Chapter Fourteen
Nicholai quietly mumbled something, but nobody could make it out, “Sorry what was that Nicholai, please try say it a little louder but I understand if you can’t” there was a long silence then suddenly Nicholai’s body shook, nurses flooded round him sending the family out of the room, one of the male nurses rolled him to his side, there was something wrong he wouldn’t stop shaking, this put fear in his families hearts and minds.
They were pacing uncontrollably thinking of what was happening why couldn’t the nurses stop this, over the tannoy they heard a call for a doctor Whitby, she ran through the hospital and straight into Nicholai’s room there was a look of intense worry on her face she was asking the nurses what had happened trying to piece together why he was shaking. The doctor read the charts hooked onto the end of the bed, she then turned and walked out of the room and straight towards Nicholai’s anxious family, she looked down to the floor shaking her head, “I’m Doctor Whitby, I am the lead doctor in your son's care.
I'm sorry but there’s a complication that has come up with Nicholai with his coming round, he has gone into an epileptic seizure, has he ever suffered from them in the past”. “N-n-n-no” said his mother, her eyes filling with tears. “What does this mean for him, will he be okay?” Doctor Whitby replied, “We are unsure at the moment, once the seizure stops, he will go down for an MRI and CT scan to see how his brain is functioning and if there are any scars caused by his accident.”
Nicholai came out of the seizure and was wheeled down to the scanning department, there he was rushed through the CT and MRI machines, it was important for them to be done as soon as possible, getting the results back as quickly and accurately as possible was imperative. Doctor Whitby examined them cautiously so she did not miss anything and therefore would not misdiagnose.
After some deliberations with another doctor, they walked towards his family, “If you would follow us into this room Mr and Mrs Stanhope” said the doctor with a heavy heart. “What's wrong with Nic?” sobbed his mother, her head lowered into her hands as she walked behind the doctors. She felt she could not bear to hear but it was a need to see if there was any way to help him overcome the diagnosis that had been concluded.
They all entered the room, “Please sit-down Mr and Mrs Stanhope, there is a fair amount for us to discuss in regard to your son and his health.” Mr and Mrs Stanhope looked at each other, Mrs Stanhope looked at the doctor and said, “You may call us Clara and Everette.” The doctor replied with “Well Clara and Everette, I will just give you the diagnosis and answer any questions you may have. The problem that caused Nicholai to go into the seizure was that he had low oxygen levels in his body, his blood just was not absorbing it as we would have liked. We will be keeping a close eye on him over the next few weeks until then he will be staying with us, we do encourage daily visits.” “Is there anything that may help him?”
“At this stage we are unsure due to requiring more tests to be ran on him to pinpoint the reasons behind this as we have never encountered this problem in someone in Nicholai’s position before so when we have more information we shall update you, if you have no more questions, you may go back to your son”’. “Thank you, doctor, we will be here as much as we can if you need to talk.”
They walked into Nicholai’s private hospital room where he lay in bed, he was back asleep. They sat patiently and quietly waiting for his eyes to open. Everette jumped up and Clara's eyes flew to him “What are you doing Everette?” she questioned, “It’s Nicholai his lips have gone blue, I will go get the doctor.” He ran out of the room “Doctor Whitby, Doctor Whitby we need help, it's Nicholai.”
He shouted over and over whilst running round in a panic. Doctor Whitby caught up with Everette and tried calming him down to try see what the problem was, “It’s Nick, his lips have turned blue, he hasn’t woken up yet but he’s turning blue” Doctor Whitby replied with “Right” with that she ran off in Nicholai’s direction.
As he ran behind, he was panicking thinking it must be serious if she was running, as he got to the room the doctor was shining a light into Nicholai’s eyes testing the reactions of his pupils, she side eyed the nurse who then ran out of the room. “What’s going on” said Clara with a shaky voice, the worry in her voice was obvious, she was starting to think the worse for her beloved son.
