Zoe was in surgery, and Nick was waiting for her to be wheeled back into the room. He was dreading seeing her in the halo, but he knew it would do her good in the long run.
She arrived afew minutes later, with the halo device around her back and head. To hold her back steady, they had screwed it into her skull so that her head wouldn't move at a different time with her neck, and she had to where a back brace. He sighed as he saw it, knowing that she would hate it because she always took care of her looks, but she would have to live with it.
"The surgery went well." Dr Smith said, as him and a nurse put her onto a more comfortable bed. "No complications. Also someone came to speak to us about the x-ray."
"What about the x-ray?"
"It turns out that the break is only very very small so she won't have to wear the brace for any longer than 6 weeks."
"Thats great news." Nick said, beaming inside and out. "I can't wait to inform her friends back at the ED."
"When the general anaesthetic wears off, and she wakes, she will need a lot of reassurance because waking up in the halo without knowing what happened can be very frightening."
"I know. I've seen people do so in the past." Nick said.
"Okay." The doctor said. "You understand that she has to stay in for a couple of weeks for observation."
"Yes."
"Okay." The doctor said. "I will leave you to it for now." A nurse will come and check on her when she wakes. If you press that button there, it will notify one to some and see her."
"Okay. Thank you." Nick didn't know why he was being told this. It was the same at Holby.
Nick took this time to sit and read some of the magasines that were placed in the box by the side of the bed. After a while after reading celebrity gossip that didn't appeal to him what so ever, he heard a light knock at the door. Expecting it to be Scarlett and Sam, he put the magazine down and went to answer the door.
It wasn't them, but it was Sarah from the front desk.
"Oh, hey." Nick said, smiling and letting her in.
"I just wanted to see how she was doing." Sarah said, walking over to her.
"She's doing great. Turns out the break wasn't too serious after all." Nick said.
"Thats great." Sarah beamed. "So how have you been then? Havent seen you for a few years."
"I'm great."
"Hope you don't mind me asking. How's Yvonne?" She asked. "I remember her being with you a lot at my stay in Holby."
"She is great." Nick said. "That relationship didn't work out too well. We are still close, but not like that."
"Oh right." Sarah said. "Nice woman."
"Yeah she is." Nick nodded. "She's a great friend. So how have you been?"
"Ive been good." She said. "My back is a lot better now. Fully recovered."
"Thats great. If I remember rightly it was quite a bad break?"
"Yes. I had to have it pinned together. I was lucky not to be permanently paralysed. I couldn't feel anything below my waist for weeks until I began to regain feeling. I was so happy."
"I bet you were. Lucky girl."
"I know." She smiled. A beep went off in her pocket and she pulled out a pager. Someone had rung a bell at the front desk. "Sorry, i'm needed at front desk."
"Its fine." He said, smiling as she left the room.
Nick heard shuffling behind him and his heart began to beat fast. Zoe was waking up.
"Zoe? Zoe? Wake for me hunny." Nick said, holding her hand tight. He was careful not to knock the drip in it.
She opened her eyes and she realised that she couldn't move her head. She tried to move it and when she couldn't, she began to panic.
"Nick. Nick." She said thickly, tears beginning to form. "Why can't I move my head!"
"You have a brace on." Nick said. "Calm down Zoe. Please." She stopped moving her hands.
"What;s wrong with me?" She whispered, tears falling freely down the sides of her face. Nick wiped each one away.
"You have broken a bone in your neck." He explained, and Zoe cried out quietly. "But don't worry. Its not as bad as it sounds."
"How can a broken neck not be as bad as it sounds!" She shouted, and Nick pressed the button to notify a nurse.
"Its only a small break, and your spinal chord wasn't damaged." Nickk explained, smoothing her hair down gently so not to hurt her.
"What about my arm? It hurts like hell." She sniffed.
"You broke it." Nick said. "You had to have pins put in to correct it."
"At least it isn't my right hand." She sighed, as Nick wiped more tears from her face.
