Dr. Nicholas Rush (100 Drabbles) Drabble #80- "Healing"
Whatever it was they had given him, it was starting to wear off. He wasn't even sure how long he had been out, or how many days have passed. He tried to open his eyes, but for the moment, they remained closed. He felt a dull pounding behind his eyes and the pain in his chest was starting to return. He groans softly, a hand reaching to touch at the offensive wound. He wasn't too pleased with the fact that he hadn't been through one chest surgery, but two. He had barely healed from the first one, and he still couldn't believe they just opened him up and poked around in there without his consent. Sure, there had been an alien-tracking device implanted next to his heart that may have been dooming to their fate, but didn't he have a choice?
Before his hand could even touch or even feel the now slowly healing wound, someone had stopped his hand. He felt warm soft skin, and all the gentleness in the world as whoever had grabbed it, placed it down by his side again. He tried to open his eyes again, but the last bit of induced drug haze kept them closed for now. He couldn't help the moan that left his lips, as he felt a cool, wet cloth against his head. He frowned a bit, not having realized that he was running a bit of a temperature. He wasn't sure if it was either because he had just been operated on or it was the alien venom they had used to put him under. He pondered what it was that T.J. had selected to use as a pain reliever. He moaned again, whoever was being his nurse now, was an angel for continuing to brush over his heated skin with that cool rag.
He tried again, his eyes finally starting to slowly open. It took a moment for his eyes to focus again, but when they did he saw that kind smile of hers. See, he knew she'd be useful for something. He wasn't even sure he wanted her to fuss over him now, like it seemed she had been doing for quite some time. He tried to sit up, grunting and letting out a hiss as pain erupted all through his chest. He reluctantly laid back, her hand still on his chest, just to make sure he didn't try that move again.
Sighing he looked up at her; he hated being this useless and unable to do anything. There was a lot of work to be done, and he hadn't even gotten with Eli to instruct him on what needed to be done. Last time he checked over the ship's systems, it looked like one of the FTL drives was showing sighs of possibly malfunctioning. And if that happened, he wasn't sure whether the other drives would be able to support Destiny through her FTL jumps. Or worse, the damned thing could blow up. That was something they didn't need, was being trapped in space, on a spaceship that was on fire.
"How long have I been out?"
"I would say about three days now. You've been through a lot Dr. Rush. It's a normal response for your body to want to rest. That was a lot to handle."
"I need to tell Eli…I need to get back to work."
"I already had Eli do a diagnostic scan of the ship. He noticed the FTL drive situation, and he's looking into it. And we all can pick up whatever slack you need us to do. You're in no shape to be standing at a console and worrying about the ship."
He grunted, she was right, but he simply did not like the fact that all he could do was lie there. He tried to sit up again, but her hand was quick, carefully pushing him back. He watched her grab a cup of what seemed to be possibly pain medicine T.J. had given her, and he took that and swiftly swallowed it all down. He felt her hands touching the area of his chest softly, blinking up at her. He felt the gauze and dressings slowly being removed, watching her eyes study the wound a moment. New dressings were applied, and he saw a smile come onto her face. Whatever he had just drank, was working fast. Soon, he felt his body relax greatly, and his mind was slowly being enveloped in a drug haze.
"You're healing. That's good. You'll continue to as long as you take it easy. You can easily rip your stitches."
He was too drugged and now starting to get too sleepy to argue, so he simply nodded. He felt the rag being placed on his forehead to stay, for now, and felt her fluff up his pillow and drape a blanket over him. He was kind of shocked that she was taking this much care of him. The only other person who fussed over him whenever he was hurt or sick was Gloria. But, he had his reasoning as to why she was. He had helped her during her bad times too. Being a teacher for the short number of years he had been, he forgot she had been a student of his the entire time. And that she had her skeletons and dark times; everyone did. Even as her hands and arms moved to make sure he was comfortable, he could see those scars on her. He frowns, thinking back to those times, more importantly that day. The day he discovered what was going on.
He shook his head, sighing and rubbing the stress from his face. He felt Gloria walk up behind him, massaging his shoulders gently. Her face lowered and they nuzzled some, before he sighed.
"I don't know what to do. I don't want to report it to the dean. I don't think she's meant to miss, you know?"
"She wouldn't. I know you mentioned her grades were kind of…slumping, but when I got the chance to talk to her, she expressed how happy she was to be taking your class."
"Aye. So why has she missed this entire week?"
"Maybe something is happening at home, that she hasn't had a chance to let the university know. Give her time."
They both looked up as there was a knock on their door. Standing up, he went to answer the door, slight shock showing on his face as he saw her standing there, shivering a bit because of the rain. He immediately stepped aside and let her in, Gloria showing the same shock, but also concern, on her face. He watched her nervously scratch at her arm, then look up at him.
"I came by to pick up my missed work."
"Do you have any idea how much you've missed? What have you been doing all this time?"
"…I…had some issues to deal with. It's fine now, just give me my work so I can go, please?"
Sighing, he reluctantly went into his briefcase to retrieve the assignments and work that she had missed. He almost felt like rejecting her, so she'd learn how important it was to come to class, regardless of what was going on. If there was something that bad happening in her personal life, she should have told someone. He watched Gloria take her to sit down, and watched the young woman still shivering some.
"Aww, look at you. You're absolutely chilled and soaked to the bone."
He heard Gloria tell Lily, Gloria's arms moving to rub up and down Lily's arms, the movement causing the girl's sleeves to move up and down. He watched Lily visibly flinch, and Gloria swiftly and carefully grab Lily's right wrist. Holding it in place, Gloria lifted the girl's sleeve again, Gloria gasping and what he saw, made him drop the papers he had in his hands. He had never been a junkie himself, but he had seen indication of needle puncture wounds.
