This story takes place years after everything that happened in the TV show, in other words, it is a continuation (however, not from where the show left off... far later). I think this actually has a lot of potential if it plays out the way I envisioned it in my head. It's one of those stories that came to me when I went to bed and I had no choice but to get my comfy ass up and type it before I forgot it because it inspired me so much…
(only change from the show as far as I'm concerned right now, is that Emily NEVER really got on with Jenna, so cut out that scene where all the Fitches are sitting around on the floor eating a pizza like a happy family when they got their house back, if you know what scene I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure it's from Series 4 but not positive.)
Basics: Emily has a traumatic brain injury… from there everything changes.
(This will not be like the Tony Stonem plot from the TV show; I can assure you the only similarities will likely be obvious ones, like normal symptoms, all for the sake of sticking to reality.…)
Disclaimer: I don't own skins, or its characters. All mistakes are my own… and this may cause readers with strong feelings towards red-heads to feel strong sympathy and the uncontrollable desire to make everything all better but ultimately feel helpless. :) On that note… Shall we?
Chapter 1: Hold Me Tight
The red-head opened her eyes, squinting at the immensely bright lights that hung above her. She winced at the instant throbbing in her head, and looked to her left.
"Emily! Fuck! You're awake! Nurse! Can someone help me? Can someone fucking get this girl some meds?" A loud woman was sitting beside the hospital bed, looking down at the red-head with concern, reading the pained expression on the face staring back at her and had called out into the hallway.
A tall woman in a white coat popped through the curtains surrounding the small space, trying to smile when she saw two brown eyes slightly open now looking in her direction. She reached for the arm of the patient and attached the needle inserted in the middle of it, into a new bag that was hanging above her head.
"This should kick in soon and get rid of most of the throbbing."
"Most? You can't get rid of all of it?" The voice had a hint of annoyance in it; she couldn't bear to imagine the pain her sister was likely feeling.
"Unfortunately, until she is fully responsive we cannot give her a higher dose, at her current state it could cause some serious damage if the injuries aren't as bad as they appear to be and result in an overdose. Hopefully, soon she'll be conscious enough to tell us if she needs more, if indeed her pain is as bad as predicted. We've learned that often assumptions aren't helpful when it comes to fragile patients and it's best to wait patiently." The nurse smiled at the other woman with sincerity and sympathy. Sadly, she had seen many similar cases, and knew from work experience it was extremely unlikely this patient would be okay, but she didn't allow herself to be the one to express this knowledge to the other woman.
The nurse left the room, leaving the healthy occupant to watch as the patient drifted back into sleep.
"Beep. Beep." The red-head inserted her hand in her back pocket and pulled out her touch-phone, swiping her hand over it and bringing it into her ear, answering in a bitter mood.
"Whose calling, and why?"
"You're in a cheerful mood." A sarcastic tone drifted through the earpiece. Although, the individual's voice was now unfamiliar to her.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The red-head suddenly shot up in her bed, tugging her arms away from the chords connected to them, trying to reach into a back pocket, as much as the casted limbs allowed her to. She started getting frantic when her hands were only slipping down the smooth feeling of the back of her hospital gown and down her legs, unable to locate any pocket.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"There's something in my pocket!" She ignored the surging pain racing up her arms, ribs, legs, and neck that ultimately reached her head with a substantial boom.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Emily, relax. What the fuck are you talking about?" Two hands pushed the patient back into lying down on the bed. The patient struggled to obey and give up her search, and looked at the person pressing her down with absolute fear in her eyes.
"Get it out! Get it out!" she begged and shouted.
"You don't have any pockets so there isn't anything in them, Emily, please, calm down; you're scaring the shit out of me."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The red-head nodded and gave up. Instead of continuing the search, her body started shaking and she gripped the sheets tight over her, squeezing her eyes closed hard.
"FUCK, Emily stop shaking! NURSE? HELP!" She called for the second time, more urgent than the first.
A doctor came rushing in and immediately recognized the situation. He was pulling out a capsule from a nearby cabinet and cracked it over a glass of warm water that had been resting on the bedside table, still haven't uttered a word or sound to the person across the room panicking as equally as the one in the bed.
"She just starting freaking out about a pocket, and I told her she didn't have any, and she just started shaking! Is she okay? What the fuck is happening to her?" She shouted.
The doctor opened the mouth of the shaking girl and poured the water in her mouth, some of it missing because of her trembling and dribbling down her chin onto the sheets. When he was through and decided she had actually drank enough of it to be effective, he put the glass back on the table and looked up to address the only person still panicking.
