The Shoey Diaries

Chapter 26 - Worse Than Before.

Chapter 26 - Worse Than Before. 

* Joey's POV *

 After Shane passed out, my first instinct was to call 911. 

I resisted, though, and scooped him up in my arms. "Listen, I'm sorry for what he said Sawyer. You don't need to feel guilty, or feel bad. I know he forgives you, He's just in a bad place right now. I hate to leave on this note, But he mentioned awful head pains. I need to get him to the hospital." And with that, I left. 

 Once I reached the hospital, Shane and I were taken in instantly based on Shane's medical history. I was relieved to see we weren't stuck with Doctor Rial again. He was a good doctor, but he obviously didn't do his job thoroughly. The doctor was a woman; With cocoa colored skin with hair to match and the warmest eyes. She seemed nice and I found myself at ease with her. I hoped I could trust her. Once Shane was settled in, She came to talk to me. "I'm Doctor Morton. I've already looked into Shane's file quite a bit and I'm going to see what we can do for him. We're going to run multiple scans as well as tests. If he wakes up in the process, I'll send someone to notify you. But for now, I'm going to ask you to wait out here." She gestured to the familiar row of hard plastic chairs. The ones I sat in before when this happened. I nodded and she took off down the hall. She was in a hurry; This must've been more serious than I thought. 

I slumped down into a chair and closed my eyes. This was awful. I didn't expect anything else to happen, Doctor Rial said he was healthy. Shane and I both thought that to be true. What if something was really bad with him? What if this time... What if this time he didn't make it? 

I shook my head and pushed those thoughts from my mind. Shane would be fine. This thing happens all the time and people survive. There was nothing to be worried about, Doctor Morton would fix him. 

I stared at the wall, hoping he would wake up. Hoping that when he was done with the scans and tests, I could hear his voice and be reassured that he would be okay. But nobody came to notify me of his consciousness. 

*  *  *

I must've dozed off because my eyes snapped open to see Doctor Morton back. "Mister Graceffa?" She asked, tapping my shoulder. I rubbed my eyes before nodding, "I'm up, I'm awake.. Is everything okay?" Her expression turned solemn. "This might be confusing and hard to follow... but I need to explain this dilemma in full detail for you to understand.." She trailed off, waiting for me to tell her to continue. I just looked at her. After a full minute of us looking at eachother, She must've thought I was weird because she shifted her gaze.

"Okay... Well, Shane has what we call a Subdural Hematoma. A hematoma is a tumor-like collection of blood, usually clotted, located outside a blood vessel. The subdural space is located between the dura mater —the outermost, toughest, and most fibrous of the three membranes covering the brain and spinal cord— and the arachnoid membrane —the middle of these three membranes.. The epidural space is located on or outside the dura mater. Now, a subdural hematoma is basically bleeding into the space between the brain cover —dura mater— and the brain itself. More specifically, there are blood vessels running through the brain and in the spaces between the outside of the brain and the inside of the skull. During a brain injury, any of these vessels can tear and bleed. Ruptured vessels running in the subdural space — typically veins — cause subdural hematomas. Ruptured vessels running through the epidural space — typically arteries — cause epidural hematomas. Both types of bleeding take up space in the skull and in so doing squeeze down on the brain. Because arteries are under pressure, epidural hematomas leak quickly and compress the brain rapidly while subdural hematomas leak much more slowly. Because the brain is enclosed within the rigid skull, it gets compressed by this leaking blood. With enough bleeding, the brain gets compressed so much that oxygen-rich blood is prevented from flowing into the brain tissue. This lack of oxygen causes additional brain swelling. This brain swelling, added to the blood leaking from the torn vessel, forces the brain down through the small hole at the base of the skull called the foramen magnum. The parts of the brain that come in direct contact with the bone around this opening get so compressed that they stop working. Because these brain areas control breathing and heart rate, death can result. The best way to cure this is to perform surgery, which we will conduct in the next 2-3 days. Sadly, the surgery isn't guaranteed to work. Do you understand?" 

I let it all sink in. It took a moment but then it hit me. "So... Shane's Brain Hemorrhage was just the side effect to something bigger... This. And to solve this, you'll perform a surgery. But if the surgery doesn't work or goes wrong... Shane's as good as dead." She was uncomfortable with answering because of the way my words were phrased but she sighed with a nod. I looked down at my lap, "Please help him... He can't die. I love him." I felt her hand rest on my shoulder and I looked up to meet her eyes. She seemed extremely wise and I knew that she'd do everything she could. 

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This chapter was slightly longer but only because of all the technical speak :P Sorry for that, btw. Two updates in one day! ;D I may update one or two more times, I have the next few chapters written already and I refuse to just let them sit there as drafts ._. 

Thanks for Reading & Voting; May the odds be ever in your favor, gooodbye! cx 

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