Maddy's condition deteriorated in the same way it had the first time she had Guillain Barre. Her specialist from New York flew to LA, as a post-partum relapse was potentially going to be a new case study and the treatment could be a landmark. Maddy's speech began to slur, and David continued to maintain his composure around her to try to alleviate the terror she was expressing.
"Where's Cecelia?" Maddy slurred one morning when David arrived.
"With Paige and Josh"
Maddy nodded.
"I hate that I can't see her" Maddy started to cry. "What if I don't see her again?"
"Hey, don't talk like that" David said. "Don't say that"
"I hardly survived the first time"
"You have the best team of doctors any Guillain Barre patient has ever had, and you're going to be fine" David said softly. "Sure, you might need a little physical therapy, but you are going to be absolutely fine"
Maddy smiled a lopsided smile.
"I love you" David said.
"I love you too"
Maddy's medical team decided to begin with blood transfusions earlier than they had the last time. Maddy continued to go downhill, which was expected for the time period. The hope was that the blood transfusions would cause the lowest point to be higher than it naturally would be, even though there was nearly no tangible way of measuring this. Maddy had agreed to let interns and residents come and learn from procedures that were done on her, to which her medical team thanked her endlessly. It wasn't every day you saw cases like hers.
David's mom flew out to LA, as his dad couldn't get time off from work during the week and would have to wait until the weekend. She took over taking care of Cecelia during the day, but David insisted on being with Cecelia overnight as to not miss out on too much time with her. David's friends and what seemed like the entire youtube community began making sure that David was stocked up on everything he needed for Cecelia so he didn't have to go to the store, and made sure that Maddy's family and David never had to even think about where they were going to get food from. It was always delivered to them.
Fans of David and Maddy's, as well as essentially everybody who watched any youtuber sent love and supportive messages to David and Maddy. Nearly every youtuber had sent some public message of support as well.
About a week and a half after Maddy's initial diagnosis, her medical team decided she needed a machine to help her breathe, and would thus have to put her into a medically-induced coma to make sure that she wouldn't resist having a tube down her throat. Maddy, who could no longer speak, used her eyes to communicate to David a very tearful goodbye. He maintained his composure, but collapsed into his group of friends waiting in the waiting room in hysterics after she was actually placed into the coma. Corinna had shut the door of the waiting room, and nobody had dared to enter. None of his friends had ever seen him in a state like that, and had no idea what to do besides sit on the floor next to him and be there for him.
"I have to take Cecelia to the doctor tomorrow" David said, finally sitting up.
"I'll take her" Alex reassured David.
"No, I want to be there to hear everything and make decisions" David said.
"David, I think the doctor can wait a week or so" Casey, who had just arrived from New York, said. "Seriously"
David shook his head.
"It's her first check up, I need to make sure she's at least healthy"
The next morning, David woke up and got himself and Cecelia ready before getting in the car to go to the doctor's office. He drove the 20 minutes to the pediatrician.
"Where's mom?" The pediatrician, Dr. Fisher asked.
"She's, um, in the hospital" David said.
"Oh, I'm sorry" Dr. Fisher quickly said, looking a bit confused.
"No, it's ok, she has a relapse of Guillain Barre, she's... um, hopefully going to be on the upswing soon"
Dr. Fisher's eyes widened a bit as she nodded, not wanting to probe any further. She asked questions about Cecelia's habits and temperament, while weighing her and measuring her height.
"David, do you find that Cecelia sleeps through a lot of things?"
"Yeah, actually, I noticed that about a week and a half ago"
Dr. Fisher nodded. "I thought so"
David's heart sank as Dr. Fisher looked around the room for a second before speaking.
"I'm going to do a very standard checkup"
David furrowed his brow a bit while nodding. Dr. Fisher left the room for a moment, returning with some extra equipment and performed an exam, checking Cecelia's reflexes, eyes, nose, and ears. When she was done, Dr. Fisher smiled at Cecelia, who was now laying in David's arms. Dr. Fisher gave David a small smile, sitting on a stool and exhaling.
"David, Cecelia is deaf"
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A double update, I feel like i'm playing God watching y'all beg for me not to kill off Maddy omg
