The Chef | A Michael Jackson Fanfiction

Chapter 62

Michael's POV

The morning Maeve woke I told her everything that happened, the accident, the emergency c-section, the cardiac arrest, the brain operation and the doctors declaring her brain dead. I left out the detail that her parents were there and that her father was eager to turn off the machines. While we were talking, Dr. Bailey stopped by and was very happy to see Maeve awake.

She agreed on doing further testing under the condition to meet her son first and although the doctor wanted to check Maeve's health condition first she understood the urge she felt towards meeting her child.

Soon after a nurse walked in with Nicolas in his incubator before she carefully placed him in Maeve's right arm. I could see she wanted to touch him badly with her left hand but couldn't because of the fixation so instead she stroke his cheek with her nose before kissing his head.

"My sweet little boy" she smiled. "Michael, he's perfect!"

"He really is" I told her.

"My sweet little Nicolas" she kissed him again.

I looked at her in confusion before I spoke "How do you know?" I never mentioned the name I gave him.

"Know what?" she asked, still focused on all the little details of his small face.

"That his name is Nicolas" I said and her eyes met mine.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I just know" she answered.

"Do you like it?" I asked. "We can change it if you want to-"

"I love it, Michael" she interrupted.

They gave her about half an hour before taking Nicolas back and starting on the tests. The first few were just questions Maeve should answer like her name or what year it is.

They also tested her strength but because of her injuries on the left side of her body they concentrated on her right side.

They were content with the strength in her right hand. For her left hand they just asked her to slowly wiggle her fingers and Maeve did but cried out in pain.

"Just some more small tests and then we're going to give you something for the pain" Dr. Bailey said as she walked to the end of the bed and lifted the blanket to reveal Maeve's feet.

I sat on Maeve's side, holding her hand. "You're doing great" I told her.

With a pen the doctor stroke Maeve's sole and I know from movies that this is supposed to trigger the toes to move but they didn't.

The doctor looked at Maeve as she tried the other foot that didn't move either.

From where Maeve was lying she couldn't see what was happening because the blanket was in the way.

"Maeve, can you wiggle your toes for me?"

Nothing.

"Ok and now push against my hand, like hitting the breaks on your car."

Nothing.

"Good. Now I want you to close your eyes and tell me when it hurts."

I watched as the woman pulled the blanket off the bed completely before poking a small needle in Maeve's foot.

Nothing.

She poked the ankle and hopefully looked at Maeve.

Nothing.

Next was the knee.

Nothing.

Then through the fabric of the hospital gown the waist.

Nothing.

When the doctor pocked Maeve in her stomach she finally said "Ow!".

"Did it hurt?" Dr. Bailey asked.

"Not as much as wiggling my fingers" Maeve laughed.

"But you're doing great. We're doing it one more time, ok?"

Maeve nodded with her eyes still closed as Dr. Bailey started repeating the procedure on the other leg, sparing the knee section since she has been operated there.

Again when the doctor poked her stomach she told her that it did hurt.

"Ok good. The nurses will stop by in a while to take you to get some scans done and until then... what's your favorite flavored jello?"

Maeve laughed and immediately answered "I like the green ones!"

"Ok, so I'm going to show Mr. Jackson here where he can get as much jello as you can eat!" the doctor said and I followed her into the nurses kitchen where she opened the refrigerator to get out two green jellos and handed them to me along with two spoons.

"You can get as many as you want" she said.

"What's wrong with Maeve's legs?" I asked. I didn't want Maeve to worry that's why I kept quiet.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about" she sighted as she gestured for me to sit down.

"We still have some tests to do but it looks like she's paralyzed from waist down."

I kept my head low, nodding at her words.

"I want to be honest with you. It is already a miracle that she gained back consciousness AND don't lack in cognitive abilities, like her memory or even talking. It would've been too good to be true if there was no damage at all" the doctor said.

"So you don't think she'll ever be able to walk again?" I asked and she shook her head.

"With further testing we most likely find the reason why she doesn't feel anything waist down but most time we can't do anything about it."

Maeve's POV

While I waited for Michael to return I took the opportunity to check out my injuries. I let the bed move my upper body a little higher so I could get a better look.

I looked at my left hand that was fixated with what looked like a trap for animals. But Michael explained earlier that that's to stabilize the bone that has been broken several times.

As long as I didn't move my fingers it didn't hurt much but I was sure that my system was filled with lots of different medications including painkillers.

My eyes trailed up my arm to my elbow where a bandage blocked my view. Michael said they used bone screws to support my elbow and knee.

My knee. With my right arm I grabbed the blanket and tossed it to the side. It was a little weaker than I planned but I couldn't reach it anymore. I tried to sit up a little more but failed when I remembered I just had a c-section, like 3 days ago?!

Maybe my feet can move the blanket away but when I watched them they didn't move one bit. It was like the signal from my brain got lost on the way down.

I stared down my legs that didn't move one bit when the door opened and a nurse walked in with an infusion in her hand.

"Ms. Harris" she greeted me. "I've got some pain medication for you and we need to change all your bandages real quick."

She walked closer, connection the infusion to the venous access I already had before she moved the blanked to the side.

"Let's start at the bottom and work our way up" she said when she started touching my leg, lifting it slowly to unwrap the bandage.

"Just tell me when it hurts" she started cleaning the operating scar that was one straight line from mid-thigh to just an inch under my knee. It was huge.

However, I couldn't feel her touch but I kept quiet.

Was it the pain medication that made me loose my senses? I don't know.

She cleaned the injury and moved on to the next. Lastly she unwrapped my head when there was a knock on the door.

"Am I interrupting?"