Language of Love

Chapter 23 - Hell of a Headache

Everything was dark. Muffled noises sometimes reached her. Abi knew she needed to wake up, but every time she fought her way to the surface she was dragged down again. She was scared and alone, everything hurt.

There were noises, voices above her. She fought the darkness again and groaned at the pain that spiked through her head. Almost tempted to retreat back into the darkness to escape the pain.
"Hey Abs. I'm here. That's it, wake up for me. I know it must hurt. Open your eyes, babe."
She groaned again. She knew that voice, it was trying to be calm but it was tinged with worry. Her eyes felt so heavy. She opened them a little but shut them instantly at the brightness.
"I'll turn the lights off completely Bambi." Another voice said.
"There. It's dark now." Said the first voice. "Try again Abs."
Warily, she opened her eyes.
"Hey. There's my girl." A face leant over her. She groaned, her voice failing her, but she managed to move her hand to reach for him.
Troy immediately gripped her hand.
Not alone. She thought.
Something wet dripped on her. Was he crying?
"Troy" She rasped.
"Hey." He repeated through his tears.
She reached up and wiped a tear away from his face.

Another shadowy figure moved around the bed to her other side.
"You're in hospital Bambi. Gave us quite a scare."
"Whip?" She asked.
"Yeah, sweetheart. I'm gonna go find a nurse and let Maxi come say Hi. I'll be back later 'kay?"
She nodded then whimpered in pain, gripping Troy's hand tightly.
"Abs you've got a head injury. Try not to move much."
She hissed and closed her eyes when Whippet opened the door and bright light briefly spilled in. Her eyes felt so heavy, it was a struggle to open them again when she heard the door close.
"You can sleep soon Abs. Just stay awake a bit longer so the nurse can check you." Troy said.

Maxi arrived before the nurse, gaining another hiss of pain from Abi as the door opened and closed. He came and stood by the bed then leant over and wrapped her in a gentle hug.
"Don't ever scare me like that again, mate." He said, leaving wetness on her arm.
More tears? Thought Abi.
"Maxi." She rasped and reached out to him. Something tugged her hand and she suddenly realised something was embedded in it. Panicking, she let go of Troy's hand to reach for it. Troy's hands gently stopped her.
"Leave it Abs. It's okay. It's a canula. It's helping."
Abi shook her head, then whimpered in pain again.

The nurse arrived and the bright lights were too much. Abi shut her eyes tight but felt the tears leaking out. A gentle hand brushed them away.
"Love ya Abs." A voice said softly in her ear as a kiss was pressed gently to her cheek.
"Sorry, pet." The nurse said. "I've got to put the lights on a little to check you over. Promise I'll keep it as dark as I can."
Abi kept her eyes shut.
"It's good to see you awake. I'm Chloe. I'll be one of the nurses looking after you. What's your name love?"
"Abi." She still didn't open her eyes.
"And these handsome men?"
"Troy.....Maxi."
"There was another handsome one came and got me. Who was he?"
"......Whip?"
"Aren't you a lucky thing to have all these good-looking men worrying about you. Shame to have your eyes closed and miss out on the view they provide. Open your eyes for me sweetheart."
Abi reluctantly blinked her eyes open, flinching at the dim light. Troy gave her an encouraging smile.
"Can you tell me where you are love?" The nurse asked.
"Ummmm....hospital?" Abi half stated, half asked.
"Do you know why?"
"Head."
"What happened to your head pet?"
"Don't know."
"You're doing great Abi. Can you follow my finger for me?" Abi tried hard but struggled to follow the finger that moved across her face, it made her head hurt too much.
"Abi you're doing so much better than you were. I'm going to go speak to the Doctor now. She'll be in to see you soon but you can sleep if you want to."

Abi drifted off to sleep before the nurse even reached the door.

