“Absolutely,” her dad agreed. He could not wait to never step foot inside a hospital again.
They spent the afternoon talking about family and what had happened in the time Amanda had been sleeping. She was surprised to hear both of her sisters had been married and had children of their own. This, of course, reminded her of her possible loss. She changed the subject to ask about her father’s work and any projects on which he was currently working.
The visit finally accomplished the goal Amanda had been hoping, she was too tired to keep talking. Her parents noticed her extended silences and her drooping eyelids. They told her they’d be back the next afternoon and left her to herself. She rolled over onto her side and fell asleep.
The next morning she met again with Dr. Medin. “Good morning, Amanda. How are you today?”
“Feeling stronger. I’m looking forward to going home soon.”
“Yes, about that…I was wondering if you wanted to talk with a therapist before you go home.”
“What kind of a therapist?” Amanda did not know what to think of this twist.
“A psychiatrist actually. I was approached yesterday by a preeminent psychiatrist who heard about your case. He would love to have the opportunity to interview you,” she answered offhandedly. She really wanted Amanda to speak with someone, but she was not sure this doctor would be the right fit for her.
“What’s his name?” Amanda asked.
“Dr. Stephen Gascon, he’s the Director of Psychiatry at…”
“Cannon Memorial Asylum,” Amanda finished for her.
“So you have heard of him!” She was actually surprised, but then saw the look on Amanda’s face. “Are you okay?”
Amanda shook her head several times and then stated firmly, “Keep that man away from me. I want nothing to do with him. Promise me he won’t ever set foot in this room!”
“Okay, Amanda, I promise. Would you like to tell me why you are so opposed to him?” Dr. Medin was very confused. She had expected Amanda to refuse, but her reaction was more like she was actually scared of him in particular. She was sure they had never met so she wanted to know Amanda’s thoughts. An idea occurred to her and she suggested, “You might want to make a journal of everything you remember from both before and after your accident. Just the act of writing stuff down can help clear your mind of any confusion.”
Immediately reviewing everything she remembered, she realized she would have to keep all of her memories to herself. She did not want to find herself locked up again and put on so many drugs she could not put two thoughts together. “The journal I can handle, but I don’t want to be interviewed by anyone. I just want to go home and get on with my life. I’ve already missed so many years and I don’t want to waste another minute talking about my fantasies while I was sleeping.”
“I fully understand,” she agreed hastily and then added, “I’ll let him know you refused.”
“Thank you,” Amanda sighed with relief. She had a nagging feeling this was not the last she would hear of this conversation, but she had to focus on her recovery and not the past.
“One more thing,” Dr. Medin said carefully now that she had seen Amanda’s reaction to the psychiatrist, “the hospital has been asked to provide some media coverage about you. Everyone is talking about ‘the girl who slept for seven years’ and they’d love to see who you are. Am I to assume you’d want to skip that as well?”
“You’d assume correctly.” Amanda shuddered at the thought. She did not want to be on public display ever!
“We’ll have to plan your discharge carefully otherwise the staff will most definitely leak your release to the media. Avoiding a circus outside the hospital doors would be in everyone’s best interest,” she mused as she worked out the best plan for Amanda to escape unnoticed. With how long the discharge paperwork process actually was she would have to get creative to protect Amanda’s privacy. She would handle as much of the process as she could to keep the number of people ‘in the know’ as low as possible.
With an idea in mind, Dr. Medin smiled and said to her patient, “I know I told you there’d be a possibility of you going home next week. The staff know about it as well so I was thinking…we should probably do something unexpected!”
Amanda’s eyebrows furrowed at the funny look the doctor suddenly had and she asked, “What are you thinking?”
“You’ve progressed better than I ever hoped and there’s no reason why you can’t continue your physical therapy somewhere closer to home. I think we should discharge you today, as soon as I can get the paperwork together. Nobody would expect it and you could get out of here without anyone gathering outside to try to get your picture. What do you think? Do you feel strong enough?”
“Are you kidding? Right now I feel as though I could run down that hall and not look back. Get me out of here!” Amanda could feel adrenaline coursing through her body just at the thought of being able to go home. Ever since she had woken up, heck even while she was dreaming, all she had wanted was to go home; now it could be a reality. She was overjoyed and nervous all at the same time. She would never admit the nervous part to anyone in case they would change their mind, but she had to get out of here.
“Okay, give me a couple of hours; the paperwork is a nightmare. I’ll call your mom from my office and let her know what’s going on so she can be the one to take you home. I’ll be back before you leave,” she said as she walked swiftly to leave the room and get things rolling.
Dr. Jasmine Medin was convinced the great Dr. Gascon would not take ‘no’ for an answer. She was sure he had connections with the hospital board who would force her to approve of the interview with Amanda. If Amanda were no longer a patient of the hospital then they would have no grounds to approve the request. For some reason she felt terribly protective of Amanda and wanted to see her safely out of the hands of the medical profession. Something about Amanda’s questions about things which had happened while she was sleeping still haunted her. Amanda definitely needed to leave. She would make sure it happened today.
