Fathom(15)

“Like what?” Tammer already knew what I was thinking. I don’t know why he didn’t just go along with it. I rolled my eyes and repeated everything I had just thought for the benefit of the others.

“I could go to school and on the holidays and weekends, learn about what’s going on with me.”

Thayde chuckled.

“What?” I demanded.

“Sweetie, you have no idea what the work load is for university. It’s a lot different from high school.”

“I’m sure I can manage.”

Thayde nodded, suppressing a smile. “It’s a lot harder than you think.”

“You doubt me?” I was trying to keep the anger that wanted to rise at bay.

“No, I know you can do it, but the question will be whether you’ll want to. University is very difficult. It’s hard to balance studying, attending classes, eating, making time for your friends. Partying. Most freshmen nearly flunk out their first year with that alone. You’ll have that plus the additional learning. I don’t know if you will want to do it.”

That didn’t make any sense to me, but I let it go.

“I want to try to do both,” I said firmly. Mom and Tammer could tell they were going to lose the argument.

“Okay,” Mom relented.

“Morgan, we’ll see how it goes, but if it gets too overwhelming, I want to know and we’ll work something else out.” Tammer put his arm around Mom in defeat.

“Okay!” I felt victorious.

Thayde took my hand, grinning.

“What?”

“You have no idea what’s in store for you.”



“You’re joking right? You can’t be serious!” My doctor’s face drained of color right before us. “She was in a coma for a week! You really want me to release her without finding out what caused it?” He looked back and forth between Tammer and Mom.

“She seems to be well now,” Mom began and the doctor interrupted, his mouth hanging open reminding me of a codfish.

“Seems? We still don’t have any idea why she went into the coma. If we release her without knowing what is wrong, she could die!”

“I’ll be just fine.” I interjected and he looked down at me as if he’d eaten his first chocolate covered grasshopper.

“You could die!” He repeated slowly, his voice slightly higher as if he was speaking to someone who was hearing impaired.

“We understand!” Tammer sounded irked.

Dr. Foster began to pace back and forth across the length of my room. “I don’t understand why you are even considering this at this point,” he mumbled. “Can’t you just leave her here for a few more days?” He looked hopeful toward Mom and frowned when she shook her head.

“I promise you, Doctor. If Morgan’s health begins to fail again, we will bring her back to you.”

Looking from Mom to Tammer to me, he shook his head in disbelief. “This is crazy.” Crossing his arms, he turned on his heel and stared out the window.

“We love our daughter and won’t allow any harm to come to her. If anything out of the ordinary happens, we’ll bring her in immediately.” Tammer assured.

My doctor ignored him, but I could tell from the way his head dropped he was defeated.

“I’ll have admin bring the release forms by.” Turning, he faced all of us. “I want it made perfectly clear that I do not agree with this decision in any way.”

“We understand.” Tammer nodded. Frustrated, Dr. Foster left the room.

I was ecstatic. There was no way they were going to be able to find out what was wrong with me and I was in no mood to be anybody’s guinea pig.

In usual hospital fashion, the paperwork took forever to get to us. Thayde and Tammer left allowing Mom to help me get ready to leave. Mom had had enough time to get clothes and some shower essentials from our apartment so I could have a nice refreshing shower before we left. The warm water made me want to phase, but there would have been no room in the small shower. By the time I stepped out and wrapped a fresh towel around me, I felt more like myself - a little tired, but more me.

Mom put her arms around me, funneling all the energy she could into my thin frame and within moments, I felt renewed. Letting go, she handed me some brand new clothes – a pair of white dress pants and a pretty pink silk top. Trust Mom to stick with Floridian colors. The pants easily slid over my bony hips. When I checked the size and saw it was a 4, I realized just how much weight I had lost.

“Do I look like crap?” I asked, spritzing myself with J’adore perfume. Thayde had bought it for me on our last outing and I loved it.

“Absolutely not. You’re just a bit thinner.” Yeah, right. Just a bit.