Robofootball: Doublespin

She could only agonize as the crowd went silent, holding her face in her hands. She dropped into her own silent frozen state as what little noise was left from the crowd was neutralized by the pain and concern within her own head. Things seemed to happen in slow motion, first it was the stretcher bearers running out as in some battle aftermath to save the wounded. What security there was including the coaches executed crowd control, keeping the players back, and others, like Carly. There was no screaming mother for Jess, no father present either for that matter, and no brothers and sisters since Jess had none. Carly was the only one there who qualified unofficially as a loved one, and she wasn’t allowed anywhere near him despite her attempts.

They strapped him to the gurney and somewhere in the distance, her inner silence was broken by sirens as red lights flashed in an eerie glow outside the field mixing with the yellowish-white stadium lights to create a pinkish-orangish mess. Jess was wheeled off the field, thrust into the backdoors of the ambulance, and whisked to the big hospital in Mt. Pleasant. It was only the beginnings of Carly’s nightmares.

Since it was an away game, she had ridden on one of the buses with the band and could not just drive off on her own to the hospital. What little wind the Harrison players had behind their sails died when Jess was removed from the game. Mt. Pleasant would get the ball back and score 3 more touchdowns. Once they reached 49 points, they pulled their starters. Near the end, they took intentional knees to the ground to run the clock out in the last 2 minutes when the backups could easily have scored again. The Bear coach was trying to ease the pain.

The night didn’t get any better for Carly. She tried the hospital several times on her phone before they left the stadium, on the bus, and finally when she arrived back home. All they could tell her was that Jess was in fact in emergency surgery, but all specific details would only be revealed to an immediate family member only. “WTF,” Carly thought, “There is no one closer than me.” She was beginning to feel what it was like to be a gay person when one’s significant other was hospitalized in a state that did not recognize gay rights in such situations.

Absent in all of this once again was Jess’s father, Mike Robinson. Part of the conditions in his Friday night high stakes poker games was that cell phones had to be turned off. He would have no less than 18 messages, 5 from Carly alone when he turned his phone back on at 11:52 p.m., a few minutes after he had lost his $1,000 stake for the night.

Mike Robinson had at least signed all of Jess’s paper documents to play high school sports which did preauthorize emergency surgery. He was in a bad mood and driving to Mt. Pleasant after drinking and playing cards most of the night was not high on his “To-Do” or “Want-To-Do” lists. Things got worse when he was pulled over for speeding on I-127 going south at 86 mph in a 70 mph zone. He failed the breathalyzer and despite his pleas concerning Jess, the officer was unsympathetic having heard it all and arrested him on the spot, citing him for a DUI.

Fortunately, Carly’s dad was more reliable and Pete Tucker got her to the hospital while driving just a few miles per hour over 70 on the same highway. Carly had gotten hold of Jess’s Uncle Larry and he showed up with his wife Jenny too. Finally, there was family involved, and the doctors would at least speak to Larry which would filter down the pipeline to Carly.

“Mr. Robinson?”

“Yes?” Larry didn’t bother telling them that he was Jess’s uncle and just let them assume whatever they wanted to.

“Let me take a seat with you,” said Dr. Epstein. “I’ve been on my feet awhile.” Epstein was a little round Jewish man, balding with just a little white hair above his ears, and less than a year to his 70th birthday.

“All right,” Larry sat down and motioned the others to stay back. He could see Carly tearing at her hair stressed like a torture victim who hadn’t see the light of day in a week and hadn’t eaten in that time either.

“Young Mr. Robinson suffered a serious closed head injury.”

“Go on,” Larry remained calm and let the doctor speak knowing that it was only a waste of time to ask questions. It wasn’t that long ago that he and Mike had gone through this with their mother, and then there was Ginny, his sister-in-law’ tragic death too. Larry was confident that the doctor would get to the nitty gritty soon enough.

“There was significant swelling and we performed emergency surgery to reduce it as the boy’s life was in immediate danger from a rupture.”

Larry just nodded along.

“But there are complications,” Doctor Epstein hesitated.

