ATF Universe
SIX
Sue peaked in at 6:30am to find Josiah asleep in the recliner next to Vin's bed. Vin was curled on his right side, his left hand across his body and touching the end of Josiah's chair. She had heard them talking until about 2 am and then found them both asleep at four when she checked. Slipping in as quietly as possible, she hung Vin's morning dose of antibiotic. Looking down at her sleeping patient, she was taken by how extremely handsome and striking he was. Despite his illness, Vin Tanner was adorable. Blushing she wondered what Florence Nightingale would think. Smiling, she jumped slightly as Vin opened his eyes and looked up at her."Morning.." Vin's mouth was dry and he found speaking difficult. Reaching for a cup of water on the side table, he came up short and moaned when he stretched his incision too far. "Damn....ah," Remembering Sue standing at the top of his bed, Vin blushed. "Sorry...I didn't mean...that." Trying to ease himself over on his back, he suddenly felt Josiah's strong arms lifting him and righting him with ease.
"Better?" Josiah smiled, stood and stretched.
"Yeah, thanks." Vin took the cup of water from Sue and peered at the pills she handed out to him. "What are those?"
"Well, two pain pills. Your stomach medicine and a stool softener." Successfully hiding her smile at Vin's expression, she thrust the pills at him again.
"NO!! Don't need none of that stuff...specially that 'stool' thing." Vin pushed back against his pillows, trying to put space between himself and the offending objects. Josiah couldn't help it and laughed. "Think this is funny, Josiah? This ain't funny."
"Miss Sue, I must apologize for my young friend. It's fairly obvious he is not as familiar as some of us...with the necessity for not wanting to strain any stomach incisions right after surgery. I understand the pain can be quite impressive. It's important to have things....loose shall we say?" Turning his back to Vin, Josiah winked at the nurse who grinned back.
+ + + + + + +
"Well, Mr. Sanchez? I'm certain Vin wouldn't want to do anything that would keep him here in the hospital longer than possible. But you know how fussy we nurses can be.." Offering the pills to Vin again, she continued. "No bowel movement? No discharge home."
Vin looked from Josiah to Sue with disbelief on his face. Seeing that neither one was about to give in, Vin took the medicine and swallowed it. Easing himself on his left side, he turned his back to them and started to pull the covers over his shoulders.
"Ah, Vin. Since you're awake. Why don't we go ahead and do your bath? I have to take that catheter out of your penis this morning so this is as good a time as any. That ok with you?" Sue looked questioningly at Josiah as he threw his head back and laughed silently.
"No...I don't...you can't....I mean...aren't there any male nurses?" Vin had his covers totally over his head by now and Sue was doing a good job of not smiling.
"Vin? I'm gonna get some coffee, son...if you're still alive when I get back I'll help ya shave..ok?" Josiah started toward the door pausing only shortly as he heard Vin call.
"Josiah!! Josiah?? You ain't gonna LEAVE ME here alone with her are you?" Sue gathered her supplies and placed them on the bedside table. She thought she heard deep hardy laughter following Josiah as he closed Vin's door.
Chris arrived around noon to find an exhausted Vin slumped in his chair, a lunch tray on the table across his lap. Noting the drawn look, Chris pulled up a chair and touched Vin on the knee waking the dozing sharpshooter.
Vin felt the hand on his knee but refused to open his eyes. "Please, can't I just rest a minute. You all got me up three times and I all ready walked the dang hallway twice for ya. I just need to rest a minute..please." Letting his head fall back on the chair, Vin squirmed trying to get comfortable.
"Vin? It's me Chris." Chris smiled as Vin opened his eyes quickly and sat upright.
"Oh, Chris! God, am I glad to see you. Josiah....he..he..just left me alone with that nurse and she.....they been stripping off dressings and poking on my stomach ...then ..then they been dragging my ass up and down that hall...finally got them to give me some pants...and then they bring me this stuff to eat....I can't eat this Chris..you got to get me out of here..." Vin rattled on while a bemused Chris listened quietly.
