Chapter 7
The meeting led by the regional CFO and things were going as anticipated. It was conducted mostly in English, but it was expected that the people from Beijing would be greeted in Mandarin. Edward knew the right phrases, however, his inflection was a bit off and the Beijing executives tried their best to be patient. While Edward was presenting the breakdown of quarterly expenses the receptionist knocked at the door. She opened it just enough to peak in.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Mr. Drake, there’s a call for you.”
“Uh…this really isn’t a good time,” Edward said. “Can you take a message?”
“This sounds important, Mr. Drake,” she replied.
“Well, who is it?” Edward asked.
The receptionist took a nervous breath. “It’s the hospital, Mr. Drake,” she answered.
For a moment, he was frozen in place while his mind processed her response.
“Uh…I’m sorry everyone,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
He left the conference room with his mind racing. “Maybe this was something minor,” he thought. “Maybe she just had the flu – she seemed fine this morning.”
His hand was shaking as he picked up the phone.
“Hello, this is Edward Drake,” he said. “Hello, Mr. Drake. This is Doctor Thomas Parker at Maine med.”
His voice was professional and calm. “We’ve admitted your wife Ajna and I’d like it if you’d come on up to Maine Medical.”
“Well, what happened?” Edward asked. “Is she o.k.?”
“Mr. Drake,” the doctor replied. “I really think that you should come up to the hospital.”
His tone was still calm, but Edward had become alarmed by the words the doctor chose.
“O.k.,” he said. “Where do I need to go?”
“Just come to the emergency room,” the doctor responded. “We can talk more when you get here.” “I’ll be right there!” Edward said.
As he hung up the phone, Edward suddenly became overwhelmed by a strong feeling that something terrible had happened. He turned to the receptionist who approached him with an obvious look of concern.
“I have to go to the hospital,” he said, with a noticeable degree of tension in his voice.
“What about the meeting?” the receptionist asked. “Just…tell them I had to go to Maine med,” Edward said. “I’ll let everyone know what’s going on later.”
“Yes, Mr. Drake,” she responded. “I hope everything’s o.k.”
Edward ran out of the bank leaving his suit jacket and briefcase behind in his office. He had a reserved spot in the bank’s parking lot, so he didn’t have to go searching for his car. The car’s door locks were biometric and the ignition started by voice command. He backed out of his reserved spot and drove out of the parking lot, turning right onto Congress Street. It was now ten ‘o clock in the morning and the downtown district was busy. Edward quickly grew very impatient with the flow of traffic and people mindlessly running across the street. Would any of them care if they knew what he was going through, or what was waiting for him at Maine med? The line going into the visitor’s parking lot stretched for almost a block, frustrating him even more.
“What the fuck!” he yelled.
He turned his car around and headed for the emergency room. Edward knew that he wasn’t supposed to park in front of the emergency room, but at this point, he just wanted to see Ajna. He ran through the main doors and up to the reception desk.
“I’m looking for my wife,” he said frantically.
“And what’s her name?” asked the woman behind the desk.
“It’s Ajna…Ajna Drake,” Edward replied. “Look…I got a call from Doctor Thomas Parker.”
His frustration was rapidly turning to panic as he demanded to speak to the doctor. The woman at the reception desk paged the doctor and after a few agonizing minutes, the phone rang.
“Doctor Parker, there’s an Edward Drake here to talk with you,” she said. “Yes…yes, he’s right here. “O.k., I’ll let him know.”
She hung up the phone and looked up with a smile. “Mr. Drake, the doctors on his way.”
It seemed as though only a few moments had passed until the doctor appeared at the front desk.
“Mr. Drake,” he said.
Edward stepped up to the desk.
“Yeah,” Edward replied.
His hands were trembling, his face was a slight pallor and he was a bit light headed with anxiety.
“Where’s my wife?” he asked.
Edward was near panic, but the doctor managed to calm his somewhat by a simple hand on the shoulder and a relaxed demeanor.
“Mr. Drake,” the doctor began. “First, Ajna’s going to be fine.”
Edward was not comfortable about how the doctor began the conversation and he once again got that feeling that something serious had happened.
“How about this,” the doctor continued. “Let’s go down to one of the family rooms so we can talk in a more private setting.”
Edward was quickly becoming impatient, but he did understand the doctor’s request for a private conversation.
