Dark as Coal, Part Four

Mary tore into Walter’s room, sure that she would find him dead. The shrill scream had come from this room, she was sure of it. It must have been the missing night nurse. But she was surprised when she didn’t see the night nurse. She only saw Walter….and praise be! He was sitting up on the edge of his bed! He was awake.

He was staring at the floor, as if he wasn’t sure what it was. Slowly Mary walked over to him. She wasn’t sure if he would recognize her or not.

“Walter?” she asked quietly, “It’s me…Mary.”

Walter raised his head…and thank God….his eyes were both back to normal. His face was full of worry and confusion. He stared at her for a minute…and then slow recognition spread across his face. He began to smile….to smile!

“Mary?” he asked, “Oh Mary!”

And then all words were lost to her. They were hugging…and crying…and sobbing openly with loud, wordless heaves. Mary was so happy. Her Walter was back with her…and from the looks of it, he was going to be okay. Even his eye…the one which had been as dark as coal…was back as normal.

Mary finally broke free of Walter’s grasp and took his head in her hands. Giving him a quick kiss, she said, “Now Walter…you stay right here in bed. I’m going to run and grab a doctor…nurse…somebody!”

Walter nodded and lay back down on the bed. Mary turned heel and quickly sprinted out into the hallway. Where was the night nurse? Where was anyone? The nurse’s station was empty, so she ran on down the hallway. She turned the corner…and ran smack into Doctor Franklin! He took two steps back…stumbling over his paperwork he had been reading.

“Mary?” he asked with concern, “Is everything alright?”

“No…I mean yes!” she cried, “Walter! It’s Walter! He’s awake! I couldn’t find anyone so I was just running until I found someone….anyone…you!”

“Calm down,” Doctor Franklin smiled, his eyes crinkling, “If Walter is awake..that’s a good thing. Although I’m sure that Sally, the night nurse, is aware of it already.”

“That’s just it,” Mary said, taking Doctor Franklin’s hand, “I can’t find her. Please…come and look at Walter! He’s awake! He’s back to normal!”

Mary and Doctor Franklin quickly made their way back to Walter’s room. As they passed the nurse’s station, a madly ringing phone greeted them. It appeared that Sally, the night nurse, was still nowhere to be found. But Mary wasn’t concerned over some lazy nurse who had run off somewhere….probably with a janitor or intern somewhere in a supply closet! She was too worried about Walter.

For a second, she was sure that Walter was back in his coma. He was just laying there when they made their way into the room. But then, he opened his eyes…both of which were still normal…and slowly sat up.

Doctor Franklin took out his pen light and made his way over to Walter’s bed.
“Mr. Jones?” he asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Well,” Walter croaked dryly in a harsh voice, “I’ve felt better….but I have to say…I’ve felt worse.”

Mary started to cry again. Walter was back. He was back.

Doctor Franklin made Walter follow the pen light with his eyes. He checked his blood pressure. He listened to his heart. And then he checked the wound in the back of Walter’s head. Mary knew that this wasn’t just any wound. It was a jagged piece of coal that was imbedded in Walter’s head…in his brain. It would be there for the rest of his life. The doctor’s had said that Walter would have to have a piece of plastic over it to protect it when he healed up.

Doctor Franklin made Walter lay back down and then came over to speak with Mary.
“Well…as of now…he seems to be doing fine,” he said, “But I don’t want to give you a false sense of hope. His condition is still very serious. For God’s sake…he has a large piece of coal in his head…his brain! The truth is…we don’t really know what kind of effect this is going to have on him.”

“What do you mean doctor?” Mary asked.

“Just that you shouldn’t be too surprised if he goes back into a coma…or worse…at any moment,” Doctor Franklin said, “But still…he seems to be doing fine right now. Let’s just take this one day at a time. I want to run another round of tests in the morning.”

Mary nodded her agreement, and Doctor Franklin left to find Sally, the missing night nurse. Mary walked back over to Walter. He was asleep again. But it was a good sleep…a “I’m still there” sleep. Not the coma state that he had been in. Mary sat down in the chair that sat beside Walter’s bed. She wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. She would just watch him sleep.

As soon as she sat down, she felt something pinch her on her ass. She jumped up…thinking for a second that it was a misplaced needle or something. It was a ring. Bending down, she picked up the expensive-looking diamond ring that had been lying on the chair. Where had it come from? Just then, Walter mumbled in his sleep. Without thinking about anything else, Mary slipped the ring into her pocket. She would worry about it later. Right now…all that mattered was Walter.

Until next week…class dismissed.