build me up. (ON HOLD)

SIX

chapter six.
amnesia
july 6th 2009

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"WHERE IS MY SON?"

Ashley scrambled around the hospital lobby, looking down hallways and pleading with passing nurses.

She was an immigrant from Korea, still acclimating to the new world of the United States, and struggled with her native language. All she could do was ask where her son was and tell any nurse who passed her his name.

She had been in her class when a friend of hers called, saying that her son had started convulsing and blood was dripping from his mouth.

He had been with his friend, Noel, for the day as his father was at the arsenal, and she had classes to attend. Her son had struggled with a severe case of anemia, but his primary care doctor had it under control, from what she recalled.

Fear flowed through her veins, leading to her desperate pleas for help from anyone who was around. She had called her husband in hopes he'd be there to help her, but he hadn't answered, and she was worried and scared about what to do.

"Ma'am," a woman who looked like her approached her, concern creasing her eyebrows as she pulled Ashley to the side near the counter where people were lined up.

Ashley gripped the woman's hands, her eyes watering as she felt helpless and needed someone's support to find her young son.

The woman spoke to her in her native tongue, inquiring about what was wrong and who she was looking for. She mentioned how she was at school when she got the call and had no clue what to do. The woman reassured her, guiding her to a nurse seated behind a computer.

She could understand some of what the ladies were saying, but not enough to fully discern it. What she gathered was that her son was ill, something with blood, and he was in room 4. But everything else they said, she couldn't quite understand. The young woman who assisted her grabbed her hands firmly.

"He is very ill, and the doctor doesn't know if he'll make it," her heart dropped, and her legs couldn't hold her up. The woman screamed for help as the devastated mother fell to her knees, her heart pounding outside of her chest. She couldn't even muster the energy to cry as she felt her world was falling apart.

Her love. Her precious baby whom she had only spent 11 years with was slipping away through her fingers. She begged God for it not to be true and begged the nurses and the doctors that her son would live.

By the time she came to, she needed the courage to face her ill son, someone she wanted to protect until her very last breath. So she had to be strong without her husband by her side.

Was this her fault? Maybe she wasn't a good mother and had not been there for him like she should have been.

Ashley was in school to be a nurse. She was 30 years old and finally got back to university after conceiving their son. Her husband pushed her to be her greatest and go back to school even though their budget would be tight for a few years.

He wanted her to do what she loved, but now that her son was ill and may leave her, was it all worth it?

She asked the nurse if she could see him. The young woman, who had a reluctant expression, nodded hesitantly before walking her to a nearby elevator and up to the 7th floor of the hospital.

She had never been up here before. What looked like policies and rules covered the walls, and hand sanitizer dispensers were at each entrance of the rooms along with different colored note cards on them. There were about 10 nurses for the 6 rooms that were there.

She had no idea what floor this was, but it was some type of ICU from what she could tell.

"We are here, ma'am," the nurse stepped to the side, pointing with her head in the direction of the 4th glass room. Eagerly entering, her eyes watered, and her heart raced in her chest at the sight of her poor baby boy.

Her son, who was 11 and soon to be 12, had tubes and wires surrounding him. She watched him, stunned as his chest moved up and down but his body was still as a board. His skin was paler than usual, and his freckles were darker on his face.

She got closer to him, grasping his small hand in her own, the hands that she loved holding. His skin was cold to the touch as she grasped it to warm him up.

"My love," she said as her voice cracked and she drew closer to her baby.

Her hand immediately went to stroke his head and caress his face, telling him how much Mommy loved and missed him, praying that he gets better and returns to her.

Her son was her lifeline; he gave her the courage to do the best for him.

Not too long after, her husband, Mark, came barreling in. His uniform was disheveled, and he still had his hat on. His face was red, and his eyes were wide as he stopped to take in the sight of his dying son.

He looked over at his wife, her face had broken when their eyes connected. Those blue eyes gave her comfort during a storm, but his eyes were a raging hurricane. All she could do was croak out his name before he rushed to her aid and held her tightly.

"I'm sorry—"

"It's not your fault, honey," her husband spoke on her tongue as she did his. They were both foreigners who found each other while studying in the United States. He joined the army, and she stayed in school. They knew each other like it was second nature. He knew she would take all the blame, and she knew he wouldn't express how he felt.

They shared a tearful kiss as they looked back at their young son.

"What happened?"

"He was at—"

Before she could fully reply, her son began moving and opening his light eyes. His skin regained its natural color, and his freckles lightened to their normal shade. In front of their eyes, their son, who was on life support just seconds ago, was anew.

The young boy began choking as he realized there was a tube in his throat. His mother held onto him, telling him to relax and that a doctor would be there soon.

Frantically, his father let go of his mother, calling for a nurse, a doctor, or anyone to help his son. Hurriedly, a team of people came barreling in, shock spreading across their faces.

It had been almost 2 days since Ashley and Mark saw their son come back to life. The doctors ran many tests on him, checking his kidneys and liver, his brain, and even his reaction time by doing motor skills with him.

He was your average kid. Not the child who came in with stage 5 kidney failure that caused his anemia. He was no longer the child that they had to tell his parents that they'd need to decide on pulling the plug.

The only thing that he was stunted in was his memory. Anything from before his dramatic decline, his friends, his family, and the puppy they had just adopted were all things he couldn't remember.

But he could vaguely remember his parents. It was strange as the doctors tried to find answers to this phenomenon, but the only thing they could say was that there was a possibility he could regain some memories as there was no evidence of damage in his brain.

Or maybe it was just amnesia.

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