“Very good,” Amelia confirmed with a nod, moving to grab an intern to help wheel him up but caught by the pull of her arm. She turned back, clicking her tongue and offering a small smile before answering all the questions. “I’ll take you up to the CT and there’s a little room right next to it, you can see through windows. I’ll be right in there. I’ll need you to stay as still as possible, but if it’ll help, I can talk to you while you’re in there. It shouldn’t be long, anyway,” she assured him, motioning for a nearby intern to follow. “I’m not sure if you’ll need surgery at this point, but if you do, it’s hard to know exactly what will happen. The hope is that you would recover all of your memories, or at least most, but there are always risks involved in any surgery. We would go through those with you before taking you in.” Unless he were to lose consciousness or something, but adding that bit of worry seemed needless.
“I think that would help me a lot while I am in there….thank you.” He smiled and gave her arm a squeeze as he was wheeled to the CT room. “So I can still breathe while in there right? I dont have to keep that still?” Axel asked her as they moved. “I hope I dont need it either and that its not as bad as it could be.” HE smiled and kept a hand on hers, she was the first person he had clicked with since waking up and he sort of didn’t want to be in the hospital if she wasn’t there to help him through everything.
“Doesn’t look like any motor nerve damage,” Amelia affirmed, dropping her hands back at her sides. “Definitely a good sign. Let’s get you up to imaging so we can see exactly what we’re dealing with, and then I’ll be able to give you a better estimate on prognosis. You’ll probably need to stay at least for the night, and you may need surgery, but the fact that you’re talking and remembering things and your motor function are all very good indicators of recovery,” she explained, stepping halfway out to flag down an intern who could help her wheel him up for a CT.
“No nerve damage is good, right?” HE asked with a smile as it sounded good to him. “Okay, will you be with me while they do whatever it is they are going to do?” Axel asked reaching out and grabbing her hand gently. He got into the wheelchair with the help of the nurse and Amelia, smiling as he was pushed. “If I have surgery, what will happen then? Will it help me to remember things?” He was full of questions now as they headed up to the CT room.
She offered a smile at the indication that at least some of his memory seemed to remain in-tact. No matter how small a fragment, it meant there was something to work with. “I’ll definitely remember that next time I go back. Any other travel tips? I’m a big fan of warm climates.” Keep him talking and, she hoped, maybe some would return. At the very least, it was a good sign of where the damage was and was not located; an assessment of cognitive ability. She took his hands in hers, pulling just as she said, though without much pressure. Brute strength wasn’t the point of this exercise. “It means that I’m making sure a part of your brain or the cells that transmit information from the brain to your muscles, letting them know to flex or relax, that kind of thing, hasn’t been damaged that would impact your ability to move in certain ways.”
“Oh…uh…I think I went to Australia once….I dont remember much though.” He said with a laugh as he watched her pull against his hand. “So has there been any damage to those areas?” He asked as he listened to her words trying to take all of it on board. “If I am starting remember some stuff is that good as well…like the things I told you about Sweden I dont know where that came from….I just knew it…does that mean I am might not be as bad as you thought?” Axel asked he clenched and unclenched his fists.
“I went with a couple friends, so we mostly hung out in Stockholm. Partied and shopped a lot. One of them tried to get me to go to ICEHOTEL, but I hate being cold. I didn’t see a point in exacerbating the problem by staying somewhere actually made out of ice. We did a boat tour around the archipelago, too.” That was probably not helpful information, but any indication of even the most latent memory could help. Nodding, Amelia tensed her hands. “Okay, I’m going to pull back, and I need you to try and resist. It’s to test for muscle weakness or indications of damage to the motor cortex or any nerves.”
HE smiled at her mentioning hte ice hotel. He had been there once before and he laughed at her small complaint about it. “It is fun to stay in, and after awhile it doesnt feel that cold anymore….You should go back.” Axel told her with a wide smile. “Oh you boated around the Stockholm Archipelago….I havent been able to do that yet.” He was surprised at what he remembered seeing as a little while ago he didn’t realise his name was Axel. “Oh ok..” He said softly as he tried his best to resist her pulling his hands but int eh end he failed and sighed. “What does that mean?”
“Okay, well that’s something. Sweden is a beautiful place. I visited once shortly before med school,” she commented – a weak attempt at trying to pull out any other information he might not consciously recall by starting a conversation. Responses seemed to be coherent, and level of consciousness high, so that was a good sign. Broca and Wernicke’s areas appeared safe – at least for now – as did the occipital love and optic nerve. More than likely, she was looking at damage to the temporal lobe, perhaps the hippocampus. That was a good place to start. “I just need you to take my hands, squeeze and then I’m going to pull yours toward me and I need you to resist.”
HE nodded and smiled as she talked about visiting Sweden before she had started med school, as he thought about it some more he remembered growing up there and living with his family till he moved. “I….Uhh where did you go when you were there?” Axel asked as he reached out to grab her hands so that he could do as she asked. “What will this show if I can resist your pulling?” He asked as he looked at her then back to his hands trying to figure out what the test was for. As he gently to her hands he gave them a light squeeze before waiting for her to pull on them.
the-solitary-monster 