Driving Force

chapter 19

Cameron Santiago POV

Vlatko just gathered the team into one of the conference rooms for a team meeting. It's been over 8 hours since they took Madison to the hospital and there hasn't been a word about her or her condition. Ash and Ali took me to their room since the incident and have been comforting me as I worry for my friend.

"I know we all are worried for Madison so let's have a moment of silence and pray to whoever you pray to." Vlatko starts off and we are silent for about a minute. "So not many of you know this but Madison has a medical condition called epilepsy. It means she has seizures, but they are controlled by her medication. The staff have known and we promised her we wouldn't tell anyone, but I think it's time you know. When she got to the hospital they wanted to know what brought on her long seizure, so they took her for a CT scan right away. They found a brain clot and some swelling. The doctors are holding off on surgery hoping the clot and swelling will resolve itself, however they placed her in a medically induced coma for her body to relax and heal without stress. It was the best option." He finishes off and the room is silent as silent tears come to everyone's eyes.

"Where did the blood clot come from?" Alyssa asks, breaking the silence.

"They think it's from the hit she took at the previous game."

"How long will she be in the coma for?" Dunn asks next.

"They say between 24-72 hours, but after that, it's whenever she chooses to wake up. She is currently on a machine to help her breathe as well but that's because of the coma, but when they take her off the sedation they will wean her off the ventilator."

"Is she going to have brain damage?" I ask as my main concern.

"They don't know until she wakes up."

"When will we be able to see her?" Kelley asks, squeezing my hand.

"So visiting hours for the ICU are over today but tomorrow they open it back up at eight in the morning. I have cancelled training tonight and tomorrow so we can rotate people staying in her room. Only two at a time, but there is a waiting room for whoever wants to see her next." He explains, saddened by the news he has to relay back to us.

As I soak the news up, I get up from my seat forgetting I made a promise phone call to somebody. I go out into the hallway and call Jessie to update her. She started crying as I revealed the news to her. She's in California and said she's going to take a flight over as soon as possible. I told her she can stay in my room and I would pick her up. Madison would never admit it, but Jessie has this effect on her that I can't explain. Madi talks about her with this high level of respect and she always manages to know exactly what to say and do with her.

...............

I just picked Jessie up from the airport in one of the rentals and we are now headed to the hospital. As we get information on directions to the waiting room and our visitor badges, we head up and already see a few teammates and staff sitting in the waiting room.

"Ash and Ali are in there now." Kelley comes up to us. "I'll text them so they can come out and you guys can go in."

A few minutes later I see Krashlyn walk out the automatic double doors.

"Cammy." Ash says walking up to me. "She's going to look different and fragile. I just want to warn you that she has multiple tubes and wires. Just talk to her. You can hold her hand but be gentle." She says and gives me a hug before Jessie and I make our way to the room.

I come to a halt as I see her through the glass door outside her room. Memories of why and how she ended up here flooded my thoughts. This should have never happened.

"Hey, let's go sit with her." Jessie grabs my hand and gently guides me to a chair next to Madison's bed.

We are silent for a few minutes taking in the sight in front of us. Madison doesn't look like herself at all. She's pale and helpless.

"I'm so sorry, Madison. I know you wouldn't want me to apologize but you looked out for me and I couldn't do the same for you." I blurt out in tears. "I'm so sorry."

After a couple of minutes of silence after my apology, Jessie begins to talk.

"Madison, it's me Jessie. I just want to say I am here and I am going to wait for you to wake up. I will be here whenever I can. You are one of the strongest people I have ever met. You have a drive in you not many people have. You just keep fighting, okay." Jessie says grabbing her hand and rubbing her thumb over it. "Did you know about her medical condition? She never mentioned anything to me ever. She doesn't talk about personnel matter often."

I nod. "She had an episode with me so I found out by accident. She didn't tell anyone anything. Nobody other than staff and Alyssa Naeher knew. She prefers to keep personnel stuff private."

"Is her home life okay?"

"What makes you question her home life?" I am intrigued.

"I called her once and there was someone banging and yelling to be let out. Whenever I bring it up, she shuts it down. She doesn't talk about her family either."

"The screaming was coming from me. Nobody knows but she was helping me detox from heroin. I was going through withdrawals and she got me through it." I say being honest. "The only family she has is her mom who happens to also be a drug addict who rarely is home. Madison has been on her own for a while which makes her a survivor. She's strong and resilient." I say as those words perfectly explain this girl. "You hear that, Madi? You are strong and resilient."

I feel her hand twitch in mine and I look over to Jessie and see she just experienced the same thing with the other hand. Within seconds her monitors start going off as she has another one of her violent seizures. A swarm of nurses and a doctor run into the room kicking us out in the process. A lady comes up to us as we stare from outside the door and guides us back into the waiting room.

"We are going to hold off on visitors for Madison for a little while." The woman who guided us out says to everyone. "Just until they are able to stabilize her."

"Stabilize her?" Dawn stands up and asks.

"She had another seizure so they are going to take her for more scans once they get it to stop. Someone will come to inform you guys on updates once they have some." She says and walks away.

Kelley takes me in her arms as Ash and Ali take Jessie under their wing knowing it has to be difficult being in an environment where the only person she really knows is lying in the hospital bed.