Meryl and Don: An Unforeseen Journey

Chapter 55

"You want me to take him, honey?" Mary asked Meryl referring to Henry when Dr. Abbott walked in.

Meryl held Henry closer to her and shook her head. "He's been with me from the beginning of this nightmare. I want him with me now. How is Don?"

"Meryl." Dr. Abbott started.

Meryl shook her head and sobbed. "No, don't tell me that he..."

"No, honey, he made it. He did." Dr. Abbott assured her as he was kneeling in front of her wheelchair and patted her knee. "As you know this surgery was very touchy. His heart stopped but we got him back."

Meryl cried even harder at that news. "How long was he gone?"

"Several minutes." Dr. Abbott said. "The good news is he was NEVER without oxygen so there shouldn't be any cognitive complications."

Meryl finally breathed a sigh of relief. "How is he now? How did the rest of the surgery go? Is he awake?"

"I know how anxious you are to see him and I am sure he is just as anxious to see you. The rest of the surgery went better than expected except for him trying to stop his heart on us." Dr. Abbott said trying to get her to laugh but it didn't work. "He is on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma. We need to give his body time to heal and we don't want it to work too hard. Hopefully in the morning we'll wean him off the medications even more. We've weaned him off a bit since surgery and he's doing great."

Meryl was trying to follow. "So, he doesn't NEED the ventilator to breathe?"

"No, he doesn't. It's just to let his body rest. Meryl, I did put a feeding tube in." Dr. Abbott put his hand on her shoulder before she could get upset. "According to his friend Larry and your father he hasn't eaten in days and won't be able to because of the ventilator for a few days. I want his body to get strong which is why we did that."

Meryl nodded as she kissed Henry's head who had fallen asleep during all this. "I want done whatever he needs done. If that's best for him then I'm glad you did that. Once the breathing tube is out then the feeding tube can go, correct?"

"Correct." Dr. Abbott said.

Meryl took a deep breath before she asked her next question. "Will he make a complete recovery?"

"He's not out of the woods...YET." Dr. Abbott said. "But I know, Don, and I have faith he will be very soon."

Meryl nodded as her tears continued to stream down her face. "I believe he will be as well; I won't allow ANYONE to think otherwise."

"Neither will I." Dr. Abbott winked. "You need to get to bed. I had another bed brought in for you to Don's ICU room. The nurses will take care of both of you. I would really like to give you something to help relax you and to take the edge off."

Mary jumped in. "I think that's a good idea, sweetheart."

"NO!" Meryl snapped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap, but not until Don is out of the woods and Henry is no longer in here. My family said they would stay with Hen so I could be with Don, but I am Henry's only conscious parent right now and I won't be sedated. I will sleep but NO drugs."

Dr. Abbott nodded. "Okay. Have you eaten? I know you're on IV fluids which I want you on for quite awhile."

"No." Meryl choked. "I've been too upset and worried and scared to eat."

Dana jumped in. "Sis, how about I go get you a sandwich or something? Some soup?"

"I'm really not hungry." Meryl choked.

Harry Streep walked in. "How about some pudding?"

"Daddy!" Meryl cried as her father hugged her tightly. "You always gave me pudding when I was sick."