Chapter 53

Cole starts slouching over against my arm before he struggles to right himself again. I’m pleasantly surprised when, instead of having the new borde ogenes he reaches for the one in my hand. Unfortunately he’s also struggling badly to keep himself upright.

“Cole, I’m not taking this away.”

I speak gently so as not to ry any anger or frustration.

“I’d like to adjust how I’m holding you so you stay upright a little better without the struggle.”

He lightly nods his head as I move him around.

“Are you left or right handed?”

He raises his left as I gently drape my right arm acto

his right shoulder and chest.

“Lean into my shoulder. I’m going to bring the drink to your mouth again. Meet my hand so you have control of how much you get.”

He reaches up and gently takes my hand as I help to slowly pour a small amount into his mouth. I can feel him take a few small mouthfuls before whining and pushing it away.

“What’s wrong, Cole?”

“Stomach….. always….. sick…. when…. stressed.”

“Hmmm, I see.” I hum lightly.

“Ang, do you have anything for

“Yes, we can try that.”

As Ang walks over to us with the medication I notice that Cole has started panting hard on top of his wheezing .

“Cole?”

I ask quietly. I’m concerned about this sudden pain.

“Stomach….. cramps….. bad…. after…. bruising.”

He struggles through thement as he pulls his legs to his chest. I watch Ang return to the cab and start pulling out everything we use in a blood draw as well as the feeding tube kit. My heart sinks for the young man. It seems Dr. Carter was half right on what he needs.

“Cole” I’m speaking gently as his whimpers increase. “I need you to cooperate. We are going to put a feeding tube in since you’re having such a bad reaction to the protein shake. I’m going to adjust your body position so I can hold you and help you through this.”

My legs are already on each side of his body making it easy to turn him to the side. He’s panting bad with the pain of the cramps and wheezing even harder .

“Damian , can you grab the mask while we wait for Ang?”

He jogs over and barely takes a few seconds to get it to me. I take it from him with a nod of thanks and slowly put it to Cole’s face. He fights it hard enough that I take it off twice before he’s able to ept it. It’s only a minuteter that Anges over with everything she needs for him.

“Cole, has Dr. Carter ever given you any medication in your nose ? ”

I remove the mask as he shakes his head no/

“ I can’t imagine doing the feeding tube without any kind of numbing medication so hopefully the difort of the numbing spray makes the tube going down a little easier .”

Cole is barely moving, making me wonder if he’s even still awake,

“ Cole, are you still awake?”

“Barely”

I barely hear him whisper as he tries to get up. Ang steps in and stops his movements. The cramping seems to have rxed at the moment so it’s easier . to get him into afortable position.

“I’m going to have Demetri hold you sim

to how we hold the kids when they have

to

have one of these,”

I can feel him nod his head slowly.

“Now, the spray can be a little ufortable but I think it’s a lot easier to handle than this tube going up your nose and down your throat. I know you’ve had several of these but hopefully this one ends up being the easiest one you’ve had. It’s still a bit rough until the tube gets past the gag reflex but after that you should be able to rx . ”

He nods again even slower as it seems he’s still quite sedated.

“Alright Cole, two sprays on each side.”

Ang moves quickly so as not to encounter any fight getting the spray into his nose. It’s as she finishes the second side that he has a strong reaction , pulling away right after the second spray coughing hard.

“Breathe through your mouth and swallow anything in your throat. It will numb the back of your throat reducing the gag reflex. He’s already in a good position for me to work with, I just need you, Demetri, to hold his hands down in hisp and Damian, I need you to hold his head still.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Come around to the back of Cole. I want to keep him in his current position since he’sfortable enough to barely be awake . All I need is a gentle hand keeping his head against your father’s shoulder. He’s already resting against it so I just need your hand to keep him there . ”

Damian does as instructed and positions himself behind Cole cing his hand near the top of his head.