Cole

Transformation

"You have noticed that Manda can tell that I am here?", I asked.

"Yes, I think so," said Dr. Metz.

I walked over to Manda and bent down so my face was near hers. She looked sad. I had never seen her with such a sad face. She always was happy and bubbly for me. I could hear her breathing, but there was a discomfort. One of her arms was out and bent and her hand was near her face. I took her small hand in mine. Her fingers twitched a little.

"Manda, I am so sorry. I never thought it would come to this. I will never leave you. I didn't think I was good enough for you, but if you still want me, you can have me. I am here for you and we are going to get better, together. I am going to help you. I will never leave you," I spoke to her softly.

"There was a little bit of reaction, Cole. Did you see that?", said Dr. Metz.

"Yes, I saw it too", said Mr.  Westbrook, showing some signs of hope.

"I think we need to get that drug in her now," I said to Dr. Metz.

"Just one moment, Cole. Let's see if the blood tests have come back yet. I did check and they were indeed going to look for aluminum, along with the other poisons," said Dr. Metz.

Dr. Metz called down to the lab and talked to a tech down there while I gently stroked Manda's hand and sometimes her cheek. I might have been imagining it but her face did not seem as sad looking as before.

There was a subtle change.

Metz put down the phone and looked at us.

"You were right, Cole, she is loaded with aluminum. There are a few organic pollutants in her system too, but nothing toxic like the aluminum. We need to get the deferoxamine mesylate in her. The hospital pharmacy did locate some and it is being rushed here."

No sooner did he say these words than a nurse arrived with the drug for the IV. It was quickly hooked up and started running into Manda's veins. The aluminum would go out through Manda's catheter in her urine. I was beginning to feel at least a little relieved. We were giving her our best shot. I just hoped that the amount of damage to her brain would be minimal and she would come back to us, fully recovered.

I bent over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. I just needed her to come back. I wanted to see her smile again, enjoy her beautiful grace, hear her laugh, and hear her 'Holy Moly'. I was really missing her already and it hadn't even been a day. If she didn't come back there was not much left for me in this world.

I noticed she seemed to be resting more peacefully now, and the sadness was gone.  Time passed slowly, though.

"Cole, I see that she is passing a lot of fluid now out through the urinary catheter," said Dr. Metz. "There should be a lot of aluminum coming out of her now, but it's going to take a while. I want to suction out her stomach too. We will bring in some equipment for that."

Dr. Metz brought in a machine that pumped out and flushed her stomach

I just kept holding my girl in my arms; I climbed onto the bed behind her as she lay on her side,  and I nested behind her in a spoon position holding her gently.

For the next thirty minutes or so things remained about the same, but then Manda started moaning, sometimes quite loudly.

"What is happening to her?" questioned her dad with obvious concern.

"She is okay," said Dr. Metz. "She may be regaining consciousness. She will have a bad headache.  Let's just wait and see.  We need to give her time."

After about an hour Manda suddenly rotated in the bed and was facing me. The movement probably was not comfortable for her catheter and IV needle but she did it anyway. I felt her arms reaching out for me.