Love Coded

“He’s waking up! Nurse! Nurse!” Mrs. Parsons yelled as she stepped into the hallway at St. Anthony’s Hospital.

Gregg let out a moan as he opened his eyes. His head was throbbing and his body did not feel much better.

A nurse was taking his vitals as Gregg stirred in his bed.

“Mr. Parsons, please don’t move. I need to get an accurate reading,” said the nurse.

His mother came back in the room. She had gone to the cafeteria to fetch his father.

“How are you feeling, son?” asked his dad.

“It’s so good to see you awake!” exclaimed his mother, holding his hand. Her eyes were filled with a tortured mix of joy and profound tiredness.

Gregg felt bewildered. Myriad questions and images flooded his mind. The 18-wheeler, the icy road, the second truck, the shattered glass swirling about inside their car… How long had he been out? What happened to Laura and the baby? Had either of them survived? That question chilled him with fear.

“Where is my wife? And what about the baby?!” he demanded.

“Your wife is in intensive care, Mr. Parsons,” the nurse explained. “She is in stable condition and the baby is doing well. Do remain calm, sir. You suffered quite a concussion.”

“We are so excited about the baby!” His mother could barely contain herself. “I am just so happy! My first grandchild is on the way!” She smiled from ear to ear.

“I know, mom,” said Gregg. “This is not exactly how we wanted you guys to find out.”

“Ohh honey, stop that!” said his mother. “We are so grateful you and Laura are ok!”

“When can I see her?” Gregg asked the nurse.

“The doctor will be in shortly, Mr. Parsons. He’ll explain your course of treatment for your broken leg and discuss your wife’s injuries and treatment as well,” said the nurse. She left the room and disappeared down the hallway.

Gregg was still feeling so out of it he had not noticed the cast around his left leg. He felt it come up just above his knee and wondered how he’d get around. It felt so heavy.

“Oh my god! What the hell?” he said as he looked down.

“You broke your shin, son” said his dad “but it wasn’t too bad and you’re so fit, it will heal in no time!”

A doctor came into the room, grabbed the chart from the foot of Gregg’s bed and introduced himself.

“Hello Mr. Parsons, nice to have you back with us. I’m Dr. Gupta. You suffered a concussion but all checked out ok. You also broke your leg, as you can see, but that also was minor. You’re pretty lucky considering. Your leg will...”

“What about my wife?” Gregg interrupted.

“...ah yes, your wife. Mrs. Parsons is in intensive care. She suffered quite a few injuries. You’re lucky your baby is well considering how early she is in her pregnancy. We have stabilized Laura but I am sorry to inform you she is in a coma.” said the doctor.

“What?!? A coma?!” exclaimed Gregg.

He could feel the frustration well up inside of him.

“I want to see my wife!” Gregg demanded.

“Yes, of course, Mr. Parsons. I will send in a nurse to take you to her.” The doctor walked out and Gregg looked over at his parents. Their faces said it all. His heart sank.

*****

Gregg sat in his wheelchair at the desk in his home office. It had been nearly two months since the accident and his leg still hurt like hell but he didn’t care. His main focus was Laura. She was still in a coma and no course of treatment was working and he felt increasingly desperate. He opened a small black notebook. He had been working on an app that would allow him to talk to Laura through her brain waves; translating them into emotions or simple words via the use of a device he’d built using electrodes and high frequency signal receivers. He was so old school he still wrote the most important code sequences by hand. It was a pain in the ass to then have to transcribe them on the computer but with the core code it felt more real when written by hand. It all seemed like something out of a sci-fi novel, to be honest, and it probably wouldn’t work but he had to try. He looked at part of the code once again.

\":\"37003031509727912\",\"elec894\":\"3\",\”458899”\":\"type_brain_app_\",\"rank\":\"4\",\"type\":\"beta2alpha2theta\",\"appid\":\"37003058509727912\",\"source\":\"30251ref\":\\",\"nav_brain_count\":\"6\",\"nav_gamma\":\"589884sNav\",\"sec_position\":\"2\",\"s\01001100010

It looked sound. He would try his app tonight.

****

Gregg wheeled himself into Laura’s hospital room. He placed the electrodes to certain parts of Laura’s head and turned on the tablet. He opened up his program and waited. Nothing. No reading. No activity. Nothing.

“Hmmm, no readings,” he thought.

He took out his notebook out of his pocket to look at the code once again. He’d been looking at it for so long he knew he must have missed something.

\":\"37003031509727912\",\"elec894\":\"3\",\”458899”\":\"type_brain_app_\",\"rank\":\"4\",\"type\":\"beta2alpha2theta\",\"appid\":\"37003058509727912\",\"source\":\"30251ref\":\\",\"nav_brain_count\":\"6\",\"nav_gamma\":\"589884sNav\",\"sec_position\":\"2\",\"s\01001100010

“I got it!! I wrote 01001100010 when it needs to be 01011100010!” thought Gregg with a sense of relief.

Gregg changed the code on his notepad file. He double checked the electrodes on Laura’s head and opened the app.

Nothing.

Zilch.

Nada.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!!” exclaimed Gregg “What the hell is going on?!”

