Chapter 27

An hour later, some nurses wheeled Nick on a gurney back to his ICU room. The results of the tests wouldn't come for another hour. Meanwhile, the turning off of the machines had been postponed until further notice. Everyone hoped that they would not have to schedule another time for that. They prayed that Nick was actually coming out of the coma.

They waited another hour and a half, and finally, Dr. Mitchell came back to the waiting room. He was studying some papers on a clipboard. When he looked up, Howie noticed that he had a slight smile on his face.

"Well everyone," he started, "I don't know how this happened. I can not come up with a medical explanation. But Nick's brain activity level has suddenly risen. It was nearly a flat line when he was first brought it, signaling that he had suffered a massive head trauma. And it hadn't risen at all over the past few weeks, which is a sign that he will never recover. But now, the line has risen, meaning his level of brain activity is higher. This is what I would call a miracle."

Everyone began to cry happy tears and hug each other. "So he's going to be all right?" Bob Carter asked.

"I can't promise you that," Dr. Mitchell said. "He still is unable to breathe on his own. But right now, it looks good. If his brain activity level keeps rising like this, he has a good chance of recovery. However, he still might have permanent brain damage."

"How much brain damage?" Kevin asked, his smile fading.

"It's too soon to tell. We just have to wait and see what happens." Everyone nodded. They would worry about that later. Right now, all that mattered was that Nick seemed to be getting better.

***

 

 

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