Saving Maria

CHARLOTTETOWN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, CANADA

            Silence in the hospital room was broken by the rhythmical click of the oxygen dispenser. Every ten seconds a heart monitor reading flowed in bright green across a black monitoring screen. Two people sat with worried looks watching for signs of movement from the young girl lying in the hospital bed. Every few minutes they looked at each other with grim faces. Then, they looked back at the girl lying motionless.

            It had been this way for twenty - four hours. That was when Maria had slipped into a coma. Maria’s parents, Patrick and Francine McGregor, had rushed her to the hospital in Charlottetown when she failed to respond to the usual home remedies for what seemed like a cold or flu. That was forty-eight long hours ago. Nothing seemed to help. She kept complaining, without crying, of terrible headaches. Her fever, which had been 101 when they brought her to the hospital, had risen slowly to 103. Then, her fever fell to 100, and she slowly slipped into a sleep. The sleep had become a deeper sleep and then a coma. Now they hoped and prayed for her recovery. They watched for some sign that she might be awakening. Nothing changed. The oxygen machine clicked, the heart monitor waves dashed across the screen, and Patrick and Francine waited.

            Silently the duty nurse slipped into the room. She checked the readings, placed a hand on Maria, adjusted some wires, and moved toward the distraught parents. Mary Cavendish was more than a well trained nurse. She had grown up in the Province of Prince Edward Island where people still knew each other. While Mary Cavendish was away at nursing school in Toronto, her sister had been in class with Maria at Wood Pine School in the small fishing village of Tagnet. She remembered her twelve year old sister telling her Maria was such a fun person. Mary was disturbed by the strange illness which seemed to threaten the life of Maria. As she was leaving the room, Mary stopped and touched the arm of each parent expressing the special care many people on PEI were feeling for Maria and her family.

            “She still has strong responses.”

            “Thank you,” responded Francine meekly.

            “Is there any sign of change?” asked Patrick in a whisper.

            Mary Cavendish shook her head slowly.

            “Nothing has changed. She is a strong little girl. Blood work indicates that her immune system is still strong. But, she is fighting something.”

            “What is it?” pleaded Patrick still in a whisper.

            Mary’s head moved slowly from side to side. “We do not know,” she answered in a firm voice. “But, we will find out.”

            Mary touched both Francine and Patrick on the arm again and said, “No need to whisper. If we spoke loudly enough to wake her up that would be wonderful. Right?”

            “If I thought speaking loudly would help her I would shout until they heard me in Newfoundland,” exclaimed Patrick.