Critical condition (long post)

Had some very grim news come through today. It was one of those things you get the initial call, early in the day, with very little information to go by, and the gravity of the situation grows as you learn more, as other people in the same circumstances pull together in a room, and it really starts to sink in. Starts to, mind you - part of it is you don't want to believe it, shock that it can't reallly be happening. Your friend can't be walking around, joking, partying with you one day, and be comatose, hooked up to machines in a hospital room with little chance of recovery the next. And you can't go by what the doctors tell you - they don't know everything; the expert still has to diagnose; people get better from worse conditions, you hear about 'miracles' all the time.
The situation, and the way my experience unfolded : late in the morning on Saturday, a call came in from M Stevens, that our very good friend Rex Markle had a serious accident Friday night. He fell from a 2nd story balcony - a freak incident, a porch he had spent countless evenings at, drinking and discussing the world with friends. In analyzing it, it would seem not very far - people survive leaps from buildings or sky diving incidents, come on! - but the impact was serious enough to rush him off in an ambulance, and to transfer him to an ICU at a larger hospital within a couple hours. The initial word, I got from M, described him with a possible broken neck. My stomach sank, M was so distraught he didn't know the name of the hospital, only the phone number - I googled that, and it was Highland. I called Bonnie, who was dealing with car service. At this point, I had no concept of what was going on- I wasn't even sure about going to visit - I figured Rex had a few scrapes and cuts, and needed a few days in the hospital, and a few weeks to mend bones. The situation, mood, circumstances... declined from there throughout the day.
Got another call from Brian, who expressed a grimmer outlook, one M hadn't even considered, who was already starting to sound a wreck on the phone. Several folks were on their way to Highland, so I stepped up my pace, picked Bonnie up and made our way there. Looking back on this now, the exact timeline is foggy - who was already there, when certain persons showed up, who got there before whom, and in making calls later, I honestly could not remember if we had been there an hour, two hours, whenever. We got through the staff (who for the most part dealt with us with utmost respect) and went into room #13 (actually just a bay along the wall) to visit Rex.
Shocking. The first concrete example of the heavy truth of it all. In my life, I've never been around that much - hospitals, sickness, injury. I've never even been to a funeral (it was pretty impossible for my grandmother's and uncle's in the past few years). Seeing my friend, lying unconscious in a robe on a gurney, scraped up head and knuckles (later visitors said his knee was messed up, too), hooked up to the EKG and a respirator! for god's sake - this was the first time it hit home. I didn't know how to react, what to think. Bonnie asked, could he hear us. The attending nurse said probably not. We spoke anyway (Bonnie took the lead) - we let him know he was surrounded by people who loved him, and would do anything and everything it took to get him through this. The next moment freaked us out - his eyelids fluttered, then his eyes opened. We rushed out to the station, practically screaming. The nurse informed us it was 'normal' (how anything could be normal in those circumstances, I can't understand) - it was a neurological response to the injury. I watched for a few seconds (and this memory I did NOT share with anyone else the rest of the day) as his eyes opened wide, his face contorted, his mouth bit down, and repeated the same motion perhaps a half dozen times. A seizure, essentially as the nurse described it, and again, that made the situation hit home hard. A lingering glance on his face and form after the seizures had quelled, and I had to get out of there. Other people made several return trips in to visit during the day, Bonnie included, I did not.
So, returning to our crew in the waiting room ( at that time - Mark Morris, M, Brian & his girlfriend, and Chris whom Rex had known since high school) to get an update - Rex's father was commencing the drive from San Diego area. We had very little information, but it was a huge indicator for us that it was a 'next of kin' situation, and only immediate family could make any decisions. M was taking it the hardest, and were all offering what we could. Garth had called me about the camera, and I broke the news to him. Gilx called me back a few minutes later (Vicki later too), and I filled him in. The Tippett xmas was Saturday night, I can only imagine how the news rippled through. I also called Ed & Nina, who got on their way to visit, and Dan F. Rev. Steve arrived with Sarah, who was weeping, the first of the tears that I saw that day.
The next few hours are a chronological muddle in my memory - news trickled out from the staff, we fielded calls throughout the day, took a break for dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and waited for his father who was going to be the only one to get the whole story. Other arrivals were LX, K2, Rob, Florek (who was actually there when Rex had his fall & called 911). His father arrived in super good time, and was amazingly cool and collected, and very appreciative of Rex's circle of friends, M especially. Some more waiting for the doctor (though not the neurologist, who won't see him till Sunday morning) and here was the full story as I got it, and the prognosis, and where there is hope :
He suffered three fractured cervical vertebrae, and his spinal cord was pinched between. Massive injury to the base of the skull and top of the spine. Concussion and excessive swelling of the brain, which makes it very difficult to make a long-term outlook (if the swelling goes down, maybe the injury is less severe than it first looked). The brief CAT scan showed zero higher brain activity, and no reflexes or pain response. Almost certain quadripeligia, if he ever even reawakens. Where there is hope : the specialist hasn't tested him, and there are no continuous electrodes attached so that's not a definitive report. His spinal cord was not severed. His heart and lungs are still functioning on their own. And we refuse to give up hope, to accept that nothing can be done. We want a second opinion. And beyond that, we want these people to know who they're dealing with. It's not just a general case, not just flesh, it's Rex! And they don't know what he's capable of, we all do.
So, for tonight, we wait. Please give your good vibes/prayers/karma to Rex.