Sitting back in his chair, Chris lifted the cover on Vin's lunch tray. A bowel of cream of chicken soup and a serving of pureed peas filled the plate. Cherry jell-O and milk completed his choices. "Soup looks good."
"Soup looks good. Soup looks good? That's all you can say? Chris? Get me some ice cream..can you? Some double chocolate...with sprinkles? Please? And a coke...I need a coke..I asked them and they just looked at me....but if you sneak it in here, they'll never know." Vin had the look of a desperate man plotting his escape from prison. Chris was glad in most ways cause this meant Vin was getting better...but Vin could also be a master manipulator when he wanted his way.
Shaking his head, Chris sighed knowing this was going to be a long couple days. "Well, Vin. I could do that. I could go to the cafeteria and get you the ice cream and soda, but how do we explain to the nurse the decidedly chocolate coloring of the food when you throw it all up?" Chris tried to look serious but wasn't successful.
"See? You're just as bad as them. Everyone is turning against me." Vin closed his eyes in defeat. Becoming silent. Chris got up and crossed the room to the door. Checking the hallway, Chris found it empty and saw the nurses collected at the nurses' station. Closing Vin's door firmly, Chris crossed to Vin's chair. Leaning down he took his hand and caressed the side of Vin's cheek. Freshly shaven, the skin was soft under his fingers. Vin opened his eyes and looked into Chris' face.
Chris leaned down and kissed Vin fully on his lips. Vin quickly opened his lips and let his tongue slide forward licking the inside of Chris' mouth. Pulling away, Chris walked over and retrieved a bath blanket from the foot of Vin's bed. Placing the blanket across Vin's legs lower body, Chris tilted the recliner back. Vin watched in curious anticipation. " A little bitchy, aren't we?" Chris smiled as he again kissed Vin on the mouth. Letting his right hand slide under the blanket, Chris carefully pulled open the ties to Vin's pants.
Gasping, Vin lifted his hips, using his hands to move the bottoms down lower on his body. Feeling Chris reach between his legs, he moaned into Chris' mouth as his lover found his semi-erect shaft. "Chris?" Vin whispered as he continued to lick his tongue inside Chris sweet mouth. "God, I'm so horny. Can we? I've had his hard-on since she took that thing out."
Chris smiled and raised an eyebrow, "We need to be careful. Don't want to break anything." Continuing to stroke Vin, Chris felt the cock in his hand become stiff and begin to twitch. It wasn't going to take much to give Vin relief. Ignoring the heat between his own legs, he moved his mouth down licking the side of Vin's jaw down to his earlobe.
"Oh, yes...Chris can you..?? Squeeze harder? Uh...oh, man I need this so bad!!" Vin began a constant moaning trying to move his hips with Chris' stroking but not pull at his incision. Feeling Chris take his cock fully in one hand he felt the other hand add lotion from the bedside bottle and reach down to find his balls.
Hiking his hips more to give Chris access, Vin lay his head back and gave in to what Chris was doing between his legs. Fully intent on satisfying his young lover, Chris covered Vin's lower stomach with the bath blanket and began to move his hand up and down forcefully as he kneaded and rolled the warm sacs in his hand. Feeling Vin's balls start to draw up and tighten, Chris leaned down and took the tip of Vin's penis in his mouth. Flicking it with his tongue Chris tightened his grip. It was all Vin needed to begin his climax.
"Oh, God..Chris!!! Ummm....Yes!! So Good...." Vin gave a small cry as he came forcefully in Chris' mouth. Swallowing as much as he could, Chris was amazed at the amount of liquid that continued to spurt from Vin's organ. Moving the blanket up to catch the remainder of Vin's seed, Chris held on to the base of his penis and stroked gently. Vin's moaning had turned into sighs of satisfaction as his hips slowed their thrusting and his body began to quiet. "Uh..ah...Chris..feels great....ah..ooohh.." Chris could feel Vin starting to stroke his softening organ into his hand and he moved it away, not wanting to excite Vin anymore. "Chris, don't." Vin's hand came down to try and keep Chris' hand in place.
