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                                         Chapter 28

                                    Michael's Condition

              The phone rang, startling Jen. She glanced at the clock, it was half past midnight. "Hello?" She tiredly mumbled into the phone. There was no reply but she could hear a soft cry. Jen sat up, " Who is this?" "Jen...," Mrs. Mathews cried, "You need to come to the hospital immediately... there's been an accident..." "Are you okay?" Jen gasped. " ...It's Michael Jen, he's unresponsive..." Mrs. Mathews explained. "What? There has to be some kind of mistake... he was in the living room a hour ago... he should be sleeping..." "Jen.." Mrs. Mathews interupted, "Get Tyler dressed ... we might not have long..." "No, "Jen started to cry and raced out of the bedroom. "There's a mistake, he was just in the living room..." She paused in the kitchen and looked around. "Jen..." Mrs. Mathews cried. Jen nodded, "I'm on my way..." She clicked the phone off and turned to see Tyler standing there in his coat.

  Mrs. Mathews re-entered the hospital room. Mr. Mathews was standing at Michael's bedside frowning at Michael's motionless body. "I called Jen, she's on her way..." Mrs. Mathews explained. "Tyler can't lose the both of them..." He numbly muttered then looked up at his wife with tears in his eyes. Mrs. Mathews walked over and embraced her husband in a hug.

 "We're going to go see daddy, " Jen explained as she drove down the street, "He was in a accident but he's going to be okay Tyler, I promise..." "No, he's not..." Tyler frowned. Jen looked at him, " What makes you say that?" Tyler shrugged, " Usually, you always make me sit in the back seat, something has to be wrong because you didn't notice I was sitting in the front..."

 A tall, gray haired man with glasses entered the hospital room. His long white overcoat swayed as he approached Mr. and Mrs. Mathews with a folder in one hand. "Mr. and Mrs. Mathews, " He greeted, " I'm Dr. Travolta, I'm monitoring Michael's condition." Mrs. Mathews slightly nodded, " How long is he going to be unconcsious?" Dr. Travolta frowned, " Michael's in critical condition... there's no telling when or if he's going to wake up..." "If?" Mrs. Mathews repeated, "Your telling me that he might not wake up?" Dr. Travolta sighed, "I'm sorry Mrs. Mathews..." "No, " She shook her head and looked at Michael, "He has a son and a new wife... he has to wake up, he has to!" "We need Michael to stay calm, talk to him and try to get him to come around... it's the best we can do..." Dr. Travolta explained, "We have a machine hooked up to him, it's providing him with oxygen and it's also monitoring his heart rate...." "Oxygen? Are you telling me he can't breathe on his own?" Mrs. Mathews asked. Dr. Travolta slightly nodded, " I don't want to upset you by telling you this but... Michael wasn't breathing when paramedics reached the scene... medical technology saved his life..." Mrs. Mathews hid her face in Mr. Mathews coat and let out a slight cry. "I'll come back in a little bit, remember his heart rate's not very strong right now so you need to keep him calm don't talk about anything that might upset him..." Dr. Travolta turned to leave. "Doctor, what is his physical and mental condition?" Mr. Mathews asked. Dr. Travolta paused, "Yes, I'm sorry I didn't mention anything about that..." He opened the file and read for a little bit. Dr. Travolta removed his glasses, "According to the file, Michael suffered a broken hip, laserations on his neck from the seatbelt, broken ribs and a cracked collar bone..." He sighed, " There also appears to be severe trauma to the brain..." "Jesus.." Mr. Mathews muttered, "What does that mean for Michael?" Dr. Travolta shifted his weight to one leg, "Well, that means that there's a chance he might expierence some memory loss or he may not... we really can't tell at this point..." "Tyler's not going to recognize his own father..." Mrs. Mathews frowned , "Look at all the bruises..." "I'll let you know when we figure out more." Dr. Travolta explained. Mr. Mathews nodded, "Thank you." He shook Dr. Travolta's hand and looked to see Jen standing in the doorway with Tyler at her side. Dr. Travolta politely nodded at Jen as he walked past. Jen stared at Mr. and Mrs. Mathews as tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. Mrs. Mathews cleared her throat, "Tyler, are you hungry?" Tyler shook his head and stepped forward but Mrs. Mathews quickly walked over and hugged him before he saw what was around the curtain, "Let's take a walk, your grandfather needs to speak to Jen alone." Mrs. Mathews slightly grasped Jen's shoulder as her and Tyler walked past. Jen bowed her head. Mr. Mathews watched as his wife and Tyler disapeared out of sight then he frowned, "Jen..." Jen looked up and her lips trembled. Mr. Mathews walked over and grabbed her hand. He tightened his grip a little to prepare her as he led her past the curtain. They paused and Mr. Mathews looked into Jen's eyes, " I know you're scared but we have to be brave and strong for Michael..."  She slightly nodded in agreement then slowly turned to look at Michael. Jen covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. Mr. Mathews caught her as her kneed gave out and she cried uncontrollably. The man she was looking at was so beaten, he didn't resemble her husband. He didn't look  like Michael.

(Sneek Peek Ch. 29 - Will they be able to wake Michael up?)