In Sickness and In Health

Ch 3

One month later...
It was Miranda's weekend off and she got up out of bed and looked around at her house, it was in need of some serious deep cleaning. Tuck was still asleep and she had promised that they would do some mother and son bonding the whole weekend. They stayed up all night eating junk food and watching movies, which was the reason he was still asleep at 10am on a Saturday when just like her he was an early morning person.
Placing her earbuds in her ear and turning on her Apple Music from her phone as to not disturb her son, she began cleaning the kitchen. Wiping down the counters, washing the cabinets, decluttering and throwing away items they hadn't used in awhile. As Miranda sang along to the music and mopped the floor, Tuck came in rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
He stood and chuckled listening to his mom sing semi loudly to the music in her ear. Miranda turned and jumped seeing her son just standing there staring at her with amusement on his face.
"Tuck, you scared me...Good morning baby," Miranda said sweetly as she walked over and kissed her son's cheek. "Good morning mom, he said smiling. So are we cleaning as part of our bonding time?" Tuck inquired.
Miranda's face beamed with excitement and shock. "Is my son offering to help his mom clean?" she sung.
"Maybe...if we can go see Dad after and then go get more pizza for dinner," Tuck negotiated.
"Sounds like a deal," she replied as they shook hands in agreement.
Mother and son cleaned the house as they blasted music loudly and danced with each other. This was the first time in months that Miranda genuinely felt joy in the midst of all that was going on. Once the house was cleaned to Miranda's liking, they got dressed and headed to the hospital.
When they got onto the MICU floor, Tuck jogged towards Ben's room. Walking slowly she stood at the door and watched Tuck talk to Ben.
"Hey Dad, ummmm honestly I don't know what to say. I miss you...I know mom misses you, we wish you would walk up. School is good as usual, my debate team won the last debate we did. I even have a medal so maybe next time I will bring it with me.
Tuck stopped talking when Miranda walked into the room. She walked over and put her hand in his hair while kissing his forehead. "Time for a haircut Benjamin Warren," she whispered in his ear. She made the call to his barber to come by and cut his hair then decided to check on one of her patients. "Tuck stay here with Ben and I will be back okay," she said as she walked out of the room.
Miranda talked with her residents and tried to do rounds quickly but one of her patients suddenly needed emergency surgery. "Hey Schmitt, my son is in the room with my husband. Can you tell him that as soon as I'm done we will go get pizza," Miranda ordered as she rushed into the O.R.
"Yes Dr.Bailey, right away," he replied running off in the other direction.
Miranda began surgery and made the first incision, once they were in the abdomen Dr. Bailey and Dr.Webber discovered that the patient had intestinal ischemia in the large intestines.
"There was something blocking the superior mesenteric artery," Richard voiced.
"You're right, we going to have to find the blockage and cut out the necrotic part of the intestines," Miranda spoke.
Just as they were coming to the end of the surgery, "Dr.Bailey you are being paged by Dr.Sheppard," the nurse informed.
"Tell her that I'm almost through with surgery," Miranda replied.
"Dr.Bailey she is saying it's urgent," the nurse responded.
With worry in her face she looked up at Dr.Webber. "Go ahead, I got it from here. You go see what the issue is," Richard told her.
Briskly and almost at a running pace, Miranda hurried to Ben's room. She suddenly worried about what her son might have seen if something went wrong. She went over his last vitals and test in her head, nothing indicated infection, sepsis, his liver was fine, his broken ribs were healing well and so was his legs. He brain function had grown but was still unpredictable as to when he would wake up. He "So what could be wrong," Miranda thought to herself.
Just as Miranda got to his room and opened the door, Miranda gasped and held her chest.
"BEN," she yelled seeing his eyes open and looking around the room in confusion. Tuck stood beside the bed with a smile on his face as he spoke to Ben.
"Dr.Sheppard when did he wake up?" Miranda asked as she moved behind Tuck. Ben tried turning his head and looking in Miranda's direction.
"Hey! Warren don't strain yourself. It's been a few months so your muscles have atrophied some so it's going to be hard for you to move," Amelia explained.