"Uh, uh..cowboy. That's enough for now. We don't want to have to explain to the doctors how you pulled those stitches out. They'll be plenty of time for this when I get you home. Feeling better?" Chris straightened Vin's clothing, discarding the blanket in the hamper. Getting a fresh one from the closet, he covered Vin and kissed him soundly on the lips.
"Feeling much, much better." Vin opened his eyes giving Chris a good look at the lust still present. " I think I want to change physical therapists. You can just do that for me and I won't need any "ambulation" or whatever they call it." Vin's eyes began to close as he drifted off to sleep. Chris gently brushed the unruly locks that had fallen in Vin's eyes. Smiling, he sat back in his chair; pulling his laptop out of his carrier.
Logging on to the internet, Chris brought up the website for the Kona Beach Resort and completed the reservation form. The resort promised private "hales" cottages without TV's, or telephones right on the beach. Just what he and his sharpshooter needed for a period of relaxation and recovery.
SEVEN
The next couple of days Vin worked hard increasing his time up in the chair and walking up and down the hall as much as he could. What he couldn't do was rid his body of the nagging low grade fever that insisted on staying with him. Having tried several different tactics to negociate his release from the hospital, Vin was resigned to staying until the fever was completely gone. He wouldn't admit it, but even with the increase in exercise and appetite, he still felt tired most of the time. His life had become a routine of getting up in chairs, walking, forcing himself to eat and sleeping. Even the visits from the guys wore him out if they stayed too long.The doctors assured him that the fever would go away and that he eventually would regain his strength, but cautioned him it might take several weeks even months for him to feel totally recovered. In the meantime, he was restricted to not lifting more than ten pounds of anything and had been told that driving and riding were also off limits for the next six weeks to eight weeks. The deep pain Vin was still having would also go away with time he was assured but might persist even longer. They gave him lots of talk about deep tissue damage and organ removal and fluid shifting to fill empty spaces....bottom line he had been lucky to survive and his body was going to need time to heal. "You are going to have to be give yourself time. Rush things now and you'll be paying for it with complications later on." With those parting words, the doctor had smiled and patted Vin on the shoulder.
Vin could hear the talk show host babbling on with a guest about changing the furniture in your house to bring serenity into your life as he dozed in his chair. The evening before he and Chris had argued about Chris spending so much time at the hospital. Vin had insisted it wasn't necessary for Chris to take himself away from the rest of the team just to sit and watch him walk up and down the hall. Chris had insisted the team was doing fine. Much of what Chris was doing at work right now had to do with budgets, and the guys were gathering information and running backgrounds on several potential targets, so Chris could make the time to be with Vin. Tired and painful from a recent walk to the lobby, Vin had ended the discussion by telling Chris he didn't need a mother hen and to please just visit him after work or in the evenings.
Vin had seen the hurt in Chris' eyes, but had been too tired to continue the conversation. Turning his back on Chris, Vin had heard his lover leave without even saying good bye. Now Vin was feeling guilty, but he couldn't bring himself to pick up the phone and try to explain himself again. After years of taking care of himself, he still felt awkward when too much attention was given to him. Even with the bond he and Chris were developing, he still needed space. He and Chris were still working out the ground rules.
Hearing a slight knock at the door, Vin acknowledged it with his eyes still closed. Expecting his nurse or physical therapist, Vin was surprised by the voice he heard. Easing himself upright in his bed, Vin smiled when he saw Jane, the woman who had been held hostage come into the room.
"Hi, hope I'm not bothering you. Your nurse said she thought you were watching tv. I didn't know you were sleeping." Jane approached Vin tentatively carrying a gift wrapped package in her arms.
"It's ok. Just resting up for the next lap around the hallway." Vin smiled, secretly happy to see her. "Here. Sit down. How are you doing?" Totally focusing on Jane, Vin forgot his own troubles for the moment.
