Chapter 5 - Awakening in the Recovery Ward
By midnight, Maya had been transferred to a private recovery room on the pediatric floor.
The harsh fluorescent lights had been dimmed, replaced by the soft, amber glow of a bedside lamp. A steady IV drip hummed quietly beside her bed, delivering saline and pain medication into her arm.
I sat in the armchair beside her mattress, gently stroking her hair as she stirred beneath the white cotton sheets.
Her eyelids fluttered open. She blinked against the dim light, frowning as her hand instinctively moved toward her abdomen, where a neat row of surgical steri-strips covered her incision.
“Mom?” she whispered, her voice dry and raspy.
“I’m right here, sweetheart,” I said, leaning over and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. “You did so well. The surgery is over.”
Maya looked around the quiet room, her eyes wide with a sudden, unfamiliar sense of lightness. “My... my stomach doesn't feel like it’s burning anymore.”
“It’s gone, baby,” I choked out, a tear slipping down my cheek. “The doctors took it all out. You’re going to be okay.”
A quiet knock sounded at the door.
Robert pushed it open slowly. He looked diminished, his shoulders rounded, his tie still hanging loose around his collar. He stood awkwardly by the doorway, looking as though he didn't quite know where his feet belonged in the room.
“Maya,” he said awkwardly, clearing his throat. “How... how are you feeling?”
Maya pulled the blanket up a little higher around her chin, her eyes fixing on her father with a quiet, heartbreaking detachment that hurt worse than anger. She didn't answer. She simply turned her head toward the window, looking out into the dark night.
Robert flinched as if he had been struck. He looked at me, waiting for me to intervene, waiting for me to smooth things over the way I had for fifteen years.
I didn't move an inch. I kept my hand resting gently on Maya’s arm.
May you like
“She needs rest, Robert,” I said coldly. “Why don’t you go home? You can check our bank accounts to your heart's content while we aren't here.”
Robert opened his mouth as if to argue, but the look in my eyes stopped him cold. Without another word, he turned and walked out into the hallway, the door clicking softly shut behind him.
