JD, Buck, Josiah, Nathan, and Travis hurried from the ICU elevator. They knew Vin Tanner had gone to surgery an hour before and they were all going to keep vigil with Nathan and Ezra in the ICU waiting room.
Buck left the others in the waiting room where they’d found a sleeping Ezra Standish. The others had agreed that he would be the one to relieve Nathan.
He walked up to the door to Chris’s room and saw Nathan Jackson holding their friend's hand in his. He waited for the medic to look his way before speaking. When Nathan finally looked up, his tired eyes looked sunken in his face, “Hey, Nathan, how’s Chris?” Buck asked.
“The same, Buck. Where is everyone?”
“In the waiting room with Ezra,” Buck answered. “Any word on Vin?”
“He went into surgery an hour ago. Dr. Mercer said she’d come here when Vin was in recovery,” Nathan explained.
“Where’s Melanie?” he asked as he watched the new nurse place a full bag of IV liquid on the pole by Chris’s bed. She checked the readouts on the IV monitor and seemed to be satisfied with the readings.
“Melanie’s shift ended at seven this morning. This is Peggy, she’ll be with Chris today.”
“Nathan, why don’t you and Ezra go get some rest?”
“As soon as I know Vin’s out of surgery, Ezra and I will leave,” Jackson said.
“At least go get some coffee. I’ll stay with Chris.”
“Alright, Buck, just remember to stay out of Peggy’s way and keep talking to Chris.”
“I will, Nathan,” Buck answered as he took the recently vacated chair. He reached forward and took his friend's still hand and squeezed gently, “I don’t know if you can hear me, Pard, but I sure wish you’d wake up. I know you’ve been through a lot over the past year but you can fight it, Chris. Remember the two ladies we met at Inez’s last month. That red head sure had the hots for you. What am I talkin’ about both of them ladies had the hots for you. Maybe my animal magnetism is rubbing off on you,” Buck said and watched as the ventilator breathed for his friend.
“He’s a lucky man to have such good friends.”
Buck looked at the petite nurse and smiled. “I think we’re the lucky ones to have him as a friend ma’am. I wish you could see him without all these tubes and things running into him. He’s about the only one who could make the ladies turn their backs on me,” he said.
“He must be a handsome man if he could do that,” Peggy said as she drained the tube in Chris’s abdomen.
Buck could see the small amount of light pink liquid and looked at the nurse worriedly. “Is that normal?” he asked.
“It is,” Peggy said. “Actually this is starting to clear up.”
“Really?” Buck asked unbelievingly.
“Really, from what Melanie told me this morning it was really dark last night so this is an improvement.”
“Does that mean he’s getting better?” Buck asked hopefully.
“It means that the poison that’s been leaking into his abdomen is slowing down,” Peggy said as she measured the liquid from the Foley.
“Oh,” Buck said and turned his attention back to his friend.
Peggy looked at the handsome man sitting at the bedside. She was a professional and had steeled herself against the emotions that assaulted her every time she watched family and friends sit and wait for a loved one to wake up. She hoped and prayed that this story would end happily and that she would get the chance to see just how handsome the patient in the bed was.
“Mr. Jackson,” Nathan looked up as Dr. Mercer entered the waiting room.
“How’s Vin?” he asked.
“Mr. Tanner is out of surgery and in recovery.”
“How did it go?” Josiah asked.
“His ankle was worse than we’d originally thought but we were able to repair the damage. Unfortunately he’s having a bad reaction to the anaesthetic. He’s been vomiting since we woke him. I’ve left orders for the nurses to give him Gravol to calm his stomach but it’s not helping very much.”
“Vin’s always had a problem with anaesthetic,” Nathan told her. “Can one of us sit with him? Maybe if he sees one of us it’ll calm him down.”
“No one’s allowed in recovery I’m afraid, but he’ll be transferred back to his room in about an hour if all goes well. I’m due back in surgery so if there’re no other questions I’ll be going. I think you should all know that he woke up asking for his friend.”
