My Mom & My Dad

Chapter 18: Sleeping Beauty

Emily:

"What's your name, little angel?" the kind-hearted nurse with wide-rimmed glasses asked me. She was the one who took me from Oliver and Stephen as soon as we came into the ER. She had kept me busy in the waiting room with some children's books and toys.

"My name's Emily. Emily Smoak," I replied.

"You have a beautiful name. It suits your beautiful face," she remarked.

"You should see my mommy. She's beautiful, too."

The nurse laughed. "I'm sure she is."

"Is she gonna be okay?" I asked.

"I sure hope so," the nurse replied. "The doctors and other nurses are doing everything they can to make sure of that."

"Is she gonna die?" I asked again. I couldn't help but ask that question. After what we had just gone through, after what I had seen my mom go through, I was so frightened she wasn't going to make it. There was so much blood coming out of her left side. Everyone in the ER was moving frantically just to get her stabilized.

"Oh, sweetie, don't exactly know to answer your question, but--"

"She's not gonna die," a big man's voice cut in. I looked up and saw Oliver and Stephen. I leapt from my chair and ran to hug them both. Oliver thanked the nurse for keeping me company, and then she left the waiting room.

"Emily, you're mom's alive," Oliver told me. I was relieved. He picked me up and carried me.

"Where is Mommy?" I asked him.

"She's sleeping. In her room. Come on, let's go see her," he said.

Stephen:

The three of us left the waiting room and got on the elevator. When the elevator dinged and the door opened, we stepped out on the floor where a sign read "Intensive Care Unit." Dad brought us to Felicity's room, which was like a private suite in the ICU.

Felicity lay on the hospital bed with tubes connected to her body. She had one in her side and another in her mouth. There was another tube coming from underneath her, and I guessed it was for her urine.

"Dad," I asked, "what are the tubes for?"

"That one in her mouth connects her to the machine that helps her breathe. The other one on her left side is the drain for her injury, which the doctors had to operate on," Dad answered.

"I want to go inside," Emily said.

"I'm not sure the doctors will let you, Emily. They have rules about children in this place," Dad explained.

"She can go right in with you, Mr. Queen. She's her mother. We can bend the rules in the ICU suite a little," said an Asian-looking lady doctor who came up to us and smiled. "Hello, I'm Dr. Wong. Let's go inside. I'll explain everything to you."

We went inside Felicity's room together. She looked so peaceful. The only sound you could hear was the steady beeping of the monitors, which was a good sign. That meant that her condition was stable.

"Her vitals are stable," Dr. Wong began to explain. "But she is still unconscious. Don't worry, it's not a coma. However, I have to tell you frankly that she is still in critical condition. Direct, penetrating injury to the spleen is a very rare condition because the rib cage protects this organ. Usually vehicular accidents are the common causes of a ruptured spleen. But in Felicity's case, the knife used to stab her left side penetrated in between two ribs and ruptured her spleen, which resulted in a large amount of blood leaking into her abdominal cavity. We had to operate to stop the bleeding, but when we opened her up, we saw the extent of the damage. More than 25% of the organ was damaged by the blunt-edged blade, so we decided to remove her spleen altogether to save her life. We won't know exactly the extent of the damage and how her other organs are affected, so the next forty-eight hours are critical."