Coma

This could go into a number of categories. A big thank you to Linda62953 for editing this story for me.

Chapter 1

I woke up and suddenly realized I had no idea where I was. I looked around the room and it looked like a hospital room. What was I doing here? Was I dreaming? I tried to sit up and fell back down due to being dizzy. I quickly found the nurses buzzer and pressed it at least a half dozen times. A nurse came running into my room, "You're awake! Oh my God!" she looked nervous as she grabbed her phone and called in the doctor before I could even say anything.

"Where am I? What's happened to me? How did I get here, I can't remember anything!" I screamed out.

"Just stay calm Mr. Wright, the doctor is on his way. He'll explain everything to you. You were in an accident," she seemed nervous, but I didn't know why.

The doctor came in and I quickly asked him the same questions. He told me to calm down and said he would answer my questions as soon as he ran a few tests. He squeezed my hands and asked me if I could feel it. He then pricked my feet and toes. I pulled back saying, "Ouch!" It made the doctor smile. I had to wonder if he was a sadist or something, smiling that he caused pain.

"Mr. Wright, you were in a car accident and have been in a coma. I have a few questions to ask you. What do you think the date is today?"

"What does that have to do with anything? I believe it's December 23. Why are you asking me this?"

"I'll explain it to you in a few minutes but I need to ask you a few more questions. "What is the last thing you remember?"

"I'm not sure what you mean. I remember being in my office and I think I got in my car last night, but I can't remember why. Where's my wife Julie? I think I remember her singing and she kissed me goodnight. Wait, that might have been a dream. Damn! I can't remember. Get my wife please; maybe she can help me here."

"Mr. Wright, the date is March 29, 2014. You've been in a coma since Dec. 22, 2013. You were in a terrible accident and have been in a coma since you arrived."

"Why can't I remember anything?"

"It takes time. It will come back to you. Our brains sometimes block out tragic events. You just woke up, after all."

"What else can you tell me?"

"Mr. Wright, Annie, your caregiver will be in within the hour. She's been with you since the night you arrived at the hospital. She'll also call the people you want contacted. She can probably explain things to you better than anyone."

"Who is she and what is a "caregiver"?"

"She's a registered nurse. A nurse is assigned to coma patients to take care of their needs, whatever they need. Annie volunteered to be your caregiver." As he was talking, a cute nurse walked in the room. "Oh, here's Annie now."

"Hi Justin, I came in the moment I heard you'd woke up." She actually had tears in her eyes. The doctor told me he would see me later and quickly left the room.

"I know you! We went to the same college, didn't we? Your name is Annette. How come I can remember you, but not what I last did? Can you tell me what happened and contact my wife Julie and my parents?"

"I'll tell you all that I know. First of all, I contacted your parents already and they'll be here first thing in the morning. I called your wife and left her a message on her phone. I'll try to explain what I can to you, but we need to take it slow."

I spoke first, "You were my lab partner in science. I remember us working on projects together. I liked you; you were so much fun to be around. I remember us always talking. I believe I had a light crush on you but I was going with Julie at the time. I remember hugging and kissing you after we won the science award. I was so happy. Am I right?"

"Yes," she smiled at me. We were lab partners and friends. Julie didn't like it and in no uncertain terms told me to keep away from you; that you were her boyfriend. You ran with a different crowd than I did. Eventually you asked Julie to marry you. That's about it."

"I'm sorry; I didn't know she'd said that to you. You should have told me."

"Told you what? 'Your girlfriend said to stay away from you.' We were just friends. I wasn't going to mess up your relationship. Besides, that's water under the bridge, it was two years ago. We both went on with our lives. You married Julie and I got my nursing degree."

"Why did you volunteer to be my caregiver? The doctor said you volunteered."

She had tears in her eyes. "I was on duty when you were brought in. You were in a single car accident. According to witnesses, you and another car almost wrecked. The roads were icy and you turned to avoid hitting the other vehicle and went over an embankment. Your car rolled over at least three times, pinning you inside.

