The Whisperings Of Insidious: Aftermath

Deepest Betrayal

     Orem was sitting beside Kale as he watched Keanu begin to attach the catheter syringe to the feeding tube. “I'm just filling in for the nurses for a bit. I'll feed Kale, and then his normal nurse should be free.”  Keanu explained to Orem. His hand twitched a little as he was screwing the plastic pieces together. A small drop of liquid nutrients fell on Kale's bare arm. Kale flinched.

     “Wait! Did you see that?” Orem scooted closer as he stared at Kale's arm.

     “See what?” Keanu looked at Orem and raised his eyebrows.

     “He flinched! He flinched! Do it again!” Orem was almost shouting with excitement. This was the first time Kale had shown any awareness of the world around him in six months.

     “Do what? I didn't do anything.”

     “Drip some more of that goo on his arm.” He grinned at Keanu. The man was looking at him as if he were crazy so he continued, “Just do it. You'll see. He flinched!

     Keanu shrugged and did as he was asked. He allowed another drop to fall on Kale’s arm, and then he smiled. “You're right. He responded. That's great! That's a serious improvement.” Keanu finished connecting the syringe to the tube before he looked at Orem again. “Doctor Walters will be happy to hear about this. I'll tell him as soon as I feed our boy here.”

     Orem couldn't believe it. Kale had responded to the cool liquid on his arm. He wanted to try something else, but he knew Keanu would tell him to wait until Kale was fed. They were incredibly anal about the times they did things. Everything had to be done at the exact time it was scheduled, or they lost their minds. Orem waited.

     Orem impatiently tapped his foot for the next thirty minutes as he watched Keanu feed Kale. As soon as the nurse left, Orem jumped up and leaned over Kale. “Kale? Can you hear me?” He waited for any sign but got none. “Kale?” Orem slapped Kale's arm a little hard. Kale flinched. Orem almost screamed with joy.

     It wasn't long before Doctor Walters walked into the room. He went straight to Kale and pulled out his pen light. He pulled Kale's eye lip up and shined the light at his eye. “We have pupil dilation. That's good. Keanu said Kale had flinched while feeding.” Doctor Walters looked at Orem, his face serious. “Don't get too excited. He may be responding to a little stimulation, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll wake up.

     “But he's responding now! That has to mean something.”

     “Yes, it's a good sign. But there's no guarantee he'll wake up fully. And as I was telling his parents, he'll most likely have some serious brain damage. We'll have to take it one day at a time.” Doctor Walters began examining Kale's reflexes with little results. Kale would flinch sometimes but not others. His reactions weren't consistent.

     Orem didn't care what the doctor said. Kale flinched. He was going to be okay. He wasn't about to let the doctor kill his hopes.

     Kale's parents arrived not long after the doctor left the room. Orem assumed they had a talk before they came to see Kale.

     Kathy went directly to Kale and started cooing at him as if he were an infant. She held his hand and asked him questions as she said how proud she was of him.

     Kale never responded to his parents or Orem that day or for the next few days after. Everyone was getting discouraged even though the doctor told them time and time again that Kale may not ever respond again or wake up. He did reassure them, though, that if Kale was waking up, it would take time. He explained that it wasn't like the movies. One didn't simply wake up as if they were asleep. It was a whole long process.