"She is just in shock; looking in her pockets probably for a phone because she heard beeping coming from the heart monitor; a classic example of a reflexive behavior, it's common for someone in her circumstance to over react about and confuse with other things. The beeping sound must have triggered her reaction and likely over stimulated her, causing her to get frantic when there wasn't really what her brain was telling her there was, to put it as simply as possible in understandable terms." He glanced at the clock that was mounted next to the small box TV sitting on a shelf nailed to the wall.
"In an hour I will have the time to fully discuss with you exactly what you should be expecting and everything you need to know, in my office. Right now, I have another urgent patient I need to attend to. If you have any present concerns feel free to ask one of the nurses." He nodded to her, squeezed her shoulder in assurance, looked back down at the body that was now relaxed and gazing blankly at the ceiling, and walked out the door.
"Emily, are you okay? Do you need more pain-killers?" she gently placed her hand on the one lying limp on the bed, but quickly retracted it when her sister's entire body flinched at the contact. Her sister's face didn't even turn to look at where she had been touched; just flinched and continued gazing at the ceiling.
Sadly giving up on any hopes of communication in the near future, the older sister resumed sitting on the chair next to her. Watching intently and waiting for something good to happen, silently begging that if there was a God out there to make sure that Emily would be alright. That this was all just temporary and everything would soon go back to normal.
A tall blonde came through the curtains, her blue eyes instantly falling upon the helpless person lying in the bed, and then watched as the brunette made her way towards her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Katie, I'm so sorry it took me so long, I only just found out a little over an hour ago and tried to get here as soon as possible," the blonde spoke into the ear of the body still tightly holding onto her. "What are the details?"
"I'm so glad you're here. It's terrible seeing her like this on my own. At least you've been here the last four miserable days… This morning they said she opened her eyes for the first time since the accident and decided it was okay to transfer her out of the coma unit and bring her into the central facility so I could be with her. Twice since transferring she has woken up for short periods of time, the first time she woke up from pain but they gave her some meds for most of it and the second time she had a total panic attack… it was awful. I'm so… just so scared for her Naomi."
Naomi could feel the wet tears of Katie's cheek making their way onto her shoulder, and realized her own were falling onto Katie's shoulder. She pulled out of the hug and looked Katie in the eyes, holding her shoulders, trying to emit some comfort through the strong squeeze of her hands.
"At least she's woken up, that's much better than her coma state. Has the doctor said anything?" trying to be positive, she was looking at Katie, and could see how tired she was. They had both been taking shifts the past few days sleeping in the lobby waiting for Emily to come out of her coma and show some signs of recovery. Inevitably, the lack of sleep and stress was only making everything worse and harder to deal with.
Katie glanced at the clock.
"In about fifteen minutes he's supposed to meet with me, you can come too… if you… you know."
Katie would have said Naomi can come too, if she'd like, but there was absolutely nothing going on that there was to like. It was horrible, but ultimately they'd have to face it whether they'd like to or not. Truthfully, Katie knew Naomi wasn't actually family so Naomi wasn't actually required to be here, which was one of the millions of thoughts scaring her at the moment because Naomi was the only other person she wanted with her right now; there was no one else even close to knowing Emily as well or worth letting in… Not only did Naomi want to be at the meeting, but she could see the pleading in Katie's eyes begging for support, and she was highly relieved she wasn't being shut out now that things were getting so serious. Naomi too was terribly frightened, but unlike Katie, it was because she was afraid that she wouldn't even be allowed to see Emily or help because she wasn't family, scared to possibly be locked out of Emily's life forever.
"Of course, Katie." She pulled out some crumpled tissues from her pocket that she had been carrying around the past couple days and handed one to Katie and used one for herself. Katie immediately took it and wiped away her own tears, leaving only the evidence of the redness of her cheeks to testify to the sadness and concern she was feeling on the inside.
Naomi and Katie turned into the hallway to make their way to the doctor's office, after checking that Emily was asleep and didn't look like she'd need anything more from them. (Only once they had already told one of the nearby nurses they were leaving for a little while, and asked her to make sure Emily would be alright without them.) When they got to the elevator both their jaws dropped in shock at the woman who was revealed once the doors opened.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Katie's sadness quickly turned to anger.
"I came here to see my daughter who I was recently informed of being critically ill, same as any mother would do."
The seriousness of her concerned tone was not taken very well by Naomi, who could only scoff at the sudden show of actually caring.
"Jenna, what the fuck do you think makes its okay for you to come here? You haven't been a normal mum to Emily since… ever, so why the fuck are you starting now? If you think just because she may not recollect what a bitch you had been to her in the past so she may not push you away and you can start over, you're wrong. You're so fucking wrong because Katie and I haven't forgotten any of the fucking bullshit you put her through and there is no fucking way we're letting you march your way back into her life like that. She doesn't need her mother coming to her because she's suddenly being kept up at night out of feeling guilty, if it were love maybe, just maybe you would have tried to get here sooner, perhaps right when she fucking got here, not four days later. So you can just fuck off now." Naomi's voice was cold and strong.
