Excerpt
Excerpt
Joseph took the nurses advice and sat in the waiting room. Stressed out as much as he was at the age of 14, he got up to get a bottle of water from the vending machine. Fiddling for a few dollars in his wallet, he slipped the money in and the bottle of water made a loud thump as it dropped to the bottom of the machine. The noise startled him. His nerves were on edge, and he didn’t like waiting.

When he reached inside to get the bottle, this is when he saw that he was a disgusting mess to be in a hospital. Looking at himself in the reflection of the glass of the vending machine, he noticed he was dressed in short blue jeans, had grass stains on his old shoes, and a sweaty black tee shirt. As a draftsman, he always went to his office in a suit and demanded his employees to do the same.

Not being worried about his appearance at this time, he sat in the waiting area, only calling Jenny’s mother to let her know what happened. Jenny was close to her mom. Joseph has lost his parents when he was a young boy. The only family he had were distant and estranged aunts, uncles, and cousins. His family now were the people in Mathews, the girls at The Parlor, Sandy, the employees at his company, and Jenny and her mom’s family. But, Jenny was his world… his life.

The phone rang.

“Hello, Ruth. It’s me, Joseph. Look, I’m in the emergency waiting room with Jenny… and.”

“Oh my God, Joseph. You’re in the emergency room with Jenny! What happened? Is she okay?”

Joseph didn’t know how to tell her the news easily, so he just blurted it out.

“Jenny said she was bitten by a snake.”

“Oh my God!” Ruth was stunned. “Jenny was never in the hospital. She was never sick. She must be horrified. She had her dental work. That’s all she ever needed. She liked her teeth cleaned… and… a few doctor visits for a cold… but other than that…,”

Joseph interrupted.

“Ruth, listen to me, please. When it happened, I called 911… and now I’m waiting here in this room. They will call me to go in and see her when the doctor knows what’s wrong with her because her leg got swollen so fast. Everything happened fast. It seemed like we were moving in slow motion. I would like you to come over with me. I’m so afraid for Jenny.”

“I’ll be right over,” Ruth answered immediately. Grabbing her purse, she left the hospital. She lived behind the hospital, so it didn’t take her long to arrive.

Joseph kept looking at the time on his phone, Jenny was in the back for an hour and no one had given him any news of Jenny. He had already gulped down the bottle of water he bought.

Entering the waiting room, Ruth was frantic. Joseph filled her in with more details that he hadn’t told her on the phone.

“Ruth, I look a mess, but with cleaning up the yard at The Parlor and … well.”

“Don’t worry about that. People in the ER are used to seeing people in pajamas. This is an emergency room, after all. Was Jenny talking when they brought her in?”

“She was talking while we were waiting for the ambulance. I don’t know what happened after they took her. They didn’t let me go with her. I followed them in my car.”

“I’ll try to find a nurse. Maybe I can find out what’s going on. Joseph, do you need anything?”

“No. I just want to see Jenny. I’ll call the neighbors and the girls at the shop to let them know what happened before they hear it from the people who were outside at The Parlor.”

“Ok, dear. I’ll be right over there near the nurse’s station. I’ll let the nurse know I’m Jenny’s mom.”

Taking his phone out of his back pocket, he called the neighbors to tell them what happened. They were shocked but said they would absolutely pick up all of their lawn equipment and not to worry about anything but Jenny.

He called Jim at his office and gave him a quick rundown of what happened, and told him he’d call back later when he knew more about what was going on with Jenny.

Calling the girls who worked at The Parlor was a different conversation. So much crying and disbelief while all three sat on a bench in the mall. They were having a girl’s day out… shopping. Jenny had the same three girls, Rose, April, and June, with her for five years… since she had her shop in their garage. They were like family to them. They wanted to go to the emergency room, but Joseph told them to stay at the mall and finish their shopping. He would call them back when they were allowed to go in her room.

Word spread fast in the small town… that Jenny, at The Parlor of Beauty was bitten by a snake and had to be taken to the emergency room by ambulance. Joseph had to take his cell phone off until he knew more about what was going on with Jenny. He was tired explaining the same thing to each caller. He appreciated their call, but he was still in shock. Every minute that passed with no news of Jenny was torture to Joseph.