Mirror smiles covered the faces of the five men in the room, “That sounds like Mr. Tanner. Who wants to wager what the first word out of Mr Larabee’s mouth will be?” Ezra asked.
“No dice, Ez, we all know what that word will be,” JD smiled.
Vin’s going to be ok, right?” Travis asked.
“He should be fine as soon as the effects of the anaesthetic wears off. It may take a day or two but he’ll be fine. I’ll check in on him after I’m done with my next case,” she said as she walked out the door.
“Thanks, Doc,” Josiah said. “Ok, Nathan, it looks like Vin’s gonna be fine. I think it’s time you and Ezra went to the hotel and got some sleep.”
“I do believe I could use a few hours of sleep,” Ezra said as he looked at the exhausted medic.
“Alright, Ezra, let’s go get some shut eye. Make sure you call us if anything happens,” Jackson told them.
“We will, Nathan, you and Ezra go get something to eat and some sleep. We’ll see you this evening,” Travis ordered as he walked them to the elevator.
“You think Vin’s ok, Josiah?” JD asked.
“Vin’s as tough as nails, JD, he’ll do fine,” Sanchez answered.
“What about his eyes?” JD asked.
“According to the specialist, his sight should return when the swelling behind the optic nerves goes down. He’ll know more when they do an MRI,” Josiah told him.
“I hope the doc’s right,” JD said softly.
“I’m sure the good lord will do whatever he can, JD. I think it’s time I relieved Brother Buck and gave him the news about Vin,” Sanchez said as Travis returned to the room.
Josiah Sanchez firmly believed in Devine intervention and he prayed that his
two injured friends would be on the receiving end of some.
Buck looked up as Josiah called his name from the door.
“We have to turn the patient again, Buck, why don’t you and your friend go get some coffee and I’ll call you when I’m done” Peggy said as another nurse entered the room.
“Thanks, Peggy, we’ll wait out here,” Buck told her.
“How’s Vin?” Buck asked as they watched the nurses work on their friend.
“He’s in recovery,” Josiah answered.
“He have a hard time with the anaesthetic?”
“He did. They’ll be bringing him down to his room any time now. I figured I’d sit with brother Chris for awhile,” Josiah said as he watched the nurses turn the comatose patient on his back.
“I think I’ll go sit with him for a while.”
“Sit on him is more like it, Brother Buck,” Josiah laughed.
Buck grinned at the older man. “I bet the first thing he’ll want when he wakes up is to come up here and see Chris,” he said.
“That’s a sure bet,” Josiah laughed.
“I’ll see you later, Josiah,” Buck said as he turned away from ICU four.
“Hey, Vin, that’s it open those baby blues,” Buck said as he stood next to his friend's wakening form.
“B...Buck, gonna b...be sick,” Vin said as he tried to sit up. Buck Wilmington was lightening fast with the kidney shaped boat but with nothing left in his system Vin suffered from dry heaves. Buck held his shoulder until the heaves stopped and then lay his friend back on the pillow.
“Easy, there, Pard. Buck’s got ya.”
“C...Chris,” Vin asked as he lifted his hand to his aching forehead.
“He’s still the same,” Buck said sadly.
“I wanna s...see him, B...Buck,” Vin said tiredly.
“I know you do, Vin, but the doc says you have to wait till tomorrow. Besides, they're putting Chris through some more tests today so nobody can see him for awhile,” Buck said as he pulled a chair towards the bed.
“I c...can’t feel h...him like I usually d...do, Buck,” Vin said.
“That’s probably cause of the coma, Vin. You and Chris will be back to feeling each others vibes as soon as he wakes up.”
“Is he gonna wake up?”
“Course he will, Vin, you know Chris he’s probably just taking it easy. Probably don’t want to wake up to all those damn tubes sticking out of him. You know how much he hates needles, tubes and hospitals. Kinda reminds me of you,” Buck laughed and was pleased to see the younger man smile.
“We do tend to dislike hospitals, don’t we?”
“That’s putting it mildly. How’s the headache?”
“Still there but not quite as bad. Stomach feels pretty crappy right now though.”
