Daniel signed his name to the final letter. There had been too many to get written last night, especially since his body had stubbornly refused to allow him to stay up late. He’d woken up early this morning and had been writing almost nonstop since then. All that was left to do now was to address and put postage on the envelopes.
The minister got busy addressing the envelopes, wondering if there would be another batch of letters from Hope coming in the mail today. He was feeling terribly homesick, and the letters from the islanders helped ease it. He was glad that he’d been able to speak at the meeting last night. Though he hadn’t been able to see their faces, he’d been delighted to hear all those voices say hello to him.
Daniel had almost managed to get all the envelopes addressed when his parents came in.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” Bonnie greeted as she came forward and kissed his cheek. “You look very happy this morning.”
“I just finished writing my letters,” Daniel’s smile widened, “and last night I spoke at the town meeting.”
“You what?” Cliff asked, startled.
“I called over there, and they patched my call into the PA system at the school. I just suddenly felt as if I needed to tell them my thoughts. I don’t know if anything I told them will help, but I’m glad that I could at least have some small part in it.”
“I’m glad too,” his mother said. She glanced at her husband.
“Son, has Alex talked to you about what went on at the meeting yet?” Cliff asked.
“No, she’s going to tell me about it when she gets here.” Daniel looked back and forth between his parents. “Why? Is something wrong?”
“We’ll wait to discuss it when Alex gets here,” his father said.
Daniel could tell that something was wrong. There was a worried look in his father’s eyes. Had there been trouble at the meeting? What kind of trouble would cause his dad to worry?
Cliff watched the expression on his son’s face and wondered what his reaction would be when he found out what Joseph Mann and Frank Tate had been planning on doing. The call from James had come while Cliff and Bonnie sat watching a play. The moment the man told Cliff about the incident with the celebrity in Colorado, he had gotten a terrible feeling that the two Bostonians knew who Daniel was and intended to use that information. He’d called Alex right away. He and Bonnie had then gone to the hotel to await the call back from her. They had felt some relief that the developers seemed willing to agree not to say anything about Daniel if Hope Gardens was built. But what if it wasn’t? No one could stop them from revealing that the son of Cliff Cooper was living on a little island in the Pacific Northwest. Once that happened, the press would be all over the island, seeking to get the story that they had been denied before.
Throughout this entire year, Cliff had feared what would happen if the full story of what Daniel did got out, but, now, for the first time, he was thinking more about what it would do to his son than what it would do to Cooper Ministries. Daniel would be shamed and ridiculed. His mistake, committed in a moment of grief and anger, would be blown all out of proportion, made to look wicked and horribly shameful. Not only that, but it would make him the brunt of cruel jokes and remarks. Daniel’s self-esteem would be wounded deeply, perhaps permanently, and his respect and reputation as a minister would be hurt. All the good that he’d done on the island would mean nothing to the rest of the country, if they ever even found out about it. All they’d see was his mistakes.
Cliff made a silent vow that he would not let that happen. If he had to buy the silence of Mann and Tate, then he would, even though his conscience told him that it would be a form of bribery. But committing such a sin would be a small price to pay for the sake of his son. Daniel had already been hurt too much, by him and by the cruelties of life. He was not going to let him get hurt again. He owed him that.
Alex arrived an hour later. Daniel felt the familiar joy of seeing her. The sight of her lovely face never failed to delight him.
“Hi,” he said. “How’s everyone back home?”
“Great. They all loved hearing from you at the meeting last night,” Alex told him. “I was so happy that you were able to participate, and I know that everybody appreciated your words. Several people talked about what you said at breakfast this morning.”
“So, how long before you make the final decision?”
“A week. We’ll hold a special ballot next Tuesday.”
Daniel looked at his parents, then back to Alex. “All right, now I want to know what happened.”
“What are you talking about?” the redhead asked.
“Something clearly happened last night. I know that Mom and Dad are worried about it, so now I’d like someone to tell me what it is.”
“Oh.” Alex looked at the minister’s parents.
“You tell him, Alex,” Cliff said. “You know more about what went on.”