It was only a short distance to a nearby family room and Doctor Parker quietly closed the door behind them.
“Can I please see my wife?” Edward asked as both of them sat down.
“Mr. Drake,” the doctor began.
His voice now carried a slightly serious tone. “There was an incident this morning at the clinic where your wife works.”
“An incident?” Edward responded. “What do you mean ‘an incident’? What happened?”
His impatience was approaching both frustration and anger.
“Mr. Drake,” the doctor continued. “Your wife’s been shot.”
Apparently, an armed gang of men walked into her clinic and somehow things escalated.”
Edward sat in a state of shock.
“Shot?” he said.
He was suddenly at a loss for words and felt his life rapidly collapsing into a convoluted mass of confused emotions.
“How bad?”
“The bullet entered a lung,” the doctor answered. “But it’s clear of any major blood vessels – so that’s good.”
Doctor Parker was trying to be reassuring, but Edward was still trying to process the fact that Ajna had been shot and he had already imagined the worse.
“When can I see her?” he asked.
“Well,” the doctor said. “Right now, she’s in surgery and according to the surgical team, she’s doing just fine.”
The doctor hesitated a moment seeing that Edward may not be fully comprehending the conversation. He reached over and put a hand on Edward’s arm. “Mr. Drake…” the doctor said. “We see these kinds of injuries all the time. We probably see one or two of these every day.”
His pager went off and he looked down at the phone number. It was the extension for surgery. He did not reveal this to Edward but merely stood up saying, “I have to make a quick call. I’ll be right back.”
Doctor Parker quickly disappeared out the door and down the hallway. The few minutes he was gone felt like an eternity as Edward continued to process what he had just been told.
The doctor returned and sitting back down continued the conversation.
“Well,” he started. “That was surgery. They’ve given me an update on Ajna’s progress.”
Edward sat transfixed while hanging on the doctors every word.
“They’re just finishing the procedure,” the doctor continued. “After that, she’ll be moved to the PACU unit.”
“PACU,” said Edward. “What’s that?”
“Surgical recovery,” the doctor answered. “O.k., so when can I see her?” Edward asked.
“Well, it’s going to be about twenty minutes before she gets there,” the doctor said.
“The nurses will spend some time making sure she’s comfortable and stable. So…probably in about an hour or so.”
“How do I get there?” asked Edward.
“I can get one of the volunteers to take you down,” the doctor responded.
The doctor momentarily glanced at his watch.
“What is it?” Edward asked.
“It usually takes a bit longer for this type of procedure,” the doctor said. “I’m guessing that this was a pretty straightforward surgery. In this line of work, simple is always best.” Edward nodded his head in acknowledgment.
A volunteer was paged to the family room and Edward was introduced to Carla. Carla was a beautiful, blonde-haired seventeen-year-old high school student with aspirations of going to medical school. Carla had a calm smile that made Edward feel somewhat at ease, in spite of the fear and tension he was experiencing. She introduced herself and told him she’d be walking him down to the waiting room for surgical recovery. The walk down felt like an eternity, even though it was on the same floor as the emergency room. Carla waved a hand in front of a small black panel on the wall that caused a set of double doors to open. Edward became visibly startled by the doors suddenly swinging open.
“I’m sorry,” Carla said. “I should have warned you about the doors.”
“It’s o.k,” Edward replied reassuringly.
“I’ll let the nurse know you’re here,” she said. “I hope everything’s gonna be o.k.”
“Thank you,” Edward said.
The waiting room was packed with people who seemed to share his anxiety and a few were more than a bit despondent. Certainly, they all had a different story to tell, but Edward was in no mood to talk.
He found an empty chair close to a window next to an elderly woman whose husband was in surgery for a partially torn aneurysm near his heart. Ordinarily, this was a relatively easy fix, but the man’s age complicated matters and unbeknownst to the woman sitting next to Edward, the elderly man would die on the table never having had the chance to say goodbye. But there she sat, lost in her faith while reading her bible, convinced that if she prayed enough God would somehow save the life of her husband and all would be right with the world.
A television was mounted near the ceiling of the waiting room. Edward tried to distract himself by watching the local news when it was announced that the protests against the screening process, as part of the ‘Well Baby Initiative’ had all but died out. At the lack of any new information, the protesters simply lost interest. And due to continued manipulation via the media, most people came to think of the program as something positive, especially for low-income families. But, Edward had far too much on his mind and the broadcast seemed to get lost in his concern for Ajna.
