the night drags on

I didn't sleep at all that night. I just watched the monitor to see what the vital signs would do. Down they would go. Then up a little bit. Then up some more. Back down again. Marie didn't want to wake up. What the nurse explained was that sometimes the brain would decide what to keep going and what to shut down, as the body struggled to survive. All we could do was wait it out. The infection in Marie's spinal fluid was playing havoc with her vital signs and the brain was now going to decide.