The redhead sat in the chair. She paused for a moment, trying to decide the best way to spring the news on Daniel. She decided that it would be best to tell him everything. Taking a deep breath, Alex told him what they had learned about the Bostonians and that the men knew who he was and had intended to reveal his presence on the island. She then told him about what happened at the Widow’s Walk, how everyone had leapt up to protect him and that Mann and Tate had sworn to keep quiet about him.
Once she was finished, Daniel sat silently in bed, staring at the bedcovers.
“The story won’t get out, Daniel,” Cliff said. “I’ll make sure of it. I promise you.”
“Maybe it’s time that it did,” his son said quietly.
“What?” the other three people in the room said, shocked.
Daniel finally lifted his eyes. “I made a terrible mistake, one that I will always be ashamed of, but I can’t hide from it forever. I can’t live my life always afraid that the truth will be discovered.”
“But Daniel, if this story got out, it would hurt you,” Alex said. “You know what the media would do with it.”
“Only if they found out about it the wrong way. But what if the whole story was given at the same time, the reason why I went to Las Vegas and did what I did? Kate’s death. Maybe if they knew those things, it would make them back off, not try to turn it into something ugly.”
Cliff thought about what his son was saying. If a well-written article was printed that told of Kate’s death and what it had done to Daniel, the reasons why he lost control and went to Las Vegas, most people would respond with sympathy or, at the very least, understanding. They wouldn’t persecute him for something he did out of grief over the loss of the woman he loved--unlike Cliff himself.
All at once, Cliff began to think about how he had disowned his son, driven him away over something he’d done because of his pain over Kate’s death and his anger over the fact that it need never have happened, wouldn’t have happened if Cliff had not been so narrow-minded and consumed with Cooper Ministries. Yet again, he felt himself overwhelmed with shame over how he’d hurt Daniel.
“No one would ever know that we were eloping,” Daniel continued, “or about the argument. I wouldn’t reveal anything that would harm you, Dad.”
Cliff gazed at his son. Even with all the ways that he’d hurt Daniel, all the ways that he’d been less than a father to him, Daniel was still striving to protect him and his reputation. Cliff felt his throat tighten as his love and pride in his child swelled. No man could be blessed with a finer son.
“What about Kate being Catholic?” Bonnie asked, thinking about how much Daniel had matured and grown stronger in the last year.
“I don’t know. Once her name is given out, it won’t take much digging to find out that she was Catholic,” Daniel said.
“It doesn’t matter, Son,” Cliff declared. He met Daniel’s eyes. “I was wrong about Kate’s religion causing harm to my ministry. I was wrong about a lot of things. If there are people out there who are so against interfaith marriages that they would stop listening to me preach because my son was going to marry a Catholic, then so be it. I doubt that there will be many.”
Cliff wanted to say more. He wanted to tell Daniel how sorry he was for everything, but he was uncomfortable about doing so with Bonnie and Alex in the room. Somehow, his wife sensed this.
“Alex, would you like to go get some coffee with me?” she abruptly asked.
Alex looked back and forth between Daniel and his father. She could tell that the time had come for certain words to be spoken. “Um, yeah. That’s sounds like a good idea,” she replied.
The two women left, saying that they’d be back in half an hour. Cliff sat on the bed. Swallowing his pride, he met his son’s eyes.
“Daniel, please forgive me. What I’ve done to you all these years, the ways that I’ve hurt you--”
“Dad, please don’t,” Daniel begged, unable to bear seeing the pain and terrible shame in his father’s eyes.
“I have to, Son. I can’t let this lie between us any longer. For your whole life, I’ve been more concerned with my ministry than I’ve been with you, my only child, a child who was born only through the blessing and grace of God.”
“What do you mean?”
