I don't remember much about the process of getting to Sarah's room. She was in the intensive care unit, but this seemed like an even higher level of care, based on where her room was located. I walked into her room, prepared for all the tubes that were going to be attached to her, so that didn't surprise me. The first thing that caught my eye was the absence of piercings. Sarah had several facial piercings and obviously they needed to be removed to allow procedures to be done more easily. She had been placed into a medically induced coma to try to allow her body to stabilize. Her body temperature had been lowered to 91 degrees, she was sedated, given pain medication, a paralytic medication and an anti-seizure med. Even though she was paralyzed by one of the medications, she would still be having seizures without the meds; we just wouldn't see them. Her heartbeat and breathing were being handled by machines.
She looked so young and so vulnerable.
I went to her and tried to kiss her forehead without dislodging any of the tubes. Even though they were cooling her body, I asked if they could place a light sheet over her. Sarah hated being cold and it made me feel like she had a blanket over her. The doctors and nurses came in and brought us up to speed as to what was going on. At this time I don't think that any of what they were saying was sinking in, but we nodded and asked questions that seemed appropriate.
My husband and I went down into one of the family lounges and met up with Ryan. We talked and decided that we were going to have to start making phone calls and letting friends and family know what was going on. It's terrible having to make that same phone call over and over and over again, to be the one who has to break that awful news to people.
While they were taking care of that, I went back down to be with Sarah. Ryan had the book that she was reading, in case they had had to spend a lot of time waiting in the ER. I picked it up and started to read to her. I knew that she would hear me. Unfortunately she was reading "The Kite Runner" and it was getting to a very raw and gritty part of the story. So I just held her hand and talked to her. That was another very surprising thing. Being able to talk with Sarah and not have her answer. Sarah was a state champion debater and forensics gold medalist; the girl was able to talk on just about any topic. It didn't matter what I said or who was around to hear it, I just wanted to connect with her in any way that I could.