Finding Jaime

Chapter 116

"Jaime, look who's here," Meagan said as I stood slack jawed. Jaime's eyes moved in my direction. He smiled.

He smiled! The ventilator! It's gone!

"He?" I stammered out. "He's off the ventilator!"

Meagan nodded, with tears in her eyes.

"They took him off it about ten minutes before you called. He started to fight it, was choking, and when they came in, they took him off it, and he opened his eyes," Meagan said.

I wondered if that was around the time of my 'dream'.

"Hey," I said, moving next to Jaime and taking his hand. I looked in his eyes. His eyes were clear. Almost sparkling.

"Jaime! You waked up!" Marvel cried, climbing up on her big brother's bed. I watched as a smile settled across his face. "Hi!"

Jaime didn't say anything, but he was clearly wide awake.

Marvel curled up beside her big brother, hugging his arm. He made no move to put his arm around her. He only smiled a little.

We talked at Jaime, seeing as he wasn't speaking still. We told him what had happened and what we knew. He frowned as though he had no recollection of what had landed him in the hospital.

His doctor came by and said they were going to do some more imaging at some point, hopefully today, to see if there was anything they needed to know or could give us any clues as to how much damage he'd sustained that could be permanent.

Jaime didn't react to the doctor. He was unfocussed as the doctor examined him. Almost as though he wasn't there again. His eyes clouded and he stopped responding to us.

The doctor reminded us he'd just woken up from a long coma and it was likely he would slip in and out of a sort of consciousness as his brain readjusted. He could be falling asleep and his brain forgot to close his eyes.

We'd have no idea what damage might be permanent. At this point, I didn't care. I had my son back. When he could, he could communicate enough for now.

Jaime did fall asleep, and stayed asleep, frequently throughout the day.

Meagan took Marvel to her programs, picked the boys up from school and brought them to visit Jaime.

They were so excited when they saw he was off the vent. But they were disappointed that he slept through the whole visit. They understood, but they were still a bit disappointed. I understood.

I knew we still had a long road ahead of us. But we were getting somewhere.

I told Meagan I'd stay again. I wanted to be with Jaime. I knew his days and nights could still be a little messed up. I wanted to be here.

"So I don't bore you to tears blathering on do you want to listen to music? An audiobook? A podcast?" I asked him. He looked at me as I spoke, but didn't respond. He didn't nod or shake his head. He just looked at me.

"How about "The Handmaid's Tale?"  You liked it when you read it," I suggested. Jaime simply looked at me.

I put the audiobook on and sat back listening to the story. Jaime looked up at the ceiling while the story played out. His eyes moved back and forth as though he were silently reading along.  He seemed calm, so I took it as a good sign.

The nurse came in with something to help Jaime sleep, since he was likely to mess up his days and nights and we wanted to try and get him back on a proper rhythm.

Around nine, he yawned and by 10 he was fast asleep. I watched him sleep. I saw his eyes moving beneath his eyelids, indicating he might be dreaming. He frowned a couple of times in his sleep, but otherwise slept.

Around midnight, I also fell asleep. I woke up when the nurses came to check on Jaime every few hours. His vitals were strong and had stayed that way all day.

In the morning, a therapist came in to talk to Jaime.

"We wanted to get you trying to eat again. We're going to start slow. Apple sauce, soup, liquids, okay?"

Jaime didn't respond. He was looking at the therapist. He was hearing her. I was certain of that. But he wasn't nodding or shaking his head. It was then that I noticed his hands. He was curling his hand into fists.

"Jaime, are you trying to answer like before? With squeezes?"

He looked over at me with relief in his eyes. I'd understood what he was trying to convey. I took his hand in mine.

"Okay, how about one squeeze for yes, two for no, okay?" I suggested. He squeezed my hand.

I smiled at him. The therapist looked over and also smiled.

"Okay, let's try this again," she smiled. "What do you say to trying a little soup at lunch today?"

Jaime squeezed my hand once. I told the therapist.

"Okay. We'll try soup and maybe some applesauce?" 

Jaime squeezed my hand again, once. I nodded.

"Great. Physio will also be by today. We're going to see what you can do, now that you're awake," she smiled at Jaime. What I appreciated was that she was taking to Jaime. Not at him, not to me. Jaime may need me to respond for him at this time, but she was addressing Jaime. I smiled at him once she left.

Physio came and assessed what Jaime could do. Which wasn't much. He didn't seem able to move much on his own, just his hands and his eyes. But it was early still. He hadn't been fully conscious for very long.

Meagan and the kids came for dinner Jaime was awake. He'd done okay with the soup at lunch and for dinner they brought him tomato soup and a meal replacement drink. He wasn't able to use a straw to suck it so I spoon fed him and he was able to take about half of it.

"You're doing great, Jaime," I said to him after Meagan took the kids home to bed. "It's going to take you some time, but you'll get there."

We didn't know where that might end up, but the important thing was my son was awake and was able to communicate to a point. We'd do everything we could to help him heal.