Her Family For Keeps. Molly Evans

her own family. Somehow, there had to be hope, even if it was just a little.

      Trying to be encouraging without giving false hope was a tricky dance. “I just reviewed his chart with Nurse Becky and things look pretty stable right now.” That was the truth. At least for the moment.

      “Then why hasn’t he opened his eyes? Why doesn’t he respond to me?” Frustration shot out of her like electricity.

      “He’s being heavily sedated. When kids are on the respirator they get wiggly and won’t let the machine do the work.” That was true, too.

      “Why didn’t anyone explain this to me?” She raked a hand through her hair in frustration then clenched her fists in her lap. She looked as if she wanted to hit something.

      Rebel knew this information had likely been explained more than once, but due to stress of the event she hadn’t remembered it.

      “Just keep talking to him. He can hear you.” Hearing was the last sense to leave before death. People who returned from seemingly unrecoverable events often did, and were able to relate stories of hearing everything going on around them but being unable to respond at the time.

      “I didn’t know whether he could hear me or not.”

      “He does. Just give him your love. Just let him hear your voice.” That was the one hope she’d held on to when her brothers had died, that they had heard her voice and had known she loved them. “He may not respond to you right now, but he will hear you. It will be your voice he recognizes and responds to. If anything is going to pull him out of this, it will be you.”

      “Really?” Shocked, Amanda looked at her child, then back at Rebel, trying to determine the truth.

      “I’ve worked with many patients who have awakened from comas, and that’s the thing they all had in common. They heard their families and knew there was someone with them.”

      “Do you think he can…make it?” She pushed her hair out of her face.

      “I don’t know, but for me to go on as a nurse I need to have some hope.” Rebel squeezed Amanda’s hands as she echoed Duncan’s sentiment and choked down her own emotion that wanted to swallow her whole. This moment was not about her own grief and loss but about the recovery of Amanda’s child. “It’s never easy, but don’t give up.”

      “I don’t want to…but I’m not getting much support…” she glanced at her husband “.from anyone.”

      “Men like to fix things and feel powerless when they can’t.” She thought about Duncan. He was definitely a fixer.

      “You are observant.” Amanda offered a smile at that bit of wisdom.

      She leaned over and spoke into Eric’s ear, then gave him a kiss on the forehead, careful not to bump any of his tubes. “Just remember, there is always hope.”

      Eagerness and a little hope now showed on Amanda’s face.

      “I will.” She stroked Eric’s forehead. “I’ll talk to him all the time now. Thank you.” Tears welled again in Amanda’s eyes. “Thank you. You’ve given me more hope than I’ve had since this all happened.”

      Unable to bear the onslaught of emotions dredged to the surface by this situation, Rebel pushed them aside. She backed away before she lost control and turned to dash out the door.

      And ran right into Duncan’s arms.