“The doctors told your mother that her chances of having a child were slim. It hurt her terribly knowing that she might never have a baby. For over three and a half years we remained childless. And then Bonnie found out that she was pregnant, and I knew that God had given us this gift. When you were born, I should have settled down with the two of you there in St. Louis and been content to preach to my congregation, but I didn’t. I couldn’t be content. I wanted more. Less than a year after you were born, we’d left Missouri and were living in another state with yet another congregation, this one bigger than the last. This was my third congregation in the space of five years. And so it was throughout those first fifteen years of your life, with us moving from city to city, congregation to congregation, and me leaving you and your mother alone more and more often as I went to preach in other cities and, eventually, other countries. By the time the television ministries started, I was already completely consumed with my work. I couldn’t see what I was doing to you. I was blind to the fact that I didn’t even know my own son. I had this wonderful child whom I should have been giving my love and attention to, but, instead, I virtually ignored you, truly paying attention to you only when you did something wrong--or something I thought was wrong.”
Daniel was crying now, his chest heaving as emotions he’d kept hidden inside for so long came welling to the surface. The pain he’d felt over thirty-one years of being second place in his father’s mind and heart was all coming to a head.
“And then you became involved with Kate, and I committed an even worse sin against you. I tried to deny you love because I didn’t like it that she was Catholic, that she was not one of the millions who would listen to me preach every Sunday,” Cliff said, finally openly revealing the ugly and selfish reason he had not wanted Daniel to be with Kate. “And, again, I put my ministry ahead of you, thinking more about what it would look like if my son was to marry a Catholic than about your feelings.”
Cliff drew in a shaky breath, feeling hot tears begin to slide down his cheeks. “When Kate was killed . . . dear God forgive me, a part of me was glad that it was over. I wasn’t happy that she was dead. Please believe that, Daniel. But, I thought that, in the end, you’d be better off. I believed that, in time, you’d be fine and would eventually meet a nice Protestant girl, get married, and, when you were ready, take your place in Cooper Ministries. But then you ran away to Las Vegas, went on that gambling spree, and married that showgirl while drunk. It was the last straw. I didn’t think about why you’d done it. I didn’t think about the anguish and pain that you were suffering. All I could think about was how angry and disappointed I was in you and how your act had threatened Cooper Ministries. And so I did the worse thing that I could have done to you. I rejected you. I turned my back on you and walked away.”
Daniel was sobbing deeply, his eyes squeezed shut, his hands clutching the sheets, white-knuckled. Cliff was sobbing as well, silently begging God to forgive him for all his sins against his son. He gathered Daniel in his arms, clinging to him.
“Daniel, please, please forgive me. I am so very sorry.”
Daniel held onto his father tightly, letting the tears fall freely. He wept as he had only once before in his life, the day Kate died. For long minutes, father and son just held each other. When they finally drew apart, Cliff cupped Daniel’s face in his hands and gazed deeply into his eyes.
“I love you, Son. You are the best thing that ever came into my life. I am so sorry that it took almost losing you forever for me to see that. But I swear to you before God that I will never again neglect you in favor of my ministry. If I have to give up Cooper Ministries and go back to being a congregational minister, I will. Someone told me that my service to God didn’t depend on my television ministry, and I know now that he was right. God doesn’t required that I preach to millions. He only asks that I be the best minister--and the best person--that I can be. Up until now, I’ve failed in that.”
“Dad, I don’t want you to give up Cooper Ministries,” Daniel told him. “You’ve worked your whole life for it.”
“And what good would that life have been if you had died with me never having given you the love and attention that you deserved from me? When I feared that you were going to die, all I kept thinking about was the fact that for all these years, I had the most precious gift that any man can be given, and I’d all but thrown it away. I knew then that my ministry would be empty and meaningless if I lost you.” Cliff took a deep breath. “If you had died, I think that I would have put an end to Cooper Ministries.”
“No,” Daniel said, distressed.
“In time, I may have found some small congregation somewhere to spend the remaining years of my life, but I could not have preached before all those millions knowing that I’d done those terrible things to you and would never have the chance to make it up to you.”
“But I didn’t die.”
“No, you didn’t, and I will thank God every day of my life for that.” Cliff gently laid his hand upon Daniel’s bandaged head. “This made me see the truth, not only about myself, but also about you. I’ve finally come to know the kind of man that you really are. You have the depth of love and compassion that I lost years ago. Every day, you minister not just with your words, but with your deeds and actions. Your friends told me of the things you’ve done for Hope Island, how you’ve worked tirelessly to restore that church and help the islanders in any way that you could. And I saw how those people love you for it. Kevin and Molly told me about how you almost lost the church and the way that the islanders chipped in to get you the money that you needed, regardless of what religion they were. I am so very proud of you, Son.”
