Chapter 4

Terri opened her eyes in a dimly lit little room. A dark curtain ran down the center of the room, dividing the large room into two small ones. Several people were grouped behind the curtain, huddled together, talking in hushed, concerned voices.

            Terri’s stomach was churning; she was nauseated, but she didn’t know why. Terri’s doctor, Dr. Rushing, peeked around the curtain.

            “Hey, Terri. You’re in the Intensive Care Unit. You had an allergic reaction to the medicine we gave you earlier today. Terri nodded. Terri cupped a hand over her mouth and gave the doctor an urgent look. He immediately handed her the emesis container, into which she promptly vomited. “Yes, I see,” she said with a sigh. She vomited again. Her mother rested a hand on her back protectively. Her father took a hand, stroking it gently. Terri leaned back on the pillow. “My back still hurts,” she said with a weak smile.

            Terri’s head was pounding now. Her mother pulled up a chair and rested her elbows on the edge of the bed. “Mom, hold my hand,” Terri whispered. Her mother took her hand tenderly and stroked it, murmuring soothing phrases to Terri.

            “My baby, for a few minutes we thought we’d lost you too.”  Tears were streaming down her mother’s face. Terri, who didn’t want to watch her mother cry, closed her eyes. Terri concentrated fully on tying to keep the contents of her stomach in her stomach.

            “Mom, will you stay the night with me? So I just have someone in the room with me?” Terri asked. She knew it was quite a bit to ask, but Terri needed her mother.

            “Of course I’ll stay, Baby,” she whispered.

            Terri smiled and closed her eyes. Sleep came, and with it came a dream:

            Terri and Sagel were at a pool; they were about nine years old. They were splashing each other...suddenly Sagel fell in the water and lay face down, limp. Terri shook her, crying, “Sagel, wake up! Wake up Sagel, wake up!” But Sagel wouldn’t wake up. She just lay there, floating, unmoving.

            Terri woke up with a start, tears spilling down her face. Her mother woke up too. She silently sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped her arms around her daughter. For the past week, Terri hadn’t shed a tear, save the night of the crash. This dream cruelly forced her to remember the crash, the physical and emotional pain, and Sagel. She let go of all the pain, and anger, and rage she was keeping locked inside. Her mother understood; she whispered in Terri’s ear and stroked her hair. With time, Terri’s tears subsided, and she fell back asleep.

            Terri groggily opened her eyes. Only her mother was present, reading an aged green book. The moment Terri’s eyes opened, her mother snapped the book shut.

            “Hello, Sleeping Beauty. I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to see you awake today. You slept two full days, you know,” she said rubbing Terri’s forearm gently.

            “Two days? I slept two whole days?” Terri asked in disbelief. Her mother simply nodded in response.

            Terri noticed she was still in the Intensive Care Unit. Her mother gave Terri a summary on the happenings of the past few days. Dr. Rushing was confident Terri was out of the woods; she could leave the Intensive Care Unit and return to her original room just as soon as the nurse finished her rounds.

            The transport was fairly uneventful. The good news was she wasn’t going to have to switch beds. Back in her original room, Terri and her mother met with Dr. Rushing. He wanted to move Terri to the fifth floor to X-ray her back. Dr. Rushing felt Terri’s back was healing well, but he wanted to see it for himself. He promised he would schedule the appointment as soon as possible.

            “Er, Dr. Rushing, could you possibly find a nurse that could help me with a shower?” Terri asked. “I really feel grimy.” Dr. Rushing nodded and walked out of the room. Within five minutes, he returned with the same nurse that bathed Terri last time.

            The nurse smiled happily when she saw Terri.

            Terri’s mother sat down on the edge of he bed and watched intently. The nurse unhooked the IV and helped Terri to the bathroom. Terri closed her eyes and relaxed. Her mother stood at the doorway, arms folded cross her chest. The nurse tried not to show it, but she was intimidated by Terri’s mother’s presence. While Terri had her shower, a couple of other nurses changed her bed sheets. When Terri returned to her bed, she relaxed completely, clean and alive.

            Shortly after Terri was settled in, and her medications were administered, her mother departed. Greg came in. “God, I thought they transferred you!” he said with a relieved expression.

            “Greg, they did transfer me,” she said innocently.

            “No, silly, I thought they transferred you to another hospital,” Greg said, laughing.

            Terri smiled sheepishly. Greg sat on the edge of the hospital bed and was at a total loss for words. Instead, he locked his eyes on Terri’s. She looked into his eyes and found comfort there. With time, sleep tapped her shoulder, beckoning to her. She followed, and was soon in a deep sleep. She slept soundly the whole night.

            Terri opened her eyes. The digital clock read 5:55 A.M. She looked to her left; Greg was sound asleep with his head leaning on his elbow. Terri stroked his hair lightly so not to wake him, and fell back to sleep. About five minutes later, a nurse came in quietly to give Terri her medicines.

