Anne with an E The Next Chapter

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Marilla and Anne consistently went back to the hospital for several days to help Matthew improve with his interactions so that Dr. Ward could test his abilities. They were convinced that he could get out of this episode he was having, if only they pushed him a little more and gave him the love and affection he needed to come back from his ordeal. They felt he'd suffered a trauma and then whisked away from his loved ones and that this was the cause of his issues. Dr. Ward continued to be convinced that Matthew had suffered brain damage.

Anne sat with him and talked to him about everything and nothing. She read the newspaper to him from front to back and also read novels that he enjoyed, including Jane Eyre which he'd enjoying hearing Anne recite in the past. She sang him songs he enjoyed and gave him updates about people in Avonlea.

Marilla dotted on him like a mother. She gave him a sponge bath and washed his hair to help him freshen up. She brushed his hair and teeth. She brought him food from Aunt Josephine's and even baked a few of his favorites to bring him to the hospital. After three days, Matthew was starting to make eye contact and show some signs of life. They were able to get him sitting up and his feet on the ground. Marilla and Anne hoisted him up and he stood, though weak and feeble. Once he was standing, Matthew had no choice but to look at Marilla in the face. She got him to walk to the latrine so that he could use the washroom, but he started to slump and refused to go further. Anne still cheered him on and we're happy to see that he was able to walk around and to eat on his own. He was still not much in the way of talking.

As Matthew's health seemed to be improving, there was no need to continue the white coat and mask treatment, although Anne and Marilla were still very diligent about cleanliness and ensuring that no germs were spread. On the fourth day, Anne received permission to have more visitors for Matthew. Jeannie came from town to visit him after Anne had stopped the shop to tell her what was going on. She'd always been a bright spot in his life and they hoped that maybe she would be able to get him to speak. Anne just knew that Matthew was alive in there.

When Jeannie arrived, Marilla and Anne were sitting by his bedside while he was dozing after a morning of exercise. They had Jeannie disinfect her hands and then invited her to sit. They stepped out of the room to let Jeannie speak with him privately.

As she sat beside him on the chair next to the bed, she noticed how much she had aged in the short time since she's seen them last spring. She rubbed his shoulder and spoke to him softly as she normally did.

"Hi Matthew, I wanted to come and see you for myself. Anne said that you needed a bit of a pick me up and I hoped.."

At the sound of her voice, Matthew thought he was dreaming, but he opened his eyes and found Jeannie at his bedside. He looked at her as the sun shone behind her. She reached for his hands and she smiled peacefully at him although there were tears in her eyes.

"Matthew are you quite all right?" He didn't respond so she tried something different.
"Matthew, if you can understand what I'm saying to you would you please squeeze my hand? How are you? If you're well, I want you to squeeze once and if you're not I want you to squeeze twice". Matthew didn't answer. "Oh let's try something simpler" she said. "Can you understand what I'm saying to you in the slightest? If yes, squeeze once". The slightest squeeze came from Matthew's hand as he looked at her beautiful face. Jeannie smiled and brushed the hair from his face. A tear rolled down her cheek. She continued to speak, "Matthew, have you tried speaking at all? Squeeze once if you have." Matthew didn't squeeze. "Would you like to try to speak Matthew? Squeeze once." Jeannie asked him. He didn't squeeze. "Just try it Matthew, just say hello. You don't know, maybe it will work, maybe it won't, but at least you will know." He shook his head no and now she could see that he was able to communicate and was understanding everything just fine.