Chapter 40

My rest in the hospital wasn't great; every time I would start to fall asleep, I felt like the nurses were waking me up to check on me. They had done my laryngoscopy earlier, and I was put under general anesthesia; that was the most restful period since I had been there, but my throat was so sore afterward.

I was still on a liquid diet and had been drinking so much broth to subdue my hunger pains. In turn, I had to pee every 30 minutes, it seemed. I couldn't wait for James to get here. I missed him terribly and knew I would find comfort in his presence alone. 

I scribbled on my whiteboard in anticipation of James' return, and the clock ticked slowly. I was bored, so I turned on the television in my room to wait for him in the meantime. I flipped through the channels and ended up on reruns of Criminal Minds. 

Two episodes had passed, and the nurses had done their rounds once again and brought me my broth and tea. I began sipping the broth; its saltiness made my throat feel a bit better. 

It was dark enough now that James should have been on his way or already here. I started to worry. What if Sylas had done something to him for standing up for me? Worse, what if he found out that we were trying to figure out if we could kill him or not?

I let out a long, disheartened sigh. There was nothing that I could do from here. I leaned my head back on the pillow and closed my eyes, trying to clear my mind from worry and rest a bit more before he came.

I must have dozed off, but a tender kiss on my forehead woke me up. I opened my eyes and weakly said, "James." My voice was more hoarse today than yesterday, and after the procedure, my throat hurt even more.

James leaned down and kissed me gently, preventing me from straining my voice further. He tapped on my whiteboard, "I missed you too, Love." I smiled and immediately felt relief with him at my side. I held up my dead phone, and James said, "Yes, Love, I have your charger and the other things you requested.", and he pointed by the window sill. 

I looked over and saw a duffle bag sitting there alongside a beautiful glass vase overflowing with white lilies and pink and purple orchids. I quickly scribbled on my whiteboard, "Thank you so much, James. You didn't have to do that."

He chuckled, "You didn't ask for much; it was the least I could do." I smiled and reached out my hand toward his; I needed to feel his embrace; it had been such a long day without him.

"Is Sylas still angry?", I wrote down with my other hand. He nodded, "He's still very pissed, but I did go to his office to meet him for training." He paused, "That's why I was a bit late, but I must appease him for the time being." 

I nodded as James said, "I can't put you at risk again; I gave him a reason to hurt you for defying him." I squeezed his hand tightly. Just then, Dr. Lex walked in, "Welcome back. I have the results of your laryngoscopy if you want to hear them."

James said, "Yes, please." James squeezed my hand tightly, anticipating the news. Dr. Lex continued, "There is a 54 percent obstruction mainly caused by inflammation and some closed cartilage fractures of your larynx and trachea. We'll be performing all other laryngoscopies while you're awake since when we assessed the damage, we determined that no surgical intervention would be required at this time."

Dr. Lex paused briefly, "You'll continue to be monitored here. As long as the swelling continues to subside, I am confident that we can move you to a honey-like consistency of foods without issue starting tomorrow morning, which should help you feel more full in the interim. You'll stay with us until you can swallow things like yogurt, pudding, and mashed potatoes."

I wrote on my whiteboard, "How many more days until I can go back home?" Dr. Lex said, "That depends on the swelling and how fast it is alleviated; I'd be lying if I gave you an exact timeframe, but I will be confident in your release when you can eat the things I mentioned." I nodded and wiped the whiteboard before writing, "What was my swelling percentage from the CT scan?" 

Dr. Lex flipped through my chart and said, "68 percent." I did the math on the whiteboard, and in roughly 20 hours, the swelling had subsided by 14 percent. If I stayed on track, I would see about a 17 percent improvement every 24 hours. I wrote out my answer, broken down into the days, "Day 1: 51%, Day 2: 34%, Day 3: 17%."

Dr. Lex shook her head. "It's not that straightforward. A lot of your healing will be determined by your cooperativeness, not pushing yourself, and your responsiveness to the medications you are on." I nodded again and wrote, "Thank you." Dr. Lex nodded, "Of course, and again, if you need anything, just press your call button." 

I turned to James as she left the room. He smiled, "That's pretty great news considering everything that happened." I wrote on my whiteboard again, "I want to go home so I can be with you like normal." James responded, "I miss you too. I was restless without you sleeping beside me, but your health is my main concern." 

He took my phone and walked over to the window where the duffle bag and bouquet were. He unzipped the duffle bag, removed my charger, and plugged it in. Then he took out one of his shirts, my spandex shorts, and my underwear. "Did you want to change now?", he asked, bringing the outfit over.

He pulled the door closed and helped me remove my nasal cannula. I took the shirt I was wearing off while sitting in the hospital bed, and he weaved the IV tubes through it. He took my new shirt and reversed the process, feeding the IV pack and tubing through the sleeve so that I could put it on. He helped me stand, and I dropped his sweatpants and my panties to the floor before using his arm to balance myself as I pulled my new bottoms. 

He helped me ease myself back onto the uncomfortable hospital bed. As soon as my feet left the floor, I hit the call button and scribbled on my whiteboard. When the nurse came in, I showed it to her. She read it and said, "I don't see why not if you stay on this floor and have someone with you." She held up her finger as if she had an idea, "I'll grab you some grippy socks. Be right back." 

After a short time, she returned with a pair of socks still in the wrapper. She opened them for me and slid them onto my feet; she saw the bruising around my ankles but didn't mention it. She looked at James and said, "There are several wheelchairs in the hall if she needs a break or starts to feel dizzy." He nodded, "I'll take great care of her." 

He helped me to my feet again and pushed the IV pole over to me; I used it to support my weight, and my sore muscles were thankful for the additional movement. Laying in bed and only getting up to use the bathroom was almost as painful as my throat. I walked slowly and focused on my breathing. James carefully supported me while monitoring my reaction to the light exercise. 

I didn't think just walking around would be as exhausting as it was, but I didn't even make it halfway down the long hallway before needing to sit down to rest in one of the wheelchairs. I felt deprived of oxygen, and the realization of staying here really hit me. Despite my desire to return home, I couldn't in my current condition.

I knew that James would carry me up the stairs and help when he could with my needs, but I really needed to be monitored 24/7. I didn't want to burden him, especially knowing that while the sun was out, he wouldn't be able to help at all. 

He asked, "Do I need to take you back to your room?" I shook my head and held up two fingers, motioning him to give me two minutes. He obliged and squatted down next to me. He looked up at me, and his gaze fell softly on my face. He gently stroked my hair and cupped my cheek, "I love you, Kara. I'm sorry that you are having to go through this." I leaned toward him and nuzzled my nose against his to say I love you, James. 

After a bit of time passed, he helped me back to my feet. I was determined to make it to the end of the hall before returning to the hospital room. James stayed with me the entire time and rested when I needed to take breaks. I was ecstatic when I made it to the end of the hallway, but I could tell I had over-exerted my body. The familiar black specks began to creep into my vision.

I clung to James as I felt my body weaken; he swiftly cradled me in his arms and carried me back to the room while pushing the IV pole. He set me back on the bed and said, "You don't have to push yourself, Love." He put my nasal cannula back on, and the specks started disappearing. I smiled at him weakly but could tell I was already regaining my strength.