Tenderly Beats the Lonely Heart

by K. J. Janssen

  Emily had a concerned expression on her face. “Doctor, will Thomas return to normal when he completes his rehabilitation?”

  Looks from the others indicated that they wanted to know the answer to that question, as well.

  “You’re asking a question that is extremely difficult to answer, since every Traumatic Brain Injury affects motor functions, thinking, memory, reasoning, sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, expression, behavior, mental health and personality. With such a broad range of factors to be considered, it’s difficult to determine what is normal given the introduction of the trauma into a person’s life. The road back to normal is often a slow, arduous one and it requires patience on the part of the patient, family and care givers. It can be very disconcerting and frustrating to watch a patient attempt to remember basic movements or information as simple as the current year or name of the country’s president. That being said, whatever the extent of damage, our goal is to get Thomas back to his life and family and as much as possible back to way he was prior to the accident. Keep in mind that you may experience a new normal for Thomas.

  “I can share with you that I have seen some miraculous recoveries over the years. Sometimes a patient musters up a high degree healing power that doctors are at wits end to understand or explain. Again, it depends on the patient and the quality of familial support.”

  “I’m sure that you will have many questions in the coming days and weeks. Feel free to ask Dr. Jensen or anyone that he designates to dispense the information about Thomas. Prayer is always helpful. Don’t forget to ask for wisdom and guidance for us doctors and all the professionals looking after Thomas, as well.”

  That being said, he shook everyone’s hand and hastily left the room.

  Dr. Jensen picked up the pace where Dr. Freenold left off. He quickly finished his notes, stood up and announced, “I’m going to check with the ICU staff to determine when we’ll be allowed to see Thomas. It shouldn’t be long now. I also have someone bring in Thomas’s personal belongings. While I’m gone I’ll need you to assign the Family

  Spokesperson we discussed earlier.” He handed Walter a form to fill out that contained all the contact information the Hospital required.

  They wasted no time deciding. Miriam excluded herself because she was from out-of-town and was, at the moment, a patient, herself. The rest unanimously decided on Emily as the most practical choice based on her years as Thomas’s foster mother and because she resided in Owensburg.

  As Emily was completing the form, a nurse entered the room carrying a banker’s box. She laid it down on the table. The name “Thomas Mortinson” was printed with a black marker on a white label on top of the box. Emily, in her new role as Family Spokesperson was asked to sign for the box.

  Walt removed the cover and began to remove the contents. It was a very large box for the few contents inside. The first item was Thomas’s wallet. He flipped it open and looked at the photo ID on the Drivers License. It was a picture of Thomas from a year back, when he was trying hard to grow a mustache. Tears welled up in Walt’s eyes as he closed the wallet and handed it to Emily. The next item was a belt, followed by a baggie containing loose change, keys, a handkerchief and a comb. He laid them on the table. Lastly, he removed a cell phone.

  He pressed a few buttons, but nothing happened; apparently the battery had gone dead. He chuckled as he recalled that Thomas had a bad habit of forgetting to recharge his phone and as a teen, very often used “my phone went dead” as an excuse for getting home late.

  Walt pushed the box aside and as he did he heard a clunk from inside. Reaching back into the box he was surprised to find a small jewelry box. Curious eyes were on him as he opened it up. Inside was a diamond engagement ring. Walt looked at Louise, who by now had a flood of tears flowing down both cheeks. He reached out and handed the box to her, “I think Thomas would want you to hold on to this.”

  Louise accepted the box as Emily put an arm around her. “If it’s any comfort to you, he didn’t even tell me that he was going to pop the question. I guess he wanted it to be a complete surprise to everyone.” As she gave squeezed Louise’s shoulder, she thought for a minute and added, “He certainly got his wish, there, didn’t he?”

  Louise looked at the ring and snapped the box shut. “I’ll hold this until Thomas is well enough to ask me in person. Of course, I’ll say yes.”

  Suddenly a voice came from Mike’s cell phone. It was Miriam asking, “What’s going on over there?”

  Mike picked up the phone, shut off the conference call feature and motioned to the others that he was taking the phone outside so he could bring Miriam up to date on everything.

  Walter also excused himself to make a call to his Deputy.

  Louise and Emily held hands as they discussed Louise’s and Thomas’s plans for when this ordeal was finally over.

  Do you remember that thrilling ride I promised you earlier? Well, this is only the beginning; there is so much more to come. Just sit back and enjoy.

  CHAPTER 35

  The emergency meeting of the Owensburg

  Town Council was gaveled to order at 7pm with much consternation among the Council members attending. Behind the locked doors of the Council chambers, they could hear the murmur of the crowd in the halls that was usually allowed to attend Council meetings; Media included. The attendees did their best to ignore the chatter outside and the occasional knocks on the door.

  Peter Westlake addressed the small group, “I’d sure like to know how those people knew about this meeting. Boy, I sure am grateful to the Sheriff for having the foresight to assign a few deputies to protect City Hall. So, let’s get on with it before they break down that damn door.”