A doctor ushered Clara and Everette out of the room as more doctors and nurses flooded in. They all stood around Nicholai, there were wires and masks everywhere. Doctor Whitby said if I do not say your name please leave as there are too many people in here. She then listed names of nurses and doctors, soon there were only four people left in the room with Nicholai.
Doctor Whitby put an oxygen mask on him and started to squeeze it to get air into him, this did not seem to work his oxygen levels dropped even more. They made the snap decision to rush him into theatre to see if they could find a reason for the issue that way.
As soon as he got down to the theatre room he was put under anaesthetic. As soon as he was out the surgeon grabbed his scalpel, he slowly moved it down Nicholai's throat being careful not to cause any damage or threaten his life in any way. This was done with great care and precision. The surgeon found out that the muscles along his trachea were tight, far tighter than they should be, causing a lack of oxygen into his body. He was sewn up and sent to recovery. As he was there the surgeon spoke to his parents to explain what he had found.
There were so many questions from Mr & Mrs Stanhope as expected. “What happens now?". "Will he recover?” were just two of them, the hope was that he would make a full recovery after having an inhaler put through his oxygen mask to loosen up his windpipe. But if anything else comes up then they will find out the problem and try to sort it out as best they can.
Just as the anaesthesia started to wear off his parents noticed he had hives all over his body, his dad exclaimed “Nicholai must be allergic to one of the medications you have been pumping into him, he’s covered in hives.” Doctor Whitby came rushing in and checked him over.
She shouted for Doctor Ackler, a tall blonde-haired man with a neatly trimmed beard came rushing over, Clara asked “Who is this new doctor?” The doctor who came in replied with “I am Doctor Ackler a dermatologist and am the best equipped to deal with the hives Nicholai has presented with.
“It appears he has had a reaction to the anaesthesia that was administered. We will try him with some antihistamines first of all and if they do not help then we will go for antibiotics.” “Why don’t you just go straight to antibiotics instead of messing about with the antihistamines first?” Clara asked Doctor Ackler. “Because, Mrs Stanhope, if you just give the antibiotics when not needed they will not work in the future as the body becomes resilient to them and lowers their effectiveness.”
Doctor Ackler put the antihistamines through Nicholais drip. It was the only way to get it into his system as he still had not come round from the anaesthetic. The hives stayed where they were but did not get any worse, they seemed to freeze at the stage they were.
This was a positive sign to Dr Ackler and Dr Whtiby as they both looked at each other and smiled. “What is happening?” asked Everette. “Well, the hives are now stable and not progressing so the antihistamines have done something. We will just keep an eye on the hives and make sure they start to go and don’t flare up again.” Replied Dr Ackler.
After a few hours Nicholai started stirring and his eyes half opened, he said in a quiet, shaky voice “Who is there? Why is everything blurry, where am I?” Then he heard a voice “Hello, Nicholai I am doctor Whitby, you are in St Blackhawk Hospital, you have been here for four months. You were admitted due to complications from a trauma you went through which ended up with you being in a coma.
You were found by your car in the woods. We need to run some tests to make sure there isn’t any lasting damage done by how long you’ve been asleep.” Said Dr Ackler. “Who are you?” Nicholai said slowly as he turned his head to where the voice came from.
“I am Dr Serekii, I am overseeing complications arising from anaesthetic. The hives seem to be shrinking now which is a good sign, means you've responded well to the antihistamines and won't need antibiotics.” Nicholai looked at his parents, “W, what is he on about mum?” He asked. “Well, Nicholai this isn't the first time you have come round, you did before but something happened, you needed to be put under and go for an operation. But you seem to be pulling through and recovering slowly.” Replied his mum. His eyes closed.
Whilst he was asleep Dr Ackler spoke to his parents. “Nicholai seems to be responding well to the medications that have been administered to him, his health is progressing slowly so it could be a few days to a week before he is released.” “Oh, that is fine, his health comes first and we would rather the doctors are hundred percent on his recovery progressing and sure he is ready to return home.” Dr Ackler walked out of the room leaving Nicholai’s parents sitting quietly waiting for him to come round.
