Between Two Worlds (Aizawa x Reader)

Chapter Fifty-Two: I'm Here

(Reader's POV)

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'It's quiet. I don't hear any beeping sounds anymore.'

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'Am I dead?'

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...
...

'Never thought I'd say- er, well, think this, but, I almost missed the sound of the beeps.'

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'I hear footsteps coming...'

"...So, Dr. Richards, what exactly are we doing?"

"We're studying a series of patients in a single intensive care unit who have acute brain injury from a variety of causes and who are unresponsive to spoken commands. This patient is among the 104. Some of the other patients also include those with the ability to localize painful stimuli or to fixate on or track visual stimuli. Now, machine learning has been applied to the EEG recordings to detect brain activation in response to commands."

"And what's the point of all of this?"

"Brain activation in response to spoken motor commands can be detected by electroencephalography in clinically unresponsive patients. Some patients in a coma or vegetative state after brain injury show signs of hidden consciousness. That may predict their chances of getting better and help us improve their care."

"How do we know this tool is accurate in predicting such outcomes? Why not just do a routine GCS?"

"Well, to answer the first question, we don't. At least not yet. So far, the data seems to indicate that those who've shown indications of hidden consciousness have improved compared to those who didn't. We're still in the early stages of this, but it has potential."

"And what about the usual protocol?"

"The Glasgow Coma Scale is used to assess a person's level of consciousness after a head injury, but we grade them based off of what we actively see when we give them commands or apply painful stimuli. It doesn't grade them from what we see on the EEG. That's where the machine-learning algorithm comes in. I'm going to give this patient a series of commands over a span of 25 minutes. During that time, the machine will record the data."

"And then?"

"And then we'll see if anyone's home in there."

'Holy shit! I hope this works. I don't know how much time I have left if they don't think I'm in here.'

...

"Can you open and close your left hand?"

'I'll try. I don't know how, though. Maybe if I just think really hard to move my hand, it'll work? Here goes nothing...'

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"Can you open and close your right hand?"

'I'm trying, dude!'

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"I'm not seeing any movement, Dr. Richards."

'Goddammit! No...'

"That's not the point of this test."

'Huh?'

"Remember, this isn't a usual GCS assessment. We're not aiming for visual results. We're looking for hidden consciousness."

'Thank Christ. That's reassuring, I guess. I hope this machine algorithm thingy can hear or see me now. I have a feeling this will be a long test, but I can't give up. They need to know I'm here.'

"Can you wiggle your left toes for me?"

'Here we go...'

***
(Aizawa's POV)