"Oh my God…"
He heard his fiancée' say, as she quickly got up to phone the police. Lily stood quickly, and he had never seen or heard so much tension, anger, or fear in her voice in the two years he had been teaching her thus far.
"Don't you dare! Don't call anyone, don't feel sorry for me. I did this to myself, okay?! I'm…I'm hooked, I can't stop…"
Gloria stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, phone still clutched in her hand, unsure what to do. He closed off the distance he had with Lily, and he was feeling anger. Why would someone like her do this? It didn't make any sense, that she would throw her life away like she was. He had to help her. For some reason, ever since she started taking his class, he knew she was sent into his life for a reason. For what reason, he didn't know. But he was never one to just sit around and let someone ruin their life, not in a stupid way such as taking drugs. He was worried she'd overdose. He wondered, was she strung out now? How long had it been since her last hit, and what was it that she was so hooked on?
Gloria told him to stop, but he didn't. He grabbed her shoulders so fast, and started to shake her. He continued to shake her, not even realizing that he was yelling at her.
"STUPID GIRL. WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU JUST GIVE IN THAT EASILY? RUIN YOUR LIFE, GIVE IN JUST LIKE THAT?!"
"I CAN'T STOP!"
"YES YOU CAN. YOU BETTER, OTHERWISE YOU CAN LEAVE MY CLASS. I WILL NOT ACCEPT TO WATCH YOU CONTINUE TO…KILL YOURSELF. UNLESS YOU GIVE ME DAMNED GOOD FUCKING REASON AS TO WHY I SHOULDN'T."
"…Because I never chose to become a heroine addict in the first place."
That made him pause, just what the hell did she mean by that? He loosened his grip on her, and she immediately stepped back from him. He had obviously scared her just enough by his yelling and shaking, that her eyes told him she was getting scared of him. He watched her sob out, shaking her head and wiping at her eyes.
"…I don't like to tell anyone about my life, because I don't like for others to feel sorry for me. Because if I had, I would have never been able to become independent like I am now. My mom died giving birth to me, and my father raised me until I was 6. Until he decided that I was too much of a handful and a waste of space. That's when I was shipped off to an adoption agency here. My accent certainly isn't from here, but that's besides the point. I was adopted when I was 10, but my adoptive parents weren't…model parents, I guess is the correct term. My adopted "mom" was a prostitute, and never had time for me. Her husband, was a drug dealer, and was often in trouble with the law. When they would be home together, they would do hits of heroine. Once they were high, they would hold me down and shoot me up too. They kept on, and before I knew it, I was a junkie too. I ran away when I was 16, and hitch hiked all the way to California, before I ended up here. I had a few girl friends I had made, from the Internet, who lived here and offered me their home. We all share the rent and we all have jobs and go to school. So, it worked out perfectly. And I really thought I had kicked my addiction. Last week, I had a slip up, when we all went to a party. A couple of guys who were there, were shooting heroine. I took a hit, and before I knew it, I was buying some and shooting myself up in a bathroom downtown. I…I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry!"
He just couldn't believe what he was hearing. That explained why she hadn't been to class, and he hadn't realized just how rough her life had been. And he had thought his life had been pretty rough. He moved quickly as she seemed to want to collapse, her face burying itself into the crook of his neck, hearing her sob and feeling her tears fall against his neck. He shook his head, having heard her asking him for forgiveness. He grabbed her chin, lifting her face and drying her tears.
"I'm so sorry to hear that. Please, let me help you."
She didn't say no or yes, so he took it upon herself to just hold her. He signaled for Gloria to call the drug rehabilitation center, to schedule her the earliest appointment they had, and to enroll her in drug counseling.
He let the memory go, as he felt her hand push some of the hair out of his face and remove the rag. He felt her hand lay itself upon his forehead, then saw a smile come upon her face.
"It seems your fever has broke. That's a good sign that you're okay."
"Yes. I'll be fine."
"Do you need anything before I go check up on Eli?"
"Ummm, no. I think I'm just going to go back to sleep."
"That's good, you need your rest."
He felt the bed shift back into place as she stood up, and it didn't have her weight upon it anymore. She was just about to walk out the door, but he called out to her.
"Lily…"
She was by his side in an instant, and if anyone or the kinos had been watching him, it probably would have raised some questions or concerns. He reached and grabbed her hand, giving it a tiny squeeze.
"Thank you for taking care of me, while I'm healing."
"My pleasure. It's the least I owe you for when you helped me, Dr. Rush."
Satisfied with her answer, he allowed his eyes to slip close. Soon, his breathing was even and he was sound asleep. He didn't know she had stayed sitting on his bed well after he had gone back to sleep. She sat there, watching his chest rise and fall with his breathing. He didn't even feel her weight shift, as she carefully leaned forward. He did, for a brief moment, feel the soft touch of plump lips against his forehead. But he didn't know that she had reached over and placed a soft, sweet kiss upon his forehead. He continued to rest as she finally got up from his bed, lingering in the doorway, watching him one last time.
"I hope you feel better, Dr. Rush."
Author's Notes: I do not want anyone to flame me for this drabble, without giving my reasoning. I wanted this drabble to see healing from both perspectives. How he would feel when he's hurting/healing, and how someone would take care of him when he's that way. But then show someone else hurting/healing, and how he would take care of the situation. So that's why you're seeing more of my OC in this drabble. Obviously, if he is physically hurt and healing, there isn't a lot he can do but lie there, accept help from others, and contemplate/think back on his memories. So I was just trying to show it from both perspectives. Also, no flaming for Lily giving him a kiss. She does like him, secretly has a crush on him, but there was NO intention to that kiss. She simply did it so he'd know, on a totally different level, that she was there for him and genuinely cared. And woot, my longest drabble.