The Time Remaining

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82 14 “Since Miss Tabry has no next of kin, I’m going to tell you exactly what her condition is and what we can and cannot do and expect. From what you’ve told me, you are now the only person who has any direct connection or responsibility in this matter. My name is Dr. Voss, Mr. Gilchrist . As a matter of fact, we’re neighbors. I have an apartment two floors below yours.” “I didn’t know that. I don’t know many of the other tenants. I’m not there most of the time.” “But I am, so I recognize your name, and, of course, I read your columns . I know your work. I respect it.” Having allowed himself a personal moment, the doctor shifts back into his professional tone. “I’ll be frank with you, Mr. Gilchrist. I want to be as candid as possible with you about Miss Tabry’s prognosis.” Gilchrist nods, noting that the doctor—a man of perhaps fifty with a Lincolnesque slouch, thick brown hair going uniformly gray from peak to sideburns to crown, and a habit of smiling reassuringly between sentences —is of that small group of men who prefer to deal with facts rather than feelings or false hopes but who never separate facts from their human connections. As he always does when dealing with professionals of this character, Gilchrist prepares himself to hear the worst first. He is not disappointed. “Head wounds are really beyond prognostication, Mr. Gilchrist. My own view is that this patient, by all rights, should never have been able to survive to this point, considering the nature of the trauma.” “But she did.” “Exactly. And we’re dealing with the patient in just this way. We’ll continue to monitor her carefully, very carefully. As you know, we’ve induced a deeper coma, but that was and remains essential to keep the pressure The Time of Night | 83 down. Any rise in blood pressure or temperature at this point could cause the brain to swell, and, as you know, that could be fatal.” “I understand that.” “Good. Now I must be frank with you. Just this morning I completed a small but important surgery that relieved pressure on Miss Tabry’s brain. The drainage is continuing, and the results so far have not been discouraging . Let me put it positively. I mean that the results have been encouraging within the limits of what was attempted. That’s all I can say at this point.” “And . . .” “Everything else is the same. Her heart and other vital organs are good. But the head injury is serious. For neurosurgeons, Mr. Gilchrist, the brain is the whole ball game. For us, the entire body exists only for the support of the brain and its functions. The body ingests, rids itself of waste, inhales oxygen, reproduces itself, and so forth, but all these are at the service of consciousness. Consciousness is all. And the brain and consciousness are synonymous in medical terms. And that for us means that consciousness and life are synonymous.” “How does that apply to Raya? To Miss Tabry?” “Well, I’ll give you the worst possibility first, and that is that the patient may not survive. At the moment there seems no imminent danger of that, and that’s something I could not have said as recently as last night. The second possibility is that the coma may be prolonged. Prolonged indefinitely . And that could confront us with a complete set of additional problems , not only medical problems but financial and moral problems. The third possibility is that she could emerge from the coma with certain, well, certain impediments. What these impediments might be we have no way of knowing until they reveal themselves. The fourth possibility is that she might emerge from the coma and make a complete recovery. I’ve seen this occasionally in my practice. Not often, but I’ve seen it, and I’ve seen patients recover completely from injuries more serious than Miss Tabry’s. There must be some therapy, of course, but there could be complete recovery.” Dr. Voss waits and studies Gilchrist’s face as if to be certain that his listing of the possibilities has been completely understood. Judging that 84 | The Time Remaining it has been, Dr. Voss continues. “That’s all I can tell you at this point. In cases like this it...