  Continuing, “According to the By-Laws of

  Owensburg’s constitution, when the elected Chairman is unable to perform his duties and in the absence of the Mayor, the longest seated member of the Council is to assume the Chairmanship of the group. That being me, I want to begin this meeting with a moment of silent prayer in memory of Wendell Phillips and John Martin and for all our friends and neighbors who died in that tragic accident out at Tiecher Park.” He solemnly bowed his head along with the rest. That being done, he took a quick vote to legitimize the change in leadership and, in the light of what happened, Peter made the motion that they dispense with customary stilted Rules of Order of the Council and all the protocols that usually followed and move immediately to a discussion of what occurred at Tiecher Park and how they should proceed to run the town now that the Mayor was dead. John seconded the motion and they all voted to free the meeting from the Rules of Order.

  The group, made up of John Clark, Payne

  Easton, Ralph Mason, Peter Westlake and the Council Secretary Marge Nelson, moved to a circular table in the chambers. Peter said, “If you want to get something to drink, you best do it now.” Marge rolled a serving cart with a coffee service, soft drinks, water and assorted chilled pastries she found in the small refrigerator in the corner of the room. Each served themselves and settled down for the work at hand.

  Peter started the meeting. “It’s probably going to be months before we know anything for sure about the cause of the stage collapse. As the governing body in the town, until we have all the answers, we must be extremely careful about what we say and to whom we say it. I have no doubt that there will be a multitude of frivolous and some not so frivolous lawsuits filed against the town and perhaps even against one or all of us. I suggest that if you are served with any papers that you give them to Payne. If that alright with you?” he asked, turning to Payne Eaton.

  “Sure, I was going to suggest that, myself. Just forward them to my office,” Payne replied. “I’d like to suggest that we seek the counsel of a law firm that specializes in disasters of this magnitude. We not only have the deaths and injuries of our townspeople to deal with, but Jimmy Nordstrom and four members of the band Vinny and the Cruisers also perished. There’s no telling who was in the audience
or how they will respond.”

  Peter volunteered, “I’ll handle the Media, so send me all requests for interviews. Most of these people are personal friends of mine. I don’t expect any problems with unfair coverage of the incident from the locals, but I have no idea how out-of-town news people will behave. This is big. It’s already gone national on TV and social media. I’ll do my best to handle them as they come along. That’s all we can do.”

  He turned to John Clark, the Principal of Owensburg High, “Have you made any decision yet as to when you will reopen the school?”

  John was over six feet tall, but the sheer magnitude of the tragedy made him appear several inches shorter. “It’s not really up to me, Pete. The Board of Education is looking at that now. You know that the State has mandatory school days, but nothing of this magnitude has ever happened before.” Suddenly he choked up, “I lost twentythree students and another seven have injuries that will lay them up for at least a month or two. We’re planning to have trained counselors meet with all our kids to help them get over the loss of their friends and classmates. Suddenly I realize how towns involved in mass shootings at schools had to feel. It staggers the imagination that a tragedy of this kind could befall our student body.”

  Peter placed his hand on John’s shoulder. “I know that this is a special burden for you, being that you personally knew all of the students that were lost. My heart goes out to you and to the surviving students and to all the families involved. If the State isn’t responsive quickly enough for you, we can bring in specialists on our own to work with the students. Several corporations in town and the surrounding area have volunteered the help of their Personnel Department psychologists. These are some of the best therapists in the country and an asset we shouldn’t overlook. Perhaps we should set up an advisory council composed of State and private specialists to weigh in on this issue. One way or the other we will get the job done.”

  “Thanks, Pete. I might very well be looking for that sort of help. The biggest problem I’m dealing with is that we have no precedent for handling the loss of so many students at once. We were lucky that more students weren’t in the area of the collapse.”

  Ralph Mason raised his hand. “I’d like to volunteer to be sort of a liaison for the town. It seems to me that we’re going to have people coming at us from all over, with the oddest issues. I spent my adult life refereeing some of the toughest coaches and players, so I’m used to handling people that are determined to have their way. What do you think?”

  Peter looked at Ralph. “That’s an excellent idea.” Then he chuckled, “I feel sorry for anyone trying to take advantage of you over this situation. You make sure that you wear your whistle so that everyone knows that you mean business.”

  That brought a smile to everyone’s face. The levity helped ease the tension that was building up as the full scope of their responsibilities to the town of Owensburg was becoming clearer.

  Peter turned to Marge. “Marge, will you see to communicating information with all the town offices. Everyone needs to know as quickly as possible that we are on top of this and functioning as a team. We must avoid as much confusion as possible.”

  “I’ll get on it as soon as we’re finished here. By the way, has anyone heard anything about the condition of the Sheriff’s son?”

  John answered her, “The last I heard is that he’s over at the George Bennett Baxter Trauma Center in a special intensive care unit. Apparently, he was right under that thing when it fell. He’s in pretty serious condition from what I hear. I also heard that they brought in a trauma specialist from out-of-town to handle his case. Please say a special prayer for him and for Walter and Emily.”

  John added, “I remember Thomas from when he pitched softball for the school. He was an outstanding athlete and he was an excellent student; a really fine young man. What a tragedy.”

