Chapter One: Hospital Stay
As Daniel slowly drifted into consciousness, the sterile scent of the antiseptic invaded his senses, mingling with the dull throbbing in his head. He blinked, trying to make sense of the stark white ceiling above him. Glancing around the room, he noticed the familiar sight of hospital equipment—beeping monitors, IV drips, and the muted hum of machinery. Pressing his fingers gently to his skull, Daniel attempted to recollect the events that led to him being in the hospital. But all his queries would soon end as a doctor entered the room.
The doctor approached Daniel’s bedside and ran a few small checks to assess his recovery progress.
“Good morning,” the doctor greeted with a reassuring smile. “Do you remember your name?”
Daniel nodded slightly. “Yes, it’s Daniel,” he replied hoarsely.
“And can you recall how you ended up here?”
Daniel paused for a moment before shaking his head.
The man scribbled some notes on his clipboard before reattaching it to the end of Daniel’s bed.
“You have been in a coma for about 10 days now,” the doctor informed him. “From what we have been able to see from the bruising on your body, it appears that you were attacked with a blunt force object multiple time. You had a few cracked ribs and a concussion, but considering the severity of the assault, you are fortunate to be coming out of it with only bruises.”
The doctor left the room briefly before returning with a tablet moments later. “Since you’re awake and stable,” he explained, “we’ll schedule a surgery to apply a recoupling agent to your ribs, which should heal them up in 3-5 days.”
“Once we can assure that you are in a good enough state, we will be comfortable enough to discharge you.”
The doctor pressed a few more buttons on his tablet as he looked for the next possible surgery time before explaining the details and post-recovery expectations to Daniel.
Daniel rolled over in the bed, feeling exhausted and resigned to the monotony of hospital life. As he slowly began to drift off to sleep, the distant sounds of screaming from the hospital corridor jolted him awake. Straining to listen, he recognised the voices as those belonging to his parents. He could see them arguing with the nurse at the reception area, insisting on visiting despite having been declined visits previously due to him staying in the ICU wing of the hospital. The nurse stood firm, warning them that security would be called if they did not comply with their requests to leave, and reluctantly, they departed, their fading screams echoing into the distance.
The doctor re-entered the room, pulling a chair over from the corner. “Daniel, there’s no point in lying about how you got in this state.”
“This is only going to continue. Why not break the cycle and finally be able to live out the rest of your childhood in peace?”
The words enticed Daniel, yet he was still scared of what it could mean for his future. He did not have anywhere else to stay, anyone else to rely on, so he always said no. But he could not deal with the torment any longer.
And so, he gave a reluctant nod as the doctor smiled. “We can have a member of child services come in after your surgery to discuss how this will go moving forward, okay?”
He removed the clipboard, scribbling onto it before reaching onto a tray on the desk next to Daniel’s bed, retrieving a syringe.
“I’m going to apply a small 1mg dosage of melatonin to your IV. It should help you get the rest you need before the surgery.”
Slowly inserting it into the IV port, the doctor injected the clear liquid into the saline drip as he adjusted the dosage.
Daniel’s head felt fuzzy as he rested it on the pillow and the world slowly faded to black.
As Daniel awoke, two humanoid shapes stood at the end of the bed. As his vision cleared, he realised it was his best friend Liam and Liam’s mother, Emily. Liam’s face was contorted with worry as he began to bombard Daniel with questions about what had happened, expressing concern since Daniel had not been in school for a fortnight. Sensing the situation, Emily placed her hand on Liam’s shoulder to intervene.
“Daniel is still recovering, Liam,” Emily said calmly. “Pounding him with questions won’t help.”
Liam looked apologetic; his worry evident. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I’ve been really worried about you.”
Daniel managed to muster a weak smile. “It’s okay, Liam. I’m still trying to piece everything together myself.”
The worried yet hopeful conversation continued until it was interrupted by the return of the doctor and another young lady in dark navy scrubs.
“Would it be fine to go over the procedure with Daniel?”
“Of course, that’s fine,” Emily said, giving Daniel a reassuring smile. “We’ll be right outside.”
Daniel exchanged a final glance with his best friend before Liam and Emily said their goodbyes and left the room.
The doctors pulled up chairs beside Daniel’s bed, and the surgeon introduced himself before explaining the procedure in detail.
