“Me?” Rachel asked as she peeked her head in.
“Yes, what’s your name?” the doctor asked.
“I’m Rachel. That’s my mom,” she said.
“Rachel, Dear. I haven’t seen you here before,” the doctor said.
“I’m Dr. Henley. I’ve been working with your mom since she arrived a while back.”
“Dr. Henley, will my mom be OK? What happened to her?” Rachel asked, with a worried look on her face.
“She made it this time. Thank God. Her heart had some unusual movement and it forced her heart rate to drop drastically. We had to jump start it, and it appears that she will make it. We will keep a close eye on her to be sure, but she looks to be doing fine now,” Dr. Henley added.
“But Dr. Henley, what caused this?” Rachel asked.
“I wish I knew. It is very rare what just happened. She had been in a rater static state for months until just now. We don’t know what set it off, but we will keep a close watch on it,” Dr. Henley said.
“She’s not going to die is she?” Rachel asked, with tears running down her cheeks.
“Rachel, it appears she will be OK for now. I wish I could tell you for certain that she’ll be OK, but I can’t. Not after what just happened. Like I said, we are going to monitor her closely and take every step necessary to ensure that she is healthy and on the road to recovery,” Dr. Henley said. He then looked down at his watch and said, “I have to run to surgery now. I hope to see you around more often.”
“But…” Rachel began.
“I have to go. I’m sorry. I am late,” Dr. Henley, said, as he walked away down the hall and into the operating room.
Rachel stood there until he was out of sight and then waited a minute until she calmed down before she went back in to see her mom. She pinched herself first to make sure this wasn’t a dream, as it was all so surreal to her. She couldn’t understand what had just happened to her mom to make her almost die. She couldn’t believe she was here to witness it and that after all these months the one time something like this happens was when she was here.
She slowly crept back in towards her mom, who was laying still in her hospital bed. She looked so lifeless laying there, with her eyes closed and her body motionless. Then, she noticed that her fingers were wiggling from inside the bed sheet. Rachel walked over and touched her hand again, and held onto it. Her mom’s hand stopped moving and again she was comforted by the warmth of her body. She felt lucky to feel her warm body: to feel her alive was now something she would never take for granted again.
“Mom. Mom. Can you hear me?” Rachel whispered.
She watched her moms face to see if she showed any signs of life, but she didn’t.
“Mom, I’m sorry. I hope you know I never meant to cause any trouble,” Rachel said. “I know this is all my fault.”
She looked at her mom’s eyelids as they began to flutter without opening.
“Mom? Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me!” Rachel said wishfully.
Rachel waited patiently for her mom to squeeze her hand or make another motion to let her know she was listening. Then, after a few minutes of sitting in silence her moms hand started moving.
“Mom!” Rachel yelled. “Can you hear me?”
Her mom moved her hand again so Rachel could feel it.
“Oh, thank God you’re alive! I’m so sorry this is happening. Can you speak, Mom?” Rachel asked. “There are so many things I want to tell you and talk about. Please speak to me!”
She waited and then heard her mom try to clear her throat and open her mouth. She no longer had the air tube going down her throat since they jump-started her heart. She saw her mom’s lips move up and down but she couldn’t make out what she was saying.
“Mom? Are you talking to me?” Rachel asked. “What are you saying?”
She watched again as her moms lips moved up and down. She tried to make it out and could see that her mom was saying I love you, Rachel.
“I love you, too, Mom!” Rachel said back. “I love you so much! Please come back to us. Please!”
Rachel watched her mom as she started to smile. A tear ran down her cheek and Rachel began to cry as well. She was happy yet scared at the same time. She couldn’t help but think she’d nearly just lost her mom forever and now, she was coming back to her and talking. Rachel couldn’t have been happier at that moment.
“Mom, I can’t believe it. You’re OK!” Rachel exclaimed.
Rachel looked over and her mom’s eyes began to open wide and stare into space.
“Mom! Over here. Can you see me?” Rachel asked. “This is a miracle!”
Rachel’s mom turned her head and looked at her.
“How is this happening? It’s a miracle!” Rachel repeated again.
“Rachel?” her mom whispered. “You’re here!”
Rachel flung her arms around her mom’s neck and gave her a big hug. She didn’t want to let go, but she wanted to keep talking to her mom. She couldn’t wait to talk to her actually.
“Mom, what happened?” Rachel asked. “I’m so sorry you are here. In this place. Alone.”
“Rachel, I don’t remember why I’m here. Do you know?” her mom asked.
“I wish I could remember, but I don’t. Dad and Mark said it’s my fault. Because I left home,” Rachel said.
Rachel watched as her mom tried to remember what had happened. She could tell that she was trying to recover the information somewhere in her brain.
“Oh. You left us,” her mom said. “You ran away and didn’t come back.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m truly sorry!” Rachel said. “If I would have known, I never would have…”
“Rachel, the past is the past.” Her mom whispered and then coughed.
“Mom, are you ok? Can I get you some water?” Rachel asked.
Her mom continued coughing up flem as Rachel handed her a glass of water.
“But I don’t understand what happened Mom. I can’t remember anything!” Rachel said.
“There was a girl. She came into our house in all black and terrorized the place. She said she knew you and was going to find you,” her mom said.
“WHAT?” Rachel said. “A girl?”
“In all black,” her mom said again. “Ugly girl.”
“Mom? Are you feeling ok? What are you talking about?” Rachel asked.