Magnolia Blooms

11. Levitate

The darkness around Maggie was total. She could sense that she'd stopped falling. She wasn't standing on anything but she wasn't falling anymore. She was... floating. The darkness was still scary, but it didn't seem so bad.

Occasionally, one of the monsters would call something out to her. Maggie would cover her ears and try not to hear them, but they seemed to be inside her head here.

They kept telling her Mama and Papa didn't love her. They kept telling her they had left her here in this dark place.

Maggie knew she had to find a way out of this dark place.

Debby and Josh sat by Maggie's bedside day in and day out, watching their daughter slip seemingly further and further away as each and every test gave no further answers.

Maggie's brain function was fine. The EEG and the MRI had shown no anomalies that could explain the coma.

In a consultation with Dr. Kate, who Debby had called to cancel Maggie's appointment, explaining why, Dr. Kate suggested Maggie may have experienced a psychotic break and the coma was self preservation. But even she couldn't confirm that.

It had been a week and there had been no change. Maggie didn't respond to any stimuli. Despite no obvious brain damage, she still wasn't breathing on her own. Other than the convulsions of a few days ago, nothing else had happened or changed. Maggie lay on the bed, connected to the tubes and wires.

Tyler and Jenna visited every day. They came separately as they didn't want Rosie to see Maggie like this.

They'd also taken Jim into their house while Josh and Debby essentially lived at Maggie's bedside.

"Maggie," Debby said. "Come on, sweet girl. Come back to us. Mama and Papa miss you. So does Jim."

Debby smoothed down Turtle and rearranged Uff in Maggie's arm. She sighed and looked at the huge Get Well card Maggie's class had made. Rosie had made a bunch of drawings for Maggie. Tyler and Jenna had told her Maggie was sick and in the hospital, but hadn't explained why. When Rosie asked to visit, they simply said she couldn't because Maggie was too sick for visitors. Rosie wasn't sure she believed her parents, but if she couldn't see Maggie, she must be really sick. So Rosie drew pictures to make Maggie happy and to help her feel better.

Josh and Debby hung each picture on the walls around Maggie's bed and explained to her what the pictures were of. Maggie made no reaction.

Maggie was taken for test after test after test to try and figure out what was happening. No one had any answers and eventually the doctors just said they'd have to wait and see if Maggie would wake up. They said it didn't seem like there was any reason she wouldn't, but they couldn't say when that might happen.

Her Papa had brought a small speaker into Maggie's room and played music at all times. The sound of the ventilator and the heart monitor was depressing and Josh hoped the music could penetrate wherever Maggie was and help her come back.

Where Maggie was, right now, she couldn't hear anything. Even the monsters had stopped talking all the time. Maggie 'sat' where she was, her arms around her knees. She was scared but she was also sad. She wanted her Mama and Papa but the monsters had said they didn't want her anymore and that why she was stuck here. She didn't want to believe the monsters, but her mama and papa hadn't come.

There was a sound today. Maggie heard something that she hadn't heard before. Music! She listened very carefully to see if it was real. It had to be! It was Papa Josh and Uncle Tyler's music! She could hear some of the words. It was the "Blurryface" song! Maggie's favourite song! She listens to see where it was coming from and moved in that direction.

That's when she saw something different. Light. She could see light. Since there wasn't really any walking or running, Maggie moved as quickly as she could towards the light. It didn't seem very fast, but it definitely was getting closer!

Josh held Maggie's hand, humming to her as he lay beside her on the bed. He held his small daughter in his arms, already mourning. After two weeks, there was still no change in Maggie's condition. Doctors were being positive and hopeful, and Josh and Debby were trying to stay positive, but they saw the looks snuck between the staff members tending to their daughter. With no explanation as to why Maggie was in a coma, there was no way to predict when or if Maggie would wake up.

The staff wasn't as hopeful as they acted. They were convinced Maggie wasn't going to wake up. They were careful not to say anything where the parents would overhear, but they would talk about 'the little girl in Room Two' and how the parents refused to give up, but realistically, with no medical reason for her to be in a coma in the first place and absolutely no change to her condition in the past two weeks, they weren't as optimistic amongst themselves as they were when they were actually patient-facing.

Sure, they continued to give the little girl the best care they could. They felt bad for the parents, especially since no one had any answers for them. They were likely going to lose their child and they'd never know why.

At the beginning of the third week, Josh walked into Maggie's room after having taken a shower. Debby had gone downstairs to get some coffee for the two of them. He looked over at his daughter and frowned. Something was different and he couldn't place it at first.

Then it hit him. Maggie's eyes were open! He rushed to her side.

"Maggie? Maggie, are you awake?"

Her eyes moved in his direction. Josh started punching the call button over and over again.

He texted Debby to get back to Maggie's room. She came running in a few minutes later with two coffee cups.

"What's wrong?" She asked trying to figure out what the urgency was. Maggie wasn't in any distress. Then she saw it. She ran to Maggie's side and Maggie's eyes moved in her direction.

"Hi, Bug," Debby said, smiling through tears. "It's really nice to see those big blue eyes."