"I've always been her mother, and I have always loved her, so if you'll just move out of the way like any normal person with respect would do…" Jenna's eyes narrowed at the two who were blocking her path.
"You aren't on the visiting list, so you can't see her. And don't think you can just walk in regardless of what I say, because I've spoken to the nurses and doctors about you and they are fully aware not to take any of your bullshit." Katie uttered factually, full of confidence knowing that Naomi was fully supportive of her decision to keep Jenna as far as possible for the time being.
Katie walked in the elevator still blocking Jenna, pushed the Main Level button and walked out watching as the doors closed with Jenna still inside dumbfounded and frozen in place.
"Goodbye Jenna. Don't you dare come back unless Naomi, or I fucking say so." Katie said just as the doors slammed shut.
Naomi reached over, hugged Katie, and then waited a minute before pressing the elevator button again.
"Everything's going to be okay, Katie. I think we've done exactly what Emily would want."
Naomi's kind words had the intended effect, removing any unsure feelings Katie was having as well as helping and reassuring herself of the bold choice they had made shortly after Emily was admitted to the hospital, during one of their long discussions trying to pass the time.
"How can I help you two ladies?" An old lady looked up from her computer behind the reception desk.
"We have a meeting with Dr. Novak." Naomi was able to put up a stronger front than Katie and decided it may be best for her to do most of the talking, the support she felt Katie was looking for right now.
The old lady looked through a notepad on her desk before looking back up at them.
"Names please?"
"Naomi Campbell," and she looked to her side where Katie stood biting her lip, speechless, "And Katie Fitch."
"His office is the third door to the left." She smiled at them with sympathy, hoping it would give them some encouragement for the hard to handle meeting she knew they were off to.
Naomi grabbed Katie's hand, trying to pull her out of her frozen state and knocked on the office door.
"Come in."
Naomi slowly opened the door, peering in to make sure it was the right doctor's office, then taking a seat with Katie on the couch facing his desk.
"You must be Naomi, seems I haven't been in every time you've come to visit thus far from what I hear… you are… Emily's girlfriend, correct?"
Naomi felt the rush of tears starting to well up behind her eyes.
"Yes, she is." Katie spoke for her, and looked at Naomi as if to say the support can go both ways, not just for Katie, herself.
The doctor smiled at Katie and then shuffled some papers around on his desk until he held up a manila folder labeled "Fitch, Emily" on the tab and opened it.
"I'm glad you both can be here for Emily. I have standard way of explaining everything which usually works out best for the people I'm explaining to, however is there anything you feel you must absolutely know right this second?"
They both shook there heads.
"Good, that will make this much easier and smoother for you both. Should you feel shaky or have trouble breathing let me know and I can give you a moment to take it all in, perhaps even continue the meeting at a later time after some rest, alright?"
They both nodded.
"Generally, I start by telling you the information that I have been given regarding the accident and action taken thereafter," he pulled out one of the sheets in the folder and started reading it," Emily Fitch, twenty-two year old student at university, was on the phone with her girlfriend while crossing a road when she was hit by a city bus currently under investigation for speeding and running a red light on a public road. Victim suffered traumatic injuries to the head, a broken right arm, fractured right leg, four broken ribs on her right side, a sprained left leg, severe bruising all over, and likely chronic pain. Ambulances rushed her to our hospital where she remained in a coma in the special care unit for four days, after having emergency surgery to fix some harsher fractures, such as placing a few screws into certain bones in the knee area, and to stitch up the large gashes, as well as close a head wound. The twenty-fourth of May, today, she woke up out of her coma for the first time, was released from the coma unit, and transferred to the rehabilitation facility where she showed common signs of traumatic brain injury upon waking up again. Anything you'd like to add or ask about so far?"
They shook their heads; both were silently crying and holding hands, knuckles white from their tight grip on each other.
He inserted the paper back into the folder then placed his elbows on the desk, clasping his hands and waiting a moment before continuing.
"Fortunately, through my experience I can tell you exactly what to expect as far as most symptoms." He slid a yellow paper covered in small text towards them, but neither of them made any attempt to reach over and take it, "you can read that over later, I will just explain the most common one, the hardest one for the victim's supportive group to grasp, which is usually the amnesia. Until we do a series of tests when we think she is up for it, I cannot tell you the severity of anything, however I will give you an idea of the basic range of possibilities. Her amnesia can be anything from short-term to long-term or both, forgetting names, how to express feelings, motor-skills, recognizing people, common knowledge, how to do everyday things, and more often than not, exactly what happened when the accident occurred. The amnesia itself can be a life-long battle or last only a few days, each individual is different."
