“He’s been in surgery for over twelve hours. Why is it taking so long?” she finally asked.
“Actually, it’s been ten hours.”
“I thought they were taking him in as soon as they got permission from me.”
“They would have had to do a few tests and prep him first. But I acknowledge that ten hours is a long time and certainly not the norm. You need to be aware of the extent of his injuries. You should sit,” he said, gesturing to the chair.
After she’d taken her seat, he joined her.
“Mr. Cortelli’s skull was fractured. There is a piece of bone lodged in his brain that’s causing bleeding. The surgeons are working to remove the bone in such a way that he doesn’t hemorrhage. The other issue is that they have to ensure that they keep his heart rate down and prevent swelling in the brain during the operation. He would have also been treated for several lacerations about the body, mainly from the branches. That’s why it’s taking them so long.”
Dana told herself to breathe slowly, think clearly and not give in to the emotions warring within her – anger at Robert’s recklessness and utter despair at his situation.
“Is he going to make it?” she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
“I can’t tell you that. Only the surgeons can.”
“You’re a doctor. You must have an opinion.”
He looked down at his shoes.
“Please.”
“Mrs. Cortelli, I’m really in no position to say. I don’t know what’s happening inside the operating theatre. What I can reiterate is that we’ve got the best neurosurgical team, led by Dr. Dubel, working on Mr. Cortelli. They will stop at nothing to save your husband.”
Dana closed her eyes. There were no words to explain what she was feeling. Terror had overtaken anger now; terror that she would lose her husband. She was painfully reminded that he was really her one and only love. No matter what flaws he had, she loved him desperately. She couldn’t lose him. It wasn’t an option. She felt Barbara’s hand grasp hers and squeeze.
~*~*~*~
They were shifted to a private area. As they sat in the room, Dana tried hard not to lose her mind; not to run screaming to the operating theatre and demand to find out what was going on. She paced and didn’t even know she paced. When she sat, it was on the edge of her seat. She drained two more cups of coffee William was happy to fetch for her, glad for something to do as they waited for news that it seemed would never come.
Dana knew she had to be strong. She had always had to be strong. As the oldest daughter, she’d had to be strong for her sisters and her mom when their dad died. She couldn’t fall apart then and she couldn’t fall apart now. Her kids needed her. No matter what happened, she had to be strong for them. If worse came to worse, she had to carry on…somehow. No! Worse would not come to worse. No! Robert would be fine! He had to be fine!
She heard the door open and looked up expectantly. A man in green scrubs entered.
They all stood in anticipation.
“Ms. Dickson?” he said in French-accented English, “I’m Marc Dubel, the lead neurosurgeon who operated on your husband.”
He was a good-looking man, tall and medium built with dark brown hair and compassionate blue eyes. He looked to be in his early forties.
Dana took the hand he offered. She had waited so long for news now she was almost afraid to hear it. Thankfully, he didn’t keep her in suspense.
“The operation is over,” he sighed heavily. He looked exhausted. “Your husband survived. It was touch and go a few times but he made it.”
Dana collapsed onto the nearest chair. Her shoulders sagged and she burst out crying in relief. Barbara’s arms came around her to comfort her.
The doctor took a seat next to Dana and waited patiently. Eventually, she collected her composure.
“Thank God. Thank God,” she muttered. She looked over at the doctor. “So it’s over now. He’s going to be fine.”
“Ms. Dickson...”
“Dana.”
“Dana, at this point I’d say your husband has a 60% chance of full recovery. And by full recovery I mean without a disability – mental or physical.”
Oh Lord, no! Dana’s stomach clenched violently as bile rushed to her throat.
“My greatest concern right now is a cerebral contusion, which causes swelling of the brain,” Dr. Dubel continued.
“What are the dangers of this cere…cerebr..?”
“Cerebral contusion. Quite simply put, it can cause brain damage. To keep the swelling down, we had to put Mr. Cortelli in a barbiturate-induced coma. The drug decreases blood flow which reduces the swelling. The coma was also necessary to protect his brain during the surgery.”
“But you said the surgery was successful. So why does he have only a 60% chance of full recovery?”
Dr. Dubel took a deep breath.
“It is hoped that some or all of the brain damage may have been averted. However, in some cases, even when the coma reduces swelling, brain damage still results. In addition, there have been cases where the swelling recurs soon after surgery.”
Dana’s shoulders rounded and she buried her head in her hands.
“The good news, though, is that he’s passed two significant hurdles,” the doctor said quickly.
Dana’s head lifted and she watched him with renewed hope.
He continued.
“The fact that he survived long enough to get to the hospital was already against the odds. Only a third of people with penetrating head trauma make it to the hospital and among that number half die within two hours of the injury. Second, he survived the surgery. Some people don’t. His vital signs were very good during all those hours of surgery. I attribute that to the fact that he’s extremely fit.”
“C...can I see him now?”
“I’m afraid not. Not yet. The risk of infection at this point is still very high. He’s in the Neurological Intensive Care Unit now. The nursing staff is monitoring him very closely. We’re limiting people to the medical personnel attending to his case.”