Daniel felt fresh tears wet his cheeks. For so many years, he’d hungered to hear those words, to hear his father say that he was proud of him. It meant so much to know that his father respected him.
“I love you, Dad,” he whispered.
“I love you too, Daniel. You are more precious to me than anything on Earth.”
They embraced again, both of them smiling through their tears. When the women returned a while later, they found the men quietly talking about Daniel’s congregation and church.
Alex looked at Daniel, seeing the telltale signs that he had been crying. Those signs were on Cliff’s face as well. But there was also happiness in their eyes.
Daniel’s gaze turned to her, and he smiled brightly. “Hey. I remembered something.”
“What?” she asked, returning the smile.
“I remember playing Chinese Checkers with you and Dylan one night while I was staying at the Widow’s Walk.”
Alex laughed. “And do you also remember that you beat the pants off of us?”
The minister’s eyes twinkled. “Uh huh.”
“Of course you would remember that.” She sobered. “So, are you going to release the story?”
“I’m not sure. It’s wouldn’t be until after I’m fully healed. I know that, even with everyone knowing the whole story, I’ll still be the brunt of some jokes. It’s inevitable. But I think it will be worth it to finally be free of the worry that the story will be discovered.”
Alex nodded, hating the idea that people would make fun of what he did even knowing why it had happened. But there were a lot of cruel, unfeeling people in the world who would delight in using Daniel’s mistake as the material for some joke.
The door opened and Doctors Watson and Harding came in.
“Good morning, everyone,” Lily greeted. Everyone returned the greeting.
“Are you here to start the tests?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, but first we have some news I think that you’ll all like. Daniel is going to be moved out of the ICU and into a room in the rehabilitation wing. Any danger of complications is past.”
Everybody in the room was delighted with the announcement. Alex took Daniel’s hand and gave it a squeeze, smiling at him brightly.
“That is wonderful news,” Bonnie said.
“Does this also mean that I’ll be allowed to eat?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, it does,” Doctor Harding said with a smile, “though, once you taste the food around here, you may ask to be put back on the IV.”
Daniel and the others laughed.
“So, about these tests,” the minister said. “What exactly are they?”
“First, you’ll be given some visual and oral tests to check your concentration, mental alertness, reasoning skills, memory retention, problem solving, and other cognitive skills,” the neurologist explained. “From what I’ve observed over the last couple of days, I think that you’ll do just fine with those. After that, we’ll begin the physical tests. We’ll test your vision and hearing, your coordination, motor skills, muscle control, and so on. This is all to gauge what damage might have occurred and to determine your treatment.”
Daniel nodded, anxious to get started.
Lily looked at the others in the room. “These tests will take quite a while, so be prepared for a long wait.” She turned back to Daniel. “Okay, we need to get you into something more suitable than that hospital gown.”
Everyone else filed out of the room, and the two doctors helped Daniel get dressed in a pair of hospital pajamas. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Lily was Daniel’s physician, he would have been extremely embarrassed by the process. As it was, it was rather humiliating to need help getting dressed. It was almost as humiliating when a male orderly came in to gently lift Daniel out of the bed and put him in the wheelchair the orderly had brought. The only thing that eased the feeling was the minister’s knowledge that he wouldn’t have had the strength to do it on his own.
Daniel was taken down to a room where he was given a series of tests, including being asked to answer some questions and solve a few simple math problems. As the doctors had figured, he did very well, scoring normally on many of the tests and only a little below normal on others. Everyone assured him that, with therapy, the chances were good that there would be significant improvement, even complete recovery of the mental functions that had been impaired. He was also tested by a neuropsychologist to determine if there were any behavioral problems. After the tests, the man announced that everything was fine in those regards.
Daniel got very nervous when the time came for the memory tests. He was afraid of what they would reveal. The first tests involved his immediate memory. He was shown pictures and told numbers, then was immediately asked to recall what he had been shown or told. Daniel was able to recall everything perfectly.