Finally, Ruth called Joseph. A doctor was there and wanted to speak to both of them in a conference room. They held each other’s hand and followed the nurse. As they entered the room, the doctor had a folder in his hand.

“Have a seat on the couch. I’m Dr. Moreland.” He sat on the chair next to them. And you are…?”

“I’m Jenny’s husband Joseph, and this is Jenny’s mom, Ruth. Please tell me Jenny’s okay.”

“That’s why I called you into the conference room. It took us a while to sum up what’s going on with Jenny. All of her vital signs are normal. Her blood work came back normal, but the color of her blood is a pale blue, not red, the way our blood is. But tests show her blood work is just as normal as our red blood cells. Strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” Dr. Moreland sighed. “Her leg isn’t swollen anymore. We examined her skin thoroughly. No snake bite to be found anywhere.”

“I never saw a snake,” Joseph said with relief.

“Her blood is blue!” Ruth’s jaw dropped. “I’ve never heard of anyone having blood blue. This can’t be good. Jenny was never sick. I mean never.”

“Blue blood?” Joseph felt the same as Ruth.

“Well, we’ve never seen anyone with pale blue blood work before either. But… the team of doctors is researching this right now.”

Joseph repeated, “I never saw a snake. I knew it wasn’t a snake bite. What made her leg swell up?”

“We don’t know that either, but there is no swelling. No blue mark. Her leg has no bruise on it at all. The doctors here watched her leg heal right in front of us. It was the weirdest thing for us to see.”

Ruth spoke first. “Well, if you can’t find anything wrong with my Jenny, can she come home?”

“Okay,” Dr. Moreland sighed. “I gave you the good news first because I wanted you to hear me out before I gave you the bad news. There is no good way to say this… Jenny slipped into a coma.”

Ruth gasped. “What?”

“A coma!” Joseph’s face turned pale. “How did that happen?”

“Whatever traumatized Jenny, something is inside of her, and it’s acting like some kind of anesthesia. We’ve had patients go into a coma after surgery, and we’ve had patients with brain injuries who have gone into a coma, but never a snake bit. Are you sure she didn’t hit her head on something?”

“No, she didn’t hit her head. I’m sure. I was on the riding lawn mower and Jenny was sitting on the ground pulling weeds from her flower bed. Sandy, one of her clients who frequents The Parlor, stopped by and talked to her from her car. She saw how she was sitting on the ground. Sandy waved to me on the lawn mower and then rolled her window back up and went to the Walmart. I saw where she parked her car.”

“Is that all that happened?” the doctor asked.

“Well, a short time after, Jenny yelled for me and said she saw a huge, tall snake, one that looked like it was standing in front of her, and she said it bit her. She was screaming for help, and I ran to her. The people in the surrounding shops heard her screaming too and came running out to see what was wrong. I called 911 and an ambulance was there within five minutes. That’s it. We live just up the road.”

Joseph didn’t tell the doctor what Jenny said about not wanting to die because Ruth was crying uncontrollably. He would maybe tell the doctor later.

“Oh my God. Joseph, what will we do? Doctor what do we do now,” cried Ruth. “Doctor Moreland what happens when she’s in a coma?”

Joseph held onto Ruth as she cried. His tears weren’t hidden. His face looked like someone threw water on him. He felt numb and was speechless.

“People go into comas, Miss Ruth. Jenny may stay a few hours asleep in a coma… or she could stay unconscious for two to four weeks, but usually, that’s from a brain injury. The staff of doctors here are baffled. So, instead of moving Jenny to New Orleans or another state for more blood tests, we called a team of doctors to come here tomorrow from New Orleans. They want to see her blood before we send her off to another hospital. Blue blood is unheard of.”

Ruth suddenly became upset to the point of hysteria sitting on the couch. She slapped both of her hands on her lap, looked at Dr. Moreland, and said, “But where IS my daughter? Her mind… where is she? How will she eat and do everything else that we do… when she’s in a coma?” Ruth had an anger that was building up inside of her because she wanted Jenny to get out of her coma and come home. “Can’t someone wake her up with some kind of medicine? I feel like I’m going insane. My Jenny can’t be in a coma. Is she breathing on her own?”

Joseph held her a little tighter. He was glad Ruth was there to ask questions. He had no control over his thoughts at all. Numb. He was numb.