When she woke again there were 3 people around her bed. Troy sat, still holding her hand. Maxi had been replaced by Chappo and a female Doctor stood beside them. They were having a conversation and didn't seem to realise she was awake.
"It's really positive that she was so lucid. Her brain needs to heal and she'll sleep a lot for that to happen. We'll do another CT scan later this evening."
Struggling to find her voice she squeezed Troy's hand. His attention was immediately on her, his smile soft but concerned. He looked exhausted, his eyes red rimmed.
"Abi. I'm Doctor Rawlin. Can you tell me where you are?"
Abi cleared her throat.
"Hospital." She rasped. Chappo moved to a small table and returned with a cup of water and a straw, passing it to Troy.
He positioned the straw at her mouth and she sipped, feeling the cold water slide welcomingly down her dry throat.
"You've had quite a day Abi." The Doctor told her. "A surf board hit you hard in the back of your head. Gave you a nasty head wound. We operated to stop a brain bleed and you have severe concussion. Expect you have one hell of a headache right now."
Abi nodded and immediately wished she hadn't, groaning loudly as the pain spiked intensely. The Doctor fiddled with something attached to her canulla.
"That should ease the pain a little." She reassured her. "You might feel a little confused for a while Abi. Forget things, struggle to find the word for something, need to sleep lots. That's all a normal part of the concussion. We are going to keep you in hospital for a while and we will need to do some scans and checks regularly to make sure you keep getting better. That okay with you?"
Abi looked at Troy for reassurance. He nodded encouragingly.
"Yes." She responded to the Doctor.
"Great. I'll be back to check on you later and send you off for another scan."
The Doctor left. Abi shut her eyes again for a moment but opened them again in alarm when the door opened and shut a second time.
"Hey, it's okay." Troy reassured her. "Chappo just slipped out for a bit."
"Don't go." She said, squeezing his hand tightly.
"Abs. The entire lifeguard team couldn't drag me out of here right now. I'm not going anywhere."
She seemed to believe him and drifted back to sleep.

The next time she woke Troy was talking on the phone.
"She's woken twice now. Been able to answer questions but still quite out of it. The Doctors pleased, says its much more just signs of a severe concussion now. They plan to keep her in for observations and regular scans for several days at least."
Abi squeezed his hand. He paused to smile at her.
"She's just woken up. I'll explain then put you on speaker phone." He said to the phone then turned to her.
"Abs. Your Mum's on the phone."
"Mum?" Her voice came out as a whisper. "She know?"
"Yeah, she knows. Want to speak to her?"
"Try." Abi whispered.
"You're on speaker phone Trish."
"Abi love?" Her mums voice filtered from the phone. Troy moved it next to her mouth but turned to minimise the light. Despite the thoughtful gesture Abi still flinched from the light before remembering she had to respond.
"Hi Mum." She managed.
"It's so good to hear your voice love. Dad and I have a flight booked for tomorrow morning. We should be in Sydney the following morning."
Abi tried to acknowledge this but the words wouldn't come. She looked at Troy in alarm.
"It's okay Abi. Doctor Rawlin said words could be a bit hard to grasp at the moment." He reassured.
She frowned then seemed to force out.
"Love you Mum."
"We love you too Abi. We'll say bye now but we'll see you Thursday."
Words failed her again. She waved at the phone.
"She says bye." Troy said before ending the call.

Just as she was drifting off again, the Doctor returned.
"Sorry Abi. Time for another scan. We need to check how your heads doing."
Troy reached to the table next to him and revealed a pair of dark sunglasses.
"Hoppo and Box popped by whilst you were asleep. They thought these might help with the light sensitivity. Box has had concussions before. I'll pop them on for you."
He placed them carefully over her eyes.
"Come with?" She asked him, not letting go of his hand.
"Yeah Abs. I'll have to wait outside the room for your scan but I'll walk up with you."
2 porters entered the room.
"Ready to roll pet?" One asked.
"Close your eyes Abi. That will help." Advised the Doctor.

The journey through the hospital felt like torture. Even with eyes shut and sunglasses on light seemed to jab at Abi's senses and inflict pain. Troy talked reassuringly to her the entire time, never letting go of her hand.

Reaching the scan room Troy seemed reluctant to let go. He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.
"I'll be right here Abs." He reassured her as she was wheeled away.

Abi must have fallen asleep in the scan room because suddenly she was back in her hospital room. Troy was curled in a chair beside her fast asleep. She watched his steady breathing and slipped back into sleep herself.