Just Breathe Again - Mia Villano Page 0,6
did a few heavy taps on her keyboard and squinted at the screen as she chewed. She told her where to find him and Jeannie took off down the hall. Once inside his room, she found out Vince’s prognosis had worsened. In fact, he had not gained consciousness since he arrived and they placed him on life support. He wasn’t responding, and a brain scan showed little activity at the time. Vince wasn’t wearing a helmet when he had his accident, and his head hit the ground sustaining a devastating blow. His brain bruised from hitting the road, swelled in his skull, and they were planning to cut open his skull to give his brain room. Never in her life did she think about something like this affecting them. This didn’t happen in real life. Accidents like this were something that happened on the news or in movies. How could this be?
~~~~~~
For seven months she lived at St. Cecelia’s, talking to her husband and pleading with God to let him live. She prayed, begging God to work a miracle and bring him back to her. She longed to see Vince’s beautiful dark eyes, and hear his voice one more time. She wanted to hear him call her name. Hearing his voice again wasn’t meant to be. Little did Jeannie know, the last words she would ever hear from her husband, he said before he left on his motorcycle that beautiful fall day.
The swelling in his brain wasn’t improving like the doctors had hoped. Each day the realization became inevitable what had to be done. She kept telling herself Vince would get better. He pulled through everything. Yes, he may be a little banged up after this and take a while to recover, but to Jeannie he had to live. He wasn’t going to leave her like that, devastated and alone. He promised to always be there with her forever and he didn’t go back on his promises. Vince didn’t give in or call it quits on anything in life. She knew he would come back to her and be her husband again.
Jeannie and the kids spent most of their time with Vince talking, singing to him, and sharing holidays as he lay there unresponsive to anything. They spent Thanksgiving eating with Vince in his room while his favorite football team played on the television. Jeannie brought turkey and the sides from the local grocery store, and they ate together around his bed. The kids insisted Vince have a Christmas tree, so Jeannie bought him an artificial and they decorated the tree for his room. On Christmas day, they spent the entire day with Vince in the hospital with the three of them singing Christmas carols, and opening his presents they had purchased for him.
By spring, Vince’s health was beginning to take a toll on them. The kids knew everyone on staff and loved spending time with Vince yet longed for their old lives back. They were doing poorly in school, and Lydia missed out on running track. They were exhausted from staying at two houses and not knowing what would happen from day to day. They didn’t want to go home or leave their dad’s side and when they were at the hospital, they didn’t want to be there. It became both physically and mentally draining on everyone. On the days when the kids were in school and Jeannie had to work, Marsha and John helped with homework and dinner so Jeannie spent her evenings with Vince. Some nights she would sleep in the room with him and get up the next morning for work still exhausted. She ran on adrenaline and caffeine during those awful days.
The bills piled up from the hospital and suppliers for the business. They had a crew of men needing paid, projects needing finished, and Jeannie had no idea how she would manage. The bank account dwindled away fast and Jeannie had to use their savings to pay what they owed.
Seven months after the accident, Vince still wasn’t making any progress. He wasted away lying there and soon became unrecognizable. His once toned and perfect body turned into a bag of bones, not moving or responding to anything. After a long discussion with the doctor, he determined Vince wasn’t going to get better and would stay in a coma for the rest of his life.
“Mrs. Franklin, I know this is difficult for you and your family. Vince is not improving. He may not come out