His Secret Bodyguard

Part 57

*** March 31st, 2021 (two weeks later) ***

• << Harry's POV >> •

Two weeks had gone by, and she still hadn't woken up from her surgery.. She was worse than I'd been. They had put a tube down her throat, connected to a machine. It's supposedly breathing for her, since she can't do it on her own. The doctors told me that I was fine to leave, but I couldn't. Not with her still being here..

Jeff never told the press anything, and a few days ago they stopped waiting outside the hospital all the time. Apparently some people thought we'd both died. But, they weren't sure why Jeff and my mum were still visiting the hospital so frequently, so those remained rumors.

After a few hours, Jeff got here, handing me a bag with some breakfast in it. "How's she doing? Any more problems?" He asked. I nodded. "He said that she coded twice last night, and that we might want to consider.. taking her off life support." I managed to explain. He sighed, watching me. "Harry.. You really shouldn't be here. You should go home." He commented.

I shook my head. "I can't.. I can't leave her. Not like this." I replied, still holding onto her hand. "I wish I could do for her, what she did for me.. But, she won't move." I said. He nodded, and looked over his shoulder as the English-speaking doctor came into the room..

"I don't want to rush you, but have you thought about what I said earlier?" He asked me. I shook my head. "I can't.." I murmured, still watching her. "That's alright. Mr. Azoff, may I speak with you privately?" He questioned, and Jeff nodded. They went out into the hallway for a few minutes, and then Jeff came back..

"Harry." He commented. "I won't watch her die, Jeff. I can't." I stated. "I understand that. Truly, I do. They're going to do a scan this afternoon. To see if there's any brain-activity left." He said. I looked over at him. "They think she's brain-dead?" I asked.

"Well, they don't know for certain. But he said it's definitely a possibility. Especially with what all happened to her." He explained.. I looked back over at her.

Her skin wasn't warm. Not like mine, or anyone else's. It was cold. But it had always been that way... I was slowly tracing over each of her fingers, knowing she would've never let me do this if she were awake.

"What I did to her." I commented. He shook his head. "No, Harry. This was neither of your faults, okay? No one could've known that her brain would start bleeding again. They didn't know that when it got bad, her heart would stop. This is no one's fault. It's just something that happened." He replied..

I reached over, lightly tracing over the scar on her arm. That scar seemed like it may have been the deepest cut. It was wider than the others, and 3-4 inches long.. "I wish I could blame him for this." I murmured. "Him who?" He asked, confused. "The one that gave her these scars." I replied, not giving him too many details. She wouldn't want that..

**

That afternoon, I waited in her room while they took her to check for any activity left in her brain. I pulled out my phone, reading through some of the texts I'd gotten over the last month. I hadn't responded to anyone in the many weeks that we'd been here. Jeff told me not to. Not yet at least..

They brought her back after an hour, and the doctor came into the room with Jeff. "Alright. So, we did the scan. And, legally, we cannot take her off life support right now. She still has a large amount of brain-activity." He said. I looked over at Jeff, and then back to the doctor. "So.. Why is she still out? Why can't she breathe on her own?" I asked, confused..

"That's hard to know right now. She has coded a lot more than we ever expected her to, which can put a lot of stress on the body. This slows down the healing process." He explained. I nodded. "But.. She's still there? She's still herself?" I questioned. He hesitated. "That's not something we can know while she's still in the coma. Her brain swelled a little from the bleeding, but it was still less than we were expecting when we did her surgery." He explained.

"Okay.. Can I ask you another question?" I asked. He nodded. "If she had brain surgery, why didn't you guys have to shave her head?" I asked, honestly really curious about that. He laughed a little. "We did what's called a 'keyhole craniotomy.' It's usually used to remove tumors. But in her case, this was one of the best ways to go about the surgery; to minimize excess swelling.. The incision is behind her ear." He explained, walking over and turning her head slightly to the side to show me..

"Oh. Ok." I said. He nodded, quietly said something to Jeff, and then walked out of the room..

"Harry, this was good news." Jeff commented, watching me. "I know." I replied.. "You just have to give her some time. Head injuries are complicated." He stated. I nodded. "I know that. I do. But it's not—" I was suddenly interrupted. "Excuse me.. Sorry. Um, is this Brynn's room?" A guy asked from over by the door. I looked over, confused.

He was looking at her, and walked into the room before we could answer him. He immediately went to the other side, gently touching the side of her face. "Is she.. Um. How is she?" He questioned, looking at me. I was still confused.

"Oh. I'm Andrew." He said. I glanced over at Jeff, who had no idea who he was. "Why are you just now showing up? She's been here for weeks." I stated. He nodded. "I've been out of town for work; I didn't know until today. My wife saw it on some social media site." He explained.

"Harry." Jeff said, and I looked back over at him. He motioned over to Andrew, who was focused on Brynn. "Oh. He's her brother." I commented. He slowly nodded. "Didn't know she had one. They couldn't get in touch with any of her family." He stated. Andrew stood back up. He was much taller than her, probably near 6'1..

"Yeah, no. She changed her last name, and so did I." He explained. Jeff glanced in my direction, before looking back to him.. "Why?" He questioned. Andrew was hesitating, and he looked at me. "He knows why." He said, after studying my face for a moment..

"Now, enough with all that. Are either of you going to tell me what's going on with her? Or do I need to go find a doctor?" He asked, suddenly seeming impatient. It reminded me a little of Brynn's random mood-shifts.. Jeff let out a small sigh.. "About a month ago, she fell, and hit her head. It was a closed-head injury, and her brain was bleeding without us knowing.. So, they fixed that. And she was okay for a few days. And then, she wasn't. It had apparently started bleeding again, and it didn't look good for a while. So, they did another surgery two weeks ago, and that's where we are now." Jeff summed up.

"So, she's in a coma? Did they check for brain-activity?" He asked. "Yes. Today, actually.. The doctor said she still has a good amount of activity. But she can't breathe on her own, and keeps coding." Jeff explained. Andrew nodded. "Yeah, she's got a bad heart." He commented casually, turning and looking at her again. "What?" I asked. He glanced in my direction.

".. What?" He questioned, confused. "You said she has a bad heart." I stated. "Ohh. Yeah, no. She does. Our mom—" He stopped, as if knowing Brynn didn't want people to know. "Oh my god, would you stop with all the secrecy? Just tell us." Jeff commented.

Andrew was hesitant. Once again, reminding me a lot of Brynn.. Even though they spent a lot of their lives apart, they shared a lot of similarities.

"Our mom drank more than she should have when she was pregnant with Brynn, and after. When she found out she had gotten pregnant again, she went to the doctor to try and get an abortion. But, they wouldn't do it because of how far along she was already.." He paused, glancing back over at her..

"She took it into her own hands to try and get rid of the baby.. Which, didn't work. But, then Brynn was born, and her heart didn't work like it should have.. She could never get a transplant. My parents refused to pay for it." He explained. "So how is she alive then?" Jeff asked.. Andrew shrugged. "She listened to the doctors. She stays in shape, eats healthy, and keeps a low-stress lifestyle. But her heart can't handle something like this. It's too much."