“Miss Ruth, I’ll answer all of your questions. Jenny is physically okay and she is breathing on her own. When you see her lying in her bed, she looks like she’s just sleeping. She doesn’t need any IV’s or respirators right now. Someone who’s in a coma is unconscious and won’t respond to voices, sounds, or any sort of activity going on nearby. The person is still alive, but the brain is functioning at its lowest stage of alertness. We can't just shake and wake up someone who’s in a coma, as you can someone who has just fallen asleep.”

“Is she in pain?”

“No, Miss Ruth. She can’t feel pain. That’s why it took us so long to call you in. We had to make certain she was in a coma. Jenny is completely unresponsive. People in a coma don’t move, they don’t react to light or sound, and they cannot feel pain. Their eyes are closed. The brain responds to extreme trauma by effectively 'shutting down'. Whatever Jenny saw, or felt… was traumatic for her to slip into a coma. If she hasn’t awakened by tonight, we’ll have a catheter inserted to remove her urine. Also, because Jenny can't eat or drink on her own, she’ll receive nutrients and liquids through a vein and we’ll add a feeding tube later so that she doesn’t starve. Do you have any more questions?”

Joseph and Ruth were again speechless sitting on the couch in the conference room. All of sudden, Ruth stood up. “I need a Valium… No. I need two Valiums! I need to see my daughter. I need to be with her. Joseph let’s go and see Jenny. I can’t find my purse. I need…”

Ruth was having a meltdown as the reality of Jenny being in a coma was beginning to sink in. It felt like the doctor told her she had died. Frantically searching in her purse for her pill fob, the doctor told the nurse to get her some water.

The doctor continued. “Right now, what I want both of you to do is to sit here for an hour. I want both of you to talk about Jenny and think about everything I’ve said. She will get the best care we have. Nothing is abnormal with her except that her blood has turned blue. We’ll have the other team of doctors here in the morning to help us figure out why… and we’ll search records to find out if this ever happened before.”

“She’s not an alien, Dr. Moreland, if that’s what you’re thinking about! Her father, until the day he died, and I… both have red blood cells in our body. Jenny was never sick during her childhood, and no one ever told me when she was born that her blood was blue.” Ruth sniffled.

Dr. Moreland was very sympathetic to what they were feeling, but he had to tell them everything about Jenny. “I understand. We looked up your records when we saw that Jenny had never been in any hospital. Your blood type, as well as her fathers, are the same as hers. No records anywhere of blue blood for either one of you. We won’t need your blood work at this time.”

“Good, because all I want to do now is see my Jenny. I want to see how she looks.”

“She looks fine, Miss Ruth. Right now, I need to get back to her room in the ER and check up on her. We’ll need one more blood sample, then I’ll send her upstairs. I’ve told you all I know about Jenny. A nurse will come and get you in about an hour. Do you understand? I know this is hard to take in at one sitting, but this is all I know so far.”

“We understand.” Joseph finally found his voice to answer the doctor as he was leaving the room. “Ruth, I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Joseph, my nerves are shot. I’m glad we had a good explanation of what’s happening to Jenny. I need to call the family and let them know what happened.”

“While you do that, I need to call Rose, April, and June. They’re waiting at the mall for news about Jenny. Sandy will want to know too.”

Ruth went on one end of the room and called who she needed to call in the family, and Joseph called the girls who worked at The Parlor. They were saddened beyond belief and said they were going to go to the hospital to see Jenny.

“I know how close all of you are as friends, but the doctor won’t allow visitors. Her mom and I are here in a conference room, and we haven’t seen her since the ambulance brought her in. He said about another hour. I’ll call you again tonight. Tell April and June about Jenny. And don’t forget to call Sandy. She was there when the ambulance picked up Jenny at The Parlor.”

They hung up crying. Beings that Joseph was an only child, and his parents had passed away when he was a child, he had no one else to call. His family was Jenny’s family.

He took another seat and thought about how he was dress when he met Jenny. She would have never dated a scruffy looking man looking the way he did now. He scoffed and thought… maybe she would have. They were soul mates, after all.

While Ruth was calling everyone in the family, his mind wandered to a time after they were married when Jenny found the old house for her beauty parlor. She wanted that house more than anything. She loved the small chandelier inside.