In Another Life by Carys Jones

likely to be causing the coma.”
     
    “Can’t you drain it?” Sebastian demanded, leaning forward. He looked strung out, like a drug addict attempting to go clean and struggling.
     
    “There was some swelling also which we managed to control,” Dr. Simmons continued. “With bleeds, they usually settle on their own after a few days. We wouldn’t want to do anything too invasive at this stage for fear of causing unnecessary permanent damage.”
     
    “So what happens now?” Bill ask solemnly as he wrapped an arm around Carol who was trembling.
     
    “In these circumstances, most patients wake up on their own. The brain has time to recover and when it does, they regain consciousness.”
     
    “But Marie hasn’t woken up,” Sebastian stated anxiously.
     
    “I know,” Dr. Simmons lowered his gaze back to the file. This was the part he hated.
     
    “The issue we have with Marie is that we are now close to moving beyond the seventy two hour window.”
     
    “What does that mean?” Bill asked as Carol dabbed at phantom tears.
     
    “In coma cases the first seventy two hours are crucial. If someone regains consciousness during that time, chances are they suffer no lasting damage. The longer someone remains in a coma, the more damage occurs to both the brain and their other organs as the body slowly begins to shut down.”
     
    Carol let out a high pitched wail.
     
    “Oh my baby!” she cried desperately.
     
    “There has to be something we can do,” Sebastian urged, using his forceful tone which was usually reserved solely for the boardroom.
     
    Dr. Simmons crossed his hands on the desk before him. He was a man of science and he hated feeling beaten by anything. If there was a chance he could save Marie, he’d take it. The oath he’d taken back in medical school danced around his mind on a daily basis. His job was to save lives, surely there was no greater calling. He’d do whatever he could to save the girl. He was painfully aware of the fact that they were running out of both time and options.
     
    “There is only one course of action I can propose,” he told Marie’s loved ones.
     
    “Which is?” Sebastian was willing to do anything.
     
    “We could try and force her to wake up using stimulants. However, this is a highly risky procedure as if her brain hasn’t yet fully recovered we could damage anything from her mobility to her ability to form words. However, if we just leave her, it is my professional opinion that at this point she won’t wake up. With that being the case I’d need you to consider end of life care and what Marie would want to happen to her organs. Was she a donor?” 
     
    The trio were silent as the words settled around them.
     
    Donor.
     
    Damage.
     
    It was a lot to take in. Carol shook as she leaned against Bill for support. Sebastian looked over to them. Since he and Marie were not yet married the decision on what to do would ultimately lie with them. But he saw the resignation in their eyes. He knew they wouldn’t fight for her. No one would but him.
     
    “Do it,” Sebastian declared fiercely. “Do the procedure, wake her up.”
     
    “But what about the damage?” Bill looked sorrowfully across at him. “What if she wakes up and she’s not Marie anymore?”
     
    “She will always be Marie,” Sebastian said fervently. He held back the tears in his eyes as he imagined watching the machines around her be disconnected, knowing he’d lost her forever. He couldn’t let that happen.
     
    “Even if she can’t walk, or talk, she’d still be Marie! We can’t give up on her! She wouldn’t give up on us.”
     
    “I think it’s too risky,” Bill said sadly, unable to meet Sebastian’s intense gaze. “I want her back as much as you do but not at the cost of her quality of life.”
     
    Sebastian seethed. He gripped the arms of the blue chair he was sat in and tried to control his temper. If only Marie were his wife, then he’d get the final say on her