The First Day part 1

(March 2010)

I heard the doorbell ring and I looked at my clock it was 3am. Normally when I am woken up in the middle of the night by my phone or the door I am freaked out and wondering who is dead but that night I wasn't concerned at all I thought it must be my sister.  I peeped out my peephole and to my surprise two police officers were standing at my door I thought for sure they had the wrong door so I was surprised when they asked for me.  I identified myself and they they told me why they had come. "Kevin has been in a bad accident" they told me. I couldn't figure out who this Kevin person was and why they were telling me until I realized my fiance's name is Kevin. Now before you think I am an idiot Michael's name is Kevin Michael but he always goes by Michael or Mike so it was confusing at first to hear him called by his first name.  Once I realized who they were talking about I had seen enough movies to know what was coming next, they were going to tell me he was dead.  They kept talking about the accident how bad it was and other stuff I really don't remember because I was just waiting to hear if he was dead or alive FINALLY they told me he was alive and life flighted to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.  They told me how to get there and they also gave me Lauri's (Mike's mom) phone number.
After they left I was in shock, the first thing I did was pray for Mike then I jumped in my car and left.  On the way I called my parents to let them know what had just happened and to pray for Mike.  I called Mike's mom to let her know that I was on my way to the hospital and I would be in touch.  The rest of the drive I was alone with my thoughts and I had an overwhelming feeling of peace and that things were going to be ok. 

Once I got to the ER I asked where Michael was, they didn't know who he was but they must of  had a sneaking suspicion he was the guy who came in on the helicopter because they asked me how he had arrived at the hospital. At that point I didn't know I couldn't recall anything the police had told me. Finally the word motorcycle accident came out and they knew who I was looking for.  They escorted me to where he was, I tried to prepare myself for what I was about to see but there was no amount of preparation that could have helped.  When I saw Michael for the first time it was shocking to say the least, he was not only banged up but he had not been cleaned up so there was a lot of blood.  It is at times like these that you have to make a mental choice, I could freak out or I could just deal with it and be there for Mike.  I chose the later so I took a deep breath and walked up to him I went to the less bloody side, bent down and told him I was there and that he was going to be ok.

I was able to spend 10 mins with him while they finished bandaging his leg then he was taken up to the ICU.  Luckily his aunt Julie and uncle Grant had gotten the news earlier and had made it to the hospital before me.  Grant was able to give Michael a priesthood blessing before I had arrived.  Julie, Grant, and I followed them up to the ICU but had to wait in the waiting room while they got him situated and cleaned up.  I was pacing the floors it seemed like an eternity but finally they let us in to see him.  He looked SO much better than he did before it made me happy we were able to be with him for 15 mins before they kicked us out for shift change.  This was so frustrating to me I had only been able to see Michael for brief periods of time and most of that time was spent with 10 different people trying to update me on what was going on.  Now I had to wait for two hours before I could see him again I couldn't believe it poor Mike I didn't want him to be alone.

Julie and Grant had responsibilities at home so they had to leave so I sat in an empty waiting room alone again with my thoughts waiting until I could finally see Mike.  Once again I felt a tremendous amount of peace the Lord was aware of us and was comforting me and I'm sure Mike. I had been informed about all of his injuries and about the cat scan they did to see why he was still unconscious that look pretty good.  They wanted to send him to surgery to stabilize his leg sometime that morning.  I new this was going to be a rough day(I had no idea)  and I didn't want to face everything alone so I called my sister Katie to see if she could skip work and come be with me.  Fortunately her work let her off and she was on her way. Katie arrived and soon we were finally let into the ICU I rushed to Michael's room excited to finally be with him I rushed in only to discover an empty room Michael was gone.............