As soon as the doctor had left Amanda clapped her hands together a couple of times and sat on the bed with a huge smile. She could not believe this was happening so fast and yet she was so grateful the doctor was willing to help spring her secretly. She had not realized people had been talking about her even though she had seen so many people walk by her door and stare in her window. The thought of her being a medical curiosity never even crossed her mind.
Now that she was going to be leaving, she worried how much had changed ‘on the outside’ during the last seven years. Her mother had told her about a thing called ‘the internet’ which still sounded rather fantastical. She was curious to see if it were anything like what the Tualans did on their patils. Maybe she could do some research on her own to see if anybody else knew anything about Tuala.
There were so many things Amanda wanted to do once she was released. She started to feel overwhelmed with how much needed to get done. Her breathing started to come faster and she had to consciously take deep breaths and slow her heart rate so she would not jeopardize her discharge from the hospital.
“One thing at a time,” Amanda said out loud to herself. “I just need to focus on leaving here right now. Maybe tomorrow, I can plan something, but today is all about going home! Going Home! Yes!” She smiled to herself and grabbed the remote and turned on the television to help pass the time until the doctor returned.
Amanda had watched a couple of morning game shows before her mother came breezing into her room. She could see her mom was excited, but trying to hide it until the door closed behind her then she squealed with delight and ran to her daughter’s bedside to hug her immediately. “It’s unbelievable, Amanda! You get to come home.” Her voice started to rise in her enthusiasm and she put her hands over her mouth. “I know it’s supposed to stay a secret, but I’m so excited.”
“Sit down, Mom, you’re tiring me out!” she halfheartedly joked. She felt bad when a look of co
ncern crossed her mother’s face. “I’m kidding, Mom. We need to act as normal as possible so why don’t you sit down like you always do. We can talk about my sisters while we wait.”
“Okay, you scared me there for a moment, but I understand.” She grinned again and said, “You will never know how thrilled I was to get that phone call from Dr. Medin. I think I might have hurt her ear when I screamed for joy.”
“I know the feeling! I will only admit this to you, Mom, I’m kind of scared to leave here. I’m sure there are so many things which have changed. You lived through it all so you won’t have even noticed it, but it will all be new to me.”
“Don’t worry, Amanda. We’ll go straight home where nothing has changed. We can take it slow from there, I promise.” Diane patted her daughter’s shoulder to comfort her. She had not really considered the changes over the years since her main focus had been keeping a vigil at Amanda’s bedside. “We can discover the changes together.”
Amanda smiled tremulously and changed the subject, “I can’t wait to sleep on my own bed; this one is rather lumpy!”
Her mom chuckled and sat back in her chair. Her daughter had come back from the brink of death and she seemed no worse for her trouble. She never could have imagined an outcome this fantastic. She felt truly blessed and closed her eyes for a short prayer of thanks. When she opened her eyes again, Amanda was back to watching a game show. She turned her attention to the television and they passed the time, perfectly content, in silence.
Chapter Eleven
DR. JASMINE MEDIN spent the morning going through all of Amanda’s discharge paperwork. She usually had the nurses handle most of the documentation so she was surprised at exactly how many forms needed to be filled out and signed before a patient could leave the hospital. It made her have more appreciation for the nurses in how rapidly they handled all of the minute details. She tapped the stack of paperwork on her desk and sighed with relief at finally getting through it all.
Jasmine stood up and got an empty folder from the far corner of her desk. She put all of the forms into the folder so nobody would accidentally see the patient’s name and alert the press. Trying to maintain her composure she left her office and walked down the hall to go to Amanda’s room. A nurse stopped and asked her a question which she answered as fast as possible. She hoped she had not seemed rushed or blunt with the nurse. For some reason she was having a hard time acting normally even though she was not technically doing anything wrong.
She opened the patient’s door and entered as she was saying, “Good morning, Amanda and Diane.” She scanned the room to be sure they were alone and then held up the folder of paperwork with a triumphant shake.
“Is that Amanda’s discharge papers?” Diane asked as she leaned forward in anticipation.
“Yes. I’m going to have you sign the forms, Diane, even though Amanda is of legal age. If I can demonstrate she will be in the care of her parents then there will be less questions as to her readiness for leaving.” She stepped forward and placed the open folder on the rolling table. She moved it so it was between both Amanda and her mother. “As you can see, I have noted Amanda will be in your care, Diane, and that she will continue her therapy at an outpatient facility. I have a list of clinics who are currently taking patients, look through them and let me know which one you choose. I’ll fax over Amanda’s treatment plan thus far to whichever clinic you tell me you picked.”
Diane nodded and looked up from the papers to the doctor’s face.
“Okay, if I can get you to sign this form saying you will assume responsibility for the patient’s care…good,” she watched Diane sign with the pen she had handed her, “now you need to initial on each of the indicated sections for the next three pages.”
Diane’s hand was shaking as she initialed the pages. She did not even bother to read any of the items she was signing since she could not wait to get going. She turned each page and kept signing. She found another flag and turned to the page and then looked up at Dr. Medin, “Do you want me to just keep turning and signing everywhere you have marked?”