            When Terri woke the next morning, Greg was nowhere to be found. Disappointed, Terri closed her eyes. Minutes later, she heard footsteps that sounded like Greg’s. She opened her eyes to see Greg standing at the doorway, munching on a doughnut. Another one was situated on his forefinger like a ring. He moved to the bedside and offered Terri a bite. She took bite after bite until she had eaten one whole doughnut. Terri eyed the doughnut in Greg’s other hand and looked directly into his eyes. She gave him her puppy-eyes look and playfully pouted. He stared at her for a few minutes with a straight face before cracking and giggling. He fed Terri the other doughnut, much to Terri’s satisfaction. Simultaneously, they felt guilty for having fun when

Sagel could not share in the fun.

            Moments later, both of Terri’s parents entered. They looked rushed. Her father sat down on the bed opposite Greg; her mother took the lone chair. They made small talk for awhile before Greg made up the excuse about needing to call his coach about a practice time. Once he had left, both parents turned toward Terri.

            “Terri, there’s something we need to tell you about Greg,” her mother said, “We had lunch with Greg’s mother yesterday, and she told us Greg’s father is in prison for theft,” her mother reported. “Honey, we want you to be careful with Greg.”

            Terri looked at the parents in disbelief. Granted, Greg had failed to mention the fact that his father was in jail. In fact, Greg hadn’t mentioned his father at all. Terri came to the conclusion that Greg had some legitimate explanation.

            “It’s okay, but thanks, I’ll keep it in mind,” Terri reassured her parents. They both gave her a look that stated they were not totally convinced, but they said no more. How could her parents possibly understand how much Terri needed Greg and how much Greg needed her right now?

            Greg stayed out of sight until Terri’s parents had left. Terri was beginning to think he had left. Finally, Greg appeared at the doorway of Terri’s room. He slowly approached the bed. Terri’s eyes observed every movement. He finally perched himself on the bedside and breathed slowly several times.

            “Greg, how come you’ve never told me about your father?” Terri asked, her voice was calm.

            “I didn’t say anything because I don’t consider my father to be a parent to me,” he began to explain. “When I was little, my dad was rarely home and was absent in my life. I’ve always thought a father was supposed to play ball with you, take you fishing and be there to answer your questions. My father wasn’t there, and when he was, he was drunker than a dog. He caused my mom and me so much pain; he was always getting drunk or he was with other women. I think he had a different girlfriend every week. He always referred to me as his ‘great mistake.’ He didn’t want a child, and after my mom found out she was pregnant with me-well, what could she do? He, on the other hand, could pretend, and he did, that we didn’t exist. So, I pretend right back,” Greg said. He was uncomfortable, and, though he was trying to hide it, it showed. “Terri, I’m sorry I didn’t mention it to you, I just...” his voice trailed off; he didn’t complete the thought. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

            Terri pondered his words for some time. “That explains a good deal,” she finally said. “I’m sorry about your father,” Terri said, as though she had the power to fix it. Terri didn’t quite know what to say.

            “Greg, I’m not upset that you didn’t tell me about your father. I was just curious,” Terri explained to Greg. The explanation wasn’t necessary, but she felt she should give it.

            Greg sighed. “Mmm, Terri, I don’t mind telling you. Greg looked at Terri for a few minutes, then bade her good night.

            Left alone in the room, Terri reflected on the conversation with Greg. She felt blessed because she always had both parents present throughout her whole life. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

            Terri woke mid-morning to her father’s face. He was sitting in a chair beside the bed, newspaper propped up on his knee. He appeared to be deeply interested in the story he was reading because he didn’t notice Terri was awake. Terri yawned, and closed her eyes again. Her stomach growled, telling her it was hungry. She ignored it and continued to rest. After some minutes, the growling persisted and Terri finally figured she should do something about it. She opened her eyes and looked at her father, who was still reading the newspaper. “Dad?” she asked. “Dad, I think I slept through breakfast, and I’m really hungry,” she explained. Her father looked over at her and nodded.

            “I’ll go get you a sandwich or something from the cafeteria,” he said, standing. He departed. Once he was gone, Terri switched on the television. She found a cartoon, which was the only thing worth watching.

            About fifteen minutes had passed before her father reentered the room carrying a sandwich and a soda in hand. He unwrapped it and began to feed Terri even though she could feed herself. Her stomach felt much better after the first bite. Both Terri and her father settled to watching the cartoon on the TV. The program ended and an episode of Looney Tunes began. It was a classic: Wiley Coyote was plotting outrageous schemes to capture Roadrunner for dinner. Of course, all of Wiley’s attempts to capture Roadrunner failed. The episode ended, and another began, this one starred Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny. Terri spent the morning watching Looney Tunes with her father. When the lunch tray arrived, he departed.

            The rest of the day proved to be uneventful. The only events of interest to Terri were a shower, a change of clothes, and a change of bed sheets.

            For an unknown reason, Terri was sleepy. She fell asleep before the dinner tray even arrived.