Chapter 57 How did she find herself outside an ICU every few years?
How did she find herself outside an ICU every few years? Amaal ran her hands through her hair, balancing her elbows on shaky knees. The last ten hours collapsed in front of her as her eyes began to fall shut, the hospital still in front of her.
IV thrombolysis… Mechanical thrombectomy… Successful reperfusion.
She heard the doctor and her mother’s voices.
She had stood with her mother and gotten all the updates, then sat down when the doctor had walked away.
He was back now and discussing more medical terms with her mother.
Terms that she understood, Amaal did not.
All Amaal understood was that she hadn’t responded to Dad’s last message.
She had seen it this morning, then gone on to her meeting and forgotten about it.
It wasn’t the first time she had failed to respond to him immediately but it could be the last time. Amaal sat up straight, holding her eyes straight as her mother kept glancing at her.
Footsteps clicked in her peripheral vision and a hand came to her shoulder. “Amaal.”
She startled.
“Samar?”
He cupped her shoulder, nodding at her mother.
“How did you come?”
“I took a commercial flight.” He sat down beside her. Amaal looked at him, trying to make sense of everything.
“What happened? What are they saying?”
“I…” she stuttered. “I don’t know… I mean, they injected a medicine and it was within four and a half hours so the clot in his brain was dissolved but he is still not waking up and they are doing scans. The doctor is talking to my mom because nobody knows what’s going on…”
“Ok, wait. Sit. You want water? Did you eat something?”
“I’m fine.”
He rubbed her shoulder and got to his feet just as her mother came to them.
“Ma’am.”
“Samar.” She nodded.
“Amaal told me sir is still not waking up? Was Thrombectomy a complete success?”
“IV thrombolysis was successful, he was awake and suddenly passed out. The scan is showing oedema in the left hemisphere.”
“Progressive or stagnant?”
“Progressive.”
“What about his blood pressure?”
“They are trying to control it.” Her mother’s voice wavered. Amaal got to her feet and held her arm — “Nothing is going to happen, Mom.” She asserted. “His BP always comes back under control. They will bring it down.” She nodded. “Hmm?”
Her mother smiled, letting her lead her to the chairs. Amaal got her down. “You’ve been running all day. Dad will be alright and then we will have to admit you. Now there’s nothing to do so we wait and we eat.”
“You both go and eat, I will eat late…”
“I will get coffee.” Samar offered.
“No, I will get coffee. You sit here with Mom.” Amaal cut him off. “Milky coffee, everyone?” She patted her mother’s shoulder and took steps back. “I’m also getting you a sandwich, Mom. You will eat, ok?”
Amaal turned and strode down the alley. She walked around the corner and broke down just as a hand pushed her into a side alley and pulled her head into his chest. She gasped, then relaxed when he squeezed her into him — “Your mom will see you.” He pushed her deeper into a dark alcove and turned, taking her weight on him. “Cry.”
Nothing was left to hold onto then as she clawed at his chest and cried. “His… B…b…BP… if it doesn’t come inn… Samar do something!”
“It will come back under control.”
She shook her head. “He can’t go Samar he can’t go. Why! Why do I find myself outside an ICU every few years?!”
“He will be ok, and we will take care of him. For now,” he cupped her head and patted. “I will take care of everything. All you need to do is hold yourself for your mom. She is holding strong for you. We will get through this like that. Hmm?”
She was shaking.
“Hmm?” He vibrated into her forehead again.
She shook her head.
“Amaal.”
She startled back and gaped at him. His eyes were barely visible in the dark of the alley. But his fingers bunched in her hair — “Your Dad is not going anywhere today of all days. He has yet to see our wedding and our children, and a whole lot more. Don’t cry now.”
“You can’t order me to not cry!” She snapped, pushing him away, enraged because her tears weren’t stopping.
“Ok.” He said softly, but did not snap back. “I can request you.”
Amaal did not look at him.
“Please, stop crying.” He pulled her head back into his chest, his voice so soft that she wasn’t sure it was Samar.
“You don’t have a leg to stand on to tell me this!” She alleged, pulling back out. “You have been on the sidelines of my life for so long. Why are you even here now? You got me the plane and thanks but I cannot deal with you right now with everything going on!”
“Ok.” He cupped her cheeks. “I will stay in my line and only do the needful.” His thumbs pushed her tears away. They kept flowing. She did not meet his eyes, not understanding why he was behaving so nicely when she was snapping. He would be the one to snap back doubly hard. Amaal hiccuped.
