Talia exhaled audibly. She lifted her hand from Jo Ellen’s chest and glanced at Denise—the two of them had a wordless one-second conversation. If she had to guess, it was something like…that was a close call.
Dr. Halpern shot into the room just then, next to the bed in two long strides, taking in the scene, the monitors, and the patient in a sweeping look.
Talia launched into a report, a cacophony of numbers and medical terminology, but all Kate heard is, “Patient is stable now.”
Stable? Did she say…stable?
Dr. Halpern listened with Mom’s wrist in her hand, her gaze searching her face. After a moment, she looked up and turned to Kate, not even reacting to the fact that she was there.
She didn’t say a word but there was something in her eyes—a glimmer, a look, a hint of her own disbelief. As if she’d never seen anything like it.
She turned back to Talia. “Hold the next propofol step. I want to assess.”
And then the doctor bent over the bed and got very close to Mom’s ear. “Jo Ellen. Can you open your eyes for me, sweetheart?”
Wait.What?
For one long second, nothing happened. Kate held her breath and stared at the ashen face as the tiniest bloom of color streaked Mom’s cheeks.
Kate was able to see the very moment her eyelids fluttered. Sleepy. Lost. Working hard to…open.
She opened her eyes!
Not fast, but slow, tired, and disoriented. She let them roam the ceiling, search the world, then land on the doctor’s face.
With each heartbeat, Kate took a step closer. Nothing and no one could stop her from witnessing this moment.
“Jo Ellen. I am Marcia Halpern. You’re in the ICU at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center. You had a fall. Can you squeeze my hand, dear?”
Kate felt her eyes widen, watching the two joined hands on the bed. And she saw it. She saw her mother squeeze the doctor’s hand.
Dr. Halpern gave the tiniest satisfied smile.
“Is she okay?” Kate whispered, unable to stop the question.
“Good,” the doctor said, but it was unclear if she was answering Kate or giving an assessment. “Can you do it again?”
She did, visibly stronger than the first time.
“Excellent. Do you know who is in this room with us, Jo Ellen?”
Her eyes moved, but not her head. Dr. Halpern nodded to Kate, using her free hand to beckon her closer.
It was a test, Kate knew. Would her mother recognize her? Would she give the blank stare of someone lost or…in a vegetative state? This was the ultimate test.
Holding her breath again, Kate came to the other side of the bed and stood stone still and looked at her mother.
Above the ventilator, tiny and scared, Mom’s eyes shifted, moving as if unfocused until her gaze landed on Kate.
“Do you know this woman?” Dr. Halpern asked. “Give me a squeeze if you recognize her.”
Kate didn’t take her eyes off Mom’s, but she heard the doctor give a satisfied sound. “Very good.”
And then Kate saw the glimmer, the smile in those brown eyes, the connection between mother and daughter. She knew what Mom was thinking. She could practically hear her say, “Katie.”
Her legs weakened and Kate grabbed the railing on the side of the bed to stay steady. “Hey, Mom. You’re back.”
Jo Ellen blinked as if to say, “Yes.”