When Dana Dickson turned her aquamarine eyes, wet with tears, on his and reached out a hand to touch his own, Marc Dubel felt as though he would fetch the moon and give it to her if she asked.
“Please, can I see him for just one minute?” she whispered.
He sighed.
“You’ll have to be sanitized first, but okay. I’ll allow you to see him for just a few minutes.”
Chapter 11
Dana tried to prepare for her first view of Robert. She told herself that he would probably be bandaged and bruised.
Nothing prepared her for what she saw, though.
Robert looked as though he’d been through a war. His olive skin was now deathly pale, except for the scratched and bruised areas along his face and arms that weren’t hidden by the hospital gown. Those were black and blue. Tubes attached to monitoring equipment snaked from all over his body. Most of his head was covered with bandages. She could see wisps of short, dark hair peeping out under the dressing. It looked like most of his luxurious mane was gone. And there was an oxygen mask covering his nose.
Dana remembered what the doctor had said. She only had three minutes. She had to use them wisely. She leaned against the bed rail, careful not to disrupt anything, and reached out a tentative, gloved hand to touch his. She really wanted to touch his face but was afraid to make any movements so near to his brain.
She took his limp hand in her own and gently caressed it.
“I love you, Robert,” she said in a tremulous voice. “I love you so much. Please don’t leave me. I need you. Forgive me for being such a horrible wife. I promise I’ll change. Please don’t leave me.”
She held it all in and didn’t shed a tear until the moment she was out of the room. Then she leaned against the wall and sobbed as she sank to the floor.
~*~*~*~
There was a chapel on hospital property and that was where the three of them found themselves. There, in f
ront of the altar, William cried out to God to grant Robert a full recovery.
“Father Lord, you have said in your Word that you know what we ask before we even ask it. Dear Lord, you know our hearts’ desire, you know that we’ve come to ask for your divine healing right now. Dear Lord, we boldly come before your throne petitioning you on Robert’s behalf, praying that in your mercy you will not only heal him but that you will restore him completely so that his health is even better than it was before. These things we pray in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen.”
When they had risen to their feet and were sitting on the pew, William announced, “We’re going to the hotel to get some rest.”
Dana looked at him. “Okay. Thanks for being here and for all you’ve done to facilitate things.”
“Come back to the hotel with us,” Barbara urged. “You need sleep. You’re exhausted.”
Dana shook her head.
“No. I can’t leave.”
“There’s nothing you can do, Dana,” Barbara insisted. “They need to monitor him. The doctor promised to contact you immediately if his condition changes.”
“I can’t take the chance that something happens and I’m not here. I can’t take that chance,” Dana said.
William intervened.
“Dana the hotel is just a few minutes away from the hospital. It won’t take you long to get here if anything happens.”
“If it was Barbara in there, would you leave? Even if the hotel was next door would you leave?”
William looked over at Barbara and sighed deeply. “No, I wouldn’t,” he admitted.
“Exactly. Now take my sister to the hotel. She needs rest. I’ll be fine.”
“Let us, at least, arrange to have some kind of sleeping area set up for you here. May I do that for you?” he asked.
Dana was, in fact, drained, physically and emotionally, and, even though she doubted sleep would come, she would welcome lying down in a bed.
“Yes. Thank you,” she replied.
Barbara stayed with her while William left to speak to the doctor on duty.
“What’s going on, Dana?”
Dana had her eyes closed and didn’t open them.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean there’s something you’re not telling me. It’s more than Robert’s condition. Your sadness is more than that. I sense…I don’t know…guilt?”
There was silence between them for several beats as Dana considered how much she should tell Barbara. Eventually, she said, “A few days ago I prayed to God about Robert. I asked him to release me from my marriage and now I’m afraid that this is my fault.”
“Why did you pray that?” Barbara asked incredulously.
Dana released a shaky breath.
“Oh Barbie, my marriage is not as great as you think it is. These days Robert spends more time away from home than he does with me. I’ve been feeling so abandoned.”
“I had no idea. I mean I’ve heard you grumble now and then about his absences but I didn’t know things had gotten as bad as that. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Dana shrugged.
“A number of reasons. At first I wondered if I was being unreasonable. After all, he’s working hard at his job. It’s not like he’s off partying. I mentioned to mom once that I hate how he’s always filming overseas. Her response was that dad also had a job that meant he spent more time overseas than at home and that she accepted that life wasn’t perfect, learned to cope and trusted God. The implication was that I needed to learn to cope and trust God too. Then when things got really untenable in recent times and I thought of telling you, I resisted. Ever since you and William got together again you’ve been so blissfully happy. I didn’t want to burden you with my problems.”
Barbara shook her head.
“God didn’t mean for us to bear our burdens alone. Remember when Moses was leading the children of Israel through the wilderness. There came a point when the emotional toll was too much and God directed him to appoint seventy elders to help him. I don’t think mom was implying you shouldn’t feel upset, she was probably just trying to tell you how she dealt with similar issues in her own marriage. She wasn’t wrong to tell you to trust God. I’ve had to learn that the hard way.”