On his hospital bed, perched up by pillows Nicholai opened his eyes, he looked around but couldn't see anything. He tried to sit up but struggled. He was told to lie still, there have been some injuries to his body and he has had major surgery. So he needs to remain still. There was a mask over his eyes, he could see light around the edges. “Why am I wearing this and can I take it off?” Nicholai asked.
“I'm sorry but not quite yet, it's your eyes. They need to stay in as little light as possible so they need to stay covered for a few days.” Clara interrupted in a worried tone “Doctor Ackler, what is wrong with Nick's eyes?” Her voice trailed off as if she was going to start crying.
Everette sighed, looking down at the floor. “Has he lost any of his sight?” He asked. “It is too soon to know just yet, not until the cover comes off and we can test his eyes properly.” Replied Doctor Ackler. “It will be a few days until it can come off. Sorry for all the waiting but we need to be sure, a nurse will be in shortly to check on his eyes and show you how to clean them.” She continued. Then she walked out the room leaving the family to talk.
Clara looked at Nicholai then at Everette “what are we going to do?” She asked. “We need to remain calm for Nic, he needs us right now and if we panic we won’t be much use to him.” Replied Everette.
Nicholai tried to move again, “Mom, Dad please stop, I'm alive and will work my hardest to recover, all I need is support and you two to stop talking about me as if I'm not here.” Nicholia said in a voice a little above a whisper. “I’m tired and would like to try and sleep now.” With this he turned his head and drifted off.
Doctor Ackler entered the room why Nicholai was still asleep and said that it was past visiting times so only one of them could be here now. Clara and Everette looked at each other wondering who would stay, “Mom you stay tonight please.” Nicholai said quietly, making them jump as they were unaware he had woken up. “Okay son, well I will be back first thing, would any of you two like me to bring anything?” He asked.
Clara looked at Nicholai. “Do you need anything darling?” She enquired. “Yes please, just some music to listen to, if that is allowed.” “Yes, music is allowed due to you having a private room, as long as it doesn’t get too loud.” Said Doctor Ackler. “Oh, that is great thank-you doctor,” said Nicholai. “Clara, anything for you dear?” “Yes please, I will need some clean clothes to change into.” With that they said their goodbyes and Everette left.
“Mom, why am I here like this?” Nicholai asked in a scared voice. “You were brought here in a very bad way, they are unsure of what happened. Please don’t worry about that right now though, you just need to focus on recovering.” Clara replied. “But mom,” Clara interrupted, “No buts Nicholai, we can talk about all of this when you are in better health. When we can actually see each other, please just drop it for now.”
Nicholai turned towards the window, he could feel the breeze coming through it. He just lay quietly. “What are you thinking Nic?” Asked Clara. “Just trying to remember things, like what happened for me to end up here. The police usually come and ask questions when someone ends up in hospital like this.” Nicholai mumbled “Nic, I did not hear you, you said it too quietly, could you repeat that please?” Clara requested. Nicholai repeated himself louder. “I will make sure they do not come until you are ready, okay?” “Yes, thank-you mom, I love you.” He then went quiet and Clara heard his breathing change. He was asleep.
Clara sat on the armchair in the corner of the room, she turned it so it was facing towards the bed more so she could keep an eye on Nicholai. A nurse came in, “the chair lays down Mrs Stanhope.” “Oh, thank-you, how do I lay it down please?” “Oh, it is rather easy, let me show you, it’s just this lever here, pull it towards you and down you go. Would you like me to find you something to cover you?” asked the nurse. “That would be great, thank-you so much for all of this.” Clara said gratefully.
The nurse went out of the room, Clara turned to look out of the window. She could see the gardens below, they were beautiful with all the bloomed flowers. Roses, lilies, carnations, all sorts of them. It was so colourful. The shadows the moon was casting on the flowers and trees was mesmerising. She heard a cough coming from behind her. It was Nicholai, he seemed to be choking in his sleep.