"Here Dr. Bailey, come on this side so he can see you better," Dr.Sheppard motioned for Miranda to come around.
With tears in her eyes, Miranda looked into Ben's eyes as his searched for answers.
"You were in an accident while rescuing victims from a warehouse fire. As you were exiting the warehouse the roof collapsed on top of you...and you been in a coma for the past 6 months," Miranda explained to Ben as she stroked his head.
Ben closed his eyes hearing the news of his accident and trying not to cry. He opened them again but his tears forsook him and rolled down his cheek. Miranda gently wiped his cheek and kissed it. Her kiss felt like a breath of fresh air even though there was a tube was still in his throat.
"How soon will he be able to be extubated?" Miranda asked Sheppard. Just the question Ben wanted asked, he felt thankful that his wife knew him well.
"We can run some test to make sure his lungs are strong and he can breathe on his own. Then we can go from there," Dr.Sheppard answered as she left to give them privacy.
Ben slowly lifted his fingers up to indicate that he wanted to hold Miranda's hand. Miranda grabbed his hand and kissed the side of his lips gently and repeatedly. "I've missed you so much," she whispered as she continued to place kisses on his cheek.
"Mom I can go wait outside," Tuck said.
Ben shoot Tuck a look that Miranda read. "No It's okay for you to stay...Dad wants you to stay."
"Okay, ummmm are we still going to get that pizza mom? Because I'm getting kinda hungry," Tuck gestured at his stomach.
Miranda chuckled at her son before looking back at Ben. "This was supposed to be a mother and son weekend and I promised that we would eat his favorite pizza," Miranda told him.
"Mom can we order and eat it here with dad," Tuck asked.
"Ummmm that might not be fair to dad," Miranda giggled.
Ben raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes to suggest that it was okay so Miranda let Tuck order their pizza and she pulled up a chair.
Sitting in the chair going over paperwork like she always did in Ben's room, this time she had a smirk on her face. Ben kept staring at her and moving his eyebrows up and down.
"Benjamin Warren how is it that you manage to still be so nasty after 6 months of being in a coma and you currently still have a tube in your throat," Miranda asked sternly.
Ben raised his eyebrows together this time and then turned his head to look away. Miranda shook her head as she focused her attention back on her paperwork. Just as Miranda was finishing up, Dr. Sheppard and a respiratory therapist came in.
"Hey Warren, since our test show that you are breathing way above the vent and your lungs are strong we are going to take you off of it," Dr.Sheppard shared with him.
"Oh thank you Jesus," Miranda exclaimed jumping up out of the chair.
An hour later a respiratory therapist came in and began to remove the breathing tube from Ben's throat. Miranda held his hand and wiped his mouth as he coughed to clear his throat.
"Miranda," Ben whispered in a raspy voice.
Miranda became teary eyed hearing her husband say her name for the first time in over 6 months.
"It feels so good to say your name," he whispered again.
Miranda leaned down and gently kissed him and they both sighed deeply with relief. Dr.Linc came into the room so they stopped kissing.
"Sorry to interrupt you love birds but I have somethings I need to discuss," Linc said seriously.
Because of the muscle tear in the iliotibial band of your right leg, along with the muscle atrophy from you being in a coma may leave you needing assistance to walk even after you complete physical therapy," Dr.Linc explained.
Ben's face stiffened and his jaw clinched and Miranda rubbed his arm. "So when can he start physically therapy," Miranda asked.
"Well once all the necessary test that have to be run before discharge, you can decide if you think it's best to come here for appointments or have someone at home," Linc advised.
Once Dr. Linc left the room Miranda looked at the husband and saw all the frustration and sadness on his face. She knew what the look was about; if he would always need assistance walking that meant he wouldn't be able to get back to his job as a surgical firefighter.
Miranda kissed his forehead and rubbed his head. Ben gave her what she knew was a fake smile.
"Ben I have to go home because Tuck will be getting home from debate soon. So I will FaceTime you later when I get ready for bed," Miranda informed.
Ben just nodded his head, accepted her kiss on his lips and smiled again. When Miranda left the room Ben groaned, the thought of not being able to do what he loved instantly made him feel hopeless.