Powering Through: A Sequel to Learning To Swim For Real

Chapter 33: Building Bridges

Jack was out of his seat and bending over her, though not too close.

"Kels?" He concentrated on keeping his voice very soft and calm. "Kelsey?" He reached out and smoothed away a bit of hair that had escaped from her cap. "Hey." He smiled, hoping it looked better than it felt. With the hand that wasn't holding hers, he reached out and pushed the button for the nurse.

He could see her trying to swallow, and beginning to choke. He also saw her trying to flex her other arm, and he stroked it. "No, it's okay, you have a breathing tube in your mouth, that's what you feel, you can't take it out, the nurse has to do it, sweetheart."

Her eyes fluttered, growing a little wider. "It's fine, everything's fine, you were having trouble breathing, so the tube goes all the way down your trachea to help you breathe, and now that you're awake, it's going to make you feel choke-y, I know, so we'll get it out, okay? Okay?"

She nodded, the slightest of motions, squeezing his hand. Both of these actions made Jack want to turn cartwheels.

The door swung open and Dr. Okafor herself came in, followed by Kelsey's parents.

"She's awake, she's awake," Jack said, again, trying to sound calm. He knew that anything could make Kelsey cough and start to choke on the intubation tube. "She wants the tube out, I think," he added. He moved away so Kelsey's parents could be by her side.

"I'm sure she does," Dr. Okafor replied in that calm way that doctors the world over seemed to have. A nurse came in and took her place on Kelsey's other side, next to Kelsey's parents. Kiki, too, had come in, and now stood next to Jack.

"Kelsey?" She spoke in a raised voice that still somehow conveyed serenity. "Since you're awake, I'm going to remove the tube, all right? Now cough, it will come out easier that way. Nod if you understand me. Okay, good, here we go, now cough.

"Good, now, have a little water, not too much, good," the doctor continued.

Then Jack heard the magical sound of Kelsey's voice, very soft, barely audible, but unmistakably her. "Coach?"

"What?" Her mother leaned over, stroking her forehead.

"Coach?" Kelsey repeated.

Jack let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as he stepped forward. "That's me," he said, as firmly as he could. "That's what she calls me sometimes.

"I'm here, Kelsey," he said, reaching for her hand, trying to ignore the disapproval of her parents. To give them credit, they didn't say a word, and simply stood aside, making room for him at her bedside.

But Kelsey was shaking her head, swallowing, coughing shallowly as she tried to say something.

"Shh, don't try to talk," he said, holding up her water bottle with the straw in it so she could take another sip.

But she was insistent, struggling to form the words, gripping his hands with remarkable strength, considering she'd just woken up from two days in a coma. She even managed to lift her head off the pillow a little bit.

"Oh god, what? Kelsey, what is it?" Jack looked intently into her gray eyes, which already looked clearer and more alert than ten minutes ago. "Is something wrong? Something hurts? The doctor is right here, tell her, Kelsey."

Kelsey shook her head again.

"Kelseylove," she whispered. She let her head fall back on the pillow, exhausted from her effort. She closed her eyes. "Or sweetheart," she added.

Everyone standing around the bed smiled, including Kelsey's parents. Jack wiped away a tear as he nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "Okay, Kelseylove, you got it."