get close to her, so we had to restrain her.  We didn’t have any information about what took place, as we could not get her family members to release any information.  However, early this morning, her abdominal region became fully distended and we suspected a fair amount of internal bleeding.”

“Oh, God!  Excuse me for just a moment, please.  Just one moment.  I’ll be right back.”

Keith listened intently and when the doctor said ‘internal bleeding’ he quickly made his way to the restroom and vomited.  When he returned, he weakly asked the doctor to continue.

“There were no family members present, so we had to make a decision based on medical emergency.  She was in surgery for three hours and unfortunately, we had to do, in layman’s terms, a partial hysterectomy.  Her uterus was removed, but her ovaries and fallopian tubes were left in.  Maggie is just too young to be without her ovaries.”

“Can you please tell me why you felt it necessary to remove her uterus?”  Keith was sobbing uncontrollably now. 

“There was a fair amount of damage done to her rectum and colon.  We suspect that the colon was penetrated by a large, sharp object, and as a result, the uterus was irreparably punctured….causing Maggie to hemorrhage.  We don’t know how long Maggie had been bleeding out, but we suspect the damage was sustained within hours of her being admitted.”

“We had no choice at that point.  The nurse in charge of Maggie’s care contacted the police…however when the police got there, Maggie had lost consciousness, causing us to take immediate action.  We are under strict orders to contact the police once she’s stable and able to talk.”  Keith nodded his head, feeling as though he may be sick again.  “It would be advisable, if you are able, to contact Maggie’s parents and ask them to come down to the hospital.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check on Maggie.  I won’t be long.  You can wait out here in the hall if you like.”

      Keith sat down in the chair outside Maggie’s door, feeling as though he, not Mr. Lucelli, were the guilty party.  He walked to the nurse’s station and asked to use the phone.

Reviews

[Arthur Henn]

The pain and discomfort one feels for Maggie is so strong here while reading this. You want to embrace the pages its written on. Keith again, you can not help but like this guy, the care and heartfelt love your send to the reader through his character is truly honest.

You are so good with the way you bring out the heart and soul of your characters.

Art

[Dezaraye]

Mr. Creepy-bad-guy is totally on my hit list now.

You're doing such a wonderful job with this story. I'm loving Keith more and more for his tenderness and love toward Maggie. My heart just hurts for her. I can't imagine being so young and losing that part of myself.

[Ken Simm.]

Exciting, intense, suspenseful and up to and beyond your usual high standard. I cannot fault the way this is going. a wonderful story well told.