Ascension Discovery

by Amy Proebstel

  “What happens now, Dr. Medin?” Diane asked with tears streaming down her cheeks. She wished Chris had been here to witness the miracle of their daughter waking up from her coma. He had gone to work for a last-minute project, Diane suspected it was just an excuse to get his mind off of this whole terrible situation. She dug through her purse and retrieved her cell phone. She flipped it open and dialed Chris’ work number.

  “Hi, Diane. Are you on your way home now?” Chris asked the same question he had asked every night.

  “Chris, Amanda’s awake!” Diane announced excitedly.

  “What do you mean awake? Are you sure?” Chris tried to contain his excitement. He did not want to get false hope.

  “Yes, I’m sure. They’ve taken her breathing tube out and she started talking. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for, Chris. Are you on your way over?” Diane never took her eyes off of Amanda and was impatient to get off the phone.

  “Give me twenty minutes and I’ll be there. I love you, Diane. I’m leaving right now!”

  “Okay, bye,” she said as she hung up the phone and dropped it back into her purse. She leaned forward and spoke to Amanda for the first time, “Amanda, honey, do you hurt anywhere?”

  “No,” she croaked. “Except my throat. Can I have some water?”

  Dr. Medin turned to the nurse and said, “Can you get Amanda some ice chips?”

  “Did you hear the doctor? She’s sending for some ice chips to help soothe your throat. It’ll just be a few minutes. Don’t try to talk until then. Your dad will be here in twenty minutes. He can’t wait to see you.” She held Amanda’s hand in her own and was pleased beyond measure when she felt Amanda’s slight squeeze of her fingers. Once again the tears spilled from her eyes. Every day she had hoped for this outcome, but Chris’ negative ideas had started to take root in her mind. She was so thankful she had stuck to her own convictions to keep Amanda’s life-support going.

  Amanda turned her eyes to watch her mother. She could feel a tear dripping from the corner of her eye. Never in her life had she been so glad to see her mother than at that moment. She had been so scared and alone in the asylum. She still did not understand why her parents had allowed her to stay in that crazy place and never even came to visit. Feeling tired, Amanda closed her eyes to rest. She felt her mother squeeze her hand. She opened her eyes again and tried to blow her a kiss to reassure her. Her lips did not cooperate and she just smacked them together.

  The doctor could understand Diane’s concern if Amanda shut her eyes, but she had to say, “Amanda is going to be extremely tired for quite some time. She’s going to take frequent naps and you’re going to have to let her so she can recover fully. I believe the worst is over, Diane.”

  “I hear what you’re saying, but I’m just so scared she’ll fall asleep again and stay that way.”

  “The vitals monitor will keep track of everything important. A buzzer will sound if anything goes below normal. Please let her rest.” Dr. Medin once again reviewed all of the readouts including the oxygenation saturation to be sure the patient was getting enough oxygen. All was well. She wished she could stay, but she had to make her rounds. She spoke softly to Diane since Amanda’s eyes had closed again, “I have to check on my other patients. I’ll be back in about an hour.”

  Diane simply nodded, never taking her eyes off of her daughter’s face.

  The nurse returned with the cup of ice chips. Since Amanda was asleep, she set it down on the rolling tray and left the mother and daughter alone once again.

  Chris walked into the room a few minutes later and felt an instant sense of anger and betrayal. He thought his wife had lied to him about Amanda’s state. Before he spoke his mind he noticed a difference in Amanda, she no longer was hooked up to the ventilator. Just then Diane heard his intake of breath and looked up with the most beautiful smile. Chris had not seen such a look of peace on his wife’s face since before their daughter had gone sailing with Nealand.

  “She’s resting right now,” Diane whispered.

  Chris walked over and sat down in the chair next to Diane and asked, “What happened?”

  “The spike in activity I saw before you went back to work was different. The doctor gave her a shot of adrenaline and she woke up. Once they removed the breathing tube Amanda asked why she couldn’t move and then asked for water to soothe her throat. She fell asleep before the ice chips arrived.”