“Now come with me, drink some water, and we will order coffee for your Mom. Then I will see if I can access your Dad’s reports. Hmm?”
“You can’t do anything!”
“I can at least read them and reassure you that if IV thrombolysis is successful then the worst has passed.”
“Then why did he pass out immediately after and is still sleeping?!”
“There is brain swelling, it happens. And even that will resolve with time.” He crooned, kissing the edge of her forehead, holding her head to his lips.
“Just give it time. It seems difficult right now, I know. You have done this once for me, too. But just hold on for now, Amaal. I am here with you, and I will not leave, whatever happens, ok?”
“He will not die, no?”
“No.” Samar pulled back and looked into her eyes. “He will not die.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
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Amaal sat with her mother, drinking coffee that tasted like nothing, but was sustenance at this point.
She didn’t know what strings Samar was pulling but he went in with her father for the scan.
Her mother let him. Amaal didn’t know what time it was, was it day or night?
She just sat there, waiting for them to tell her that her father had woken up. And everything was back to normal.
“You said you two were taking a break from each other?” Her mother asked. Amaal turned to her, seeing her need to take her mind off this, too.
“Mmm.” She hid her mouth behind the coffee cup.
“It doesn’t look like a break.”
She shrugged.
“Amaal.”
“He asked for time, and I gave him. In the beginning it was easy, even in long distance. But you know how it is… we are both so busy, always tired, fights are inevitable even on phone. And then when you are not together, it’s so easy to not talk for days or just say ok or thanks on message and get done for a few weeks.
It’s been like that. The last few months, he has been quieter. ”
“What are you doing, Amaal? So much time has passed since his accident. I thought you both were getting serious at that time.”
“Hmm.” She looked away, using the classic Samar tactic to get out of a difficult conversation.
“Amaal.”
“Mom!” She held back her tears. “I can’t think about anything else right now, please.”
Her mother sighed.
“I’m sorry.” Amaal lay her head on her shoulder. Her mother wrapped her arm around her, gathering her in. “It will be alright. Dad will be ok.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“How are you so strong?”
“You are also strong.”
“I am not.”
“You are. Stronger than both Dad and me.”
“I am bluffing right now.”
“I know.” Her mother patted her arm. “You and me both.”
Amaal glanced up as a shadow came closer, and raised her brows at Samar. She pulled her head up and began to stand when he crouched down in front of them.
“It’s bad news…” Her voice thinned.
“No.” He whispered.
“Then why are you crouching in front of us?”
He glanced down at himself and an amused expression crossed his face. “I don’t know.” Samar looked at her mother and smiled. “His BP is now 140/85, dropping well.”
Her mother exhaled the loudest sigh of relief Amaal had ever heard.
“He was groggy for some time and went back to sleep again,” Samar looked at her.
“And the swelling is marginally smaller than the last scan. They are going to keep him sedated all night. He will be on hypertonic saline,” he told her mother, because she clearly understood what that meant.
“If pupils are reactive and there’s no midline shift, then we are looking at a clean window in the next 48 hours. ”
Amaal saw her mother’s hand reach Samar’s shoulder. “Good, that’s good.” She squeezed. Samar grinned, his dark eyes sparkling through his specs.
“That means, both of you get to go home and I’ll stay here…”
“No!” Amaal cut him off. “I am not going until Dad wakes up.”
“They are keeping him sedated. Even if he wakes up, you won’t be able to meet him.”
“But at least he will be awake and I’ll know it.”
“You will know it at home too. I will call you as soon as he does.”
“But he will wake up and find neither of us here…” She found her hands being taken into his as he pulled her up.
“He is not waking up before tomorrow morning. Those sedatives are fun to sleep with, I would know.” Samar smiled.
“Don’t joke with me.”
“He is right,” her mother got to her feet. “Dad will sleep if they keep him sedated.”
“But what if something happens?”
“His doctors are here, I am here, we will take care if anything happens.” Samar took her hand between both of his and patted. “If you want, you go home and give me a call, I will be on line with you all night and give you live updates.”
She scowled at him — “Why are you being like this?”
“Like how?”
“Like…” she scowled.
“Ok, ok,” her mother intervened. “Fighting later. Amaal, come on, let’s go home. Samar, I will be back in the morning.”
“Me too!”
Samar was smiling at her like he adored her, she couldn’t take that smile.
“You too.” He left her hand and stepped back. “Good night.”
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