Next came short-term memory. They started out by testing his ability to remember things after a few seconds, then extended it to several minutes. His short-term memory proved to be below average, but not extremely so.
“Will this get better?” the minister asked, trying not to be upset.
“With therapy and training, there’s a good chance that your short-term memory skills will improve quite a bit and even return to normal,” Doctor Harding told him.
Lastly, they tested his long-term memory. Daniel had been given several lists of things to remember before he was taken from his room. The woman conducting the test now asked him to recall those things. Daniel did well, scoring within a normal range. He was then asked to recount events that had occurred in the last few days. Again, he was able to remember most things clearly and accurately.
“This is very good, Daniel, better than I had expected or even hoped for,” the neurologist said.
He and Doctor Harding wheeled Daniel to a small waiting room. The doctors sat down on the couch beside the minister’s wheelchair.
“How are you doing so far, Daniel?” Doctor Watson asked.
“I’m all right.” He searched the faces of the physicians. “I want to know about my lost memories.”
“Have you been recalling things?” Doctor Harding asked.
“I’ve remembered some things, but those two weeks before the accident are still mostly blank spaces.” Daniel took a deep breath. “Is . . . is it true that I’ll never recover a lot of my memories?”
Lily looked startled. “Where did you hear that?”
“I, um, heard you talking to Alex the other day,” the minister admitted.
“You were awake?”
Daniel nodded.
Doctor Watson gazed at the minister, whose eyes had dropped to his hands. “Daniel, I’m sorry. You weren’t meant to hear that.”
Daniel sighed. “I know. But I wanted to know the truth.”
“Daniel, let me explain something,” Doctor Harding said. “Those memories that you can’t recall aren’t gone.”
The minister’s head lifted in surprise. “They aren’t?”
“No. It’s not like they’ve been erased. They’re still in there. The problem is with your ability to retrieve them. In time, much of your memory will return. The gaps will slowly be filled in. It is possible, however, that there will be things you will never retrieve. But there is also a very good chance that you will recover everything, though it may take quite a long time.”
Daniel felt his hopes lift. “I thought that it would be like this permanently, that most of my memories of those two weeks would be gone forever.”
“Again, I’m sorry, Daniel,” Lily said. “I was, perhaps, being too pessimistic with Alex. I had a friend who suffered a traumatic brain injury when we were teenagers. Afterwards, she had almost no memory of the events that occurred during the month prior to the accident. She never retrieved large portions of those memories. It happened again a few years ago with a relative. He had large gaps in his memory of the week before the accident, most of which he never got back. On top of that, my mother had a stroke when I was twelve, which left her with permanent memory retention problems and past memories that she never recovered. These experiences left me with a rather pessimistic attitude toward the recovery of memories lost because of brain damage. I let that attitude affect what I said when Alex asked me about your memories.” She put her hand on Daniel’s arm. “But those cases were the exception rather than the rule. Usually, lost memories are recovered fully.”
“Lily is right,” Doctor Harding said. “The chances are very good that you will recover all or nearly all of what you’ve lost.”
Daniel smiled as his spirits lifted. The knowledge that he would very likely regain much of the memories he’d lost was enough to dampen his distress over the results of the short-term memory test. He wanted to remember those two weeks so badly. He wanted to remember the time he spent with the islanders as he helped them after the storm, the week he was staying at the Widow’s Walk, the time he spent each evening with Alex and Dylan during that week. He wanted to remember all of his parents’ visit. And he wanted to remember giving Alex the necklace and what happened afterwards. Those two weeks had been an important part of his life, and he very much wanted them back.
“Overall, I am very pleased with the results of these tests,” the neurologist told him. “The severity and extent of your cognitive difficulties is well below what would have been expected and what I’ve seen in patients with injuries similar to yours.”
“What about physical impairments?” Daniel asked.
“Those tests will come next, but I think we’ll wait until tomorrow.”
“Please, can’t we do them now? I want to know.”
The doctors looked at each other, then turned back to Daniel.
“All right. We’ll run some tests now, but we don’t want to overdo it,” Lily said.
