Chasing Abby(75)

The woman behind the plexiglass divider has frizzy auburn hair pinned back in a silver barrette. She looks up at me from her computer keyboard with a bored expression. “Is she a patient?”
“Yes, she’s a patient! She was just brought in here with a heart attack and stroke. She’s… she’s eighteen.”
She nods as she recognizes who I’m talking about. “Oh, yeah. She’s in surgery. Are you the mother? I need you to sign some paperwork.”
I cover my mouth as I blink back tears and try not to answer this question the way I want to.
She looks stricken by my sudden gust of emotion. “I’m sorry, ma’am. If you need a moment to compose yourself, we can leave the paperwork for later.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m… I’m not her mother. Well, not legally. I’m her biological mother. Her adoptive mother should be here soon. Oh, God. Please just tell me she’s okay.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we don’t have any news. You’re going to have to wait until she’s out of surgery. I’m sure Dr. Givens will debrief you as soon as she’s stabilized.”
I turn around and Ryder races toward me. “Where is she?”
“She’s in surgery, sweetheart. We have to wait.”
Chris, Junior, and Jimi follow after him and we all walk solemnly toward the other side of the beige and blue waiting room. The Jensens arrive a few minutes later and they get the same spiel from the woman behind the glass, but Lynette bravely sits down with her to fill out the paperwork. And, as I watch her filling out the forms while periodically wiping away her tears, for the first time in my life, I wish I could help her. I wish I could fill out the damn forms about Abby’s medical history and insurance information. I wish I knew a damn thing about any of that stuff.
Six hours and forty minutes later, Dr. Givens enters the waiting room and we all rise from our chairs to flock to him. His brown skin shimmers in the fluorescent lighting, but it doesn’t hide how tired he is. He lets out a soft sigh before he begins.
“As you know, Abigail suffered a severe heart attack, which dislodged a tiny blood clot that most likely originated in her heart. The clot traveled into the outer branch of the middle cerebral artery in her brain, causing a minor stroke. We believe that she didn’t sustain any cognitive damage. But it turns out the heart attack was much worse than we anticipated.”
“How much worse?” Lynette asks.
Dr. Givens pauses for a moment then lets out another sigh. “The trauma of the accident caused Abby to go into circulatory collapse. She was very lucky that she was only six minutes away from the hospital. We were able to get her heart started again and we put a temporary stent in two of her arteries to keep them from collapsing again. However, both the collapse and the stroke have caused too much stress on her heart. She’s on a respirator and in a medically induced coma right now… She won’t survive much longer without a new heart.”
“Then get her a new heart!” Chris roars. “I’ll pay for it. I’ll fly it here if I have to. Just make it happen!”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“What do you mean? You can’t let her die!” Lynette shrieks.
“No, what I mean is that we already have a heart. Here in this hospital.”
Chris shakes his head. “That fast? Then, what are you waiting for?”
“Well, it’s a bit complicated. The eighteen-year-old male who was brought in at the same time as Abby… he had this in his wallet.”
Givens holds out a white plastic card. The front of the card reads “Living will in place for Caleb Everett. In the event of an emergency, please contact Gill Burrows.”