Inside the room, Stacey Midland checked her patient’s pupils and the wound on his head. She knew he’d need stitches to close it up, but they needed to get a CT scan and x-rays to make sure there were no underlying problems. A soft moan from the man on the bed told her the patient was on the verge of waking up. She watched as the nurses hooked him up to the monitors beside the bed, waiting as the eyes flicked below the lids and finally opened.
“Hello, Chris,” she said softly, knowing he’d be suffering one hell of a headache.
His eyes finally focused on the woman standing over him, but they slammed shut as the light sent sharp needles of pain through his skull.
“Jesus!” he swore and tried to sit up, but the straps across his body prevented him from doing so.
“Just lie still, Chris. You’re in the hospital and you’ll be just fine,” Midland explained.
“Doc...hell...hap...pened?”
“What do you remember, Chris?” Midland asked.
Larabee kept his eyes closed as he felt a nurse checking his IV line. He tried to reach for the memories, for anything that would explain why he was in the hospital and why his head felt like it was about to explode. He remembered being in the office and Vin coming in.
“Working...Guys went for coffee,” he said and groaned as the pain intensified.
“Alright, Chris, that’s enough for now. I’m going to send you for a CT scan and x-rays,” the doctor explained. “You just relax until everything is done.”
“Go...home...”
“I think we’ll keep you tonight, and if the tests come back okay then you can go home tomorrow.”
Chris wanted to protest, but he was already drifting back into unconsciousness as the doctor left the room.
Stacey pushed open the door and smiled at the man standing just to the right of the room.
“Hello, Vin,” she greeted.
“Doc, how is he?”
“Here come the rest of the stormtroopers,” Midland smiled as five haggard looking men came through the automatic doors. “Why don’t we go into the waiting room?”
The six men followed her into the waiting room, surprised to find seats together in the usually crowded area. She smiled at the six faces, knowing how close they were to each other.
“How’s he doing, Doc?” Jackson asked.
“Chris was awake for a few minutes, but didn’t know what happened. That’s normal with head injuries, and flashback episodes.”
“So what do we do, Doc?” Wilmington asked.
“Well, I’ve ordered a CT scan of his head, and also want to get x-rays of his hip. Vin, you said he hit the ledge pretty hard.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” the sharpshooter told her.
“I want to make sure none of the recent injuries were aggravated by the impact. I’ll come see you as soon as I know anything else.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Sanchez said as they stood up.
Stacey smiled at the six worried faces. These men were gentlemen, but she just couldn’t get used to men standing up just because she did.
“Oh,” she said, looking at each of Larabee’s friends. “I’ve also called Susan James. She’ll see him tomorrow morning.”
“Does that mean he’s staying overnight?” Dunne asked.
“I’ve already told him he’ll be spending at least tonight here for observation. We’ll know more after the test and x-rays.”
“Can we see him?” Vin asked.
“After he’s back from CT I’ll send one of the nurses to get you.”
“Thanks, Doc,” the men said and sank back for what they knew would be a long night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Chris kept his eyes closed as the orderly returned him to the examination room. He’d come to during the CT scan and instantly vomited everything that was in his stomach. They cleaned him and the stretcher up and managed to complete the test, before sending him back to his room.
By the time he was settled back in his bed he was sure his head had exploded. Every time he opened his eyes he was met with a dazzling display of fireworks. He kept his right hand over his eyes, carefully avoiding the new stitches and the bandage covering the head wound. A soft touch on his shoulder startled him and he opened his eyes.
“Hey, Cowboy.”
“V...Vin?”
“Yeah, I won’t ask how you’re feeling...”
“No, don’t...I might tell you,” Larabee warned.
“Chris.”
Larabee turned his head, groaning as the fireworks started again. Once more he placed his hands over his eyes and waited for the pain to subside. He could hear his friend and the doctor talking, but couldn’t understand their words as wave after wave of nausea hit him. He felt something enter his system and almost immediately the nausea and pain receded and he forced his eyes to open. The first thing he noticed was that someone had lowered the lights and the usual explosion of fireworks was no longer present. He knew who was responsible and turned to face the woman standing on his left.
“Thanks, Doc,” he mumbled, painfully aware of the worried tracker on his right.
“You’re welcome, Chris. Now I want you to relax while they get your room ready upstairs.”
“Damn, thought I was done with this.”
“Done with what?” Tanner asked.
“Hospitals.”
“Well, hopefully this’ll just be overnight,” Midland explained.
“Hopefully?” Larabee asked.
“That’s right. It depends on what the CT scan and x-rays show. Now you try to rest and I’ll be back as soon as we have the results, or your room is ready.”
Chris watched the woman leave and finally turned his gaze on his best friend. The blue eyes were filled with worry and rimmed with dark circles. Larabee knew his friends were worried about him, but he didn’t know why and wouldn’t until his memory returned. He took a deep breath and mumbled softly.
“Damn, Cowboy, hope I don’t look as bad as you do right now!”
Tanner’s eyebrows rose and he smiled thinly at his friend.
“Actually, Chris...”
“Don’t say it!”
“I was just gonna say...”
“Vin,” Larabee winced, but returned the tracker’s smile, before growing serious again.
“What’s wrong?” the younger man asked.
“Vin, what happened?”
“Chris...”
“Look, I know the doc wants me to remember on my own, but my head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton and I can’t think straight. Just tell me what the hell I did this time!”
“You tripped and struck your head...”
“Tripped...was I drinking?” Larabee asked, his eyes filled with doubt.
“No...you weren’t drinking, Chris,” Tanner assured his friend. “Look, get some sleep right now and we’ll talk about what happened tomorrow.”
“I’m not tired, Vin.” The injured man yawned in spite of his declaration.
“Go to sleep, Chris, this can wait.”
“Guess it’ll have to, can’t seem to stay awake anyway,” the blond said and let his eyes close.
Vin looked up to see Buck Wilmington standing in the doorway. He knew the others had already left, but would be back first thing in the morning. Vin walked to the door and accepted a cup of coffee from the other man.
“How is he?” the ladies man asked worriedly.
“No change...still can’t remember anything.”
“Well, hell, Vin, maybe that’s a good thing. I hate the idea of him reliving the things that happened to him.”
“He’s got to know, Buck. I mean, maybe if we know what happened just before the flashback, we might have a way of knowing when one is coming on.”
“I doubt that, Vin. From what I’ve been reading there’s no set signal. It just happens anywhere at anytime. The best thing we can do is what we did on the roof. Talk to him calmly and let him know we’re there for him.”
“Yeah, but what if he’s alone, Buck? What if this happens and...”
“We can’t put him in a glass bottle, Vin, anymore than we could you or me or any of the guys. The flashbacks could happen again, but what’s on Chris’ side is that he wasn’t subjected to the drug for a long period of time. We can be pretty sure the flashback episodes will stop once everything’s settled down.”
“I hope to hell you’re right, Buck. I hate thinking what this is gonna do to him.”
“It’s not gonna do anything to him, Vin. We won’t let it!” the ladies’ man vowed as an orderly and a nurse came towards the room.
“Excuse me, Buck, Vin, we’re going to move Chris upstairs now,” Melinda explained as she stepped into the room and placed a thick chart on the foot of Larabee’s bed.
Melinda and the orderly began readying Larabee for the trip upstairs. They unhooked the IV from the pole and hung it on the one attached to the stretcher, before pushing it out into the now busy waiting area. The patient slept through the move from the ER to his room on the third floor. Once he was settled into the bed the nurse on the floor came in to take vitals and make sure everything was okay.
Chris felt someone at his left arm and tried to pull away.
“I’m just checking your blood pressure, Mr. Larabee,” Karen Mackenzie explained to the confused eyes that now looked at her.
“Wh...what?” he asked as he slowly looked around the room.
“I’m just taking your blood pressure and then I’ll let you go back to sleep. How do you feel?”
“Head hurts,” he answered tiredly, his right hand coming up to touch the bandage covering the wound.
“You’ve had a severe blow to the head and you don’t need to touch that, Mr. Larabee,” the nurse warned and eased his arm back on the bed. She finished taking his vitals and turned out the light.
“What t...time is it?” he asked tiredly.
Karen looked at her watch and answered softly. “3:15. Now, there are two worried men waiting to see you. I’ll let them in for five minutes and that’s it. You need your rest!”
“...okay...” He pushed the button on the rail and raised his head until he was in a semi reclining position. He heard footsteps coming towards him, stopping on either side of the bed.
“Hi, Chris, how’re you feeling?” the ladies man asked as Larabee turned from one man to the other.
“I’d be better if you two would stand on the same side. Head’s bad e...enough with...out hav...ing to turn it.”
“No problem,” the tracker said as he joined the scoundrel on the right side of the bed. “How’s That?”
“Better...I think...but seeing two Bucks and two Vins is making me queasy.”
“Well, then we’ll just leave and let you get some rest,” Wilmington told him.
“We’ll see you in the morning,
Cowboy,” Tanner told him.
“Yeah...thanks, guys...just so damn t...tired.”
They stood for a few minutes, watching over the injured man until they were sure he was sleeping. They made their way to the door and eased it closed behind them, missing the soft moans coming from the sleeping man.
 |
 |
 |
 |