Fix My Feet When They're Stumblin'

Chapter 22

    "Alright, guys, hang on. Sit down with me for a second."

    Mandy settled cross-legged onto the hospital floor, gesturing in front of her. Bewildered but obedient, the boys sat in a line, backs against the wall outside their father's room.

    "First off, hello! My name is Mandy, I'm one of the nurses taking care of your dad," she said, smiling at each of them. Ammon, Henry and Gunnar introduced themselves quietly in return, although Henry was distracted and kept sneaking glances at the closed door to Brandon's room.

    "It's lovely to meet you all. Now, how much do you guys know about what happened to your dad?"

    The children glanced at each other, then Ammon spoke up. "Mom got a call from Aunt Olivia - uh, that's Uncle Ronnie's wife, do you know...?"

    Mandy smiled. "Yes, honey, Ronnie is the friend who was hiking with him, with the broken ankle."

    Ammon nodded uncertainly. "And mom was crying, she said dad and Uncle Ronnie went missing hiking, so we flew here. And then they found them but dad had an accident, he, um...he fell and got hurt. We know it's...it's kinda bad, he hurt his head and he was unc-uncon - um..." He trailed off, looking questioningly at the nurse.

    "Unconscious," Mandy supplied softly. "It's...it looks like the person is asleep but they're not, they can't wake up because their brain is damaged and their brain can't keep them awake, they need to heal. And then they wake up when they're ready. Does that make sense?"

    All three boys nodded silently. "Alright. Were you told anything else?"

    Ammon bit his lip and shook his head, looking at his brothers again, but he said, "Not really. Dad broke his, um...his shoulder blade and his - his h-head and ribs, but...well, I guess we don't really know what that means?"

    "Okay. Thank you for sharing with me, Ammon. If you want, I can try to tell you what to expect before we go in, is that okay?" All three boys nodded vigorously, eyes now locked onto her face. "When you see your dad, he might look a little different and act a little different than he did when you saw him before the accident. If you hug him, try not to squeeze too much because his broken ribs will hurt, it's too much pressure. But you can hug him if you're gentle. Your dad broke his skull when he fell, and the doctor needed to use staples on the back of his head to help it heal. It might look a little scary, but I promise it doesn't hurt him, the staples are there to help him. Do any of you have any questions?"

    Gunnar raised his hand slightly in his lap, shyly. "Do you mean...like...staples? Like for paper? In his head?"

    Henry looked a little disturbed at this idea, and Mandy took a deep breath before answering. "It's a little bit different, honey, but yes, a lot like that. But they don't hurt him."

    "Cool," Gunnar breathed, and his brothers giggled, the atmosphere around them lightening slightly.

    Mandy smiled. "Your dad is also going to have a few tubes attached to him - there's one in his arm, just here - " She touched her own forearm lightly, the crook of her elbow " - where he gets medicine and fluids because you still need water and nutrition even if you're not awake to drink it, and there's one that hooks around his ears and in his nose to give him extra oxygen, because his brain needs lots of air to heal itself." Mandy mimed the outline of the cannula on her own face, watching the children carefully. "Do you have any questions about that?"

    No questions; all three seemed comfortable with that, at least. "We've seen stuff like that on TV," Gunnar piped up, unconcerned.

    "Excellent. When he hurt his head, it caused bruises as well, like when you fall and hurt your knee, right? Only his face is bruised instead of his knee, so his face might look a little different to you. He has bruises here, on his cheeks, and here, under his eyes. Those should go away soon, just like your bruises do. Any questions?"