"The EMT's said you were unconscious when they arrived. They cut your seatbelts and pulled you out. When they pulled into the emergency entrance, you were covered in blood. You had a big gash on the side of your forehead and the blood covered your face." I reached up and felt a scar near my hairline.

She continued, "It's healed pretty well now. Your whole body was x-rayed and no one could believe that nothing was broken, but you were badly bruised, both inside and out. You did lose a lot of blood. After you were sewn up and x-rayed, they brought you to the ICU. After two days of not waking up, you were taken to a private room where I offered to be your caregiver. I'm so happy to see you made it through." She was crying and excused herself.

Annie came back a few minutes later after composing herself and I asked her what happens next. She told me I would have to undergo therapy to help build my arms and leg strength back up. I noticed I had a catheter in and asked when it could be removed.

"As soon as you're able to walk to the bathroom, using a walker. It may be a few days. You will start therapy today. You're going to have to try to be patient; it may take awhile. Tony will be in to see you about your therapy. Anything else I can help you with?" She said with a very beautiful smile.

"Can you tell me more about Julie? How often has she been here to see me?"

"Justin, I prefer not to talk to you about Julie, if you don't mind. Your parents can discuss it with you tomorrow."

"Why? Please, just tell me if she has been here to see me," I almost begged, but I wasn't sure why.

"She came in the afternoon, the day after your accident. She stayed maybe fifteen minutes, argued with your parents and then left. There was an older man she called 'Rob' who waited for her in the visitors lounge. She stopped by a few times the first couple of weeks. She argued about your care with the administrators. After that, she came in maybe once a month looked at you and left. I'm sorry but I won't lie to you."

"Thank you for being honest with me. Is there any chance I can get something to drink? My mouth and throat are really dry."

She poured me a small glass of cold water and told me just to sip it. She also ordered me in a ginger ale but told me to drink it slowly. I was told I had been fed intravenously for the last three months and my stomach has to be retrained starting with soups and soft foods.

The doctor came back in and ran a few more tests. He told me everything was looking good and that I was a very lucky man. I sure didn't feel that lucky, laying there in bed. He was interested in my memory of what I thought were dreams. He said very few coma patients who woke up ever mentioned having dreams.

"I don't know Doc, I remember hearing someone singing and reading to me. I assumed it was my wife. I have this song in my head that I heard repeatedly. Right now I can't even remember what it was."

"Things will come back little by little. It may take awhile." Again, he told me what a lucky man I was.

****

I must have fallen asleep and was woken up by Tony, the physical therapist. "Hey there Justin, nice to see you awake. I'm Tony and I'll help you get those muscles back in shape."

"What do I need to do?" I asked.

"For today, you'll be taking it pretty easy. I'm hanging a bar above your head and all you have to do is reach up and hold on to it. Hopefully you'll be able to pull yourself up into a sitting position."

I did as he suggested. It was harder than I thought it would be, but I did it. "You don't have to do it all at once. Take your time and pretend you're doing pull ups. That's it, good job. I'd like you to do that on and off, all day. Don't over do it; your muscles will get sore."

Needless to say, I overdid it and my arms ached. Annie came in with a lotion for aches and pains and rubbed it on my arms. "I knew you'd overdo it," she said as she smiled at me.

She helped me sit up and I was able to eat some soup. I have to admit my arms hurt but I had to play a little macho in front of Annie. I knew she'd seen right through my charade when she shook her head.

The next morning Tony was back with a wheelchair. "Annie said you overdid it yesterday. How do you feel this morning?"

"I'm ok, but my arms still ache a little," I replied.

"Well, we're going to get you to stand today. Hopefully you can help hold yourself up. That's why I wanted you to exercise your arms yesterday." He helped me into the wheelchair and we went down to the gym. That's what Tony liked to call it. All it was was a small exercise room.

He helped me stand up and I wrapped my arms around the two bars. Wow, it hurt like hell trying to hold myself up. After about a minute, I had to sit back down. Tony would let me rest for a couple of minutes and then I would have to stand again. This went on for a good hour. It was becoming easier and I even smiled. As I exercised, Tony and I talked.

