17. Maggie #2
Did they remember Jo Ellen took a statin and a daily blood pressure pill? Oh, and that other med with the dumb name? Did they know her insurance carrier? Because Maggie did.
Of course. They were next of kin. Maggie was just…her heart. How many times had Jo said that? Just last night, in fact, while they were—
She gasped, the sudden realization of what was happening hitting her so hard, it actually hurt. Oh, yes, it hurt so bad.
I am being punished for the pot.
“Mom.” Eli’s voice was very quiet beside her. “You doin’ okay?”
She pulled herself out of the depths. “Did a doctor come out yet?”
“Not yet.” He took her hand. “She’s alive, though. Hold that thought.”
She looked at him, taking in his stricken expression, the misery in his eyes. “Eli?” she whispered. “Does…your God punish people?”
“Not really,” he said. “But He can use bad things for good.”
She heard Kate let out a soft grunt on Eli’s other side.
“No one is being punished, Mom,” he said quietly, ignoring Kate’s reaction.
Was he sure? “Because I may have…we have…maybe did…”
Eli put a hand on her arm. “Shh. The only person who did anything was me. I didn’t check that railing and I should have refused to let anyone in the house until I did.”
She heard the low tone of self-disgust in his voice, shouldering the blame. But the blame was on Maggie. She should have said no. She should have been a good girl. She should have followed the rules and maintained control and—
“Are you Mrs. Wylie’s family?”
At the sight of a man who looked a little too small and too young to be a good doctor, they all stood and came to attention.
“We’re her daughters,” Kate said, stepping forward from the other side of Eli, holding Tessa’s hand.
“I’m Doctor Winslow,” the man said, his blue scrubs showing no sign of blood. That was good, right? “I’m one of the neurosurgeons on call here today.”
Neurosurgeon? Maggie fisted her hands and leaned in to listen.
“I’m going to give you what we have so far, and then I am going to need to get back.
Your mother has an extremely serious head injury.
She’s sustained a bleed inside her skull that’s putting pressure on her brain, and we have to operate immediately to relieve that pressure.
We’re prepping the operating room now. The surgery itself will take several hours. ”
“I need more,” Kate said, stepping closer. “Large? Acute? Subdural?”
Maggie had no idea what she was talking about, but tried to concentrate and listen, despite the blood pounding in her own head.
“Yes to all, with a midline shift, which means the accumulated blood is pressing on the brain hard enough to push it across the centerline of the skull.” He let out a breath, which said what he didn’t: this was not good.
“Any other injuries?” Eli asked.
“She has multiple rib fractures, a bruised lung, and a fractured wrist, hip contusion, no other internal bleeding that we can find.” He listed them off with about as much emotion as a waiter giving the specials.
This was Jo! Jo’s lungs. Jo’s ribs. Jo’s poor back and always aching hips that had gyrated with joy last night.
“But the brain situation is the most dire.”
Dire. Oh, that was not a good word.
“Being on a blood thinner like Eliquis is common for her age, but makes the bleeding worse and harder to control,” the doctor said.
“What exactly is the surgery?” Tessa asked.
“Craniotomy to evacuate the hematoma.”
Which might as well be in Latin. “What is that?” Maggie demanded, sharper than she’d intended.
The young man looked at her, his face softening as if he somehow knew this was unbearable for her. “A section of her skull will be temporarily removed, blood drained, and bone flap replaced. This is a level two trauma center, and we have an excellent team. We’ll report back in two to four hours.”
Maggie bit back a whimper. An eternity!
“I suggest you keep a skeleton crew here, get some rest, and…pray.”
“What are her chances?” Tessa demanded.
“Please be honest,” Kate added.
His shoulders sank almost imperceptibly.
“If she survives the surgery, it will be touch and go for two or three days. We’ll have a plan that I’ll explain to you then.
Now? We have to operate as soon as possible.
We’ll have someone come down to update you when we know more,” Dr. Winslow said.
“I’ll talk with you again afterward myself. ”
With that, he left, the doors zipped closed electronically to shut them off from any more information.
The group stood in silence and shock as every one of them realized they might lose the lightest, brightest, sweetest, best thing that ever happened.
Kate sank into a chair and reached for Tessa’s hand. Eli put an arm around Kate’s shoulder. Vivien held onto Peter, while everyone processed this news and some started to cry.
Maggie stayed standing in the middle of the waiting room with her hands at her sides, looking at the doors the surgeon had gone through. The thought that had arrived a moment ago returned, larger this time, and she let the guilt take a big bite out of her.
This is the bill for what we did. This is the punishment.
Somewhere in this hospital, Jo Ellen Wylie was being prepped for surgery where they would cut open her head. The odds were not in her favor. Well, unless she wanted to see Artie tonight. Then they were in her favor.
For Maggie, her world just looked bleak as the words from Vivien’s diary reverberated.
The Maggie Lawson Karma Special….do bad things and bad things will happen to you.