“Sure, I’ll tell you what each one means as you go. That one is the discharge form. Next you’ll find a release for mental health therapy should you decide she needs someone to talk to in the future. This one is for Amanda’s medication should she continue to have headaches or any other side effects from lying down for so long. The rest are standard forms releasing the hospital from any and all liability during her treatment.” Jasmine gathered the signed papers and put them back into the folder. “I’ll go make a copy of these for you and be right back. Get dressed, I’ll bring a wheel chair back with me so we can move you out right away.”
Amanda suddenly realized she did not have anything to change into and said, “Get dressed in what?”
Jasmine stopped at the door, slightly flustered before answering, “I knew I forgot something. I need to get you your personal effects from the patient lockers. It’s been there so long it completely slipped my mind. I’m afraid if the nurses see me bringing that bag to you then they’ll know you’re leaving. Let me get the copies first and then I’ll bring the bag to you. Your mother can help you get dressed while I get the wheelchair.”
As the door shut Diane said to her daughter, “I’m sorry, I should have thought to bring you some clothes. I was just so eager to leave the house to come and get you it must have slipped my mind.”
“It’s not your fault, Mom. Don’t worry about it. Where did you park?”
“In the parking garage across the street. I should move the car to the emergency room parking so we won’t have as far to go.”
“Hurry, Mom.”
Diane stood up and grabbed her purse from the floor beside her chair. She rushed to the door and then took a calming breath before leaving the room. She smiled over her shoulder, opened the door, and walked out.
Amanda could not believe how fast this was all happening. She looked around the room to see if there were anything in the room she would need to take. There was nothing personal which, in itself, was depressing. She scooted over to the edge of the bed and dangled her legs as she waited impatiently.
Dr. Medin and her mother both came back into the room at the same time. Diane had the personal effects bag in her hand and she was opening the drawstring top as she walked toward the bed. She dumped out the contents and picked up the strange clothing. These were not the items she had packed to go sailing with Neal, these must have come from the hospital in Mexico. With no other option she held out the shirt and pants for Amanda to put on.
Amanda reached out and had a moment of recognition: this was one of the outfit gifts from Barla. She hesitated, but then realized time was of the essence so she grabbed the clothing and stood up from the bed. She pulled the pants on under her gown, turned around and pulled the strings holding her gown on and pulled it from her front and dropped it on the bed. She arranged the shirt, stuck her arms in the sleeves and brought it over her head.
In a matter of moments Amanda was dressed and looking at both her mother and her doctor. “I’m ready.”
“Take a seat in the wheelchair and I’ll escort you out,” she said as she held the handles on the wheelchair. She looked over at the bed and something shiny caught her eye. Jasmine leaned over and plucked a necklace up off of the bed next to the discarded garment bag. “Don’t forget your necklace. Do you want me to put it on you?” she asked as she showed Amanda an ornate pendant crystal on a beautiful chain over to Amanda.
Amanda’s eyes got big as she recognized her birth crystal. “Yes, please,” she spoke breathlessly while she pulled her hair aside to assist the doctor. Once the chain was securely fastened around her neck she cradled the treasured item to her chest as her doctor began wheeling her out of her room for the last time. Her mother followed them both as she stuffed the discharge papers into her oversized purse.
They briskly went down the hall. Several nurses stopped their work to watch them pass by. Amanda wondered which one o
f them would be the first to call an outsider to come and take pictures of them leaving. She hoped they would be fast enough to avoid any scene at all.
Jasmine leaned toward Diane and whispered, “Where are you parked?”
“I just moved my car to the emergency room parking.”
“Good, there’s usually enough commotion going on down there where we might not be noticed.”
They stopped at the elevator doors and waited for them to open. It felt like an eternity before the doors finally parted and they were able to enter. Likewise, the ride down to the first floor took equally long as they ended up stopping on nearly every floor along the way. Finally, they reached the emergency room and they walked swiftly through the crowded room.
As if by a miracle they did not encounter anyone as they walked through the double doors to the sidewalk outside. Diane walked ahead of them both as she wanted to get the passenger door open for Amanda to be able to get in out of the cold as fast as possible.
Dr. Medin stopped the wheelchair at the open door and stood ready to assist should Amanda have any trouble getting out of the chair. Amanda felt energized by the whole covert operation and she stood up and turned with her hand on the top of her mother’s car and said, “Thank you, Dr. Medin, for never giving up on me. I know I can trust you. You’ve been amazing and I am just so grateful.” She felt a tear coming to her eyes now that she was on the verge of leaving.
“I’m just doing my job, Amanda. I’m going to miss you. Feel free to come back and see me sometime.” She looked across the car to Amanda’s mother and said, “Diane, please call me if you have any questions or concerns.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Amanda sat in the passenger seat and put her seatbelt on. It was funny how just the act of putting on a seatbelt felt like freedom after being cooped up in her hospital room for so long. She wondered how often she would keep feeling a sense of euphoria each time she got to do something new. She smiled up at Dr. Medin through the car window as the doctor shut the passenger door and moved the wheelchair back up to the sidewalk.
Ascension Discovery Page 92