"How well do you know Annie?" I asked.

"She's been here about two years. She has to be the nicest woman alive. Everyone loves her," Tony replied.

"Have you dated her?" I asked.

"We went out with a group from the hospital, but I've never been with her one on one, even though I've asked her out. She's a very good friend and I'd do anything for her."

"Does she date?" I asked.

"She's been out with a few interns but there's no one serious. I think she was in love with a guy she went to college with and when he left her, she took it hard. I can't believe anyone would be dumb enough to leave her. She mentioned that you went to the same college. Do you know the guy who was stupid enough to leave her?"

I wondered who it might have been. I didn't remember her dating anyone. The few parties I saw her at she was with girlfriends. I replied to Tony, "No, we ran in different circles, but we were lab partners. She sure has a great personality and she isn't hard on the eyes either." We both laughed.

To describe Annie; she was really cute. Usually wore her hair in a ponytail. She looked young for her age. I would say she was about five-one and maybe a hundred and fifteen pounds. I was really surprised she wasn't dating anyone steady. I was having trouble keeping my mind off her after my talk with Tony.

****

This would be as good a time as any to describe my wife Julie. She looked like a model having long blonde hair, standing about five-seven, weighed around a hundred and thirty five pounds and a body that cried 'fuck-me'. She was a very sexy person and nearly always dressed in short and tight clothes, always wore high-heels.

After we were married, I asked her to tone it down a bit but she kind of laughed at me and said she'd dress any way she wanted. We dated my junior and senior year of college. One day she came up to me and told me she was pregnant. I loved the sex we were having, but I can't honestly say I was totally in love with her.

I wanted to do right by her and asked her to marry me. We were married a month before we graduated from college. My parents were furious with me. It wasn't that they didn't like Julie at the time but they thought I should wait and make sure the baby was mine. My parents and I argued a lot after that. Later they told me they didn't really trust Julie. I knew it had to do with her sexiness.

My parents are rather wealthy. Dad owns a franchise of five car dealerships in different cities in Ohio. He told me someday that he hoped I would be managing one of them. I've worked at his dealerships all through high school. I spent my college summers learning many of the operations. I've always drove a sporty car, which was owned by the dealership. I have to say it attracted girls.

Julie knew my parents were wealthy and I would be having my own dealership. My parents were worried that Julie was more interested in the future money than she was with me. I believed she loved me and I wanted to do right by her.

After graduation from college, my dad offered me a position of manager of the parts department at one of the dealerships. I was really happy about it but when I told Julie, she went berserk on me. She said I should be the manager of the whole damn dealership, after all my dad was the CEO. I tried to explain to her that I still had a lot to learn but she wouldn't listen.

I wrote it off to her being pregnant. She was also pissed at me for getting her pregnant. She said I ruined her figure. Things didn't go well during her pregnancy. We had a nice apartment but she wanted a bigger more luxury one or a big house or even a fancy condo. I told her someday we would have one but we were just starting out.

She blamed my parents for not giving us more money. She would always say how rich they were and could afford to give us more. Julie was adopted so she didn't have a lot of money. She was smart and was able to go to college with grants and scholarships. We both received business degrees. I used mine to help with the dealerships and hers was leaning toward selling real estate.

In her fifth month of pregnancy, she lost the baby. I felt really bad; I wanted the child and was changing my life to be a good husband and father. I no longer went to parties and got drunk. I worked longer hours to put away money to help provide for our child. I believe it hit me harder than it did Julie when she lost the baby.

After the miscarriage, she went to the gym and exercised a few days a week. She said she wanted her body back. It was a couple of months later that she was offered a position in a large real estate agency.

Chapter 2

Tony took me back to my room. Annie came in and asked how things went. Tony said that I did great and would be on my feet in no time. Shortly after I was settled in, my parents came in to see me. They smiled at Annie as she left to do her rounds and both of them came over and hugged me.