He sat there for a few minutes feeling desolate. It was late and he could sense his frustration getting the best of him. He decided to go home, rest, and look at it once again in the morning.

****

Gregg kept working on his app; checking the code over and over. Maybe writing it out by hand was not such a great idea after all but he was sure it was sound. He had tried it out several more times over the last two weeks; placing the electrodes in other areas of Laura’s head and using different tablets. Nothing. He could not understand it. His desperation grew as fast as his leg was healing. He was going to the hospital that evening, determined to try his program one more time.

It was nearly 7 p.m. when Gregg walked into Laura’s room. She was so lovely. He missed her so much. The way she kissed him on the nose to wake him up. How her hair smelled of peaches and vanilla. Her laughter. He sighed. His app simply had to work. He had to talk to her.

He placed the electrodes on Laura’s head once again. He was so grateful her room was at the end of the hallway where medical staff was sparse. He was sure they’d think him a kook with this device but he didn’t care. He opened the app and waited.

Nothing.

“Why won’t it work?!” he thought. He tried again.

Nothing.

He stared at the device, the tangle of wires and circuits hastily soldered together. He wrapped the wires around the device and tablet and set them aside. Just then his cell phone beeped. He ignored it. He let his sense of defeat wash over him as tears filled his eyes. His cell phone beeped once more.

“I’m sorry, Laura,” he cried.

His cell phone beeped yet again.

“What’s all this beeping about?!” he said out loud.

He took a deep breath and took his cell phone out of his pocket. It showed he had several text messages from an unknown number. He opened his inbox and read:

Hello Glorious Gift!

“What the hell?!” Gregg was dumbfounded. Who could have sent him this and furthermore, how could they know about Laura’s nickname for him?

It’s me Laura. :)

Gregg was speechless. Tears were running down his cheeks as he kept reading.

I will be back soon. Me and our baby girl are doing well. She cannot wait to meet her daddy! We love you. <3

He put his phone down and took Laura’s right hand and began to kiss it with fervor. He sat there in the silence of this magnificent moment. Just then Dr. Gupta walked in.

“Hello Mr. Parsons. Are you feeling alright?” he asked.

“Yes I am!” exclaimed Gregg. “A miracle has just happened!”

“Oh?” said Dr. Gupta “What do you mean? Where did these electrodes come from?” he asked as he looked at Laura’s head.

Gregg explained every last detail of his app and how he’d been testing it on Laura for the past 2 months. Dr. Gupta hung on his every word, excited at the possibilities this technology could bring to the medical field.

“Wow!” exclaimed Dr. Gupta “I’m speechless Mr. Parsons! My brother owns a biotech company and I know he will be very interested in talking with you. I will give him a call and give him your number!”

Dr. Gupta exited the room before Gregg had a chance to say anything. He sat next to Laura once again and simply gazed at her beautiful face and smiled. He felt so happy.

****

Gregg was lying in bed pondering on the events of the night before when his cell phone rang. He answered.

“Hello?” said Gregg.

“Hello! I’m Arjun Gupta,” said the voice on the other end. “My brother told me all about your app and I am very interested in meeting with you!”

“Oh yes, Dr. Gupta told me he’d give you call. To be honest, biotech is not my zone of genius. I have spent most of my time game coding,” said Gregg.

“If what my brother told me is true, believe me, you know more about biotech than most of my staff!” chuckled Arjun. “Are you free for lunch?” he asked.

“Sure. Where would you like to meet?” asked Gregg.

“How about at Le Parisien at 12:30?” asked Arjun.

That’s where Gregg and Laura were going when they had the accident. He was thrown aback but it all seemed so fated.

“See you there,” said Gregg.

****

Gregg arrived at Le Parisien at 12:15. He felt nervous. Biotech was out of his comfort zone and he felt unsure about leaving his current position, especially with Laura still in a coma and their baby on the way. Was this the right time for a career change? He was mulling over that question when someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was Arjun.

“Hey there!” said Arjun with a big smile.

“Oh hi,” Gregg said nervously.

Arjun sat down across from him. They ordered and as they ate and talked about their careers and interests. Gregg felt more at ease as Arjun shared more about his company and his vision.

“I realize joining my team is a big change for you considering the circumstances but with everything you shared with me today, I know this is the start of something life changing!” said Arjun. “I’m going straight to the point. Join my team Gregg. We need your set of skills but most of all your innovative mind. I’m ready to give you this $20K check as an onboarding bonus, right here, right now!” said Arjun excitedly as he laid the check on the table.

Gregg was about to speak when his cell phone vibrated. He looked at the screen and saw he had a text message. He tapped on it and read:

Take the job! :)

Gregg showed Arjun the text as he laughed out loud.

“Well, it seems the wife has spoken! We have a deal!” said Gregg as he took the check.

****

On the drive home Gregg was overcome with emotion. The last 2 months had been tumultuous, to say the least, but now he found himself with a new job that would pay him twice what he was earning, an extra $20K bonus, but most of all being able to communicate with Laura! He still didn’t have an explanation how it all came to pass until it dawned on him he didn’t need one.