  “Is she going to wake up again soon?” Chris worried they were in for a roller coaster ride if she decided to slip away again.

  “The doctor said she would need a lot of rest as part of her recovery. She wasn’t concerned about the nap. I’ve been holding her hand ever since.”

  “How long has she been asleep?”

  “About twenty minutes.”

  Chris knew his daughter’s condition had improved, but until he saw her eyes open and heard her voice for himself, he had a hard time convincing his brain her condition had changed. Chris reached over and took Diane’s hand in his own. They sat in silence and watched their daughter’s chest rise and fall on its own.

  “When will the doctor be back?” Chris asked quietly.

  Diane looked at her wrist watch and replied, “Probably in about forty minutes.”

  Amanda took a deeper breath and turned her head slightly to the side facing her parents. Her eyes flickered open and she saw her father next to her mother. She smiled weakly and whispered, “Hi, Dad.”

  Chris felt tears in his eyes as he stood up and leaned over his daughter and smiled with a trembling grin as he replied, “Hi, welcome back.”

  “Ice,” she whispered.

  Chris looked frantically around and spotted the cup on the tray. He picked it up and fished out a small chip of ice and put it into her mouth. “Do you want more?”

  “Yes,” her voice sounded slightly less hoarse.

  They repeated this process until all that was left was water in the cup. Chris was frantic, he stood up and said, “I’m going to go get more ice. I’ll be right back.” He stepped around the bed and raced across the room and out the door.”

  “I think your dad is excited to see you awake,” Diane smiled at her husband’s enthusiasm.

  “Me, too,” Amanda whispered. She was not sure she could stay awake long enough to wait for his return. She was so tired, she felt her eyelids closing without her permission.

  “It’s okay to sleep, honey. We’ll be here when you wake up again.” Diane squeezed her hand lightly and rested her forehead on the edge of Amanda’s hospital bed. She was so exhausted, she knew if she shut her eyes she would fall asleep and that was not an option right now.

  Chris burst through the door with the new ice chips only to realize he was too late. He was immediately contrite for not thinking ahead that she might fall back asleep. “Oh,” he said as he looked at Amanda and then took his seat again in the empty chair. He set the cup down on the tray so his hands would not melt the ice.

  The next several days followed the same pattern of sleep, ice, whispered phrases, and the added sessions of physical therapy. These sessions were hard to watch as Amanda’s muscles were severely atrophied and her limbs were so skinny. Amanda hissed as the therapist repeatedly asked her to resist her movement to help build the muscle back up. The added activity tired Amanda making her sleep for longer periods of time.

  Amanda had sent her parents home so she could rest. When she woke up she was still alone, but she was ravenously hungry. She pressed the nurse assist button and waited.

  The door to her room opened and the nurse asked kindly, “What do you need, Amanda?”

  “Am I allowed food? I’m hungry,” she replied with a smile.

  “Let me check with your doctor. If she says yes then I can get you broth, jello, or pudding. Which sounds good?”

  All of them sounded fantastic, but she decided on the first choice. “I’d like some warm broth.”

  The nurse smiled and nodded then left the room.

  Amanda fel
l asleep before she had her answer.

  Chapter Ten

  WEEKS WENT BY and Amanda improved on a daily basis. She was getting stronger and she was able to sit up on her own and stay awake for a couple of hours at a time. Amanda had repeatedly asked about her time in the mental hospital, but her parents had looked alarmed at the outset, but then told her not to worry about it right now.

  She was so sick of people not answering her questions. They always said, ‘Don’t worry about that just now. Put all of your energy into getting better so we can take you home.’ At first the idea of going home was enough to make her leave it alone, but now she had more time to think and she wanted answers. When Dr. Medin came in one afternoon, Amanda decided she would confront her one last time.

  “Hi, Dr. Medin. Do you have a few minutes?” Amanda asked diplomatically.

  “Sure, Amanda. What’s on your mind?” Dr. Medin settled her hip on the end of Amanda’s bed.

