Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 58

A doctor came in while we were sitting with Samantha.

"Hi there. I'm Dr. Balfour," he said, shaking our hands.

"What can you tell us?" Jenna asked.

"Well, Samantha inhaled quite a bit of water and right now, she's in a coma. They worked on her for quite a while downstairs. Her MRI shows no sign of damage, so if she wakes up, when she wakes up, I don't anticipate she'll have any lasting effects. There doesn't seem to be any damage."

"But, coma?" I asked.

"It's not an uncommon reaction to trauma. And resuscitation efforts. She was down for about 15 minutes, but from what I've been told, CPR was
started right away so she shouldn't have gone too long without oxygenated blood to her brain.  I can't tell you how long she might be in a coma, but I'm confident she'll be okay."

He told us a few more things and then left. I looked back at Samantha and couldn't stop crying.

"Guys, we're going to head home and get you some dry, and warmer clothes. And a speaker. And music," Brendon said.

I just nodded.

They left and we sat there holding Samantha's hand. Jenna was stroking her hair, and talking quietly to her. She was talking about all the fun we'd had so far and how much more we had planned, and how she needed to wake up so we could continue having fun.

I just cried. It was all I could do. I'd taken her to beach. I'd taken her into the ocean.

I held her hand and cried.

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up when someone put their hand on my shoulder. It was Brendon. He handed me a cup of coffee.

"Thanks," I said.

"Any change?" He asked. I shook my head.

Brendon looked over at Samantha and plugged a small speaker in over her head and put it beside her head, then turned on his phone and put on some music. Not too loud, but hopefully she could hear it.

"Here," Brendon said, handing me a bag. "It's clean, warmer clothes. Go get changed."

I took the bag and stepped into the washroom off Samantha's room. I changed into dry jeans, socks, sneakers and a clean t-shirt.

Jenna was waiting outside and silently went into the washroom to change.

She blamed me. I just knew it.

I sat back down beside Samantha.

"I'm so sorry, Samantha," I cried. "I'm so so sorry."

"Ty?" Jenna said, sitting down across from me, as we'd been sitting before. "It's not your fault."

"It is," I cried. "It was my idea to go to the beach. I chased her in the water. I wasn't close enough when she got knocked under."

"Ty, it's my fault," Brendon said, tears streaming down his face. "I dropped her in the water. I showed her how to body surf and I led her out too far. She'd never been in the ocean before and I led her out too far."

"It's nobody's fault," Jenna said. "It was an accident." 

Suddenly, Samantha started choking and coughing. Jenna ran to the door and called for help. Nurses and a doctor came running into the room.

"Okay, okay, Samantha," they said soothingly. "You're on a ventilator. Relax, relax. We'll get that tube out of you. Ready?  One, two, three, blow!"

Samantha did and coughed when the tube came out. They put an oxygen mask over her face, checked her machines and told us she was going to be okay.

"Samantha," I said, moving up to her line of sight. Her lips were moving. But I couldn't hear what she said.

I moved the oxygen mask and put my ear to her lips.

"What was that, honey?" I asked again. She whispered in my ear and I started laughing. I put the mask back over her mouth and nose and kissed her head.

"What did she say?" Jenna asked.

"She said, 'I don't think I like the ocean so much anymore'," I laughed through my tears.

Brendon and Sarah and Jenna started laughing, too.

I looked over at Samantha and saw she was asleep. Her heart monitor was beeping a strong rhythm and her chest was rising and falling.

We sat around her all night, watching her sleep. Nurses came in occasionally to check on her and Samantha slept on.

Around midnight, she woke up from what was presumably a nightmare.

"Shh, shhh," I said, stroking her hair. "It's okay. You're okay."

"I was drowning," she whispered.

"I know, baby. But you're going to be okay."

"No. In my dream. I was drowning again. And I couldn't reach you."

I climbed into the bed and wrapped my daughter in my arms.

"You're okay. You're safe now."

We fell asleep, my daughter's head on my shoulder, my arms around her.

In the morning, the doctor came in and checked on Samantha and deemed her ready to go home.

"But rest up for a day or so, okay?" He said. He also gave us a pamphlet on secondary drowning and what to look for.

By lunch time, we were on our way back to Brendon and Sarah's. They had brought Samantha a change of clothes as well and Jenna helped her get dressed.

She leaned on me as Brendon drove us home. Everyone was quiet.

Back at the house Sarah asked if anyone was hungry. No one was.

"Samantha, you should eat. We should test your sugar. I don't think your sensor is working," Jenna said.

"Okay," she said, tiredly.

She sat on the couch and Jenna dug out a test kit and an insulin pen. Samantha tested her sugar. It was a little low.

"What do you want to eat?" Brendon asked.

"Do you have peanut butter and jam?"

"Sure. Coming right up," he smiled at her. She offered him a tired smile.

She calculated her carbs and took her insulin, then leaned on Jenna.

"You okay, baby?" She asked, wrapping her arm around her.

"Yeah. Just tired," she sighed.

"Alright. You eat your sandwich, then go take a nap, okay? We'll put your pump back on when you wake up."

Samantha nodded. Brendon brought her her sandwich and she ate it slowly.

She dozed off before finishing. I saw her head droop and she nearly dropped her sandwich. I grabbed it and the plate before she dropped it. I handed them to Jenna and picked Samantha up and carried her upstairs.

I was worried about secondary drowning, so I wound up sitting at the end of her bed and watching her sleep.