Page 8 of Family Secrets

“W-what kind of tests?” Elizabeth stuttered, Rose gripping her arm tighter.

“An EEG for one.” The acronym barely left Dr. Griffin’s lips when he saw the standard confused look cross Elizabeth’s face. “A test where we place these tiny electrodes on your grandmother’s head, and it tells us if there is any brain activity.”

“And you think…?”

“We won’t know until I get the results back. Until then I encourage the two of you to talk to her, do anything you can think of to bring her around, and…pray.”

Elizabeth stood in the center of the room, the beep of the machines echoing around her after Dr. Griffin excused himself.

“Come on, Lizzie.” Rose moved around her, patting the hard chair she’d vacated moments before. “You sit right here and talk with your granny. I don’t know anything about EEB’s or G’s or whatever that doctor called them, but I do know everything those nurses do takes time, and lots of it. I’m going to head to your house and grab you some clothes and anything else you need for a long stay.”

Elizabeth slid onto the hard plastic chair, cautiously wrapping her hand around the thin fingers of her grandmother.

“Rose?”

“Yes, Love?”

A sinking feeling of Rose being right about the long stay weighed heavy on Elizabeth, she would need a refuge, a distraction to help her fill the time. “Under the sofa is a box of what looks like feminine pads, inside is my laptop and charging cord. Can you remember to grab it please?”

“Pads box under the sofa got it. Anything else?”

Shaking her head, Elizabeth turned her attention back to the frail form of her grandmother.

Over the course of the afternoon, a multitude of nurses came into the room checking one tube or another, changing the bag of fluid hanging from a metal pole, and offering her food or drink. While she welcomed the attention to her grandmother, she wished their visits brought better news.

When the combination of hunger and the need to use the bathroom became too great to ignore, Rose walked into the room, two bags slung over her shoulder and the box of pads in her hands.

“Lord have mercy,” Rose exclaimed as she stumbled into the room, clutching the box, but allowing the bags to slide down her arm. “Didn’t think I was ever going to make it back. There is a big accident on the highway, had to take the backroads most of the way.”

Elizabeth sprang from her chair, nearly tripping over the strap of her purse. “Let me help.” Taking the box from her hands, she kicked the strap of her purse back under the chair.

“Any word when they are taking her down for the test?”

Elizabeth carefully laid the box on the chair, removing the power cord and plugging her laptop into a free socket. “Not yet, they’re working hard to get her down there, but Grady isn’t a huge hospital. With what I would guess is a result of the accident, radiology is backed up.”

Rose rummaged through the first bag, one she shoved a few things from her home into, pulling out a fluffy blanket and handing it to Elizabeth. “You’re gonna need this tonight. Hospitals can be drafty, and you’re a tiny thing.”

Elizabeth took the offered blanket, cradling it to her chest, the freshly laundered scent a welcomed addition to the bleak room.

Rose reached into the pocket of her jeans. “I saw this on your dresser, figured now was a good time to put it to use.”

Elizabeth held out her hand, smiling brightly as the cool feel of the beads of her rosary hit the skin of her palm, much like the fuzzy blanket the emotions it brought forth were welcomed.

“I brought you some of my homemade potato soup as I figured you haven’t eaten since last night.”

Elizabeth’s stomach rumbled at the mention of the legendary soup. She recalled with fondness how every time she was home sick from school, Rose would bring over a bowl of it. The healing powers it held something Elizabeth would have considered pouring into one of the IV bags at Granny’s beside.

“Thank you, Rose. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.”

“You’re welcome. Now you go down the hall,” pointing in the direction she came from. “There is a microwave the nurse said was okay to use, you go heat up your food and take a break. I’ll watch Birdie until you get back.”

* * *

Elizabeth shiftedfor the hundredth time in an attempt to get comfortable in the plastic chair. While the blanket served its purpose, and kept her warm, the unforgiving surface did little for her now numb butt cheeks. Rose begrudgingly left a few hours ago, her inability to see well at night too worrisome for Elizabeth as the last thing she needed was two sick people to take care of in the hospital.

Gaining a slightly more comfortable position, she was startled when the alarm on her phone sounded, alerting her to approaching the start time of the fight she and her Granny were supposed to watch. Silencing the alarm, she thought for the briefest of moments of skipping the match, but the advice the nurse gave earlier resonated inside her head, maybe, just maybe if she played the fight, Granny would wake up, and they could figure out what happened to her.

Typing away on her keyboard, Elizabeth hummed to herself, grateful for the silver lining in all of this of the fast speed of the hospital’s internet. Her excitement grew ten-fold when the site she used to stream the less popular matches came in crystal clear.

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