Just as Clara got to him the nurse came back into the room. “What is happening?” Asked Clara. The nurse ran to Nicholai and pressed the alarm button, she rolled him onto his side hoping it would not cause any problems with his recovery, this was her first response. Doctors ran in, “what is going on?” One of them asked. “He was asleep and just started choking,” said Clara in a shaky voice. Like she was starting to cry.
“Mrs Stanhope, please do not worry, he will be okay, nurse please take Mrs Stanhope out of the room. We need less people in here to check on him and see if he needs anything to help him.” The nurse walked Clara out of the room.
They went into the family and friends room, the nurse asked Clara if she would like her to stay until the doctor comes. “Are you sure you are able to stay, just you may be needed to help with other patients” “It will be fine, I am in as extra incase we get too busy, I can be here with you if you need me to be.”
Clara knelt on a chair, leaning on the back of it looking out of the window at the garden again. “I feared something would happen to him if he went to this place, his manager said nobody had been there for decades.” Said Clara. “Oh, what do you mean Mrs Stanhope?” Enquired the nurse. “Well, Nicholai went away for work to look at a property. As he was leaving I asked him to not go and to ask somebody else to do this assignment as I was getting a really bad feeling about it but he would not listen to me and went anyway.” “Oh, I see. Did he give a reason for not wanting to give up this job?” “Oh yes he did, it was how much they were paying him. It was so much more than any other job he had done which is what caused my bad feelings. Why would they pay so much if it was a safe job?”
Clara looked down at the floor. “If only he had listened he wouldn’t be here right now, he would be at home and healthy.” “Yes, unfortunately he didn’t but right now he is in the best place for him, he will recover. I will just go to check in with the doctor in charge of Nicholai’s care for you.” “Thank-you nurse, this chat has helped.” With that the nurse walked out of the room.
Clara just stared out of the window in a world of her own, thinking things over. “Mrs Stanhope.” A voice came from behind her, she turned round fast as they had startled her. “Oh, I’m sorry for startling you, I’m here to update you on Nicholai.”
Clara turned away and looked down. “He’s not doing good is he? He just randomly started choking in his sleep.” “Mrs Stanhope, please calm down Nicholai is just going for a little procedure.” “A procedure? What kind of procedure? Will there be anything that can go wrong?” “There will be no complications from it just a camera down his throat to see if there’s anything going on that caused him to choke, we did not find anything in the tests so far so it is looking like there's not anything that caused the choking we just want to do this last test to be sure.” “Thank you Doctor Whitby.”
Doctor Whitby walked towards the door, “are you coming Mrs Stanhope? You can be with Nicholai why he has this procedure, he asked for you to be there.” “Oh, yes I am coming.” Clara jumped up and followed Doctor Whitby. They walked down the corridor, turned left at the end and got in an elevator. “The room we need to go to for the procedure is on the third floor.” Clara just stayed quiet, standing in the corner of the elevator.
The doors opened, Clara and Doctor Whitby walked out of the elevator, turned right, went to the end of the corridor and turned left. “Are we following this blue stripe on the wall?” Asked Clara. “It may seem like that but no, that goes to a different ward. We are going to the ward after this blue line.” Doctor Whitby looked at Clara, “Mrs Stanhope, are you okay?” “I am just nervous, I have never seen this procedure before.” She replied. “Oh, it is nothing to worry about, we just spray his throat with numbing spray so we can get the camera down without hurting his throat. It’s as simple as that.”
When they got to the room Clara looked at Nicholai who was sitting in a chair that was slightly laid down, he looked so helpless not moving. He turned his head, “mum, is that you?” “Yes, Nicholai it is me. How are you feeling?” “My throat is hurting, feels like there is something stuck in it.” Doctor Whitby looked at Nicholai, “well that is why we are here, to have a look down your throat with a camera just to make sure there isn’t.”
Another person walked in. “Nicholai, I am Doctor Trixten. I am here to administer the numbing spray and monitor you.” “Okay, can we just get this over with please?” Requested Nicholai. “Open your mouth then please so I can administer the numbing spray.” Doctor Whitby picked up the camera and went to put it in Nicholai’s mouth, Clara stepped closer and tried to stop Doctor Whitby from doing the procedure. “Mum, stop, this needs to be done!” said Nicholai. Clara stepped back, “sorry Nic, I will stay here until it is done unless you ask otherwise.” “Thank-you mum.”
