9. Gilbert

Gilbert leaned over the bed and kissed his wifes cheek. Karen, honey, wake up.

It was early morning, and they had been doing it all through the night to make sure that she was sleeping and not unconscious.

There was no response.

Panic rising, he shook her shoulder. Karen?

Still no response.

Crap. He ran out of the room, frantic to find Bridget or one of the nurses, but there was no one in there. It was still too early.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed Bridgets number, which hed programmed in his short favorites list.

Hello, she answered after several rings, sounding like hed woken her up from sleep, which he probably had.

Karen lost consciousness, Gilbert said without bothering with any preamble.

Thats no reason to panic, Gilbert, she said in a much more alert tone. Ill be there in half an hour.

Half an hour was an eternity, but there wasnt much he could do about that.

Can you send one of the nurses over? There is no one here.

Karen is fine, Gilbert. I can see her stats on my phone. Im coming over more for your sake than hers.

Some of his panic abated, but not all. I appreciate that, I truly do, but I would feel better if there was a medical professional here to watch over her.

Gertrude and Hildegard are asleep, and it will take them as long as it will take me to get ready. Do you prefer one of them to come over instead of me?

He closed his eyes. I want you.

I thought so. She ended the call.

Damn it. Walking back into Karens room, he scrolled down to another number on his favorites list.

Gilbert? Kaia answered almost immediately. Whats happening?

Your mother lost consciousness. I called Bridget, and she said that her stats looked okay. Shes coming over in half an hour.

Ill get Darlene to watch over the kids and come down. Ill bring Cheryl with me.

Good. I want you to take a look at the stats. I dont know if Bridgets telling me the truth, and I dont know what those readouts mean.

Ill take a look. Hang in there, Gilbert. Shes going to be fine. We have to believe it.

I know. He sighed. See you in a bit. He ended the call.

Twenty-five minutes later, Bridget arrived and got busy checking Karens vitals. Shes doing okay. She smiled at Gilbert, but the smile looked forced.

She also hadnt said that Karen was doing great.

What are you not telling me? he asked.

Bridget released a breath. Her blood pressure is a little elevated.

Shed told him before that it would happen as the transition got in full swing.

Isnt that normal during transition?

Its a little higher than what is normal at this stage.

His heart started pounding. Cant you give her something to lower it?

Bridget shook her head. Not unless it reaches critical levels. The best thing for her is to let her body do what it needs to do without interfering. She pulled out her phone. Im calling Gertrude. Karen will need round-the-clock supervision until her vitals level out.

So, he hadnt been panicking for nothing, and shed lied about looking at the readouts on her phone. If shed seen that Karens blood pressure was higher than was normal for a transitioning Dormant, she should have told him that.

Why did you tell me that her vitals were okay when they werent?

She gave him a frosty look. They were fine when I checked half an hour ago. The elevated readout is the most recent one. The blood pressure monitoring is not continuous. The machine was programmed to measure it once every two hours, but Ive changed it now to every half an hour.

I see. That sounded reasonable, and he believed her. Im sorry for questioning you.

She lifted a hand. Thats okay. Doctors are not infallible, and its the duty of family members to remain vigilant and watch over their loved ones. Its especially true when it comes to children. Parents and grandparents know them much better than the doctor who might be seeing them for the first time. If their response to whatever is done to them is atypical, its important to bring it to the physicians attention.

He nodded. Thanks for the advice, doc, but since my family is going to be in your care for the foreseeable future, I dont need to remember it. Im sure you will remind us.

That seemed to placate her, and she gave him a genuine smile. You have a very nice family, Gilbert, and its my pleasure to take care of them.

Thank you.

As Bridget walked out and sat behind the desk in the front room, Gilbert sat on the chair hed been sitting on throughout the night, took Karens hand, and kissed the back of it.

You are going to be okay, my love. You are a fighter. He repeated the same sentence several more times in his head until he started to actually believe it.

When Kaia and Cheryl arrived, he pulled them both into his arms. Your mother is going to be okay. Shes a fighter. He said it with newfound conviction.