Free The Seeds Of A Daisy: The Lily Lockwood Series: Book One (Women's Fiction) by Alison Caiola

called a Glascow Coma Scale, whereby we assess motor response, verbal response, and eye opening. The numbers determine if the patient is in the mild, moderate, or severe category. The lower the score, the more severe the injury. Your mother was assessed at a five, which places her in the category of severe TBI.”
    I feel a wave of dread flood through me. I want to scream at him and tell him to stop speaking. I don’t want to hear anything more. I glance at the door. I want to run. I can’t deal with what he is telling me; I don’t even know how to
start
to deal with it.
    “What does that mean?” I ask.
    He continued in the same robotic way. “It was an emergency situation. She was given medication and put on a ventilator to stabilize breathing and also to help keep the cranial pressure down—cranial pressure is a huge concern. She was immediately sent for a CT scan.
    Soon after, we inserted an Intracranial Pressure Monitor into her brain through a very small hole that was created in the skull. The ICP monitor is small plastic tube connected to a bedside monitor that continuously displays the pressure surrounding the brain. The CT scan revealed that your mother had a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is an abnormal and very dangerous condition in which blood collects beneath the arachnoid matter, a membrane that covers the brain. This area, called the subarachnoid space, normally contains cerebrospinal fluid. The accumulation of blood in the subarachnoid space can lead to stroke, seizures, and other complications.”
    He speaks so matter-of-factly, as if he’s talking about the weather. The room spins. I’m going to faint.
    I take a deep breath to try to steady myself.
    “So what can be done about the bleeding?”
    “We need to make sure that she is stable before we can do an angiography to locate the damaged blood vessel. Once it is located, surgery is necessary to remove the damaged area of the blood vessel to prevent a second hemorrhage.”
    “You’re going to operate on her
brain
?” I am stunned.
    “Correct,” he responds. “As I said, we need to insure that she is stable, which hopefully she will be in the next few hours.” He closes his files and looks relieved. “That is all we have for now. Do you have any other questions?”
    There are probably lots of questions I should be asking, but I truly don’t know what they are. I wish that Aunt Donna or someone experienced were here with me.
    I ask him only one question: “Is my mother going to be all right?”
    “Subarachnoid hemorrhages may cause permanent brain damage and can frequently be fatal. We don’t know what possible damage she may have sustained until we operate.”
    He glances at his watch. “Miss Lockwood, Dr. Grippi has the consent form for you to sign. Do you have any other questions for me?”
    “If I need to speak with you, or if my aunt has questions, how can I get in touch with you?” My eyes well up and I blink back tears.
    “The nurse on duty will be able to page the resident on call. They’ll track me down.” He stands up and walks to the door.
    “Dr. Niptau,” I say. “My mother is the only family I have. She’s a wonderful person and everyone loves her. She’s special. She does tons of charity work and is always kind to everyone. She’s an author who writes incredible children’s books.”
    “Yes, I know who your mother is,” he replies curtly.
    “But what you probably don’t know is that she donates all the money she makes on those books to fight hunger. Did you know that?” I ask.
    “No, I didn’t.”
    “I want you know all this before you operate. You have to know what a great Mom she is and what a loving, giving person she is. Please do everything you can to make sure she gets better.”
    I lose it and start sobbing.
    Dr. Niptau looks extremely uncomfortable, but dutifully puts his arm around me. “You have my word,” he says quietly. Then he leaves the room.
    Like sheep, one by one, the team follows