  The remainder of the emergency meeting consisted of splitting up the Mayor’s routine duties until they were prepared to set up the machinery for a special interim election. They agreed to meet at the same time the next day or immediately if an emergency situation came up.

  As they prepared to leave, Peter turned to the group, “I think it would be a good idea if we check with each other before we finalize anything major. Make sure you have everyone’s cell phone numbers and that yours is with you and on 24/7.”

  CHAPTER 36

  Dr. Jensen returned to the Family Room at

  7:30pm. “Well folks, I have good news. We have a clearance to visit Thomas, but before we do, I have to go over the ground rules. As long as Thomas is in what we call a “restricted status’, all visitations must be scheduled by the nursing station on the third floor. That’s in case he is receiving special treatments or under special observation. At this time your visits will be restricted to viewing from behind an observation window. There is a red line on the floor in front of the window and all viewing must be done from behind that line. Under no circumstances is the window to be touched.”

  He stopped for a moment to judge the level of comprehension. “All this must seem to you as very picayune, but you would be very surprised at the lengths that some visitors have gone to communicate with their loved ones. Tapping on the glass in the hope of getting the patient’s attention is the most egregious, followed closely by attempts to paste pictures or messages on the glass for the patient to see during or after their visit. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly understand their frustration with not being able to be in the room with their loved one and if I were in their shoes I might even resort to the same behavior.

  “The last item involves a prohibition against taking pictures with any type of device. There are several reasons for this. The first is the possibility that a sudden flash in such a controlled environment may have a deleterious impact on the patient. The second reason is that some of the equipment and techniques we use here at George Bennett Baxter are proprietary; some may even be experimental. Violations may result in revocation of visitor privileges, so if you have a problem with any of these restrictions, now is the time to say so.”

  He looked at the group and was satisfied that the rules were both understood and agreed to. “That being said, I want to prepare you for what you will see. I mentioned earlier that after his operation, Thomas was returned to his room and attended to by a team of specialists. His room, number 333, is equipped with a bed that is customized for patients with head trauma. It is placed away from the wall to allow rapid access from all sides. Thomas is connected to multiple monitors via wires and tubes; many of these hanging from the ceiling. He will have anti-embolism stockings on his legs and, what will probably be the most startling to you, he will be wearing the protective helmet I spoke of earlier. I’m going to show you a photo of a patient that went through a similar experience at my home hospital. It will give you a very good idea of what to expect.”

  He handed the photo to Walter, who looked at it for a few seconds and then gave it to Emily to pass around. Looks of surprise and disbelief appeared on each face as they saw the equipment and wires; not much being seen of the patient.

  “Now that you’ve seen that picture, I can’t caution you enough, that the person you will see occupying the bed in Room 333 will not resemble the Thomas Mortinson that you all know and love. Returning that Thomas Mortinson to you, will be our 24/7 activity for as long as it takes. It will be a herculean undertaking, but I can assure that it is one that each and every member of the team is well trained to accomplish. That’s all I have to say for now. Do you have any questions at all before we go there?”

  Louise looked at the others before she spoke. “I guess we all want to know how long we will be able to visit.”

  “This first visit will pretty much be up to you to decide. Subsequent visits are limited to fifteen minutes as long as Thomas is in a coma. Once he is conscious and cognitive, visits will be scheduled based on his medical condition so that we can control his reactions to visitors. We fi
nd this to be an effective way to personalize rehabilitation. Specialists will be on stand-by during those visits, either behind the glass or in the room; in case an unexpected reaction shows up on one of the monitors that may require immediate attention. These extra precautions are mostly for the first stage of Thomas’s rehabilitation. We will discuss what is expected from you as we approach each stage. Your Family Spokesperson will also have all this information in a packet we provide and will be notified as each stage is reached. I believe that Dr. Freenold explained that the rehabilitation of each patient is individual, so once again I urge you not to spend a lot of time on the web trying to analyze Thomas’s progress. There won’t be another case the same as Thomas’s. Only time will tell. Okay, then, let’s do it.”

  Dr. Jensen started for the door with the others close behind. Mike held back long enough to explain to Miriam that he needed to turn off his phone, “As soon as we’re finished I’ll come right to your room and fill you in on everything as soon as the visitation is over. I promise.” * * *

  Miriam pressed the button to summon the nurse. When she arrived, she asked for help calling the Owensburg Inn.

  “This is the Owensburg Inn, how may I help you?”

  “This is Miriam Walton, I’m sorry that I didn’t call sooner. I’m afraid I have a bit of a problem. I was at the park the other night when the accident occurred and now I’m at Owensburg General Hospital with a concussion. The doctor wants to keep me at least another day. I’ll need you to hold my room for me.”

  “That won’t be a problem at all, Mrs.

  Walton. What an awful thing happened out there. I’m sorry that you were injured. Incidentally, your husband called earlier looking for you. He asked me to tell you that he cut his trip short and is on his way home. I told him that you hadn’t returned to your room and may have been at the show when the accident occurred. I certainly hope that it was okay to disclose that information.”