“That’s your little aversion to anaesthetic I reckon,” Buck laughed.
“Don’t feel so little right now,” Vin said.
“Why don’t you get some more sleep, Vin? I’ll stay here with you.”
“Thanks, Pard, Think I will. I’m gonna see Chris first thing in the morning,” he said firmly.
“Sure, Vin, sure,” Buck said and rocked his chair back on it’s legs.
Morning came and Vin Tanner awoke from what felt like a long drinking binge. His headache had returned and he groaned as he placed his hands over his eyes.
“Good morning, Mr. Tanner,” Ezra said.
“E...Ezra, take me to Chris,” Vin said as he grimaced against the daggers assaulting his head.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to wait for your physician to give the consent to take you to see him,” Ezra told him.
“G...go get her,” Vin ordered.
“She should be making her rounds any minute now, Mr. Tanner. Why don’t you just relax and wait for her,” Standish said.
“You don’t understand, Ez, Chris is slipping away from us. >From me. I can’t feel him at all. I need to talk to him. Let him no what he means to me,” Tanner said as unseeing eyes filled with tears.
“Mr. Larabee is resting comfortably right now, Vin. He’ll be there when Dr. Mercer gives her permission for you to visit him.”
Vin Tanner noticed Standish’s use of his first name and knew it was done to set his mind at ease. “Will he?” he asked.
“Good morning, Mr. Tanner,” a female voice called from the door.
“Morning,” Vin said simply.
“How do you feel this morning?”
“Dr. Mercer?”
“That’s correct. How’s your stomach?”
“Much better,” Vin said.
“And your head?”
“Much better,” he said again but she could tell he lied.
“Sure it is. Well, I want you to take it easy today and Dr. William Beattie will be in to see you this afternoon.”
“Who’s he?” Standish asked.
“He’s an ophthalmic surgeon. He’s ordered an MRI for tomorrow morning just to make sure everything’s ok with your eyes.”
“I don’t need no MRI to tell me that everything’s not alright,” Vin said.
“Well the MRI will tell us if there’s anything else wrong besides the swelling. I’ll come back and see you after he’s finished,” Mercer said as she walked to the door.
“Dr. Mercer?”
“You’re Mr. Standish, right?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am, Mr. Tanner is extremely worried about his friend upstairs. Is there any way we can arrange for him to visit for a few minutes?” Ezra asked.
Mercer came back to the bed and checked her patient. “I’ll make a deal with you, Mr. Tanner, if you promise to behave and listen to the nurses then I’ll arrange to have you brought up there in a wheel chair.”
“He’ll behave, won’t you Mr. Tanner?”
“I will,” Vin said, a relieved smile on his pale face
Half an hour later, Ezra Standish wheeled Vin Tanner into ICU four. The nurse had been warned to expect the injured man and had cleared an area for his chair to be pushed up to the bed.
“Let’s go grab a coffee, Mr. Jackson,” Ezra suggested.
“You alright, Vin?” Jackson asked.
“I’m fine, Nate,” Vin said in a quivering voice.
“I’ll be back to get you in ten minutes, Mr. Tanner,” Standish said.
“Thanks, Ezra,” Vin said as he reached out for the bed.
“Here, Mr. Tanner,” Peggy said as she placed his hand on the hand of his friend.
“Thanks,” Vin said as he reached out and placed his other hand over his friend's. The skin felt cool, almost lifeless to his touch. “Hey, Cowboy, they tell me you’re in some kinda coma here.”
The soft Texan drawl sent shivers of warmth through his cold body.
“You know how hard this is for me, Pard? How hard it is to not feel you in my head. To feel as if I’m losing my brother. Yes, Chris, I think of you as my brother.”
Up through the soft whiteness of nothingness he was drawn as the familiar pleading voice continued to nag at his mind.
“The brother I never had but always wanted. You have to come back to us, Pard.”
At first, the reminder of pain made him want to move away from the incessant voice. The voice of his brother. The man who’d filled the void in his life.
