Chapter 28
Brian's eyes slowly opened again as he heard the door open and footsteps approach his bed. He tried to turn his head towards the source of the sound, but found it nearly impossible because he was so weak. A few seconds later, a smiling face came into his line of vision. "Hello Brian. I'm Dr. Adele and I will be taking care of you during your stay at this hospital. Right now I'm going to take out your breathing tube and see if you can breath on your own, and if you can then we will leave it out and if not we will put it back in." said Dr. Adele as he got a hold of the tube and gently pulled it out of Brian's throat. The first few seconds, Brian gasped for air then his lungs started to cooperate and he began to breath on his own as a coughing fit took over his weak body. Dr. Adele gently turned Brian over on his side and rubbed his back reassuringly as the body shaking coughs took their course. He then watched the heart monitors and seen Brian's blood pressure and heart rate had gone up and the heart beat became irregular. He softly talked to Brian to get him to calm down and not cause so much strain on his heart and after a few moments, the levels slowly began to drop. Thankful that the levels were going down, Dr. Adele patted Brian on the shoulder as Brian watched his every move with innocent blue eyes. Dr Adele smiled and asked Brian if he wanted to see his family and friends. Brian nodded as fast as he could in his weak state and Dr. Adele told him to please wait a few moments until he came back. He then stepped out of the room and went to the ICU waiting room. Looking around the room, he quickly found the large group of Brian's family and friends and started walking towards them. Brian's mother was the first to notice him and ran over towards him. When she reached him she looked up at him with tear-filled blue eyes and she asked, "How is my baby, doctor?" Dr. Adele placed a hand on her shoulder and gently lead her to a seat. He then sat down across from Brian's aunt and parents squeezing himself in between Tim and Kevin. He cleared his throat and looked around to find 9 anxious pairs of eyes staring at him. He smiled and said, "He is conscious and we took the breathing tubes out. At first he couldn't breath on his own, but his lungs finally kicked in and he started breathing by himself. And he started couging badly from the pneumonia in his body and his heart beat became irregular and the blood pressure and heart rate also increased. His heart beat is still irregular but it is better than it was before. Any questions so far?" "Is there any brain damage?" asked Harold as he took his wife's hand in his, fearing the worse. Dr. Adele sighed and looked at them, "We haven't done testing to be absolutely sure but there is a chance there might be slight brain damage from such a long time without oxygen going to his brain. He seems to be alert but I'm not saying he doesn't have brain damage, we will have to do more tests first thing in the morning, but in the meantime if you all would like, I will take you to his room so you can stay with him awhile. I have talked to the nurses earlier and told them to let you stay past visiting hours." Harold rose to his feet along with his wife and shook the doctor's hand, "Thank you so much Dr. Adele. This really means a lot to us." Dr. Adele smiled at Mr. Littrell and said, "You're very welcome Mr. Littrell. Now if you all will please follow me to his room." The rest of the group silently rose to their feet and followed the doctor down the ICU halls to the ICU room which would become all to familiar to them in the future.
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