They took Daniel to a room where his hearing and vision were tested. Both proved to be normal and without any problems. He was then taken to a room with exercise equipment and other things that looked like what a gymnast would use.
Daniel looked at the equipment doubtfully. He knew that he was weak. That fact had been made crystal clear while he was helped to dress. And the minor activity had also brought forth pain from the kidney surgery and his broken ribs. He didn’t know if he would be able to use any of the equipment.
Lily saw the expression on Daniel’s face and smiled. “Don’t worry, Daniel. We don’t expect you to use any of those things today. That comes later. We just want to run some tests to check your coordination and see how well you can control your muscles.”
They met with another specialist. Standing a few feet away, the man threw a small rubber ball to Daniel, who failed to catch it, though he tried. They tried again, and, this time, the minister caught it. The ball was thrown several more times, Daniel succeeding in catching it less than half the time. The problem he was having wasn’t just in not being able move his hands in the right way to catch the ball, but also with him not being able to move fast enough to catch it. Upset by the results of the test, he looked up at the doctors.
“What’s wrong? Is this going to get better? I used to play catch with Dylan all the time.”
Lily smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Daniel. With therapy, there’s a very good chance that this will improve dramatically.”
“What we’re seeing here is very common to damage to the cerebellum, which controls coordination of voluntary motor movement.” Doctor Harding explained.
“The cerebellum? That’s, um, somewhere back here, isn’t it?” Daniel asked, pointing to the back of his head at the base of his skull.
“Yes, that’s right,” the neurologist said, smiling.
“But I thought that I was injured on the left side of my head.”
“That’s where your head was struck and where the skull fracture occurred, but let me explain something. With TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury, the entire brain is often affected to some extent. With many head injuries, you don’t see significant deficits in some areas while other abilities remain fully intact. In a lot of cases, almost every ability that the brain controls is affected, at least in some way. There are a number of reasons for this. When someone suffers a severe blow to the head, the brain bounces around inside the skull and can strike the skull not just on the side that was hit, but also on the opposite side, causing a contusion on both sides of the brain. This is called a coup/contra coup injury. On top of this, there may be shearing and tearing of tiny nerve fibers and blood vessels in the brain. And that’s only mentioning two things that can happen at the moment of injury. Then there are the secondary effects. Bleeding inside the skull can cause a mass of blood, a hematoma, to accumulate. If this mass of blood is large enough to put pressure on the brain tissue, additional damage can occur.”
“That’s what happened with me, isn’t it?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, it is. This bleeding can also interrupt or cut off blood flow to other parts of the brain. This results in a lack of oxygen to those areas. Yet another cause of damage to the brain is swelling. Because the brain is surrounded by the skull, there is no room for it to expand. This means that the more the brain swells, the greater the pressure on it becomes and the more damage results. What all this means is that a traumatic brain injury most often results in damage to multiple parts of the brain, and, therefore, will result in a wide variety of difficulties, both cognitive and physical. This is why you’re experiencing problems that are not related to the temporal lobe, the area of the brain initially damaged. However, you are very lucky in that your difficulties are not widespread and are, as a whole, relatively minor. So far, your cognitive difficulties seem to be mostly in regards to your memory, and even that is limited to your short-term memory, which is the opposite of what would be expected. We would usually see problems with your long-term memory. Now, there is a possibility that other cognitive problems may become evident with more in-depth testing, but I’m confident that nothing significant with show up given what we’ve seen so far. The problem with your coordination is more substantial, but even it isn’t nearly as bad as it could be.”
“Do you want to continue, Daniel or would you like to rest and continue this tomorrow?” Doctor Watson asked.
“I want to continue,” the minister replied.
With the help of a large male physical therapist, Daniel was placed upon a padded table. He was asked to lift and move his arms and legs in a variety of ways.
“How are you feeling?” Doctor Watson asked once they were finished.
“I’m kind of woozy and nauseous,” Daniel replied. He’d broken out in a sweat and was now feeling worn out.
