Locked-in

"He's had a stroke" Ant sobbed through uncontrollable tears.

"What?" Anne,Dec's mum asked in disbelief "he can't have"

"He has" Ant protested "I'm at the hospital with him now,you need to come,it's not looking good"

In a state of shock,Dec's family joined Ant at the hospital as soon as they could,where he was waiting for news.

Then an unhappy looking doctor joined them in the waiting room.

"Any news doctor?" Anne asked hopefully "I'm his Mam,how's he doing?"

"Please sit down" the doctor advised and everyone took a seat,hanging onto his every word.

"He's had a pretty serious stroke" he continued "we have put him into an induced coma until he stabilises,but I have to be clear,this is about as serious as it gets"

"Will he recover?" Ant asked hopefully.

"We don't know" Doctor Newman replied "it's too early to say,but if he does survive,there may be some permanent damage"

"Brain damage?" Ant frowned.

"Possibly" Doctor Newman nodded "but it's best not to speculate until we know more"

"Can we see him?" Ant pleaded "I'm his husband"

"Sure" the doctor smiled "but remember,he's in an induced coma,so don't expect any reaction from him and just two of you at a time ok?"

Everyone nodded in understanding and they were soon taking turns to visit Dec in his hospital bed,just talking to him,holding his hand and stroking his face lovingly,that was all they could do for now and that was how things stayed for the next couple of days until Doctor Newman announced they were going to try and bring him out of the coma.

Ant,along with Dec's family were delighted and hopeful that this was the beginning of Dec's recovery and life would start getting back to normal.

"Can we be there when you do it?" Ant asked.

"Just you and Mrs Donnelly" Doctor Newman replied.

While the procedure was being undertaken,Dec's family sat anxiously in the waiting room that had become their second home over the last few days.

Meanwhile,Ant and Anne watched the doctor's every move intently as machines and wires were adjusted.

They held onto each other tightly,watching helplessly,terrified that Dec's body and mind just wouldn't cooperate.

And they had every reason to be terrified,judging by the looks on the doctors and nurses faces.

Doctor Newman in particular was looking very glum and was shaking his head and speaking about medical stuff that neither Ant nor Anne understood.

Eventually he and the other staff stood back from Dec.

"Is he coming round?" Ant asked hopefully "is he ok?"

"It didn't go as well as we had hoped" the doctor frowned "he should come round soon,he's stable enough for that,but we couldn't get him to breathe on his own,as you can see,the machine is still doing the breathing for him"

"Oh" Ant exclaimed "but he will be able to breathe on his own eventually won't he?"

"We hope so" Doctor Newman nodded "we'll try again tomorrow"

"And what if he can't?" Anne asked sadly.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it" the doctor replied "but he may need a tracheotomy"