"I should be asking you the same thing. Last time I saw you; they were loading you in a helicopter. I think I like you this way better. Here." Holding out the gift, Jane met Vin's eyes.
Taking the gift carefully, Vin blushed. "You didn't have to get me anything."
"I know. But I and saw this and just had to bring it to you. I'm hoping it says what I feel about what you did for me." Holding up her hand, she continued. "I know you don't think it was a big deal. Just doing your job. Well, I've come to believe that God gives some people harder jobs than others when he hands out his gifts and talents. You're one of those people whether you admit it or not. Go ahead, open it."
Vin continued to stare at her a minute, and then began carefully opening the colorful wrapping. He had frustrated JD and Buck to no end last Christmas with his careful unwrapping and folding of paper before opening a package. But Vin had gotten very few new gifts in his child and young adulthood, and now when he was given something he tried to make the experience last.
Putting the folding paper to the side, Vin broke the seal to the box and slipped his hand inside. His fingers wrapped around a ceramic figure. Pulling it out he saw that it was an angel with two children at it's feet. Puzzled, Vin looked at Jane.
"It's a guardian angel, Vin. The Bible says that God has given each of us an angel to watch over us while we're here on earth. I just figure I've been given two. You're one of them. Wanted you to have this so you would always know how special you are to me. No one will ever have the place you do in my heart. Now, that said I'm embarrassed and am leaving." Jane stood quickly, but Vin put out his hand and stopped her.
"Jane, wait. This is really wonderful. I didn't get much religion training growing up. Does each of us have one..this guardian?" Vin seemed sincerely interested so Jane sat down.
"Well, according to the nuns at St Catherine's we do." Jane took the figure from Vin and turned it around. "See how strong and kind these arms are. These eyes are fixed only on these two children. That's kind of how I felt when I saw you standing by the ambulance. The sun was shining behind your head. I don't know you just kind of looked like an angel. This figure reminded me of that moment."
Looking at the figure, Vin asked "Jane, where did you get this?"
"Actually, it was down in the hospital gift shop. There are several different types. Of angels I mean. Why?" Jane took the angel from Vin as he handed it to her and set it on the bedside table.
Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Vin eased himself upright. Jane could see the grimace of pain cross his face as he twisted slightly while rising. Reaching out to steady himself with a hand on her arm, Vin asked. "Could you show me? I need to make an apology and I think this is the perfect way to do it."
Making his way with Jane's help, Vin walked slowly into the hospital gift shop. Taking him over to the section that held the angels, Jane left Vin alone to look. Vin studied the figurines, looking for the one he wanted. Hidden behind the larger figures, Vin saw the one he wanted. It was an angel standing behind a kneeling man. With short blond hair, it's figure was generic. Standing with one hand on the kneeling man's shoulder, the angel had a kind and warm face carved on it.
"It's beautiful. This is for someone really special, isn't it?" Vin nodded and Jane asked the shop worker if it could be gift wrapped. While waiting for the gift to be wrapped, Vin let Jane lead him to a set of chairs along one wall. Easing himself down, Vin tried without success to stop a heavy sigh. "You're tired. Want me to get a wheelchair?"
"No. I'm fine." Seeing the raised eyebrow, Vin laughed lightly. "You remind me way to much of someone else. He's always doing that eyebrow thing too."
"Does it once to often sometimes?" Jane asked softly.
"Yeah, sometimes he just ...I don't know...." Vin looked off trying to find the words he wanted.
"Cares too much?" Jane put her hand on Vin's knee. "It's the blonde agent who went with you in the helicopter, isn't it?"
Looking up in surprise, Vin nodded his head. "How...I mean...?"
+ + + + + + +
"Have this second sense about people...had it all my life. Let me guess...He thinks you need watching over and you think you don't need people fussing over you." Jane laughed when she saw Vin's expression. Getting up she went over to the counter and retrieved Vin's gift.