Doctor Harding nodded. “That’s to be expected. It’s less than a week since your injury and only a little over three days since the brain surgery, and throughout that time you’ve been lying in bed with very little exercise. It’s going to take a lot more time before you can move about without any adverse reactions.” He gave the minister a smile. “You’ve done very well, Daniel. Your muscle control is very good, excellent, in fact.
“It was kind of hard to lift my legs,” the minister told him. “They felt heavier than they should, like they were weighted down.”
The neurologist nodded. “Muscle weakness is not uncommon. But it’s not severe in your case, so it shouldn’t take long before we can get you back to normal with that.” His eyes ran over Daniel’s face. “Okay, that’s more than enough for today. Let’s take you back to your room where I want you to get some sleep, not just rest, sleep.”
The minister didn’t argue. He wanted to ask more questions about his therapy, but he was too tired to concentrate.
Lily and Doctor Harding took him back to his room. Once he was settled in the bed, the doctors shooed everyone out, telling them to let Daniel get some sleep.
“How did the tests go?” Alex asked as they gathered outside Daniel’s room.
“Very well. We noted some short-term memory problems and a few other slight cognitive difficulties, but they were relatively mild. There is also a problem with his coordination when moving his hands rapidly and in being able to move quickly, but I’m confident that with an intensive therapy program, he will regain much of those lost abilities, perhaps even fully. There are a number of tests that we could not perform because Daniel is too weak. We’ll have to wait a few more days before we can do those.”
“When will his therapy start?” Cliff asked.
“Tomorrow. We’ll schedule a session with someone tomorrow morning who will begin to strengthen and retrain Daniel’s short-term memory skills and the other cognitive abilities that were affected. In the afternoon, we’ll start his physical therapy.” He studied the faces of the three people. “It varies from patient to patient, but it’s possible that Daniel may not wish for any friends or relatives to be present during his therapy. Some patients are ashamed and embarrassed by their impairments and don’t want loved ones to be a witness to their struggles to regain lost abilities. On the other hand, some patients derive strength and comfort from having a loved one present. You will have to have an honest talk with Daniel to find out how he feels about this.”
“Something you need to be warned about is depression,” Lily said. “It is very common for brain injured patients to suffer from bouts of extreme depression. Sometimes, the depression has a medical cause, but often it is a result of the patient feeling inadequate and less than a whole person. Daniel’s difficulties are mild compared to many brain injured patients, but depression is still a danger.”
“What can we do to help him?” Bonnie asked.
“Give him all the love and support you can. If you start to see signs of depression, praise his successes and talk about the good things that he’s done. Talk about his family and friends. Remind him constantly that he has a good life with lots of people who love him.”
“That won’t be hard,” Alex said. “Daniel has a whole island full of people who love him, and we could spend weeks talking about the things he’s done for them.”
“If you can get some of his friends to come visit, that would help as well,” Doctor Harding said.
“Actually, some people are coming over this afternoon,” the redhead revealed. “I want it to be a surprise for Daniel.”
“Wonderful! That will be very good for him,” the neurologist said.
“When will you transfer Daniel out of the ICU?” Cliff asked.
“First thing tomorrow morning,” Lily replied. “We’ll get a room number for you so that you can find him and tell everyone back home. Oh, by the way, there’s another pile of letters for Daniel at the main desk.”
Alex and the minister’s parents smiled at that. They knew how much it meant to Daniel to receive letters from the islanders.
Doctor Watson’s beeper went off. She looked at the readout. “Well, it looks like I’m needed back on the island. I’ll try to get over here tomorrow afternoon for Daniel’s first physical therapy session.” She looked at Alex. “Alex, when we can, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Um . . . all right,” the redhead responded, wondering what this was about.
The doctors left.
“Shall we go get some lunch?” Cliff asked.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Bonnie replied.
“Sure. Let me go get my purse,” Alex said.
“Could you get mine too? And our coats?” Daniel’s mother asked.
Alex nodded and quietly slipped back into Daniel’s room. He was fast asleep, his expression peaceful. Alex walked up to him. She looked down at him for several seconds, thinking about how much she loved him and how much she was looking forward to the day he could come home. Alex gave him a soft kiss on his forehead, being careful not to awaken him. Then she retrieved the coats and purses and rejoined Daniel’s parents.