“We need you, hell I need you, Chris. I need you to watch my back.”
The voice continued to talk and he felt the pain re-enter his mind. He felt things invading his body; hated things, painful things, things he didn’t want to face.
“I’m blind, Cowboy and you promised to be my eyes, remember? I know you’d never go back on a promise.”
‘Vin,’ he thought and struggled towards the sound of the voice. There was something in his throat. The invasion-reaching deep down inside and he fought against it. ‘I can’t do this,’ he thought as his newly awakening senses screamed in agony.
“Come, on, Pard, I need you,” he said as a single tear dropped from his eye.
Chris felt something wet land on his hand and he knew he’d fight to have his life back. He’d be there for Vin Tanner, he’d be his eyes for as long as he was needed. The finger on his left hand twitched.
“Please, Chris,” Vin said. He was startled as alarms began to sound from the bed of his best friend. “No, Chris, dammit, don’t do this to me,” Vin cried as he found the strength to pull his tired body from the chair. His ankle gave way and he crashed to the floor with a resounding thud and a scream of agony.
“CODE BLUE, ICU, SEVENTH FLOOR, CODE BLUE, ICU, SEVENTH FLOOR!”
Four newly arrived men raced to the elevators and hurried inside. They recognized the hated call and there was no doubt in their minds who it was being called for.
Chris Larabee heard the scream and his eyes opened in terror, ‘Vin’s in trouble,’ he thought as waves of agony made themselves known to him. He tried to speak but something stopped him. Something that invaded his mouth and throat. He tried to use his hands to remove the offending item but his hands wouldn’t move. He opened his eyes and grimaced at the too white light. He shivered as the blankets were torn from his body. Alarms sounded in his ears and he was certain Vin Tanner was dead. Tears slipped from his eyes and ran down his cheeks.
“Don’t move him,” Peggy ordered as she saw Ezra and Nathan hurry to the fallen man. “The orderly’s will do it. You two get out of the way,” she said as Dr. Weaver and two other nurses joined her. The crash cart was pulled into position as Vin Tanner was gently lifted onto a gurney.
“C...Chris,” Vin called through the throbbing of his ankle. He was pushed through the door and towards the elevator. “No!” he cried. “I h...have to s...stay with Chris. He needs me.”
“We have to get your ankle checked,” the orderly told him.
“Take it easy, Vin. The doctors are in with Mr. Larabee right now,” Ezra explained as he followed the stretcher into the elevator. He was torn between staying to find out what was happening to the man in ICU or helping the younger man settle down and let his own injuries be tended to.
“C...Chris’s is d...dying, Ez,” Vin said as the doors closed and they descended. They passed the elevator bringing the other four men to the seventh floor.
“No he’s not, Mr. Tanner. Mr. Larabee is not going to give up that easy,” Ezra said, his voice lacking conviction.
Nathan watched from the door as the team of nurses and doctors began working on his friend. “What’s happening?” he asked as he watched Weaver order the team to step down.
“Hang on a minute,” Weaver said. He’d noticed the patient's eyes and the tears streaming from them. “Chris, if you can hear me move your fingers,” he said and was rewarded by the tiniest motion of Chris Larabee’s index finger. A grin spread across his face as he noticed the displaced lead that was supposed to be anchored to the appendage. “Cancel the code,” he told Peggy.
“No! He can’t be dead,” Buck cried as he and the others joined Nathan Jackson at the open door.
“Oh God, Chris,” JD sobbed, not caring who saw him do it.
“Keep working on him,” Travis called from behind his men.
Josiah Sanchez remained quiet, his eyes closed as he said a silent prayer.
“Hold on you guys,” Nathan said as he spotted the smile on the doctor's face. “Chris isn’t dead.”
“What?” Buck asked.
“Look at Weaver,” Nathan said. They all watched as the doctor examined the patient's eyes and Peggy replaced the lead on his finger. The alarms stopped as suddenly as they’d begun and the quiet was almost as bad as the noise had been.
