I interrupted him when something suddenly occurred to me, “Harper,” I croaked. “Somebody needs to call her.”
“I called Carbon and Duke as soon as we heard,” Bronze said. “They’re on their way.”
“I don’t know what to do,” I confessed and didn’t give the first fuck how broken I sounded.
“Nothing you can do right now but wait,” Copper said. “And we’ll all be right here with you.”
The waiting was excruciating. Knowing my mom was back there, possibly dying, while I sat helplessly on the other side of the doors.
I don’t know how much time passed, but finally a familiar face stepped out. “Jonah, come with me,” Dr. Daniels called from the doorway and led me to a small room off to the side.
“We believe your mom has a blockage in one or possibly more of the large vessels that supply blood to the heart. They’re taking her to do a heart cath right now. Usually, they can place a stent to open up the blocked vessel and restore blood flow to the heart,” Dr. Daniels explained.
“What happens if they can’t place a stent? Or what if it’s not her heart?”
“It is her heart, Jonah. That I can assure you. If they can’t place a stent, she’ll need to have heart surgery.”
“You mean open heart surgery? Like a bypass or whatever it’s called?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. In your mother’s case, it’s highly likely that a stent will take care of the problem,” he said confidently.
“Yeah, okay,” I agreed. I trusted Dr. Daniels. She’d been friends with my parents since before I was born. Her reassurance alleviated a tiny bit of my worry.
“Do you want to stay back here or go back out there with your friends?”
“I should get back out there. My cousins will be here soon, and Harper’s going to be a mess.”
“I would imagine so. I’ll let you know the moment I hear something.”
“Uh, one more thing. Is River Lawson around? I’d like to talk to her if she has a minute,” I said nervously.
The corners of Dr. Daniels’s mouth tipped up in a small grin before she spoke. “She’s in the cath lab with your mom. She volunteered to assist the cardiologist on call so they wouldn’t have to wait for the on-call nurse to get here.”
I nodded and swallowed thickly. No matter how things turned out, I would be forever grateful to River for going out of her way to help my mother. “Thanks, Doc,” I managed to say and went back to the waiting room to update everyone else.
During another agonizingly long period of waiting for any news, Harper came through the doors like a woman on a mission. She spotted me immediately and threw herself against my chest where she dissolved into a fit of gasping sobs. Carbon was right behind her with Duke by his side. “How is she?” Duke asked.
“Haven’t heard anything in a while. They’re doing a heart cath now,” I shared as Harper continued to break my heart while she cried all over me. “Come on, sister cousin, let’s go sit down.”
Sometime later, Dr. Daniels called me, Harper, and Duke back to the same little room where a woman dressed in hospital scrubs was waiting inside.
“I’m Dr. Kenny, the cardiologist taking care of Mrs. Jackson. We did find a significant blockage in the left anterior descending artery and were able to place a stent. Blood flow was immediately restored to the heart, but she did not show any signs of regaining consciousness. Because of that and her heart stopping en route, we’ve initiated a protocol called therapeutic hypothermia to reduce the risk of damage to her brain from the decrease in oxygenated blood flow. That’s a fancy way of saying we’re going to keep her sedated while we lower her temperature and give her body a chance to recover,” she explained. “I know this is a lot to take in. Do you have any questions?”
“When can we see her?” Harper asked.
“Is she going to make it?” I asked.
“Will she have brain damage?” Duke asked.
All at the same time.
Dr. Kenny sat patiently and answered all of our questions. Unfortunately, her answers, though honest, did little to comfort us. It would be a few more hours before we could see her. As for the rest, only time would tell.
As we waited for her to be moved to a room, I was lost in my own thoughts. I knew she wouldn’t want me to keep her alive if she didn’t have any brain activity, but could I do it? Could I give the okay to pull the plug on my mother? And what if she did live, but was massively impaired. Would she want that?
“Brother Judge,” Harper said as she nudged me. “You ready?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. What?”