Write In The Middle of It

There was good news, and there was bad news. Sadiah suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, which caused her to be in an indefinite coma. She could wake up tomorrow, or she could wake up ten months from now, there was no way of knowing.

The good news was that the type of injury that Sadiah had did not require surgery. Also, she was breathing without the aid of a machine. Good signs, but the uncertainty was wearing down on Mr. Gibson-Daddy and Pete.

They would watch her in shifts with the doctor’s advice that verbal stimulation was not good for Sadiah so Pete and Mr. Gibson would speak in whispers around her.

With most of her facial swelling gone, she looked like an angel sleeping. It took everything Pete had not to tear up as he watched Mr. Gibson fuss over his daughter. He gently reached out and touched his shoulder.

“Hey, Stephen.” Pete said.

Mr. Gibson turned around slowly, “Good evening Pete. Is it that late already?”

“Fraid so,” Pete responded. “Any progress today?” He asked hopefully.

Mr. Gibson shook his head slightly, “No. I thought she may have fluttered her eyes but I guess I was just tired. I’m imagining things, ya know?”

Pete nodded his head in caring affirmation and pulled a chair over to the opposite side of Sadiah’s bed. The pair sat for a while listening to the incessant hums and beeps of the machines monitoring her progress.

“I just wish I knew what kind of animal could do this to a little girl and just leave her there, in the trash.” Mr. Gibson said stroking Sadiah’s forehead.

“The police are looking into every lead they can,” Pete responded. “I’ll call Officer Mancuso to see if he turned up any leads at the club.”

Mr. Gibson just shook his head, “I don’t understand how she got like this. Sadiah was always a smart little girl, a little sheltered maybe but, smart.” He paused so he could look up at Pete.

“Did you know the doctors told me she had heroin in her system-heroin?!”

Pete just looked at him with pity as Mr. Gibson did in fact tell him this several times during the course of the week.

“And to work in that place, that God awful place! She’s only sixteen Pete! I can only imagine what kind of derelicts came in and out of that place.”

Pete continued to offer silent comfort as Mr. Gibson would rant at least one an evening. He reached over the bed and patted his hand.

“Maybe we should talk about more positive things,” he said tilting his head towards the unconscious Sadiah.

"If she hears you upset all the time, she may be hesitant to come out of it.”

Mr. Gibson quietly got up and kissed his daughter on the forehead. “I know, man I know. I just wished I knew why she left me.” He looked at Pete who dropped his eyes to look at Sadiah.

That was the fourth time Stephen asked Pete that rhetorical question. That was the fourth time Pete’s blood ran cold when he heard it.

He knew the answer and as much as he wanted to tell Stephen, he promised Sadiah he wouldn’t. There was no way he would betray her trust, especially now when she couldn’t answer for herself.

Not only that but he heard Stephen refer to the Horrible Ms. Howard as The Mrs. on several occasions. It was hard for Pete to fathom that while he was supposedly so distraught over his baby girl that he married that woman.

With that, Pete shook Stephen’s hand firmly, “Stephen, go get some rest.”

“I’ll try and if…”

Pete cut him off, “I know Stephen, if she makes any movement at all, I’ll call you.”

Mr. Gibson nodded and kissed Sadiah one more time on her forehead before he left. Pete was left with incessant humming and beeping as he watched over her. He wondered why Mancuso hadn’t contacted him yet and it frustrated him a little. Normally when there was no news, it meant no progress. Pete wished he had pried a little more about Sadiah’s boyfriend. He was sure that he put this poor child in a coma.

There was too much malice in the attack for it to be a random trick. Pete shuddered at the thought of this young girl compromising herself to make money. He shook his hand as if to clear it from those thoughts and gripped Sadiah’s hand firmly.

“Don’t worry baby, you are going to get through this, I promise.” He said to her.

“Can you squeeze my hand if you hear me?”

Sadiah sat motionless.