Doctor Whitby looked at them and said “well, the procedure went without any problems and there were no reactions to the numbing spray, which is a good thing. Looking at the footage there is nothing in your throat and no issues with anything there, this does unfortunately mean that the choking was not a physical problem.” “W-what does this mean Doctor Whitby?” Asked Nicholai.
“We are unsure as of yet but when the numbing spray has worn off and you have eaten we will be checkserving you to see how you do with the solid food.” They all went back to the elevator to take Nicholai back to his room. When they got there Nicholai went in and back onto his bed, before they entered the room Clara said “Doctor Whitby, could i have a word please?” “Sure Mrs Stanhope, what’s wrong?” “I was just curious if the choking and lump feeling in his throat is psychological. Not sure how it could be but I’m just wondering.”
“Mum.” Clara turned round, Everette had brought Nicholai’s siblings. “What are you doing here?” She asked Marilyn. “Dad brought us, we wanted to see Nic.” Clara looked at Everette then looked at the kids and asked to speak to him outside the room.
When they got outside Clara turned to Everette and said “Why have you brought them? I’m not sure Nic is ready. He’s just got back from a procedure and is about to eat but he needs to be checkserved by Doctor Whitby to see if he chokes.”
“Wait, what?” He exclaimed. “Nic, had a procedure and you did not tell me?” “I was going to phone you when the doctors were with him to explain it all. He started choking in his sleep. They ran some tests but nothing, the procedure was just to check his throat with a camera, they had to numb his throat first. Every test came back clear, they cannot find anything wrong with him or any reason for his choking.”
Clara and Everette walked into Nicholai’s room, they saw him sitting up talking to Josephine, Cora and Micheal. He seemed like he was back to before the work trip. Cora was lay cuddled up to Nicholai, Josephine sat on his other side and Micheal sat next to Josephine, they all looked so happy to see each other.
Cora and Micheal were just looking at Nicholai curious about his injuries. Trying not to ask about them. Josephine was trying to keep the conversation light and not bring up his journey. “So, Nicholai, what is the food like in here?” Josephine asked him. “It is okay, not the best but it’s keeping me alive, mum does go and get me food from somewhere that is always delicious.”
Josephine walked to her mum and asked if they could talk to her outside. They both walked out the door, “mum, Nic is trying his hardest to be his usual self for the younger ones but I can tell he really isn’t, what did he go through on his work trip?” “We do not know yet, he hasn’t said anything to anyone. They haven’t asked for a psychological evaluation yet they haven’t had the time with the physical health issues he has dealt with so far.” “Well, hopefully they will be able to sort it out soon.”
They walked back into the room, “so what did we miss?” Asked Clara. “Nic was telling us about some people he met why he was gone, there was a boy my age” replied Cora. “Oh, really that’s so cool Cora.” Josephine said excitedly.
“There were lots of people who helped Nic.” Micheal exclaimed happily. “They all seemed nice from what Nic said.” Added Cora. “Can we go meet them one day Nic?” Micheal asked his big brother. “Oh, I’m not sure about that Mikey, they really aren’t used to visitors. A lot of them were weary of me and the kids seemed a little timid apart from the four I stayed with for a little bit and then the one from the other town.” Explained Nicholai. “Oh, okay.” Micheal said sadly. “We wanted to go.” Said Cora in a quiet voice why looking at the floor.
The door opened and Doctor Whitby entered the room, “Mr and Mrs Stanhope could I have a word outside please?” “Oh, yes of course.” With this they followed the doctor out of the room and closed the door. “What do you think that is about Jo?” Asked Nicholai. “I’m not sure Nic, I can go out and find out.” “OH, I’m sure mum and dad will tell us when they come in.”
