Picking up his wife, Mr. Colter carries her into the waiting room and sits in a chair with her in his lap, rubbing circles on her back. We all sit in silence and stare at the closed door to Cash’s hospital room, the entire space holding its breath. After too many minutes, the door opens, and I jump up to see what’s happening.
Two nurses wheel Cash’s bed out into the hallway while a third nurse slowly depresses and inflates a bag attached to the tube that goes down his throat. They roll him slowly down the hallway as Dr. Kines approaches the waiting room.
“Mr. and Mrs. Colter? Cash’s heart stopped again; we aren’t sure what is putting so much pressure on it but I’m afraidit might be the brain bleed. We’ve been monitoring it as closely as possible, but the neuro team thinks there may be some blood pooling in the brain stem which could be affecting his heart. We are going into surgery. We will let you know.”
“Is he going to be okay?” comes Mrs. Colter’s quiet voice from her husband’s lap.
With a grave face, he says, “I can’t make any promises right now. He’s in rough shape.”
Chapter 41
Mommas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys
Callie
It’s a full twelve hours of us sitting in relative silence, the occasional movement or errand to get coffee the only change to the tense atmosphere, before a new doctor we haven’t seen before comes.
He pulls his scrub cap from his head as he enters the room, exhaustion evident in the line of his shoulders.
“Family of Ashley?” he says as he enters.
“Yes, yes that’s us,” Cash’s mom says as she stands, smoothing down the rumpled clothing she’s been in since yesterday.
“Great. They will be bringing him up soon; he’s just in recovery. We had to evacuate a blood clot on his brain stem, but I think he’s out of the woods now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wakes up today or tomorrow. We are removing life support since he’s showing signs of breathing on his own.”
The urge to throw my arms around this stranger overwhelms me but I wrap my arms around Duke instead. Tears ofhappiness flood my eyes, and I see the emotion reflecting back at me from four other sets of eyes in the room. Mrs. Colter doesn’t ignore her desire to hug him though as she barrels toward him and hugs him, sobbing her thanks.
He smiles kindly before leaving.
Twenty-four hours later and none of us have had proper meals or a shower in two days. We are running on fumes and faith, but no one wants to leave his bedside and miss him waking up.
His mother and father sit on one side of the bed, Mrs. Colter with her hand wrapped tightly around his. Duke and I sit on the other side. I hold his hand, and Duke rests his hands heavily on my shoulders. We are all exhausted and weary. But ever so hopeful.
Standing to stretch, I wrap my arms around Duke’s abdomen, holding him tightly against me, as he kisses the top of my head.
“Nearly dying has got to give me an advantage, brother,” Cash’s scratchy voice makes me spin back to him so quickly I lose my balance and nearly fall into the bed. “Careful, darlin’, I’m happy to see you too but please don’t kill me.”
I laugh as I try to breathe through my relief at seeing his eyes open, a smile on his face.
“Oh my god, Cash, I never thought I would be so grateful for your snarky comments,” I huff at him.
“Cash, my boy, my baby,” Mrs. Colter sobs from her side of the bed at seeing her son wake up and launch immediately into teasing.
“Hey Mama, hey Dad. Hey, Sleepy.” He gives a little headnod to his trainer across the room who looks, for all his unemotional posturing, like he’s breathing for the first time in days.
“What day is it? Sunday?” he asks the room.
“It’s Monday night, Cash,” Duke tells him, leaning over to hug him slightly.
“Well shit. Sorry, Mama,” he apologizes for his language and we all laugh a little. It feels so good to relax for even a second.
“Y’all look rough. You been here the whole time?” He looks Duke and I over from head to toe.
“Of course, we wouldn’t be anywhere else,” I say.
It takes a full week before Cash can get out of bed completely unassisted and comes home. During his week convalescing, he was forced to explain our unorthodox relationship to his parents, much to their dismay. His mother did apologize to Duke and I, but I could tell she still wasn’t convinced.
It’s another two weeks at home before he climbs the stairs on his own.