Facing the window, Edward stared out into a world that was once he was fairly comfortable with, in spite of the political bullshit, the violence of the war zone and the insanity that would eventually force humanity into darkness. Were things all that bad? They both had good jobs. They were living in one of safest neighborhoods in Portland and up to this point, they were living out a dream that few would have. Now, the world seemed cold and uncaring as Ajns’s life hung in the balance.
The hour crawled by at such a tortuous rate that waterboarding might have – by comparison – seemed like a recreational activity. Finally, a nurse dressed in green scrubs appeared at the door.
“Mr. Drake?” she asked.
Edward suddenly raised his head.
“Yes!” he answered.
He stood up and nervously walked back toward the double doors.
“Can I see my wife now?” he asked.
“Right this way,” she said. “There are a few things you should know before you see her, though.”
“I’m listening,” Edward responded.
He knew that Ajna needed him and he was trying to be strong.
“First,” the nurse began. “She lost about a liter of blood in surgery, so we’re transfusing her. But, as a result of the blood loss, she looks very pale and she’s very weak. She’s still under the influence of the drugs and has a breathing tube in her throat.”
They were just walking through the doors of the recovery area by the time the nurse had finished briefing him.
“Ajna is right over here in slot nine,” the nurse said, as she pointed over to the left. The nurse had done what she could to prepare Edward, but as he approached the bed he was stunned into silence by what he saw. There were wires and tubes everywhere with what seemed to be stacks of machines attached to wheel mounted poles. A tube had indeed been placed in her throat and was taped to her face while a ventilator did the work of breathing for her. A multitude of cables snaked down from an overhead monitor that was crisscrossed with animated lines and columns of blinking numbers.
Ajna was as pale as milk and to Edward, she looked close to death. He touched her hand and to his shock discovered just how cold the human body could get.
“Nurse,” he said. “Why is she so cold?”
The nurse raised her eyes from Ajna’s chart.
“Well, between how cold the O.R. suites get and her injury Ajna’s going to be rather cold,” she answered. “I have someone coming with a warm blanket.”
“Thank you,” he replied.
As he moved closer to her his right foot made contact with a plastic tank that stood on the floor. Edward glanced down at it and noticed immediately that a long rubber tube was draining blood into it, accompanied by the sound of gurgling water. At this point, anything that was near Ajna and filling with blood terrified him.
“Nurse,” he said. “What’s this?”
The nurse looked up again.
“That’s called a Pleura-Vac,” she answered. “They had to put a tube in her chest to allow her lung to expand by draining off blood.”
“There’s a tube in her chest?” Edward asked.
It was all becoming too much for him to take in and he began crying. The nurse was at his side in an instant.
“Edward,” she said gently. “Ajna was very lucky. The bullet missed all the major vessels of the lung. She lost a lot of blood from the initial trauma and surgery.”
“I can’t lose her,” Edward said.
Tears streamed down his face and he seemed desperate for some guarantee that Ajna would survive. The nurse put a hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him.
“Edward,” she said. “We see a lot worse…and, to be honest, most people with injuries like this don’t live long enough to make it to the E.R. If you’re looking for a miracle, you’ve already found it.”
He nodded his head as though he’d heard every word, in spite of the fact that the only word that got through was ‘miracle’.
“So, what now?” he asked.
“When she wakes up a bit and can follow a few directions we’ll move her to SCU 4,” the nurse said.
“SCU 4?” Edward asked.
His mind was still foggy as he continued to absorb everything he’d seen and heard.
“Special Care Unit Four,” the nurse answered. “We’ll get someone to take you there.”
“Thank you,” he replied. “Can I stay here with her?”
“For a few more minutes,” the nurse answered.
Those few minutes seemed like an eternity as Edward stood at Ajna’s side waiting for any sign of consciousness. He lifted up her pale, cold hand and gently kissed one of her knuckles. And with that small connection, Ajna’s eyes minutely opened. Edward knew that she was very much alive, but the cold paleness of her flesh betrayed her beating heart. Now, with this first visible sign, Edward’s mind began to clear itself of any doubts regarding Ajna’s survival and he became fully aware that the road to her recovery would be very difficult. But, at this point, he knew that the alternative was something he could simply not bear and he was overjoyed that his wife had been given back to him.