It was barely 9 PM, but the hotel room was quiet and dark. One by one, everyone had showered and climbed into bed, happily exhausted from the day.
My body was so so tired, yet my brain just wasn’t ready to shut off. I laid there, recalling the day and thinking about the days ahead. I smiled in the dark - I couldn’t wait to hit the road in the morning and head to St. Louis! I listened to Rob snoring slightly - his head hit the pillow and he was out like a light! Savannah and Lincoln had made it into bed first and had been out cold for at least a half hour. Dylan had been more restless and a bit weepy as we got him prepped for bed. He can get that way - sometimes his way of expressing exhaustion, as he often lacks the ability to verbalize these types of feelings.
I could feel my eyes getting heavy, my brain finally settling down. Peace engulfed the room and then, in an instant, the peace was gone. I heard Dylan gasp. It’s hard to describe, but I knew the sound he’d made wasn’t right. I flew out of the bed and felt for the light switch.
Dylan was on the pull out sofa bed in the hotel room. I found him positioned slightly on his belly, while slightly on his side. His eyes seemed to be rolling back and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing. I had startled Rob, Savannah and Lincoln awake. They asked what was happening. I shouted that I wasn’t sure if Dylan was breathing. He wasn’t responding to me. Rob was processing what I was saying and suddenly flew out of bed and pulled Dylan upright, facing him initially, but Dylan’s 180lb body was completely limp, his eyes rolling back. Rob got himself positioned behind Dylan, to provide support so he was sitting up right. His arms were draped under Dylan’s arms and across his chest. Dylan remained unresponsive. His head flopped around as his body remained limp against Rob. I found my phone and dialed 911.
As I spoke to the 911 operator, I felt a bit out of body. I was talking to her, but also watching Rob hold Dylan, his head buried into Dylan’s head, trying to get some type of response. Everything about Dylan’s posture and eyes were wrong. I thought to myself, “This is it. He’s dying in Rob’s arms. This can not be happening right now. God, help us.”
It was a whirlwind of activity. We sent Lincoln and Savannah to the front desk to tell them we were having a medical emergency and 911 was on the way. On their way to the elevator, they encountered a fantastic gentleman who noticed the commotion and rushed to our room. I found myself unable to clearly describe what was occurring to the 911 operator and asked the gentleman if he could speak to 911 about Dylan’s current condition. He was now on his back, on the floor, but I was finding it impossible to tell if his chest was rising and falling.
As he lay on the floor, the firefighters arrived. Dylan seemed to be slowly starting to respond to his name, but something was very wrong. He was being hooked up to various equipment to read his vitals. The EMT’s arrived shortly after the fire fighters. Vitals weren’t fully checking out. Dylan had now thrown up. Before I knew it, he was on the gurney and I was following my red head to be loaded into an ambulance. I was seated behind Dylan’s head. I stroked his hair, talking to him and praying aloud for God to intervene in whatever this was. The paramedic asked about bruising he noticed across Dylan’s chest and eyes. It wasn’t there an hour ago when I’d showered him. I couldn’t imagine what this speckled-style bruising might be.
Lights flashing and sirens blaring, we were on our way to the hospital. Tears slipped down my cheeks, my mind a flurry of thoughts. There are a lot of days - moments - etched in my memory. I knew July 1st, 2022, was now one of them. I had no idea what was happening to my beautiful, red headed wild thing, but this day would always be the day I thought I was watching my son was die in his fathers arms. It’s all I could see as the ambulance drove.