“Yes?” Larry finally spoke as the doctor remained silent for what seemed like a few too many seconds.

“There’s no way to sugar coat it. He’s in a coma, one that was induced naturally, obviously caused by severe blunt trauma to the cranium.”

“Are there any other kind?”

“Well as a matter of fact yes, we can induce them by reducing the body’s temperature. We do this at times to allow the brain to rest after an injury that has interrupted the flow of oxygen. It could be a blood clot, a chemical imbalance from a drug overdose, or most commonly, a blow to the head.”

“But you didn’t induce one with Jess,” Larry said it more as a statement than a question.

“No, we did cool him some and had traditional anesthesia on hand just in case or the off chance that he did awaken, but it was not necessary this time.”

“So what are you saying?” Larry could tell that the doctor was beating around the bush some, and that was never a good sign, especially with the most compassionate of doctors, who did not wish to be the bearer of bad news, but had no other choice, it was just part of the job.

“I have been doing this a long time, and frankly, it doesn’t look good.” Doctor Epstein hesitated again, searching for a positive spin. “He was hit extremely hard and the trauma along with the consequent swelling was very severe. He could easily have died. There is still a small amount of brain activity. He is not brain dead, but I would say the odds against him waking up are heavy, and not in his favor.”

“What would you estimate them as?”

“In his condition, less than 10%, and even lower for a return to normal activity if he does.”

“So we need a miracle?”

“Yes, but I am old enough to admit that I have been wrong before. Doctors are only human though I know a few who think they’re a bit more than that.”

“No offense Dr. Epstein, but should we get another opinion?”

“Yes, yes, of course, I was getting to that. I would suggest maybe moving him down to Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan probably has the best hospital network and research centers outside of the East Coast for this type of trauma. They have many more resources for coma patients and in the neurosciences in general than we have here.

“Okay, I’ll talk it over with his dad.”

“You mean you’re not….”

“No, I’m his uncle,” Larry cut him off, “My brother Mike, Jess’s dad, was a bit detained, but I’ll get him here soon.”

“Oh, all right, I’m sure there’s a lot of paperwork, please have Mr. Robinson check in at the nurse’s station when he arrives. There are a few more tests I’d like to run with his permission.”

“Of course, thanks Dr. Epstein.”

“Bye now,” Epstein shook his hand and patted Larry’s shoulder lightly as he left.

Larry relayed everything to the small crowd of coaches, school personnel, and of course, Carly and her dad. Coach Bruce was there looking downcast, equally sad for Jess and all hopes for his playoff run dashed too. The team was doomed without its star QB.

“Can we see him? Can we see him?” Carly nearly shrieked.

“You know, I forgot to ask,” said Larry, “Let me check with the nurses, maybe we can peak in on him.”

“Only for a couple of supervised minutes,” a nursing supervisor said after they had been denied by the desk nurse. The older lady empathized and led Larry and Carly to the intensive care recovery area. Ordinarily it was off limits to visitors but she had been there for 3 decades with the last 12 in management, and was in a position to make an occasional exception. She took the two to Jess’s gurney and stepped about 10 feet back to give them a small measure of privacy. “Just don’t touch anything,” she warned.

“Oh my god,” was all Carly said, “Oh my god Jess.” She burst out in tears and was going to lay his head on him when a voice in the background reminded, “Please don’t touch him.”

Larry put a hand around her and edged her back as the two stared down at him. Jess’s entire head including his eyes were wrapped in thick white bandages like a mummy. The consummate IV’s, breathing tubes, wires, and whatever else that was all hooked up to him looked like some freaky experiment being conducted by Dr. Frankenstein.

“I’m afraid that’s all I can allow,” the old nurse stepped forward and prodded them gently. “We usually don’t allow visitors here at all. We’ll get him in his own room in a day or two.”

They left, almost gratefully since this was obviously not the way they really wanted to see Jess.

BOOK II: THE RFL

“Ah! A man’s love is strong

When fain he comes a-mating

But a woman’s love is long

And grows when it is waiting.”

Laurence Houseman, The Two Loves