When I was twelve I got hit in the face by a baseball. It hit dead centre of my nose. I had a tremendous headache but still managed to play the whole game. What no one realized, probably because I acted like I was healthy enough to play, was that it actually broke. I guess it must have been a pretty clean break, since I never developed black eyes or any of the usual signs. I hardly noticed a problem until I started developing massive sinus headaches. It turned out that I had deviated my septum, effectively blocking a nasal passage and preventing it from draining properly. And, just like when I was twelve and ignored pain to play baseball, I ignored the headaches for years.
By the time I was in university I had wised up a little, and seen a nose specialist about the headaches. He recommended surgery, and since it would take a few weeks to recover, I decided to wait until December when I was off school. So, the day after coming home, I went to the hospital.
I dressed in a gown, and followed a nurse to the operating room. There I lay down on a table while someone attached an IV to my hand. My doctor showed up sometime during these proceedings, wearing a mask and surgical gown.
“All right Ethan, we’re all set.” He said. “I need you to count backwards from one hundred for me.”
“Okay. One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight…” I drifted off as the anaesthesia in the IV took effect. Everything just slipped into darkness.
I floated in a black oblivion for a long time. I felt like I was swimming at the bottom of the ocean, and started pushing up for the surface. I struggled, kicking upwards, sensing the light. I swam on, faster now, eager. For some reason, I was sure that I would see Faith on the other side. I could feel her somehow. I burst through the surface.
Opening my eyes, I smiled. Sunlight streamed in the nearby window. I was in a hospital bed, alone in recovery. I remembered going in for surgery. I shook my head. It was almost as if my mind had woken up before my body, and I had to swim back to consciousness. It bothered me that, cut off from the world, my only thought was of Faith.
Leave a comment
Comments feed for this article