“That’s another thing,” Dana said. “When mom said she trusted God, I immediately thought ‘yeah, but Dad was killed.’ I felt so bad for thinking that. It caused me to wonder if I’ve got a lingering anger at God for allowing our dad to die. Maybe that’s why I’m not where I should be in my relationship with God. I see such parallels beween mom’s life and mine. I started questioning why a loving God would allow me to marry a man who is so much like dad. A man who abandons his family and puts himself in danger for his job. I used to be on fire for the Lord, Barbie. Now, I just go through the motions.”
“Oh, Dana. I keep telling you that you’ve got to extricate yourself from the Hollywood machine and choose which side you are on. Both you and Robert. I’m sure that these people you surround yourself with are not helping your spiritual growth. And the movies Robert makes aren’t very wholesome. Yours haven’t been that bad, but still. And don’t even get me started on the lifestyle magazines you promote. They corrupt public morals and advance a secular, even anti-Christian philosophy. You have got to stop straddling the fence and give yourself wholly to the one who created you.”
Dana leaned forward with her elbows on her legs and hung her head between her hands.
“You’re right, you know. I’ve blamed Robert for my state of well-being for the past couple of years but I know in my heart it’s because I haven’t been giving God preeminence in my life. I’ve drifted from my first love, Barbie, and now I’m paying the price. Maybe this is why this is happening to me. Why my husband is lying there fighting for his life. I haven’t been a good wife and I’ve been a worse Christian. But I didn’t want my husband to die. When I told God I wanted him to release me from this situation I didn’t really mean it. I just meant I wanted Robert to see what he was doing to us and come home. I was just angry. I was just frustrated. It’s my fault this happened.”
Her body wracked with sobs. Barbara’s arms came around her sister. She held her tight and when her husband returned she gave a quick shake of her head and he retreated and left them alone.
“Dana, sweetie, that’s not the God we serve. God doesn’t work that way. He wouldn’t do this to Bobby even if that were what you wished for. And that’s not what you wished for. God knows that you were speaking from a heart of pain. He knows your heart’s desire is to have your husband with you.”
Dana reached into her bag and found a tissue to wipe her face and blow her nose. After a few minutes, she said, “Suppose it is that God does save him but he winds up a vegetable. You heard what the doctor said about the chance of physical or mental disability. Imagine if that was to happen to Bobby. You know how active he is. Even if he did survive, he wouldn’t want to. I think he’d prefer to be dead rather than to be in such a state.”
“You can’t think like that,” Barbara admonished her. “We just prayed for him. You have to believe that God will heal him. God is not punishing you or Bobby. You are in the arms of a loving God. Look to the mountains. The psalmist, David, said in Psalm 121, ‘I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.’ Look to God, Dana. Don’t look down at your troubles. Look up to Him and trust in Him.”
Barbara took her sister’s hand and continued to speak with a strong but loving voice.
“God is your refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. He didn’t do this to Bobby. Satan did. But whatever the enemy means for wrong God can turn it into good to His glory. Just have faith and believe. God has brought Bobby this far. Didn’t you hear what the doctor said? An injury like the one he had would have resulted in instant death for most people. Yet, here he is fighting almost fifteen hours later. That’s God. The miracle-working God we serve. Don’t give up.”
Dana nodded. “You’re right. Thank you.”
Barbara held her until eventually the tears dried up. William returned. Barbara smiled at him over her sister’s shoulder and he advanced.
“It’s all arranged. There’s a private room for you.”
“Thanks, Wills. Thank you both. For everything.”
~*~*~*~
Dana awoke with a start. Her eyes immediately flew to the Tag Heuer watch Robert had given her for their last anniversary in February the previous year. She had been sure she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep but she’d slept for six hours. She must have really been exhausted.
Dana swung her legs to the side of the bed and sat up.
She heard a voice say, “Ma chérie, can I get some breakfast for you?”
A nurse stood at the entrance to the room. Dana’s stomach gave a rumble. Clearly it was empty but she still had no appetite at all.
She responded in French, “Just some coffee, please.”
The nurse nodded and gave her a compassionate smile.
“Assurément,” she said and disappeared.
Dana pushed up her sweater sleeves and stretched. She needed news on Robert’s condition. She stood and went in search of the doctor.
Reaching the reception area, she asked the nurse, “Is Dr. Dubel here?”
“No,” the woman responded, “but he said to call him as soon as you awoke. I’ll call him now.”
When Dr. Dubel arrived twenty minutes later, Dana was sitting in the waiting room sipping her second cup of coffee.
“That was fast,” she said. “Sorry to have woken you.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I had asked them to wake me around this time so I could check on my patient anyway. I stopped in the NICU before I came here. The good news is that there has been no swelling. Mr. Cortelli seems to be recovering fairly well from the surgery.”
Dana’s body felt weak with relief.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hotel and refresh yourself. His condition is stable. He should awake from the coma in about two to three hours. We’ll conduct a series of tests on him then. See what his cognitive response is.”
Second Chance: A Christian Romance (Royals Book 2) Page 12