you have any questions at this stage?” She asked.
I had so many questions, it wasn’t funny—questions about everything from his medical care and injuries to how had the accident happened that landed him in this room. My voice was silent, my mind still trying to process what I was seeing.
“What should we, ah, do?” I’d never heard Xander sound so unsure of anything. His voice was no more than a whisper and, for a guy who was always so sure and confident, he sounded like a lost little boy.
Michelle nodded knowingly again. “First off, stop whispering. Yes, it’s a hospital, but you need to act normally. Just sit here. Talk amongst yourselves, hold his hands, give his feet, legs, arms a gentle massage. That sort of thing. Just be careful not to bump any of the sensors or tubes.”
Xander gave me a pointed look. “Hands on stuff is your domain, Soph.”
It was clear from the look on Nurse Michelle’s face that Xan’s comment was typical of many she heard in here. She grinned at him before going on.
“Essentially, let him know you’re here. It will be a shock for him as he starts to come around. His consciousness will probably return in waves. He likely won’t understand what’s going on or why. We’ll be monitoring him but nothing is more reassuring for a patient than having familiar faces, voices, and touches around them when they do start to regain consciousness.”
The thought of talking around Seth felt weird and I could tell Eden and Xander felt similarly.
“I can see the skepticism on your faces. Every coma is different. Many people that have been through one claim they could hear their family and friends and can actually recount what was spoken about around them. So, please, don’t disregard the medical power of the simple touch and voice.”
“There’s a couple of chairs against the wall you can use. I’ll get another. We don’t normally like three people in the room at a time but we’ll make an exception in this case.”
And we all knew that was because of Xander and his celebrity status. Michelle gave him the look that said “ I’d love an autograph or ten but I’m too professional to ask.”
Xander read it perfectly, “if you or any of the staff want autographs, I’m happy to oblige. I’m sure Dane will as well.”
“That would be awesome.” The professional smile morphed into fangirl and I watched Eden unconsciously move closer to her husband.
“Just let me know what you want.”
She nodded and moved from the room, returning a few seconds later with another chair. The only sound was the regular rhythm of the machines. The three of us sat and kind of looked at each other. No one really knew what to do or where to start. I felt so self-conscious, almost scared to touch him and certainly not in front of Eden and Xander, that would be weird.
Xander pulled his phone from his pocket.
“Dane is going to be here in about thirty minutes with some food.”
“Okay, I’m getting hungry.”
“Well, I guess that’s one bonus. We won’t have to fight the big fella for food today. Man, he can eat.” Xander chuckled and I giggled a little too loud to cover my nervousness.
“You’re so right. We went to a steak and rib restaurant a couple of weeks ago. I swear, he ate through a rump steak the size of the plate and three full racks of ribs. I thought I could eat. He seriously put me to shame.”
Eden’s eyes sparkled with humour. “You can eat. Let me guess, you got through a rib fillet and a rack of ribs.”
“You know me too well, sis.” We all chuckled again. It felt good to laugh a little, even if it was forced. “I might of topped it off with a slice of Mississippi mud cake as well.”
Eden shook her head, laughing. “I may have moved out but nothing changes with your sweet tooth. I bet you and Tori are worse than ever with your pig-outs in front of the TV.”
“Um, I haven’t actually been home that much at night lately,” I confessed, my cheeks suddenly
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley