Chance Encounters

“So what is his condition exactly? Do we know?” Caroline inquired.

“What’s his condition? He’s preparing for the Olympics, genius.” Tommy could barely contain his apparent dislike for Caroline.

“Dude!” Alex’s face flushed a rosy color as he shook his head in exasperation.

Sally stood up calmly and announced, “I could use a walk. Come with me?” She motioned toward Tommy.

He rolled his eyes in defiance. “I just got back in here!”

Sally linked her arm in his. “Just come with me anyway. Please?” Tommy’s hard facade softened as he took in Sally’s earnest expression. He lowered his head and reluctantly walked out of the room.

Alex’s face was still red. “I am so sorry for Tommy. He um…”

“…hates me?” Caroline offered.

Alex laughed and insisted, “No!” Then he conceded, “Well, yeah. He hates you.”

Disappointment filtered through Caroline’s awareness. “It’s okay. I totally get it.”

Caroline walked up to the charts that surrounded Jackson. There were notes scribbled and numbers written that made no sense to her. “So, what does all this mean?”

Alex tried to recite in less confusing terms what the doctors had explained to him earlier. “He’s in a medically induced coma for now. They say it’s the best way to help him recover, but it’s tricky and he needs to be constantly monitored.”

Caroline nodded that she understood and he continued. “Basically, they shut his brain down. Once the swelling starts to go down, they’ll lower the medications that are keeping him in the coma. But until that happens, he has to stay like this.”

“So why does he have all these other wires and things on him? It looks like he isn’t doing anything on his own.” Caroline’s voice trembled.

Alex’s voice softened, soothing Caroline’s fears. “Don’t worry. When they put him in the coma, they had to give him things to keep his blood pressure down. And make sure his heart still pumped properly. They shut down his brain, remember? So all the things it did for his body, they have to do.”

Caroline understood, but it still sounded scary and overwhelming. “Got it. So how long will it take the swelling to go down?”

Alex shook his head. “They can’t say. It could be days…or weeks. No one knows.”

A nurse walked through the door and looked at the clock on the wall as she began to take Jackson’s vitals. “I’m sorry, you guys, but visiting hours are over. You’re welcome to come back tomorrow morning at seven.”

Caroline turned to grab her things. “Where are you staying?” Alex asked.

“I have no idea,” she said, before a yawn crept out.

“You can stay in Jackson’s room,” he offered.

“What about Sally?”

“She won’t even leave the hospital.”

Caroline’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

Alex’s expression mimicked hers. “Seriously.”

“Tommy’s gonna flip out,” she remarked with a straight face.

Alex laughed. “Probably.”

“I really appreciate it. Thank you.” It seemed wrong somehow to go to Jackson’s home without him, but she looked forward to being surrounded by his things.

After some convincing, which came mostly in the form of Tommy and Alex yelling at each another, Tommy agreed that Caroline could stay at their place for the night. She overheard him shout, “Just keep her away from me!” His tone made her shudder.

Once inside their apartment, Tommy walked to his room and slammed the door shut. Caroline looked visibly uncomfortable as Alex apologized. “I don’t even know what to say about him any more. Here, this is Jackson’s room.” He opened the door for her. “And he has an attached bathroom so you don’t have to use the one in the hall.”