I gritted my teeth and braced, as the large caliber bullet exited the cold iron with an omnipotent clap of thunder! An already racing heart, involuntarily skipped a beat from the gun’s kickback. I had shot with this rifle hundreds of times at the gun range, along with a dozen other weapons. But for some reason it felt like it was my first. Maybe deep inside I already knew that the outcome wasn’t going to be good. The thought of staring into HELL itself would make any man question his very existence. Was this just some crazy nightmare that would be over in the morning? I was never the church-going type. The thought of there even being a God made me chuckle inside! Besides only the uneducated believed in such foolishness. But I...prayed as I took aim at that monster! I begged Him for help. I pleaded to be with my family again.
The single round struck!
* * *
"Good morning Mrs. Ronal, I have another colleague of mine who is the Chief Neurologist at the medical school. The entire medical staff here is comprised of professors who teach residents at the University. Dr. Gerdau may be able to shed some light on this situation. It’s been exactly ninety days since your husband’s unfortunate accident. For him to survive a fall from that height is a miracle! His left shoulder was shattered with numerous broken vertebrae. His spinal cord’s damage almost guaranteed paralysis. All our experts concluded that the only option was to place him in a medical induced coma. By doing this a person’s body can heal at a much faster rate. The body is at rest and with little to no movement, no further damage can occur. I’ll let the doctor explain.
"I am truly sorry Mrs. Ronal. Your husband should have woken up a few weeks ago. Our reflex tests have shown that the healing was a success. He would most certainly be able to walk again with a few months of rehabilitation. That was the reasoning behind the medically induced coma. This procedure is not beyond the norm by any means. The unexplained phenomena in your husband’s case is him not waking up! We have tried various drugs and stimulants to induce waking. In my 40 plus years of experience I never seen anything like this! It’s as if something is preventing him from waking up. His Beta waves are off the charts. These are a type of brain waves that a present when we are mentally engaged.
"If these are present, he should be wide awake. Something is not adding up at all. We have him being monitored around the clock. Various sensors are recording any brain activity and changes in vital signs. We know that things like this can be hard on a family. Dr. Tolbert and I have a serious question to ask you. From our perspective and professional opinion, we think that Chris might not ever regain consciousness. We have tried everything and you even consented to us trying some experimental drugs! You must make a choice Mrs. Ronal. We can keep him on life support or he can be taken off it. We will give you some time to think about it."