Once in a Lifetime

Waking Up is Hard to Do

Karen's POV

I woke up some time later, feeling a little clearer in my mind, but pain began to overwhelm me. I looked around the room for Jimmy, but was startled to see a kindly looking woman occupying the chair Jimmy had been in when I fell asleep.

She scooted the chair closer to my bed, smiling when she saw I was awake. She helped me sit up a little so I could get a drink of water.

"Thank you. Who are you?" I asked, glancing back at her.

"I'm sorry! I'm Ellen Higgins, Steve's wife."

I covered my face in embarrassment, laughing. "I'm so sorry! I had no idea who you were."

Ellen patted my arm, laughing as well. "No problem sweetie. I figured you didn't know me."

"Maybe you can tell me what happened to me? I don't remember anything past this morning," I said, looking around confused.

"I'd rather let Jimmy tell you once he and Steve get back."

"Okay, but why am I here any way?"

Ellen took a deep breath before beginning, "Well, first of all, your arm is broken. They had to go in and put a plate and some screws in to fix the break." She paused for a moment, glancing down before continuing, "You also were shot. The doctors had to repair your small intestine and liver because the bullet nicked them."

The look on my face must have been bad because Ellen carefully hugged me. "It's okay sweetie. You're going to be okay. You just have to stay here for a while."

I started crying, finally getting a good look at my injured arm. It was wrapped from the knuckles to my shoulder and I could see the pins in my arm. Ellen pushed my call button before she took my hand. "It's okay sweetie. I think its time for your pain meds."

The nurse came in less than a minute later. "Is everything okay?"

"She's in pain, is it time for her pain meds?" Ellen asked, pointing at me.

"Let me check. The RN is out at the desk, so I'll check with her," the nurse responded, leaving the room.

Ellen looked at her phone, saying under her breath, "I figured the boys would be back by now."

"Where did they go?"

"Steve took Jimmy to his apartment so he could get some sleep, food and a shower. Poor guy had to be woken up every hour last night while he was here."

I looked at Ellen in shock. "He had to stay? He didn't tell me when I first woke up!" I started to get upset, because Jimmy didn't tell me how bad he was. It made me feel so bad. But the crying was making the pain in my stomach and arm even worse. My breathes were coming in short, raspy gasps, which scared me.

"Karen honey, he's okay. He only had a slight concussion and had to have some stitches above his eye. He's fine. He just needed to get some sleep. You need to breathe," Ellen said, helping me sit up a little higher in the bed.

The door opened again, revealing a new nurse, this time with a cart. "Hi Karen. My name is Abby and I'm going to be your nurse today." She came over to me and began to check the IV hanging above my head. "How are you doing?"

I looked up at her, unable to say anything, tears still steaming down my face and my breathing getting worse. Ellen spoke up for me. "She just woke up again a few minutes ago. I know we told you when she first woke up. From what I can tell the pain hit her fairly quickly. But she seems to be having some problems breathing."

"Thank you! I appreciate you all staying here with Karen." The nurse looked down to me. I could only nod, as the pain was literally taking my breath away. I realized that I was having a severe asthma attack. Abby was changing my IV when I grabbed her arm. She looked down alarmed.