  “Why did you leave me alone at the asylum? I thought we were friends,” Amanda asked matter-of-factly.

  The doctor took a deep breath and waited a moment before answering, “We don’t know a lot about what goes on in the mind when a person is comatose for so long. I do know you and I have never spoken before the day you first woke up and we removed your breathing tube. Do you want to tell me about what you remember of me before that time?”

  “No, I guess not. Can you tell me what you know of how I ended up here?” Amanda changed the subject.

  “I wasn’t here when you first were admitted, but your chart said you were found by a local man in Cancun, Mexico. You were found face-down in the water on the edge of the beach and revived by the medical techs who picked you up. They didn’t know who you were or where you were from so you remained in Mexico for almost three months before your parents were contacted by the local authorities. They had you brought back to this facility where you’ve been on life support ever since,” she replied.

  “How long have I been in a coma?” Amanda had a bad feeling about this answer.

  “Seven years.”

  “Seven years? How old am I? The last birthday I remember was my eighteenth,” she felt slightly sick.

  “You’re twenty-five now, but you still look eighteen. You don’t age much when you’re sleeping,” she tried to reassure her patient.

  “Can you get me a mirror?” Amanda had to see for herself.

  “Sure, I’ll be right back.” Dr. Medin left the room. A minute later she returned with a pink hand mirror which she passed to Amanda’s outstretched hand.

  Amanda discovered her hand was shaking as she turned it around and saw her reflection for the first time. She closed her eyes for a moment in relief, she looked just the same as she remembered. There was a moment of panic thinking her reflection would show her an old woman, but that turned out to be unfounded. She let her hand with the mirror drop into her lap as she sighed, “Thank goodness!”

  Dr. Medin laughed and said, “I told you you still looked the same. What else do you want to know?”

  “I did go sailing with Nealand, didn’t I?” Amanda was trying to determine if anything from her memories were true.

  “Yes. They think a storm must have come upon you suddenly and the yacht capsized. You washed up on shore at least a week after the ship went down.”

  “What about Nealand? Is he okay?”

  “I’m sorry, Amanda. His body was never recovered.” Dr. Medin watched Amanda closely to see if she were going to have a bad reaction to the news.

  “Never recovered? The ship went down? How long were we out sailing before the storm?” Amanda tried to get a timeline straight in her head.

  “They think you sailed for a week before the storm.”

  “One week, another week, and then three months in Mexico. That’s not enough time,” she said to herself.

  “Not enough time for what, Amanda?” Dr. Medin was concerned.

  “What about my children?” Amanda suddenly asked.

  Dr. Medin looked alarmed and replied reasonably, “There’s never been any mention of you having children. I didn’t see anything in your medical file to show you’d ever been pregnant. That must have been part of your brain activity while you were in a coma.”

  Amanda shook her head, something was not right. She knew she had been pregnant and delivered twins. There had to be some type of medical proof. “Can you tell if a woman has had a child before?”

  “Sometimes,” Dr. Medin began and then added, “Some women get stretch marks, their hips widen, and, if they had an episiotomy, then they’d have a scar. Would you like me to check you?”

  “Please,” Amanda agreed readily. She needed medical proof if she were to convince anyone to help her in her quest to find her lost children.

  “Let me ask a nurse to step in,” Dr. Medin said as she left the room once again. She returned with the nurse on duty and stepped beside Amanda’s bed. “If you don’t mind I’d like to examine your breasts first. They experience a change if you ever nursed.”

  Amanda nodded and felt slightly self-conscious as the doctor pulled her hospital gown down from her shoulders. She was already lying on the bed so she did not have to change position. She felt the doctor’s fingers as she palpated the sides of her breasts and worked her way to the areola.

  “Well?” Amanda asked.

  “Your breasts are high and full which is not consistent. But if you didn’t nurse them, then that might be inconclusive. Let me check your abdomen next,” she said as she pulled up Amanda’s gown to cover her chest. She lifted the gown from the bottom hem and examined her stomach. She did have slight marks showing near her pubic area, but not enough to be conclusive. “I’m not seeing anything to say you’ve been pregnant. Would you like me to give you a pelvic exam?”

