Goodbye to the SICU

(by Clare)
Before he left the hospital we took Nephi up to the SICU to tell everyone that took care of him thank you (and, to be honest, to show him off). Just outside the doors we saw Suzie, she is the PA that was the first to walk out of the OR after his initial surgery and tell us, "He is still here!" I feel very emotionally attached to her, Nephi kept apologizing to her and everyone else for not remembering them. While she went in to make sure we were ok to enter the floor a nurse that had taken care of Nephi for a shift or two walked out and saw Nephi's parents and me but apparently didn't see Nephi cause she turned to me, patted my shoulder and asked, "How is he?" I laughed and pointed to him standing right next to me. She practically fell back into the wall and said she could not believe it--she was absolutely stunned and on the verge of tears. That was the same reaction we got from everyone else we saw. When we went in he got a huge hug from Dave, the nurse that had him the most, and the only one Nephi remembers. He also got hugs from a lot of nurses and staff that helped with him. As we stood there I could see the news spreading like a wave through the whole unit. Everyone that worked there, whether or not they had direct contact with him came (or just peeked around a corner)to see him. Everyone was smiling. They then paged the doctor that was the head trauma surgeon when he first came and did his spleen surgery, and he was also the head of the SICU. Everytime I saw him in the past he had the flattest expression on his face, but he could not stop smiling from the second he first saw Nephi; huge smiles that made his eyes squint. He was excited, and emotional and told us that seeing patients like Nephi is what reminds him that all the work they do is worth it. We heard that a lot while we were there. We also heard from all of them that his recovery has been miraculous. (I wanted to say...we know)