Sitting down she pulled out the attached card. "Want me to write a message on this card. You look really tired Vin, we should get back upstairs."
"Do you mind? Only I don't know exactly what to say." Vin ran his hand over his face feeling the sweat coating his face. He knew he had been up way to long but wanted to finish his gift for Chris.
Seeing how tired Vin was becoming, Jane grabbed a pen out of her purse. "Well, how about. 'I was wrong.' ?" Seeing Vin's sly smile, she carefully penned the message and let Vin sign his name. Standing she went to the information booth and got an orderly who brought over a wheel chair.
Seeing her approach, Vin started to stand but only made it half way up before having to sit again. The orderly helped him stand again and eased him into the wheelchair. "Thanks." Vin said tiredly.
"I can drop this off at your friend's office if you want on my way home." Jane knelt down in front of Vin's chair. Lifting his head, he nodded and smiled his biggest smile for her. Vin gave her the address and she stood and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Remember it's not a weakness to take help when you need it. You helped me when I needed it..Let your friends help you." Turning she walked away, waving her hand in farewell.
Vin let the orderly help him back into bed. Sue, his nurse, followed them in and scowled at him when she saw the pale color on his face. Shaking her head, she quickly got him pain medication and settled him under a light blanket. Vin was asleep as soon as he finished swallowing the pills.
The guard at the Federal Building, ran the brightly wrapped gift through the metal detector and passed the young woman carrying it though. Jan made her way to the information desk and asked for Agent Chris Larabee. When told he was in a meeting she asked if the gift she had could be delivered to his office. Since it had been cleared, the officer took the package and placed it in the "out box". Thanking the man, Jan smiled and left. Mission accomplished.
Chris was pissed. Not an unusual state of affairs for him lately. Already out of sorts over his stupid fight with Vin, he had spent the better part of the afternoon justifying his budget to his boss. Slamming his folders down on his desk, he fell heavily into his chair, trying to decide how to handle Vin.
Bending to open a drawer to take out his bottle of aspirin, Chris noticed the colorful package sitting on his desk. Looking around, Chris didn't notice anyone around. The office was empty; the rest of the team having gone home an hour ago. Curious but cautious, Chris left it untouched and called downstairs.
"Jack? Chris Larabee. Did someone bring a ...." Chris was cut off by the guard's answer. "A girl? No, doesn't ring a bell. But it was cleared through security?" Listening again, Chris said. "Ok, thanks".
A girl had brought a colorful gift to his office. Not making sense of anything so far, Chris reached out and took the envelope from the package. Neat tiny handwriting had printed his name on the outside. Still curious, Chris opened and read the message inside. Seeing Vin's scrawled signature, he read the message. Pressing his lips together with anticipation, Chris made quick work of the wrapping. Breaking open the seal, he lifted out the figurine. Staring in open amazement at the angel, Chris ran his fingers over the edges of the finely painted china.
Sitting back in his chair, Chris continued to look at the Vin's gift. An angel. A guardian angel. Reading Vin's message as clearly as if he had written in on paper, Chris gathered up the figure and grabbed his coat.
Thirty minutes later found him standing outside Vin's room. Sue came up behind him and whispered. "He's sound asleep. Went down to the hospital gift shop with a woman visitor this afternoon and stayed about an hour. An orderly brought him back completely exhausted. I had to wake him to give him pain medication. Must have been special whatever he went there looking for." Sue pushed open the door and Chris saw Vin on his side, his knuckles pressing against his mouth on the pillow.
Sitting quietly in the chair beside Vin's bed, Chris set the angel next to the one already on Vin's table. Taking out the paper, Chris opened it to the sports page and stretched out his long legs. Turning so he could watch Vin in case he woke , Chris started reading the football scores. Vin moaned in his sleep and Chris reached over to stroke the sharpshooter's hair until he quieted. Returning to his paper, Chris Larabee sighed peacefully for the first time in weeks.