Weaver continued to examine his patient. He saw the look of terror on the man’s face and began talking softly to him. “You’ve been through a lot, Chris. You’re probably wondering what’s happening to you. Are you up to a few explanations? Lift your finger if you are.”
Chris listened to the man standing above him. He wanted to scream at the man to take the tubes out of him. He wanted to see Vin. He had to see Vin but Vin was dead. He knew he was dead because the alarms were now silent.
“Do you hear me, Chris? Can you lift your finger for me?” Weaver repeated and was finally rewarded by the lifting finger. “That's good, very good, Chris. Now I’ll explain a few things to you. You’re in the ICU at Cooke City Hospital. You’ve been hurt pretty bad but I won’t go into details right now. The tube in your throat is helping you breathe so try not to fight it. As soon as we’re certain you can breath on your own, we’ll remove it, until then you need to relax and let it do it’s job, ok?” Again the finger was lifted. “I’m going to give you something for the pain now and I’d like you to try to get some sleep.” Weaver said as he signalled for the nurse to give him the shot.
Chris felt the needle sink into his already tender hip. He struggled against his heavy lids wanting, no needing, to know how his best friend was. Tears of frustration beaded at the corners of his heavy eyes.
Weaver could tell that his patient was struggling with something and he remembered the man that had been lying on the floor when he’d entered the room. “Are you worried about your friend?” Weaver asked and watched Chris’s finger twitch. “He’s on his way down to X-ray to make sure he didn’t do any damage to his ankle. He’s going to be fine, Chris, and so are you,” Weaver said as he watched the nurse wipe the man's fevered brow. “I’m going to let your friends know how you’re doing and they’ll probably want to visit you. Do you feel up to a few visitors?” The finger lifted again and Weaver patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll send them in one at a time,” he said as he smiled at his patient.
“Doc?” Buck asked.
“He’s awake,” Weaver told them.
“Yes!” JD shouted.
“Damn, I knew he wouldn’t stay down long. Way to go, Chris,” Buck said, a grin covering his handsome face.
“He’s not out of the woods yet, Mr. Wilmington. He’s still got a long way to go.”
“Can we see him?” Buck asked.
“One at a time and only for a few minutes. He needs to rest. He’s also worried about Mr. Tanner.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Chris,” Buck laughed.
“I’m going to change some orders at the nurses station so you go ahead and visit with him but please remember he’s a very sick man and needs to sleep,” Weaver told them.
“We will, Doctor,” Nathan said as the man left the five of them standing outside the room. “You go on in, Buck, I’ll fill the rest of you in on what happened.”
“Thanks, Nate,” Buck said as he walked into the tiny room. Chris’s eyes were closed as he stepped up to the bed but he knew instinctively that he wasn’t sleeping. “Hey, Pard,” he said.
Chris opened his eyes and looked up into the face of his oldest friend. He wanted to speak but the respirator wouldn’t allow that so he waited for Buck to speak again.
“You gave us quite a scare you know. Thought we’d lost you a few times,” Buck said in a quivery voice. “Hey, don’t fight the machine, Pard, I know you hate it, heck we all hate it but it’s there to help you right now. Understand?” Buck asked and saw the finger once more lift off the bed. “Dr. Weaver said you need to rest so I’ll let the others see you for a few minutes. You rest, Pard, and I’ll be back later,” Buck said as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder before leaving.
Nathan stepped into the room and up to the bed. Once again Chris’s eyes were closed but at the sound of the medic’s voice he opened them slightly. “Hey, Chris, I know you’re probably worried about Vin,” he watched as the patient's eyes popped open fully. “Easy now. He’s just gone down to x-ray. He took a little fall from his chair when your alarms went off,” Jackson explained.
‘My alarms,’ Chris thought. Realization dawned on him and he knew that his friend had been visiting him. He remembered Vin coaxing him back from the brink. He remembered his pleading voice, the tear that dropped on his hand, the pain in the softly spoken words, and the touch of Vin’s hand on his. He let the tears that filled his eyes fall free as he felt the relief flow through his body. His brother was alive and he was sure he would see him soon.