Outside in the hallway they were talking about Nicholai. “Mr and Mrs Stanhope, due to all the tests coming back positive we are looking to have Nicholai discharged in the next week, he will be in a wheelchair at first until his physiotherapist is happy for him to walk aided then hopefully unaided, it’s just his muscles have weakened due to how long he has been immobile. He should make a full recovery after physio and some psychological therapy.” “Oh my, that’s amazing news, thank-you Doctor Whitby.” Said Everette. “Can we tell Nic and his siblings when we go back into the room?” Asked Clara. “I would suggest not right away as we need to have a mental health person come and talk to Nicholai so we can see how best to help him first so it will be after that.”
Everett and Clara walked back into the room. “Well mummy what did they say?” Asked Micheal. “It wasn’t important, just an update on some stuff. You don’t need to know.” Replied Clara. “But mum I need to know.” Said Cora. “No you do not need to know.” Everette explained. Cora lay back down. Micheal went back to what he was talking to Nicholai about.
Josephine looked at her parents and asked quietly so they wouldn’t hear her. “Did they say he is almost ready to go home?” Clara nodded in response. “But please do not say anything as there is just one more thing he needs to do before they can say a definitive yes.” Everette whispered.
The three of them walked over to Nicholai and the younger two. “So Micheal, what are we talking about?” Asked Josephine. “I was telling Nic all about school and my new friends that just moved to my school.” “Oh, this again, it’s all you talk about lately” Everette said whilst laughing.
Micheal turned Back to Nicholai and carried on telling him the story. “Why can't you tell us what that lady said?” Asked Cora. “That was Doctor Whitby, she has been looking after Nicholai since he first came here, she said not to tell you just yet, there's still a few more things to do before they can say properly and then you will know.”
Cora walked to Clara and asked “mum are you coming home with us this time and dad to stay or are you staying here again?” “I'm not sure, we will need to talk between me, your dad and Nicholai to decide that.” Nicholai heard and said “It's okay mum, if dad wants to stay here can stay, you've been here long enough.”
A nurse came in and told them that the visiting hours were over, Clara took the other three and they went home. “Dad, have you and mum said that one of you always has to be here with me?” Asked Nicholai. “Yes, your mum is the one who said she would prefer one of us to always be here and after what just happened I am glad she was here or who knows what would have happened to you with the choking.”
A porter brought the food round. Everette looked at it and took the tray, when the porter left he asked Nicholai if he wanted to go down to the store for something else.
Nicholai sat up, “that sounds great dad, lets go.” Everette grabbed Nicholai's wheelchair and helped him into it. The two men went down in the elevator to the store at the front of the hospital.
Why they were down in the store Nicholai looked at his dad and started crying. “What's wrong Nic?” He questioned. “I just want to go home now, wish I hadn't taken that work trip. It's ruined my life.” Nicholai sobbed. “Nic, it hasn't ruined your life. With some physiotherapy you will make a full recovery.” Everette reassured his son.
They walked round the store looking at all the shelves, taking their time so Nicholai had extra time off the ward and out of his room. “Dad, will I have to come and stay with you when I get released? Just by being in the chair I won't be able to get up to my apartment.” “Yes, you will come back and stay with us for a little while but don't worry your rent is paid up for the next year.” Everette explained.
They went to the till and paid for their items and left the store. “Can we go outside for abit please Dad?” Nicholai asked. “Yes of course we can, we can stay here as long as you’d like. We will go back to your room when you are ready.” Was Everettes reply. They got outside and found a table, “it’s like a picnic when I was a kid again” Nicholai said smiling.
They sat at the table eating their food, chatting away. They lost track of time and a nurse came out to them. “Nicholai, we need you back in your room to do your checks and some other little tests.” She said, “Oh, sorry we were having such a good time out here we lost track of time, we will be right up.” Nicholai replied.
The two men looked at each other and Nicholai gave his dad a look of I don't want to go yet. Everette understood and Suggested they stay five more minutes then go. Nicholai nodded to say thank you. Five minutes passed and they got up and made their way back to the room.
