The emergency room was full of activity. "I need saline in this
wound" and "Left broken tibia" sounded throughout the room. Fortunately Bell
wasn't able to hear any of this…even though he suspected it.
After three hours, one of the doctors came out to speak with Bell.
"Michael, I'm not going to lie to you. There was a lot of damage done to her
body. Kathleen's going to be okay but we will have to keep her here for a
day or two for observations. She suffered a broken left tibia, some internal
bleeding which was easy enough to stop, and many lacerations. I want to make
sure that she stays off her ankle and that the bandages are changed on a
regular basis. Is there anyone that you know of who can take care of her
once she leaves the hospital?"
Bell tried to digest all that the doctor was saying. The only
coherent thought that was going through his head was that Ryan was going to
be okay. "Um, I have some time off from work. I can take that time to take
care of her."
The doctor agreed that it was a good idea. "Because you're the one
who's going to be taking care of her, she can go home tomorrow. I know you
know all this but I have to say it again…it's extremely important to keep her
off that ankle and to change the bandages. I'm sure you'll do fine though."
A smile crept up onto the doctor's face when this last comment came out.
Bell asked the question he wanted to for so long. "Can I see her now
Dr.?" With a nod from the doctor Bell took off down the hall and turned
left, away from the ER. These halls, the same halls he saw almost everyday,
had never seemed so unfamiliar to him in all the years he had been working as
a paramedic.
It took him only a few minutes to find Ryan's room. Silently, he
opened the door. Luckily it was a single room so he saw Ryan as soon as he
walked in. He was not ready for the picture that met his tired eyes. Beeps
could be heard everywhere. There were at least three machines keeping track
of her vitals, not to mention the IV that brought her the fluids she so
desperately needed. Kathleen's body lay peacefully on the hospital bed. The
usually expressive face was void of any emotions, her arms were neatly placed
on both sides of her body, and the blanket that covered her body neatly
tucked in her legs.
"It's as if she's not even in there" was the thought that invaded
Bell's thoughts. However, as quickly as that thought came, it was shoved
out. He didn't want to think like that. He knew that he needed to have a
positive attitude so that she could get better. This recovery isn't going to
be so much a physical one as much as a mental one. These are sometimes the
hardest ones to deal with. It is definitely going to take a lot of work on
everyone involved.
Taking a chair from the corner, he brought it to the bed where he
would wait for Kathleen to wake up.
****
Hours passed but with no sign of movement from the bed. Nothing.
Those hours were the hardest for Bell. Never would he have imagined that
he'd be waiting by the bed of one of his partners, let alone Kathleen. She
was always so careful. "Why did this happen? WHY?!?" There was no way to
keep these questions from coming into his mind...the silence in the room made
sure of that.
Outside of the room sat the others from Station 77. They were taking
it hard too. They wanted to go in and see Ryan but respected Bell too much
to interupt. Carla and Durfee made sure that no one disturbed them.
There was a soft knock on the door to Ryan's room and after a few
seconds Wick entered. "Hey man. How's she doing?" The concern in his voice
could be heard even though he tried and tried to hide it.
"Um...she's doing well considering everything. She'll have a couple
of nasty brusies. The doctor says she'll have to stay here tonight but then
she can go home. I have some vacation time coming up so I'm going to stay
with her and help her through this." Bell hadn't even talked to Captain
Durfee to see if this was okay but in his mind, it was set that he would take
the time.
Wick approached the bed where his partner's body was neatly tucked
in. He took her other hand and bent down placing a tender kiss on her
forehead. "Get well Kathleen. Bell, the guys are outside and are wondering
how she's doing. I'll tell them that's she doing well. Is it okay if they
come in here one at a time?"
"Yeah, sure. Wick, thanks for everything!" That was the one comment
that really broke the ice. After the chemical plant incident there were
still some bad feelings but the appreciation that shown through Bell's eyes
told Wick that he had long forgiven everything and hoped that Wick had done
the same.
"Hey, don't get all sappy on me now Bell." This brought a chuckle to
both of them. Wick left the room to tell the people of '77 about how Ryan
was doing.
