Finally Home

49. Brendon

Sarah asked Sam if she was okay, and I turned around from the counter to look at Sam and see what might be wrong. Just as I did, her eyes rolled into her head and she fell off her chair.

"Sarah, start a timer!" I said. "She's having a seizure!"

I moved her chair away from her so she wouldn't hurt herself on it and pulled the dining table back a little.

I sat near Sam's head as she seized. I spoke soothingly to her, hoping she could hear me.

"You're going to be okay, Sam," I said. "It's okay. You're going to be fine. You're okay. Ride it out. Come on kiddo. You can get out of this. You're okay"

I just kept making sure Sam was safe while her body thrashed on the dining room floor.

Finally, she stopped seizing. I rolled her gently onto her side as Tyler had told me, and as we'd done with Jess in her final weeks.

"How long was it?" I asked Sarah.

"One minute, 42 seconds," she said.

I kept Sam on her side on the floor for another minute before picking her up and carrying her over to the sofa. I knew she'd probably sleep for a little while after. She did when she'd had a seizure last year at Christmas when Mark Solman had shown up.

I checked she was safe and breathing okay, cleaned up from breakfast, put the table and chairs back and then sat beside Sam on the couch so she'd know she was okay when she woke up.

About a half hour later, she started to stir. I put my hand on her leg to reassure her she was okay.

She opened her eyes and looked around.

"What happened? Why am I on the couch?"

"You had a seizure, sweetie," I said.

"It wasn't long. And you're okay," Sarah said. She was sitting with Sam's head in her lap. Tears formed in Sam's eyes. She started to cry and we weren't sure what to do about that.

"It's okay, sweetie," I said. "You're okay. It was a minute 42, and you're okay."

"I haven't had a seizure since last August," she said, tearfully.  "I was hoping I was done with this."

"Well, hon, you've had a busy couple of days, a lot of excitement yesterday, and maybe not enough sleep after we got home so late. But again, the seizure was short. And you only slept for about a half hour after it."

"Can I call my dad?" She asked.

"Of course, darlin'," I said, handing her the phone. She dialed Tyler's number with shaking hands.

"Hi, Dad?" She said, before breaking down into tears. "I had a seizure at Uncle Brendon and Aunt Sarah's."

My heart broke for her.