When they got back, the nurse was in the room waiting for them. “Nicholai, what took you so long?” He just looked at the nurse then turned toEverette who had sat down, “Dad, I need the toilet. Could you help me please?” “Of course, let's go.” Everette jumped up off the chair. A short while later they came back into the room and Everette helped Nicholai onto his bed.
The nurse started checking his checks and writing them down on a chart. When she was done Doctor Whitby came in and explained the tests she needed to do. “The first is a full blood count, so we will test everything. This means taking six vials of blood, just to make sure there are no issues with your blood counts or any organs. The others are MRI, CT vans and an x-ray. I know we have done these before but we would just like to double check to make sure we didn't miss anything.” Everett looked at Nicholai, “do you think you will be able to handle all those tests?” He asked. “Yes Dad, they all require me to lie down so it will be easy.” “Okay, just making sure.”
Nicholai looked at Doctor Whitby, she was setting up the vials and needle to do the blood test. “You ready Nicholai?” She asked. “Yes, let's get this one over with please, I don’t like needles.” Nicholai said. “Yes, of course, this will be fast. Your blood wants to come out.” Within a minute his blood tests were done. “Well, we will let you settle down, let us know when you're ready and we will do the next test.” “Thank-you Doctor, I will let you know.” Doctor Whitby left the room, Nicholai looked out the window. Everette sat next to him on the bed and just looked out the window with him. They sat quietly enjoying the sounds of the birds singing in the tree’s.
About half an hour later Nicholai pressed the button for Doctor Whitby to come, within seconds she was in his room. “Is there something wrong?” She asked. “No, I just wanted to let you know I feel ready for the other tests.” “Oh, that’s great,” Replied Doctor Whitby happily.
She walked round to the side of the bed and put her hand out for Nicholai to grab. “Doctor?” Said Everette in a questioning tone. “Yes Mr Stanhope?” asked Doctor Whitby. “Will he be okay doing the tests this soon after his blood was taken?” “Oh, yeah he should be fine, they will make him tired though as it's a lot of moving, more than he's been used to recently. But he will be perfectly fine.”
Nicholai got into his wheelchair and was wheeled away by Doctor Whitby. Everette went to follow, “could you wait here please Mr Stanhope, we will be in and out of rooms where you will not be able to go.” “Oh, I was hoping to be able to be there between the tests.” He explained. “It will be faster if you stay here as we will not need to find you between them and will be able to just go from one to the next.” Doctor Whitby said to Everette.
Why Nicholai was having his tests Everette went to the reception desk and asked if he could use the phone to update his wife on their son. “Yes of course you can, but please do not be too long incase someone tries to phone.” “I won’t be, thank you.”
Everette dialled the number, the phone just kept ringing until at last a voice. “Hello, the Stanhope's house, Nicholai opened his eyes, it was the next day and his family were here. “Nic, you’re awake” shouted Cora. “You do not need to be so loud Cora, please stop shouting.” Everette told her. “But Dad, it’s been ages since we last saw Nic.” She said, “Cora, you were here two days ago, it wasn’t that long ago, but I missed you as well.” Explained Nicholai.
"We will refer Nicholai to other specialists and send him letters to schedule appointments to the address we have on the system for him, please look out for them." and contact them as soon as the letters come through, but he is now free to go home and complete his recovery there. He is healing very well and we feel confident he is out of the danger he used to be, there should be no more difficulties or health scares during the remainder of his recovery but should anything come up please contact us immediately we will answer any questions you have.” Said Doctor Whitby.
“Thank-you for all you have done Doctor Whitby, you have been a godsend with Nicholai. We will be in touch if we need anything.” Said Clara. “Yes thank-you Doctor Whitby, I could not have had a better doctor looking after me.” Nicholai said gratefully.
The three of them left the hospital, Everette was pushing Nicholai. Nicholai looked around for one last look at the place that had been his home for the last year during his coma and the start of his recovery. He was happy to be going home but he would miss all the friendly staff, especially Doctor Whitby, she had been amazing during his whole stay.