Looking into her eyes, I reached out with my right hand and ran the backs of my fingers across her cheek. “Hey.”
“How bad does it look? You don’t have to lie.” Her voice was still cracked and hoarse.
“Bad enough.”
Her lips moved up an inch or so, her eyes closing.
“That’s more like you.”
The nurse walked in with the IV bag, so I had to pull my hand back from her face.
The doctor came in two hours later when Rose had had small naps with her mouth open in between the blood pressure and fever checks. Every time she woke up, she’d look around the room and say my name when her eyes found mine. Every one of those times I got up and went to her side to assure her I hadn’t left.
I looked like hell. Even more than that, I felt like I was living in hell. I wasn’t cut out for stuff like this. I didn’t know the right words to say. I was more likely to mess things up.
“How are we doing?” Dr. Martin asked.
Rose had just woken up so she pushed herself up in the bed.
“Not too bad,” she said. “My stomach hurts a little.”
“Yes. You remember what we talked about before, right? To patch the leak, we needed cartilage and other tissues from either your nose, your stomach, or the back of your ear, and—”
“I thought you said it was going to be from the nose,” I cut in.
“Yes, that was the initial plan, but the tear was bigger than what we’d hoped for.”
“Is that why it lasted over seven hours?”
“Again, yes. The tear was bigger and farther back than we expected, so it took a while to patch it, and if we had taken the tissue from the nose, it wouldn’t have been enough. I didn’t expect the operation to take that long either. Like we discussed before, it’s usually a few hours at most, but it was successful, and that’s what’s important.”
“I can’t really breathe through my nose,” Rose said, getting the doctor’s attention.
“That’s normal. You have packing in it right now and it’ll have to stay in at least two, maybe three more days.”
“When can I get out?”
He flashed Rose a smile. “Trying to get away from us so quickly?”
“No, I just—”
He patted Rose’s arm. “That’s fine. You’ll be our guest for a few more days, maybe a week. We need to keep an eye on you for a while and see how things are going.”
They had operated so close to her brain and because of the tear in the membrane, there was no protection. “Is infection a concern?” I asked.
“Infection is always a concern with any operation. Because we were so close to her brain, we just need to keep a close eye on her to make sure everything is healing smoothly.”
“When will we know if it’s still leaking?” Rose asked.
“I’ll order another CT scan in a few days after we take the packing out and see how things are looking. After you get out of here, I’ll need you to do another MRI scan in a few weeks.” Rose stiffened in bed. “I know you have trouble with that, but we need to see if everything is okay.”
She nodded and I took her hand. It seemed like I couldn’t control myself anymore.
“Okay. I’ll be checking on you every day, but a few things you need to know before I go: I need you to take a few pills morning and night. The nurse will get them to you before you take your meals. Also, there will be a syrup for constipation that you need to have two times a day.”
Rose groaned and I tightened my grip around our linked fingers.
“We can’t have you straining in any way. You need to keep taking the syrup even after you leave us, probably for about a month. Do not bend forward because we don’t want any pressure in your skull. After you get out of the hospital, you need to stay in bed for at least another two weeks and keep your head high with two or more pillows. You’ll visit us for check-ups in the meantime, and we’ll talk about these things in more depth when you’re ready to leave. For now, no tilting your head down, no sneezing.”
“I’m guessing I’m not allowed to sleep on my face then?”
“No. I’m afraid that’s not gonna be possible for quite a while. A few months. If you don’t have any other questions, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Another round of blood pressure and fever checks happened right before her employees and now friends showed up with cinnamon rolls, brownies, and two sandwiches.
As Sally approached, Owen stayed back, at the foot of the bed. I was standing on her left side.
“Hi,” Rose whispered to Sally’s smiling face.
“Hey,” she said back. “Sorry we couldn’t come before. We got all the good news from Raymond though. How are you doing?”