EIGHT
Vin heard voices. Opening his eyes slowly, he turned slowly onto his back, wincing he sighed; wondering when he would ever be free of the aching pain in his left side and back. Seeing Chris reading the paper in a chair beside his bed, Vin closed his eyes giving a small thanks for sending his guardian angel to him again."Hey, cowboy. How're ya doing?" Chris put the paper down and pulled his chair closer to the bedside. Vin still looked tired. There was a paleness to his face that Chris hadn't seen yesterday. "You still look a little worn out, you shouldn't have gone to all the trouble of getting me a present."
Sitting himself upright slowly, Vin smiled quietly. "Ya, I did." Chris stood to place a pillow behind Vin's back, and was startled when Vin hissed and pulled away from the touch of the pillow on his back. Easing himself back, Vin sat with his eyes closed until the wave of intense pain passed.
"Vin? You still hurting? I mean ...your back? Has that always been sore?" Chris looked down into Vin's face, not letting him escape the question.
"Just slept on it wrong, Chris. It's fine. Thanks for the pillow." Changing the topic, Vin asked about the office and fretted interest in Chris' description of their new cases.
Chris could see through Vin's supposed interest but finished anyway, letting the sharpshooter rest as he talked. Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Vin's dinner tray. Chris took it and brought it over to Vin's bed on a table. Setting it across Vin's lap, he saw Vin blanch and turn his head away when he smelled the food.
Vin felt his stomach rebel, and quickly pushed the tray away at the smell of the food. Reaching quickly for the basin on his table, he vomited; spilling the contents of his stomach over himself as the basin overflowed. Gasping and retching at the same time, Vin felt Chris support his shoulders. Finishing, he let his head fall back against the pillow as Chris went for a nurse.
Chris was back in the room in minutes followed closely by Brigid, Vin's nurse. Both exchanged looks as they saw Vin leaning over the side of the bed retching again.
"Vin? Here, sit up. Let me see." Brigid with Chris' help sat Vin upright and lowered the head of his bed. Using a wet washcloth, she wiped his face, letting the back of her hand feel his face before she wet it. It was hot. "Vin, it's ok. Let's get you cleaned up. Still feel sick?" Watching Vin nod his head, Brigid placed her hand along side Vin's left side and pressed lightly. Vin bit his lip but refused to cry out at the touch of her hand. "Hey, how long has your back been hurting?"
Vin kept his eyes closed, trying to quell the sickness inside. "Don't know. This morning? Feel sick." Vin spoke in short gasps. The effort of speaking making him even more tired. "Just need some pain pills, I'll be ok." Vin turned his head away from them and willed his body to stop hurting.
Shaking her head, Brigid motioned to Chris and both stepped away from the bed. "I'm gonna get him cleaned up and settled for the night. I'll be able to look at his back better then. It may be just tender from being in bed for several days." Brigid told Chris as other possibilities for his pain and nausea went through her head.
"Hate to leave him when he's feeling this bad." Chris looked again at the very still form of his young lover. "He'll never tell you the truth about how he's really feeling."
"So we've all learned. It's in the nurse's notes on his chart. Look, he might be more truthful if you're not around. I'll get the resident to look at him after I bathe him and can see for myself how he reacts." Seeing the hesitancy in Chris' posture, Brigid continued. "Why don't you call me when you get home. I'll update you then. If I think you need to come back, I'll tell you."
Looking back at Vin, Chris tried to make up his mind. Vin just might be more honest with his nurse, but after their recent fight, Chris was reluctant to let Vin feel that he was being abandoned. "You're sure you'll call?" Chris tried to take his eyes off Vin to look at the nurse, but the fragile looking figure on the bed held his attention.
"Chris?" Vin's voice broke the silence in the room.
Moving quickly to the bed, Chris bent closer to hear better. "Yeah, Vin. What'cha need?" Placing a hand lightly on Vin's forearm, Chris flinched at the warm moist skin under his hand.
"Go home. Don't feel like conversation. Just wanna sleep. Brigid'll take good care of me. Tired. Just go home, I'll be ok....." Vin's speech became increasingly slurred as he fell asleep before their eyes.