Mom was crying and even Dad had tears in his eyes. The last time I talked to Dad, we'd argued. It seemed like it was yesterday. It had something to do with Julie and I coming over for Christmas, but Julie had told me she wasn't going. I remember Dad saying that Mom had planned a nice dinner and that my older sister and her family would be there.

It was like water under the bridge now. My dad hugged me and held me in his arms. I never remember him being that emotional. They asked me how I was and how things were going. They said they would be staying a few days at a nearby motel. They would be in to see me over the next couple of days.

I explained to them that my memory wasn't the best. I could remember a lot of things, but nothing of the accident or where or what I was doing prior to it. I asked them if they knew or had they talked to Julie. I must have hit a nerve because my dad got mad and told me Julie was a cheating wife and took me for everything I had and wanted me dead. My mom had to calm him down.

"What do you mean she took me for everything we had? We're still married aren't we?"

"In name only," my dad said. "I'll do my best to explain it all to you. Are you sure you're up to it? It's a very messed up situation."

I had to wonder, what the hell happened? I told my parents that I wanted, no, I needed to know everything. I let them know that Annie explained my condition after the accident and was told Julie rarely came in to see me.

Mom said, "That Annie is a Godsend. If it wasn't for her you might be...dead now." Mom started crying. Now I was more confused than ever.

"Son," said Dad. "When we saw you after the accident you were in a coma. You were pretty messed up. Annie said you were on life support to keep your heart beating and to help your lungs receive air.

"The next day Julie arrived with some guy as old as me and said she wanted you taken off life support. She said you always said you never wanted a machine to keep you alive."

"That's not exactly true. I told Julie one time that I wouldn't want to be a vegetable the rest of my life if my brain was dead. I said it after we saw a movie. Maybe that's why she said it."

"Thank God she didn't have it in writing. Annie was determined to keep you alive. She said your brain and heart were both functioning but that they needed a little help because of the accident. It would take time to heal.

"Julie and Annie argued about it and Julie went to the hospital administrator to see what could be done. The administrator said that since it wasn't in writing that the hospital could keep a patient on life support for thirty days. It was in the best interest of the patient to help his body recover. Julie ran off and got a lawyer came back and said she would fight it."

"Why was she so adamant about life support? We never discussed it other than that one time watching a movie. I don't understand why she would do that."

"You're not going to like this but we'll tell you why we think she wanted you off of life support," my Dad explained. "Your life insurance with the company was two-hundred fifty thousand dollars. If you died as a result of an accident it would pay double, which would be a half-million dollars. The double indemnity would only be good for ninety days. After that, the policy would only pay out the two-hundred fifty thousand. Still a large amount of money."

"So you're saying she wanted to do it for the money? It's hard to believe she hated me so much. I know we had our differences but to want me to die..." I know I had tears in my eyes.

My dad continued, "She got herself a lawyer, but according to the hospital policies they had to wait thirty days before unhooking you from the life support systems. At the end of thirty days, Julie was back with her lawyer and being your wife, demanded you be taken off life support.

"The administrator had no choice but to comply. Annie went to the hospital board and demanded that your feeding tubes be left in. The board agreed that not letting you have nutrition would be the same as letting you starve to death. They left in the feeding tubes but undid life support of your body functions such as the heart and lungs.

"We fought along side of Annie but they considered your wife as the decision maker. You were breathing on your own and every couple of days Annie ran an EKG and other tests. Your body seemed to be getting stronger. Julie and her lawyer went to court and got an injunction to remove your feeding tubes in another three months.

"Annie fought it but lost. In two more weeks, they would have removed your feeding tubes. You owe your life to that young woman. She fought for you the whole time. I don't know if you know this but Annie's dad is the hospital administrator and her mother is a surgeon in this hospital."

I could hardly believe what I'd just heard. My wife wanted me dead and Annie fought for me the entire time. I asked my father about my job and he said it was still there for me when I returned to work. Cindy, my secretary was handling the position while I was gone. She is a middle age woman with a family and never wanted a management position.

I found out that she had visited the hospital and talked with Annie who told her I would recover, so Cindy held my position for me. She was more knowledgeable about the business than I was. I have learned a lot from her over the years.