"Is there a cure?" Naomi choked out those four-words through her tears.
"At our hospital we offer the finest therapeutic rehabilitation for patients with traumatic brain injuries; speech therapy, physical therapy, cognitive therapy, emotional therapy… therapy for anything necessary for the patient to obtain the maximum potential for resuming living their normal life. Our standard tests will be able to tell us what she will need to recuperate."
"When can she take those tests?" This time it was Katie asking.
"Her physical tests will have to wait until her fractures have mostly healed, however she should likely be able to take the cognitive tests once she can stay awake for a few hours at a time."
They both nodded and took deep breathes, this was a lot to suddenly have to accept with no warning. Not that there was ever a warning for a tragedy so unexpected and life-changing.
"Do you have any idea when she'll be released?"
"It depends on how well she takes to the therapy and how quickly her body heals. Most patients with traumatic brain injuries have to stay here at least a couple months."
Katie took a deep breath and almost passed out; Naomi pulled her into a hug and kept her from doing any such thing. "She's going to get better, Katie." A terrifying thought shot into Katie's mind, and with great fear she pushed herself and asked it.
"Does anyone ever… not get better?"
Dr. Novak took a deep breath through his nose, exhaling through his mouth, and pushed his hand through his hair. He hated answering this question; it always shattered the people who were only brave enough to ask it, but hardly capable of hearing the entire answer. There was no easy way to say the truth, but even white lies were not a choice in his profession.
"Yes. Some don't make it very long after the accident. And then there are some patients that spend the rest of their lives in a special caring center, never to return to how things used to be for them and their loved ones. Unfortunately, those are the patients who generally didn't have any loved ones to look after them and give them the support needed to fully function. We offer the best support we can, but it is impossible give unconditional love to everyone… On a positive note, I can see that Emily will have that necessary support from both of you, and as long as you both stay strong for her it is highly unlikely she will have to be condemned to such a sad fate."
They let out a deep sigh, their hope slightly going up, knowing that they'd both do whatever they could for Emily to make sure nothing bad ever happens to her again. They'd both give an impossibly generous amount of support and unconditional love, as long as it ultimately did no harm.
"I'll be checking on Emily regularly to make sure she is getting progressively better to the best of my abilities. After tonight though, I cannot offer either of you the option to sleep here, but I can assure you there will always be people on all-night shifts to make sure she is okay. During the day, you are fully welcome to keep her company as regularly as you'd like, which I strongly encourage, for her benefit. Still, I can only allow you both to visit as long as I see that Emily isn't being negatively affected by it, and that you as well aren't being negatively affected by it. I can offer you some standard light medicines to help you with the initial stress, and some sleep medication for worry that may be interfering with your sleep. Do either of you have any questions or concerns you'd like me to address?"
"Thank you, Doctor, I think you've covered everything for now." Naomi answered in an unusually quiet and solemn voice.
"Right then. I hope that I will only have to see you two regarding positive updates, from time to time. In the future, if Emily is ready for release I will have another meeting with you on the special needs she may have for being taken care of outside of the facility. Have a good day ladies, I wish you all the best. I'll give you a little bit of time to put yourselves together." His smile was kind and heartfelt, and he left the two of them in peace, swiftly exiting the office shutting the door gently behind him. He knew mentioning the possibility of Emily leaving again would leave them a little more hopeful than not.
They wiped away their tears, and threw away their tissues, gathered their jackets and purses and walked out of his office each with a false front of composure.
"Katie, why don't you go home, take a hot bath, and get some rest. You spent last night here, I can take this one." Naomi offered sensitively, half-smiling.
Katie nodded, giving the taller blonde a hug before looking up at her. The sister felt bad about leaving on the last night anyone could sleep in Emily's room but she was too tired and would be happier knowing that Naomi was rested enough to stay awake in case Emily awoke again. She knew she'd more than likely fall asleep during her entire shift if she had pushed to stay the night. Not only that but she had already seen Emily awake twice, and Naomi hadn't at all, and she was still scared of Naomi leaving her alone to deal with Emily, so she hoped Naomi possibly seeing Emily awake would ensure her not going anywhere. Then again, if Emily had another panic attack that may scare her away, but Katie was too tired to think about that, and pushed the thoughts deep inside of herself so as not to think about them until she had no choice but to confront them.
"I think I want to check on Emily first though. Just so I know she's still okay before I leave."
Naomi tried to smile, only with understanding as they both headed to the elevators to go back up.
Long chapter eh?
I am enjoying writing this story thus far, and have many plans for it in its up-coming chapters. If this gets positive feedback it may even take a front seat to my other story.
I really would appreciate any comments/reviews.
And of course favoriters/alerters are highly admired as well.
Thank you for reading!
-ShiraStimulation