Straightening, Chris looked one more time at Vin's pale face and reached for his jacket. Turning to Brigid, Chris said. "I'll call you when I get to the ranch, ok? Do you have my cell phone and beeper numbers?" Reaching inside his coat, Chris pulled out his card and handed it to her.
"We've got them Chris, but I'll leave this one posted on his bulletin board. I'll call I promise." Chris looked at Vin one more time before he left.
Brigid returned to Vin's bedside and began quietly removing the soiled gown. Vin moaned at the touch of her hand again on his side and tried to pull away. Taking his temperature, Brigid frowned as she read the digital readout. 103.6 F. Checking his previous vital signs, she noted his fever had increased 4 degrees over the last four hours. Finishing his bath quickly, Brigid drew blood to check his white count and send off for culturing his blood and went to call the resident.
Vin felt hot. Even the soothing cool water the nurse had bathed him with had not helped. The throbbing in his side and back now extended to his left shoulder. Opening his eyes, saw the clock on the wall. Trying to make out the time, Vin gave up. His vision was too blurred and his head ached. Looking around, he saw that Chris was gone. He didn't remember him leaving, but couldn't blame him. Chris must be tired of seeing me sick all the time. "Hell," Vin sighed. "I'm tired of seeing me sick." Closing his eyes, he waited for sleep to come.
Chris made it to the truck in the parking lot before he turned back. Reaching for the door handle, Chris opened it and threw his jacket inside. Turning, he headed back inside. The nurse was right. There wasn't anything he could do for Vin right now. But he wouldn't let Vin wake up again without him. He had made that mistake once already and Vin had forgiven him. He wouldn't make that mistake again.
The resident finished assessing Vin and walked out into the hall just as Chris stepped into the doorway. He finished talking to Brigid, who wasn't surprised to see Chris back, and turned to speak to the agent.
"Your Mr. Tanner's friend? I'm Dr. Levin." Shaking hands with Chris, the doctor lead him into the waiting room. Motioning for Chris to sit down, the doctor sat beside him and continued. "Looks like your friend has an intra-abdominal abscess." Seeing the frown on Chris' face, he continued. "It's not unexpected in a wound of this type. I don't think it's in the area where we removed his spleen. The area of pain seems to be centered on another area near by where we removed a single bullet."
"So, he's gonna have to go back to surgery?" Chris said that empty feeling coming back to his stomach.
"No, not at all. I'm sending him up to get a CAT scan right now to locate the abscess exactly. Then we'll send him to interventional radiology where they will place a catheter through the skin and muscle directly into the pocket of infection. That will drain the pus and we can withdraw it when it stops draining. Probably take a couple days. I'll add another antibiotic which will give him three drugs to cover whatever infection is growing. In 24 hours, we'll know exactly when the cultures grow." The resident began writing orders as he talked.
"Won't that hurt? Putting that drain in?" Chris didn't want to see Vin hurt anymore.
"Well, they'll give him pretty heavy sedation while he's having it inserted, but it probably won't hurt him anymore afterward than the pain he's in now." Rising the doctor indicated Vin's door. "You gonna wait for him? It'll be a few hours."
"Yeah, I'll wait. He gonna come back to this room?" When the doctor nodded yes, Chris made his way toward Vin's door. The door opened before he could enter. Vin was on a stretcher covered by a clean white sheet, his face drawn with pain and fever. Brigid touched Chris as she followed the stretcher.
"Thanks for coming back. I'll take good care of him. I left you a fresh blanket and pillow on the recliner. We'll be a while." Catching Chris' eye, she turned her attention back to Vin.
Chris crawled into the recliner and settled the blanket on his lap. Pulling the side table over to him, he turned the table so he could see it clearly. Moving a box of tissues, Chris let his hand touch the figurine Vin had given him. Closing his eyes, the image of the angel's wings faded.
Comments to: KRowl66233@aol.com