Detour by Greaniis

Chapter 1.

Rebecca woke up in the same uncomfortable chair, in the same uncomfortable position. She blinked away the sleepiness and took a look around. He continued to lay in the bed, motionless, breathing rhythmically due to the ventilator and tube down his throat. The machines surrounding him churned through their own rhythmic patterns oblivious to the person impatiently waiting for any kind of response from the person they were keeping alive. The ventilator blowing in and out of his lungs steadily. The multiple IV pumps pushing fluids through a three pronged needle inserted into his neck. Rebecca still couldn't believe much of this was happening, but he was laying in front of her, not looking much like her husband.

The surgery had gone as planned yesterday, only the second of many more they promised. Rebecca took a large sigh and stood up. Her back cracked as she stood. If she had to stay much longer in the room, she'd have to ask about a cot or something better to sleep on. ICU chairs were not comfortable- not even the high backed one the nurses had found her yesterday. She rubbed her neck and stretched out her back and proceeded to the bathroom. Looking at the wall clock she saw that the doctors would be coming on morning rounds in less than fifteen minutes. She grabbed her overnight bag, which has been her suitcase for the last week and headed into the bathroom.

She brushed her teeth, washed her face, changed clothes trying to make herself look more presentable than she felt when the first visitor of many came through the door. It was the overnight nurse, making her last rounds before giving a report to the next shift. She wrote vital signs down on the tablet in her hand. Putting that down, she quickly listened to his lungs from the top of his body. Then she rolled him over slightly to listen from the other side. This made Rebecca's stomach flop. The fact that her husband who was usually full of life didn't react to moving made her sick to her stomach. That's when the first of many waves of morning sickness came over her. She ran back in the bathroom.

"His temp is still slightly elevated, but his lungs are clear," the nurse told her while she was in the bathroom. "Let me know if there's anything I can do. The next nurse will hang more fluids and his antibiotics."

Rebecca nods even though she knows the nurse can't see her. She stays in the bathroom, cleaning her teeth again, and splashing water on her face. She hopes she doesn't come off rude, but the only thing she wants is her husband to wake up. Putting her auburn hair up in a flip bun, she returns to her seat next to him. The rag she had used to wash her own face is in her hand. She washes his face careful not to move the tube that was helping him breath.

To her, this last week had not actually happened. In her head, she continued to run through the events of the last night she talked to him. Rebecca had gotten home early from the design agency she partnered. The current project for a private residence had stalled. The owner couldn't decide which granite to put through the house. She had gotten home before Greg's usual time and had a chance to change.

Her cell phone showed her a text from Greg. He would be leaving in a couple minutes- he couldn't take grading one more paper tonight. He had added a smile emoji. If she liked the idea, he would pick up take-out Chinese food on the way home. Reading this, her mouth watered. Being only eight weeks pregnant, she knew she was too early yet for cravings, but the only thing she could think about now was getting her favorite Chinese food in her mouth. She replied enthusiastically that this was a good idea and she would put the order in at their usual restaurant in fifteen minutes. He sent her a thumbs up and a kissy face with hearts emoji. She smiled again thinking he spent too much time with teenagers. She typed that she loved him too.

Rebecca laid out plates and the silverware then watched television waiting for him and the food. While waiting for Greg to come home, she heard sirens in the close distance. She didn't think anything of it, given they live close to the central police station where ambulance and fire vehicles were also stationed. You could hear the sirens sporadically throughout the night. When they sounded, it always made her think of the people whose lives had changed by either a lot or a little.