Page 5 of The Facilitator: Part 3
“As long as you are happy to wait until then. I’m here, always,” she said.
I smiled at her. “I know. Now we need to go because right now my cock wants to fuck that pretty mouth of yours, and I don’t think we have the time.”
Lauren chuckled. “Great deflection and one I’ll take you up on, of course,” she said. She winked.
As much as Lauren knew I had something troubling me, I also knew her chuckles and laughter were forced to cover the fear she felt about the news she was about to hear.
Chapter Three
We headed into the hospital and to the ICU. My concerns were that if he was in ICU, he was more ill than even Elaine thought. Even with heart failure, surely he’d be on a ward or sent home once the infection was controlled. I didn’t voice my concerns, of course, and I could have been adding two and two and coming up with five.
Sebastian was in his own room and although we knew it was only one at a time around his bed, because his situation was critical, they allowed us all to gather. He was asleep, of course, and it was only during sleep that I could see the man he once was. When awake, his features would be contorted as he had little control over muscles that constantly spasmed.
Lauren took his hand and gently stroked the bruised skin from various injection sites.
“Hey, brother,” she said. “I hear you’ve been poorly. We can’t have that, can we?” she said.
Elaine sat the other side of him and brushed his hair. “There, that’s better isn’t it?” she whispered.
I sat in the corner and let them have their time with him. They whispered and chatted, Lauren told him about Dominic and our trip to America. She was hoping that he’d come with us next time. We all knew that would never be possible but if it kept his, or her, spirits up, then she could say what she wanted. Machines beeped and oxygen pumped into his nose. Every now and again his eyelids would twitch and Elaine would encourage him to wake up, not that he could. He was so heavily sedated. Being in a different environment and struggling to breathe had caused him great anxiety, she’d been told.
The door opened and a gentleman in a suit walked in with a nurse.
“Ah, lovely, you’re here,” he said, and then gently smiled at us all. “I think we’ll talk next door,” he whispered. The nurse fussed around Sebastian and the gentleman picked up the notes from the bottom of his bed. He glanced over them then beckoned for us to follow.
Next doorwas the family room. I introduced myselfand then stood while Lauren, Elaine, and Professor Allum sat.
“It’s not good, I’m afraid,” he started, and I heard Lauren take a sharp breath in. “As you know, Sebastian has two irregular heart valves, which have deteriorated over the years. He was always, sadly, going to have heart problems. In normal circumstances, he’d be on the transplant list at this point.”
“But you’re not going to do that, why?” Lauren challenged.
Professor Allum smiled gently at her. “It has nothing to do with your brother’s brain damage or paralysis, but everything to do with the fact his lungs are also damaged and he would unlikely recover from an anesthetic. Because of his brain damage and his inability to move, his body is deteriorating, and we have to weigh up our options carefully.”
He didn’t say it, he didn’t need to, I didn’t think, but something as precious as a donor heart had to be given to someone with a chance of survival. I got that, Elaine most certainly got that since she nodded along, but I highly doubted Lauren did. Her face was like stone. I hoped it was shock and not disbelief at the professor’s decision.
“Right now, we believe your brother has maybe a week left to live. He contracted endocarditis and the heart, even a healthy one, would struggle, let alone his.”
“How did he contract that?” Lauren asked.
“There are many way, but we believe in your brother’s case it was poor dental hygiene. An infection that travels in the blood and to the heart where it lodges in the damaged valves is usually fatal.”
“He went to the dentist, didn’t he?” Lauren stared at her mom and I took hold of her hand and squeezed. She had a challenging tone to her voice.
“No, not for the last couple of years. It distressed him too much,” Elaine said.
She lowered her head and I watched her cry. Lauren seemed paralyzed, unable to move, initially. I nudged her and it was as if she’dcome back to us. She moved closer to her mom and wrapped her arms around her.
“I’m sorry, I’m shocked. He was okay when I spoke to him last, as okay as he ever was,” Lauren said, finally understanding and letting her grief show.
“How long, Professor?” I asked, I was sure Elaine would want to know.
“Less than a week? We can’t tell for sure. His decline has been very rapid. What I have done is drawn up end of life drugs, in case I, or a senior doctor, isn’t here,” he said.
“He’s a donor,” Elaine said. “Whatever is useful, he wants you to have.”
“Mum!” Lauren said, and her response surprised me.
“I’m his mum, I give consent,” Elaine said. She turned back to the professor. “Whatever you can use, please do.”
