Lost In Love (vol. 1)

Desperate Measures

"I will never let you fall
I'll stand up with you forever
I'll be there for you through it all
Even if saving you sends me to heaven."

- Your Guardian Angel, THE RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS

Kyle woke up.

Nothing else registered. Just those three words; Kyle woke up.

Nate couldn't move. His body was numb, his feet stuck in place. He tried to speak, his throat working to push the words up and out but no sound emerged. It was Janice who spoke.

"My son...is awake?" Janice started to rise but sagged back into her chair.

Nate's stare was sealed to the doctor's face. He knew Kyle wasn't awake, not as Janice meant. But he had woken up...wasn't that what Stolsig was telling them? He was out of the dangerous coma?

"No." Stolsig gazed with sympathy at Janice. "Kyle isn't awake. He is in a medically induced coma."

"Yes, but..." Janice managed to stand to her feet. She gripped Nate's arm to steady herself. "He did wake up?"

Stolsig's gaze shifted between them. "Yes..." But the hesitation in his voice again left Nate with a sense of anxiety and the inability to take even a measure of comfort from the man's words.

"Did he...say anything?" The question felt weighted, heavy. Each and every nerve in Nate's body tied into its own tiny knot and stretched out tight.

The doctor shook his head slowly. "He wasn't coherent. He didn't open his eyes...but there was eye movement behind his eyelids. He moved his limbs and...brain activity increased substantially."

A brief, unsettling silence blanketed the waiting room. The air felt thick as Nate stared at the doctor, his body and mind taut with tension. Stolsig gripped his hips and stared at the carpeted floor a moment then slowly raised his eyes.

"We didn't have a chance to...administer tests before he went into cardiac arrest." He spoke low, quiet. "As of now, we have no way of knowing..."

"What?" Nate asked tightly.

"If there's been any brain damage due to the coma."

A tremor ran through Nate as Janice squeezed his arm. "But he...wasn't in it for that long." Nate's words fell from his lips unevenly. "Why should there be any threat of brain damage?"

"There is always the risk with comatose patients." He said. "Brain damage can occur within minutes if there is a lack of oxygen to the brain. People who have received CPR immediately following a heart attack, and been revived...have been known to suffer brain damage. And someone in a coma...brain cells begin to die."

A low, bitter laugh sifted from Nate. "Well aren't you just full of fucking good news."

"Nate. I understand-"

"I don't need your fucking understanding!" Nate exploded, the force of his words causing Stolsig to take a step back..

"Please, Nate." The doctor spoke calmly. "Calm down. This isn't going to help Kyle."

"What is going to help him?" Nate ground tightly. "You just said he needs a new heart now. It isn't like we can trot down to the fucking supermarket and buy one!"

Stolsig dragged his hand over his mouth, squeezed his chin, then let it drop away. "Kyle's name has already been put on the waiting list, top priority. I had it done immediately following surgery."

"And what is the average wait period before someone actually receives a heart?" Nate felt sick. The doctor had no good news for them. He tried his best to give them hope, but there was no hope, Nate could feel it draining away. It would take a miracle for Kyle to get what he needed soon enough. And at this point, Nate wasn't betting on God to come through.