A Family Affair(62)

“That’s very kind of you, Patrick. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“Not necessary, Jess. Just take care of yourself.”

Anna was confused and restless. She couldn’t remember any details from the day before. They said she had a stroke but all she could remember was that no one understood what she was saying, though it all made perfect sense to her. She felt impossibly tired but she was afraid to sleep. She kept dropping off and would awaken with a start, afraid she might wake in another strange place.

She saw the bag and tubing running from her arm upward but she couldn’t remember what it was called. She wondered how much of her brain was left; she felt like a stranger in a strange land.

To her surprise, Jessie was sitting in the chair beside her bed, holding her hand on and off. Something about this was odd but she couldn’t determine what. Thankfully she knew who Jessie was. Then she was suddenly aware that she had a cell phone and believed, for a moment, that the number was forever lost. Every time one of these passing thoughts occurred to her she’d try to sit up or get out of the bed. She’d thrash about until someone gently pushed her shoulders back onto the bed.

Then she opened her eyes, noticed that the room was darkened; there was a night-light casting a dim glow into the room and Jessie seemed to have a light blanket draped around her shoulders. Anna laid very still, appreciated the sight of her daughter resting in the chair. She thought maybe Jessie had been with her a full day but the last thing she remembered was being home. She’d been with someone. Was it Chad? No, Chad was not with them anymore.

Jessie opened her eyes, looked at Anna but didn’t move. “I am a judge,” Anna said calmly and with only a very slight slur.

“That you are,” Jessie said. “How do you feel?”

“Very sleepy. What happened?”

“You had a stroke but the super-clot-buster drug was administered in time and I think you’re going to be fine. Aside from a lot of confusion, it appears you survived it without much consequence. I don’t see any paralysis or drooping.”

“I don’t remember,” she said.

“Do you remember the ambulance?” Jessie asked.

Anna didn’t trust her speech quite yet so she just shook her head.

“It may or may not come back to you. You might never recall the event but other things will come back. You’ll be evaluated by the neurologist to see if there was any damage. I imagine there will be a CT scan. For right now, you can take a rest.”

“I have a phone,” she said.

“Yes,” Jessie said. “When you’re more alert, I’ll give it to you.”

“I was at home,” Anna said.

“Yes, I was with you. I brought you to the hospital in the ambulance.”

“And you’ve been here?”

“Yes. This is our second day. You’ve been sleepy and confused but I do think the confusion is lifting and the fog is clearing.”

“Have I eaten?” Anna asked.

Jessie smiled. “No, just fluids. Are you hungry?”

“I think so,” she said. “Can I get up now?”

“Let me help you sit up, but please don’t get out of bed yet. One thing at a time. I’ll see you get something to eat.” Jessie helped her sit up, did some magic to make the back of the bed raise, and a woman wearing scrubs appeared. “My mother is starting to talk now. Can you let the doctor know? And can we get her something to eat? Maybe toast or gelatin or something like that.”

“I hate gelatin,” Anna said. “I read that it’s made from the toe-jam of horses...”

Jessie laughed. “I don’t think horses have toes,” Jessie said. And to the woman she said, “Maybe we should make that ice cream.”

“And coffee. With cream and sugar,” Anna said.

Jessie frowned. “You don’t take cream and sugar.”

“I do today. How long have you been here?” she asked, not realizing she was repeating herself.

“This is my second day here with you. It takes a while after a blood clot for the brain to untangle but it doesn’t appear you’ve had much, if any, damage. Your speech is quite clear now.”

“It wasn’t before?”

Jessie shook her head. “It was another language entirely, though not a known language. Scrambled. Very typical, Mom.”

When the ice cream and coffee arrived, Jessie asked the nurse to stay with Anna so she could step out of the room and make a couple of calls. And suddenly something came to Anna and she said, “Jessie! Are you calling Michael?”

“Of course,” she said. “He’ll be so thrilled to hear you’re sitting up and talking.”

“Jessie, Michael needs something. He’s in trouble or something! I can’t remember what but I think it’s urgent!”

“We’ll take care of it, Mom. Don’t worry. Michael is fine. Just worried about you.”

“But what’s wrong?”

“We’ll go over all of that a little later. Try out that ice cream.”

A parade of people followed the ice cream—nurses, therapists, doctors—all checking on Anna’s progress, asking her questions and patiently telling her what to expect in the coming days. The important information she got out of the long stream of visitors was that she would be evaluated for possible damage caused by the stroke and registered for physical, speech and occupational therapy as needed for as long as necessary.