Part I-Chapter 18: THE ICU

Chapter 18

The ICU

(Ó 2007)

Jared Bartholomew had begun to awaken. Slowly the sounds around him began to fade in, the sounds of peoples voices, phones ringing, and machinery, some sort of machinery. The machines were clicking and beeping. He also heard the sounds of wheels, wheels like those of a cart of some sort.

He heard the sound of his own breathing. Slow breathing, and he felt his breath exiting his nostrils onto his upper lip, however it was somewhat obstructed because of the oxygen tube on his nose. He tried to open his eyes but found that he could not. He strained to open his eyelids, but he could only see the blur of light through the shadows of his eyelashes. After several attempts to open his eyes, he finally surrendered.

He could feel that his lips, they felt as if they were glued together from the constant build up of drying saliva and he could hear the faint tearing sound they made when he opened them slightly. There seemed to be an effort also just to open and close his lips in such an insignificant width. They made a faint smacking as he repeated the motion of opening and closing his lips.

Apparently though, Jared had caught someone’s attention.

“Mr. Bartholomew?” he heard the woman’s voice say, “Mr. Bartholomew? Can you hear me?”

He lip synced the answer “yes”, it was a very small movement with no sound from his voice, however whomever this woman was, she understood.

“Mr. Bartholomew, can you hear me?”

Again, he lip synced “yes”.

“Mr. Bartholomew, you’re now in the Intensive Care Unit at Evanston Northwestern. Do you understand?”

He lip synced “yes” again. His memory now was starting to come back. His father finding him, screaming at his mother to phone 9-1-1.

“You have been out of surgery now for over four hours.” The woman said, “The surgery itself lasted some twelve. As soon as the anesthesia wears off some more and your vital signs are more stable we will be moving you to your own room, OK?”

He lip synced “OK”. He wanted to move, but he could not. He tried to lift his arms, but there was no movement. He remembered the woman saying something about anesthesia. He thought that maybe that was it, all the anesthesia was keeping him from moving. Then the memory of his father again, he and his father having a heated conversation in the back yard. However, he could not see his father, all he could remember was the aroma of the lawn.

He thought again of the anesthesia, he thought of how potent all the chemicals that were in his bloodstream must be, because he literally could not feel anything.

--“Do not resist me.”--

He heard his voice now in his head.

--“You’re so beautiful. There’s not a hair on you”--

If he could have done it, his eyes would have bolted open, however he still could not open them. He now remembered the voice, soft, ever so soft. Done audibly enough so that he, Jared Bartholomew, alone would be the only one to hear it.

--“Always remember why this happened to you. Always admit to what you have done.”--

“This?” Jared thought, “What do you mean this?” The memory then of the sudden pain in his back flashed into his head, the memory of what felt like a sledgehammer hitting him between his shoulder blades.

--“I will be watching you. Always.”--

Jared now remembered the hands that first had his head in a vice grip, the shear power of the man he never saw, how his feet were lifted from the ground. He could still feel the hand that covered his mouth and face. Jared tried to bring his own hands to his face so that he could try and rub the feeling of the hand that was on his face away, but his arms would not move.

--“I can make this worse for you. I promise you.”--

Jared began to breath heavy, still unable to move or open his eyes.

--“I will return to you. Do you understand?”--

“Uhhhhmmmmmm.” Jared moaned. “Mmmmmmmm.”

Soon Jared heard the voice of the woman again, “Is everything alright Mr. Bartholomew? Are you feeling any pain?”

“Uhhmmmmmmmmm.” Jared moaned in the normal sleepy way that the nurses were use too because of all the narcotic pain killers all their patients were under the influence of. The moan from Jared seemed the same calm as the others before.

However, what the nurses believed was moaning from Jared Bartholomew was far from what they thought. Jared Bartholomew was doing the best he could in what was really going on with him.

Jared Bartholomew was actually screaming from his fright.