Take off your hat, I want to stand up.

Chapter 43: She Slept.

Chapter 43: She slept.

She slept, a deep, peaceful sleep.

Ev was under the care of a Nigerian born and educated doctor. He was a wonderful man who performed his duty beautifully. He was held in high esteem by his peers, he was a compassionate professional. There are times people need to be thanked, thank you for your spirit, care, and skill.

Ev had a rising fever, she was literally burning up from the inside, out. The Doctor said she may have a number of very serious issues. They would need to do a series of tests to narrow the scope of possible causes for her condition. He said, it might be best to let the fever run its course and that would mean your mom has a few hours to live.

This idea was not an option. Ev, was definitely a fighter to the end. What tests would need to be performed, we asked?

The Doctor countered, we need to complete a spinal tap procedure to draw fluid from her spine. This will test for spinal meningitis. He stated the test would only prove the existence of the condition. If they treated the two types of meningitis she could be cured of the disease, however she could have drastic secondary effects from the condition.

She could be deaf, blind, mentally unstable, develop a heart condition, or she may pass on because it was her time. Fine, this seemed far to the edges of cruel and unusual. Here was our mom, already a quadriplegic, now she could be blind, deaf or a host other biblical scale instabilities. Our family decided to do the tests, do your best to save her. In fact this would have been her four resurrection from the gates of eternity. She was a gambler. When anyone mentioned Las Vegas, her face would transform into a wonderlust of emotion. Toss the dice.

The Doctor applied his skill, determined it was a bacterial meningitis. The good news it was treatable with a spinal injection of antibiotic. The bad news was still uncertain.

Twenty hours after her first admission to the ward, and inspection by our Doctor. Twenty hour after she had slipped into a deep, dark coma. Twenty hours after she was minutes from death, she awoke.

Unbelievable, she had almost died for the fourth time. She blinked awake. Her first words would be, has anyone some water. She was very thirsty and mildly hungry.

What happened, she inquired?

We were absolutely amazed. There were no complications. She was normal, present and fully in charge of all her faculties. When I told her the trail of events that had passed in the last few days she was incredulous.

On the one hand she wondered why was she spared. She had accepted death many times over the passed several years. There were times she had grown in her faith of her saviour. Then there were dark times she questioned all of her long held beliefs, they waned away. Where she was now? In truth she was some where in the middle.

When she was in the deepest part of her coma state, she said she had a dream about me. I was hiding under her covers peeking out at her trying to make her laugh. She said she was happy and really did not know where she was, but I kept popping up and she could hear me talking. She could see us in the room, her perspective was like an astral fire-fly, here, there, up and all around. She looked down at herself, she saw her father's face, her own momma cooking in her apron. She came and left with no problem, no pain, no anxious moments it was almost a holiday for a quadriplegic.

When she related this story to me, I told her I stayed and talked to her for a time when she was in a deep coma. I told her the same stories of her kindness as a mother. I shared personal stories that we had over the years. She heard me. She remembered hearing me. She related one or two of the stories I was reliving for her. I cannot explain the presence of myself in her coma memory. I do know it was there, she was there. Now she was back.

Ev was resilient. She was a Lombardie like girl. Vince Lombardie the crusty, sweet faced coach of the fabled Packers, he did not know the word, quit. Ev was on his team.

When she was back with us lying in her bed she told me the story of how she tried to kill herself. Great, now you tell us. We said Ev you were minutes away from your eternal peace, we needed you to still be our mom. You need to see our children grow. We are not letting you leave without a fight. Why would you try to end your own life?

She said it was largely due to the fact she was a helpless quadriplegic and did not want to go on suffering in life. This was news to me. I did not even think this was a possibility. How, I asked, how were you going to kill yourself?

She shared that on more than one occasion she manoeuvred the pillow over her face to suffocate to death. I said well, what happened? She smiled and said that she only held her breath for a minute and then tilted the pillow away so she could breathe better.

Now she was fine. Following the actual near death experiences she had a more fluid relish for the gift of life. We still had a lot of family times ahead of us, and we would face it together.

I promised to take her out to get a hamburger, she wanted to go to the A&W.