  Amanda nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed at the idea.

  Dr. Medin dropped the bottom half of the bed and brought up the foot stirrups. She had Amanda move down to the edge and place her heels in the metal stirrups. While Amanda was getting adjusted, Dr. Medin opened a side drawer and brought out a speculum. She sat in the low, rolling chair and visually examined Amanda’s genital region to see if any scarring were present.

  She inserted the speculum and spread it open. She used the side lamp to light the area for her to visually inspect her cervix. Again, nothing presented to indicate a prior pregnancy. She closed the speculum and retracted it. She pulled Amanda’s gown down to cover her up and said, “I don’t see anything to suggest you’ve ever been pregnant, Amanda. I’m sorry, but I think you must have imagined it during your time in the coma.”

  With the exam over Dr. Medin thanked the nurse for her assistance and told her she would no longer be needed. She did not like the nurses to hear Amanda talk about her time in the coma. She had already created quite a stir among the staff just by waking up. She did not need any further comments to be made which might question her sanity.

  Amanda trusted Dr. Medin, but she also knew she had carried twins and given birth to them. She wondered if the methods used to deliver children in Tuala repaired the effects of the birth as part of their treatment. She had never thought to ask Alena about it when she was living with them. She clarified, “You said you didn’t see anything definitive, but it’s still possible. Right?”

  “Yes, it’s possible, but given the time you were gone you didn’t have time to carry any children to term. Please consider the possibility that it was part of your dream and not a reality, okay?” Dr. Medin wondered if she should have Amanda talk with a counselor just to get things straight in her head.

  “I’ll consider it because you asked, Dr. Medin,” Amanda spoke quietly as she moved back up on the mattress so she was sitting up. She rearranged her clothing while the doctor lowered the stirrups and lifted the foot section of the bed. She watched the doctor rearrange the sheet and blanket back into place. “Thank you for checking,” she said as she looked down on her folded hands.

  “I’ve got some other patients to chec
k on so I’m going to go. I think your parents will be back shortly. Will you be okay by yourself?” she asked. She hated to leave Amanda while she was in this delicate state, but she really did need to do her rounds.

  “I’m fine, I promise. I have a lot of thinking to do, is all.” She looked at the time and saw it was almost three o’clock. “One of my favorite shows comes on in a couple minutes. I’ll probably watch that until my parents get here.” At least she hoped the programming schedule had not changed much during the time she had been hospitalized. If not the show she had in mind, she would pick something else to occupy her befuddled brain.

  “That sounds like a good idea. If you keep progressing this fast, I imagine we’ll be letting you go home sometime next week. Would you like that?” Dr. Medin wanted to leave on a positive note. She knew Amanda wanted nothing so much as to go home.

  “It sounds so good, I can hardly even imagine it will actually come true. Thank you for everything, Dr. Medin,” she replied with feeling. She reached over and picked up the television remote and set it in her lap.

  “You’re welcome, Amanda. I’ll check in on you before my shift ends tonight. Take care.” She opened the door quietly and left the room.

  Amanda did not want to think about what might be true and what might be fantasy. She aimed the remote at the television and turned it on. She flipped through the channels until something caught her attention. Staring absently at the show did not keep her mind from wandering back to the idea she was missing two daughters. There had to be another way to find out the truth to the matter. She would give her memories careful consideration, but she would not bring it up to Dr. Medin again.

  Chris and Diane came together to her room. They were both smiling when they saw Amanda was awake and alone. “Hi,” they both said in unison. They took their usual chairs.

  Diane asked, “How was therapy today?”

  “Fine,” she answered and then brightened with her remembered news, “Dr. Medin said I might be released next week if my progress keeps up.”

  Diane grabbed her hand and gushed, “That’s the best news ever! I just washed your bed sheets in anticipation of the day you’d finally come home. Isn’t this wonderful, Chris?”