“You need to rest, Chris. Vin’s going to be fine. I’ll let one of the others come in to see you but only for a couple of minutes.”
JD Dunne stepped up to the bed and was relieved to see his mentor’s eyes open. “Hey, Chris, I’m glad to see you’re awake,” he said, stumbling over his words at the pain in the older man's eyes. “I won’t stay. I just needed to see for myself that you were awake,” he said as he turned before the man could see his tears.
Orrin Travis came next and he stood over the pale man. “Next time I suggest you go on vacation just shoot me,” Travis said and saw the tiny smile that touched the tired man's eyes. “Hell, I’m sorry, Chris, wish I hadn’t made it an order,” he said as he left the room to be replaced by Josiah Sanchez.
“Welcome back, Brother Chris, thought we’d lost you to the spirits for a while there. I’m gonna sit beside you now so why don’t you close your eyes and get some rest,” Sanchez said as he sat beside the bed.
Chris closed his eyes as the medication he’d been given finally took effect. The drug deadened his body against the pain and he soon succumbed to sleep.
Ezra waited for the x-rays to be finished. He paced back and forth in the lobby worrying about both injured men. He looked up as Nathan Jackson hurried towards him. One look at the mans face told him it was good news for a change. “How is Mr. Larabee?” he asked.
“It was a false alarm, Ezra, one of the leads came off and set the alarms off. He’s awake and the guys are visiting him. How’s Vin?”
“He’s in x-ray with Dr. Mercer right now. She thinks he’s opened some of the stitches and they may have to take him back to surgery. It depends on how many were opened and if he displaced the pins.”
“Damn, doesn’t anything ever come easy with these two?”
“Not likely,” Ezra said as they lapsed into silence and waited for word on Vin Tanner. They paced back and forth in the narrow corridor until the door opened and Dr. Mercer stepped out.
“How is he?” Jackson asked worriedly.
“Mr. Tanner is a lucky man. It looks like a couple of stitches broke but nothing was displaced. We’ll be able to fix it up using a local so he won’t have to go back under a general. He’s very worried about his friend. Is there any word on his condition?” Mercer asked.
“Actually there’s goods news. It seems the visit from Vin brought Chris out of the coma. He was awake when I left him,” Nathan explained.
“That’s wonderful. Mr. Tanner is going back to his room if one of you want to go with him and let him know.”
“I’ll go with him,” Jackson said. “You can go see Chris if you want, Ezra.”
“Thanks, Mr. Jackson, I’d like to see how our leader fares myself,” Standish said as he walked towards the elevators.
Nathan watched as Vin Tanner was wheeled from the tiny x-ray room. He hurried towards him as the orderly told Vin someone would be there shortly to bring him back to his room.
“Hi, Vin.”
“Nathan, how’s Chris?”
“Chris is fine. It’s you that's got us worried right now. Weren’t you told to take it easy and not to get out of that chair?”
“Thought Chris was dead,” Vin’s voice was so soft Nathan wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly.
“He’s not, Vin. As a matter of fact, your little talk woke him up. He must have dislodged one of the leads when he heard you and that’s what caused the alarm.”
“You mean he didn’t go into cardiac arrest? He didn’t die?” Vin asked as relief washed over him.
“That’s right, Vin. He’s awake but he’s far from outta the woods. He’s got a long road ahead of him. He’s still got to go through the treatments for pneumonia on top of everything else and you know how bad those can be,” Nathan explained.
“Ah, hell, Nate, doesn’t he have enough to go through without breathing in that medicine and having someone pound on his back. Shit, with the tubes you said he has he’s gonna be hurting something fierce without them throwing that on top of him.”
“There’s no choice, Vin. Pneumonia, left untreated, will kill him. He’s gonna need all of us to fight his way back from this one, Vin. Here comes an orderly to bring you back to your room. Feel like a little company?”
“I’d appreciate that, Nathan. Thanks.”
“Let’s get you back to your room, Mr. Tanner,” the orderly said as he checked Vin’s chart and pulled the gurney away from the wall.
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