“The surgery is relatively straightforward,” the surgeon began, addressing Daniel directly. “First, we’ll gently cut around the affected ribs using a specialised laser scalpel. Then, we will carefully pull back the skin to expose the affected rib. After that, we will apply the recoupling agent directly to the rib. Using a special torch, we will heat the agent, causing it to harden and stabilise the rib. Finally, we will stitch the skin back into place and apply a skin-repairing agent. This agent accelerates the body’s natural healing process, allowing the skin to repair completely in just 20 minutes.”
The surgeon paused to ensure Daniel understood the procedure. “Do you have any questions before we proceed?”
Daniel listened intently to the surgeon’s explanation of the recovery process. When the surgeon finished outlining the procedure, Daniel spoke up, his voice slightly hoarse.
“How long will the post-surgery recovery take?” Daniel asked, his eyes fixed on the surgeon.
The doctor nodded, understanding the concern. “You should be able to start moving around after about two days, and it will take about three days for the rib to fully heal.”
Daniel nodded in response, absorbing the information.
Afterwards, Emily and Liam re-entered the room, their expressions hopeful.
“Daniel, would you like to come stay with us for a while?” Emily asked gently. “Just until we figure out more permanent arrangements?”
Daniel considered the offer, feeling a mix of relief and uncertainty. “Yes, I think that would be good,” he replied softly.
Emily smiled warmly. “Great. We’ll make sure you’re comfortable.”
The conversation continued as Daniel discussed his thoughts and concerns with Emily and Liam, grateful for their support during this challenging time.
A little while later, Daniel, Emily, and Liam were engaged in conversation when they were interrupted by the anaesthesiologist entering the room. She quickly reviewed Daniel’s chart, typing notes into her tablet before proceeding with preparations for the surgery.
After a few moments, a doctor entered carrying a bag of saline solution for the IV. The anaesthesiologist replaced Daniel’s old IV bag with the new one and carefully injected the anaesthetic into the IV line. As she typed into her tablet once more, Daniel felt his eyelids grow heavy, and before he knew it, he slipped into unconsciousness.
As Daniel slowly regained consciousness in the recovery room, he found himself greeted by the soft murmur of medical equipment. Emily and Liam stood next to the bed, showing their happiness that he was coming to, as the doctor scribbled on the clipboard at the bottom of his bed.
“How are you feeling at the moment, Daniel?” the doctor asked, not raising his eyes from the clipboard.
“A little stiff and groggy, but better,” Daniel said as Emily helped him sit up against his pillow.
“Well, we do have some good news for you as well,” the doctor said with a smile on his face. “The amount of damage to your ribs was far less than initially theorised, meaning the surgery was an outstanding success.”
Daniel felt relieved as he smiled broadly.
“If recovery goes as smoothly as the surgery did, you’ll probably be able to be discharged into the care of Ms. Bennett here ahead of schedule.”
The celebrations were soon interrupted by a young man standing in the doorway of the room. He had short, fine ginger hair combed back, wore smart studious glasses, and looked to be in his early to mid-twenties.
Emily spoke up, “Ah, Daniel, this is Mr. Summers, the child protection officer in charge of your case.”
He gave a gentle wave. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Daniel. I heard your surgery had gone well.”
The doctor reapplied the clipboard to the chart before telling the group that he would give them the privacy they would need.
“I know a lot is happening at the moment at home, and me and everyone at my agency are going to try our hardest to help you.”
“Normally, the entry route for these kinds of cases is that we have the child stay with a relative or friend that they trust, and Ms. Bennett here has gladly volunteered her home. For now, at least the first month or so, we will help you move in, get your belongings like clothes and items you might need, such as medications. During this time, we tend to arrange a meeting for our ‘action plan’. So, for teenagers like yourself, we help arrange what your future will look like.”
He removed a laptop from the leather satchel that he carried, opening a PDF document on it, a template of what one of these action plans would look like.
“Often, the early stage involves arranging a return visit to the child’s house to collect personal belongings. During this, we often have another member of our team as well as a peacekeeper police officer on the scene to help.”
Daniel began to read the rest of the PDF document as he began to form some questions.
“What kind of other things do people ask for?”
He removed a leaflet from his satchel, showing it to Daniel as he read it.
“Often, they ask for aid in getting into college, looking for part-time work, and simply accommodation support, whether that’s independent tenancy, adoption, or a group home.”
Daniel nodded, giving the leaflet back to him as he returned it and the laptop to his leather satchel.
“For now, let’s simply focus on getting you settled in at Ms. Bennett’s place, okay?”
Daniel gave a gentle nod as he asked Emily to help fill in some forms. Liam challenged Daniel to a game of Mario Kart, and after some fierce competition, Daniel ultimately succeeded.
