ICU

Mila

On Thursday, I was on rotation at the ICU. Both the ICU and the Emergency Room were chaotic at best. It was also where I felt I could do the most. When patients were in mortal danger and we managed to pull them through, I felt like my choice to become a nurse was the right one.

“Morning, Mrs. Norton,” I said, walking into an ICU room. Mrs. Norton looked up from her seat next to the bed. Her eyes were swollen from crying and lack of sleep, her hair was a mess after spending one night after the other tossing and turning, and she wore no makeup. It made her look even younger. She was only twenty-one, but with the worry etched on her face, the fading hope, she looked like she was barely out of school.

“How are you doing today?” I knew small talk wasn’t going to do much, but I didn’t want to ignore her. She was suffering more than the patient at this point.

“I’m all right,” she said with a thick voice. “How is Charlie?”

I looked at the patient. He was in a medically induced coma. He had been like this for three weeks now. We had to keep him sedated so the pain wouldn’t be unbearable.

When he had come in, he’d been a mess. I hadn’t thought he would make it. His wife had told us he’d had a rock climbing accident—the rookie on duty hadn’t fastened the ropes right. That was going to be an ugly insurance battle once we knew Mr. Norton was going to survive.

He had come in with six broken ribs on each side and a collapsed lung because one of the ribs had punctured it. His sternum had cracked, his collarbone had snapped, and his spine was fractured as well. There was a chance he might never walk again, but we wouldn’t know that as long as he was in a coma. His skull had been fractured due to an old helmet that had been cheaper than a new one. More than an expensive mistake. With all the internal problems, Mr. Norton had nothing but a scratch on his brow, making him look peacefully asleep instead of on the brink of death.

“He is stable,” I said. “We have nothing to worry about as long as we keep him induced. But the doctor will be by shortly to talk to you about it.”

Mrs. Norton nodded and took her husband’s hand.

“We’ve only been married six months,” she said.

I had known they were a young couple, but six months was nothing. It flew by in the blink of an eye.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“I can’t lose him. Not now. We had so many fights with my parents before we got married. They don’t like him, you know? I don’t speak to my parents now. They didn’t even come to the wedding. If I lost him, I’ll have no one.”

God, what a mess. I felt awful for her. To be married for such a short time before having your true love ripped away from you had to be hell. It made sense that she looked like death warmed up.

“Can I get you anything?” I offered. “A warm cup of coffee, maybe?”

Mrs. Norton thought about it for a moment before she nodded.

“Thank you.”

I left the hospital room and walked to the coffee station where I made a fresh cup of coffee. The coffee wouldn’t make anything better, but hopefully, the caffeine would be a small pick-me-up where everything else around her was crashing to the ground.

She was very dedicated to her husband. Mrs. Norton barely left his side. When she had come in, it had taken one look to know that hospital visiting hours wouldn’t apply to her. She came in at six in the morning and only left at eleven at night. The first few nights, she had slept in the chair next to his bed and used the private shower at the hospital.

When I returned to the hospital room with the cup of coffee I had prepared, Dr. Rutherford was with the Nortons.

“His bones have shown significant healing, enough to set me at ease that he will make a full recovery in time. He’s breathing on his own now, and I’m happy that he will continue to do so.”

Mrs. Norton was crying again, but they were good tears this time. It was positive.

“What’s our next step?” she asked, sniffling.

“We want to bring him out of the coma tomorrow. When he’s awake, we can take the next step.”

Mrs. Norton broke down in tears. “Oh god,” she cried. “He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”

“It’s still a long road, but it’s looking good,” Dr. Rutherford said with a smile. He glanced at me before he left the hospital room. I stayed behind with Mrs. Norton who was still crying, holding her husband’s hands to her lips, and pressing kisses onto his knuckles.

“Here you go,” I said, offering her the coffee.

“Oh, thank you,” Mrs. Norton said, letting go of her husband to take the coffee from me. “Did you hear that? He’s going to be okay. I can’t wait until I can speak to him again. He’ll know who I am, right?”

“I’m sure he will,” I said.

“He won’t have amnesia or anything after the bumps on his head?”

I shook my head. “It’s hard to tell at this point, but I don’t think so.” I sincerely hoped Mr. Norton would recognize his wife. The couple had been through so much already, and it was a difficult road ahead. To have something as awful as amnesia to deal with on top of everything else would be horrible.

“I have to go,” I said. “You ring us when you need anything.”

Mrs. Norton nodded and walked back to the seat next to her husband’s bed. It was good to see commitment and true love like that.