Doctor Mathers~

I am standing before a group of some very emotional people. Hard not to be when you are sitting in a hospital after getting the news that a loved one is sick and/or injured. I already know James, the poor boy, but the others are unknown, all these woman.

These woman all seem to be in a great deal of distress over the hospitalization of Bette Porter but one more so than usual. She has long blond hair and has this look I cant quite identify on her face. Its one of sadness, love, anger, and perhaps a little hope. The anger part perplexes me just a little, but not at the same time. Sometimes, even as irrational as it may be, people get angry at their loved one.

Just as Im about to go over to them and speak I see another woman run up to the group. A dark skinned woman who looked to be on the verge of breakdown hugged the whole group. I guess it was time to make my entrance. I hate this.

Slowly I walk over to the group as not to startle them to unduly and stop in front of the group.

Guys this is Doctor Mathers, James introduces, Hes been Bettes doctor since…she was brought in.

All eyes turn to me.

Im sure James has informed you of Ms. Porters condition, I start

He has, says the blond woman I was concerned for, He said everyone first thought she starved herself.

I raise an eyebrow at her.

Im Tina, says the blond, Im Bettes…

Wife, says the dark skinned woman, Im Kit Porter. Bette is my sister.

The rest of the woman introduced themselves to me as I saw Tina glance at Kit who gave her a steely look. Whatever was going on between these two woman was interesting. Later though.

Tina, I say the name registering in my head

She looks over at me, What?

That was just the name that Bette was whispering over and over when she was conscious for a few minutes when she was first brought in.

Tina seemed to deflate somewhat at this news.

You being her wife seems to make some sense to me. Listen we did, at first think that Bette had starved herself and rightly so by her appearance.

We saw her, Dana started, She looked like she starved herself.

When we were first doing our tests one of the nurses noticed how Bette hadnt moved any part of her body since she come in. So we tested her extremities and discovered that she had no movement in them, I said sitting down on the coffee table in front of them, As you probably figured out this doesnt happen from starvation so we ran more tests.

And you discovered it was a hard attack, asked Alice

Yes, I said looking to her, We did. From what weve been able to calculate, from the state of her malnourishment, was that she had the heart attack approximately one week from the day that James found her.

They all sucked in a breath at this. Im sure they are all feeling some kind of guilt about not finding her sooner. In his babbling statement to me earlier James told me a little of Bettes history that led up to this particular moment in time. He left out names but now I can place names to the people in question. Hed told me that he hadnt checked on her for about three weeks. By the looks Im getting neither had anyone else.

Damn.

The paralysis wasnt a result of the heart attack itself. It was a result of the brain damage that she received from lack of oxygen. Its quite the miracle shes even alive today, I let those words sink in, Now we have her on some liquid food through an iv tube at the moment because even if she were awake at the moment her stomach wouldnt be able to handle solid food. This liquid food should be given to her for at least a few more days.

What of the paralysis, Shane asks of me

Right to the point that one is.

At the moment it seems temporary considering she now has feeling in her arms and hands but there really is no telling. It could be temporary or it could be permanent. We really wont know more until she wakes up.

She did wake up, Tina exclaims, I mean she opened her eyes and looked at us and then closed her eyes again.

This is not an uncommon reaction. She isnt in a coma but she has been going in and out of consciousness.

You dont know when shell wake up fully, asks James

Im afraid not.

They all look at each other as I stick my hands in my pockets. My right hand comes into contact with something metal and this is when I remember.

We had to remove all of her jewelry, I start pulling my hand out of my pocket to reveal a gold wedding band, This was the only piece of jewelry she had on her.

They all look at the ring that is resting in the center of my hand and then to Tina who slowly reaches out for the ring. She hesitates as if it is going to burn her but picks it up and holds it between three fingers. She is looking at this ring almost reverently. Closing her hand around the ring she looks up at me and smiles weekly. Love is still there. This I know.

You can all go see her, I say standing up

Arent visiting hours almost over, Dana asks of me

Smiling ever so slightly I say, Dont tell anyone, and with that statement Im off to give some more uplifting news to some others



TBC…