But what if it didn’t work? As long as Penelope supported having the surgery, Ruth felt confident, but to see the terror in her eyes now, irrational as it might be, opened the door to all of her own worst fears. If the surgery went badly, Penelope might not improve—she might lose control over her motor functions or her ability to speak. She might bleed to death on the operating table.
There were institutions who treated their patients like rats in a laboratory, who saw their inmates as expendable. Emeraldine was not one of those places. Emeraldine Hospital put patient well-being first, always. What would it mean, then, if something happened to Penelope and Ruth had allowed it?
“Mrs. Apter.” Nurse Riley touched her tentatively on her shoulder. “Dr. Apter and the anesthesiologist are here.”
“No! No!” Penelope wailed. “Don’t let them in! Please don’t let them in!”
“Penny.” Ruth took Penelope’s face in both of her hands, looking right into her green eyes, puffy and bloodshot from so much crying. “You are going to be okay. Do you hear me? You will be fine. You are going to do this, and when you wake up, I will be right here beside you smiling about how well you did. And you will tell me how you already feel so much better.” Ruth had to believe what she was saying was true; the wheels were set in motion now and nothing could stop them.
“Okay.” Penelope took a big, jumpy breath.
“Mrs. Apter.” The anesthesiologist stuck his head into the room. “Sometimes it helps if we start with a little nitrous oxide.”
“What a terrific idea! Penny, this nice doctor is going to give you something to breathe that will make you feel wonderfully happy. It only lasts for a short time, but I think it will be just what you need to relax before they begin.” As she spoke, the doctor and two nurses held Penelope down and quickly placed a mask over her face, and Ruth watched her body ease onto the bed.
“We have it from here, Ruthie.” Robert grabbed her elbow and led her to the door. “I’ll call for you as soon as the surgery is over.”
It felt like days went by as Ruth waited in her office for the surgery to finish. Paperwork usually required all of her attention, and she had planned to distract herself today by studying the hospital’s ledgers to prepare for a board presentation later that month. There were several increases in spending that she and Charles would need to justify. Still, she could barely focus. After three trips to the kitchen for coffee that she did not need, several trips to the washroom, and even a brisk stroll along the boardwalk, she had still heard nothing. She stood up again, preparing to walk over to the hospital and see what was taking so long, when her phone rang.
“Mrs. Apter, it’s Nurse Riley. Dr. Apter asked me to let you know that Miss Connor is back in her room.”
“She’s back?” The tension in Ruth’s body eased slightly. “How is she?”
“The doctors are pleased. But she is still asleep.”
“All right, thank you. Tell them I will be there momentarily!”
Ruth raced excitedly to the ladies’ ward.
“She’s all right?” Ruth asked Robert, who was standing outside Penelope’s room when she came flying down the hall.
“Well, we still have quite a bit of recovery to manage but, yes, the surgery couldn’t have gone better. Eddie was brilliant. I was able to get quite a good view the entire time and helped ensure that he severed the proper white matter. I have already done a postoperative evaluation of her basic reflexes, and her eyes, hands, and feet are all responsive to stimuli.”
“Is she already awake then?”
“No, no, not yet. Let’s see, it is 1:30 now. We began at 10:18, finished at 11:22. Anesthesia was administered at 10:03, so she should be recovering from her sedation by 1:48, at the latest.”