"No." He said.
"And how long am I in this for?" She looked around her head at the brace.
"Six weeks."
"Six. Weeks." She repeated, and sobbed.
"I know you don't want to wear it Zoe." He said, only wanting to hug her. "But it will do you good."
"I have to wear this bloody thing for six weeks?" She sobbed even louder. "Why me?"
"Im sorry Zoe." He said. "It would have been twelve if your injury was as bad as they thought it was."
"But six whole weeks Nick." She cried and he wiped her face again.
"I know." He said, tearing up himself. He didn't want to see her like this.
"Now don't you cry too." She said. "I don't want to see you cry." He laughed.
"I don't want to see you cry either." Nick smiled through his tears. "Please stop."
"I can't." She said. "It hurts."
"I know it does. It will get better though, but you need to keep your head still."
"Well I can't move it, can I?" She was frustrated, and he could tell. The nurse walked into the room.
"I will just be over here Zo." He said, and let the nurse do her job.
While the nurse was doing her job, Sam and Scarlett walked through the door, and the tip toed over to Nick.
"Hey." Scarlett said, hugging him. "How is she?"
"She isn't taking it very well at the minute." He whispered.
"Is she awake?" She asked.
"Yes. Woke up a few minutes ago." Nick said, and looked at Sam. She was putting a vase of flowers onto the bedside table.
"The ED chipped in a helped to get them." She smiled. "Even Dylan. He put in one of the biggest contributions."
"Wow." Nick said. "Thank you all. Give everyone my thanks, will you?"
"Sure." Sam smiled, and Zoe heard her.
"Sam?" She asked. "Is that you?"
"Yeah its me." She said, walking up to the bedside. "I will talk to you in a minute when the nurse is done looking over you."
"Okay." Zoe said, looking at the ceiling as she couldn't look anywhere else.
The nurse turned around to Nick.
"Im going to lift the head of the bed up to make her a bit more comfortable. Is that okay?" She asked.
"Sure it is." Nick said, and walked over to her. "Zoe, this might be a little uncomfortable at first, but she will lift up the top part of the bed to let you sit up a little."
"Okay." She croaked, and the nurse did her job. Nick saw Zoe wince a lot while she slowly raised the head of the bed, and she let out the odd groan. She visibly relaxed when she was in an upright position.
"Hey." Sam said, as Sam and Scarlett went to see her.
"How are you feeling?" Scarlett asked.
"Like absolute crap." Zoe said, closing her eyes for a second.
"Thats understandable." Sam smiled at her. "You are in the best possible place though for this sort of injury."
"You will be up on your feet in no time." Scarlett smiled.
"I'd better be." Zoe said. "Six weeks with no high heels will probably kill me."
"You can make up for it afterwards." Sam said. "Six weeks isn't too long."
"I guess, but i'm going to be so unbelievably bored." Zoe said.
"No you won't. People from the ED are going to visit you everyday, and Nick will be with you most of the time." Scarlett explained.
"But you have to work." Zoe said to him.
"You are more important." Nick said, smiling at her, and she couldn't help but cheer up a little bit. "How long are you planning on staying?" Nick asked Sam and Scarlett.
"As long as you will let us." Sam replied.
"Okay." Nick said. "Because I need to go home and have a shower and grab some stuff for the both of us."
"Nick. Go home for the night. You look shattered and I will still be here in the morning." Zoe said.
"But I can stay here."
"Nick." she said. "Get some rest. I'll be fine."
"But-"
"No buts Nick." She said, and raised her eyebrows because she couldn't shake her head. "Do it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" She said, and began to laugh. "Get the rest you need, and come back tomorrow."
"Um, okay." He said, picking up his bags to take home.
"Not yet." Sam shook her head. "Your car is at the ED."
"I can get the bus." He said.
"We will stay for a bit, as I know you don't want to go, and we can give you a lift back to the ED." Scarlett said.
"Thanks." He said. Again, as he had said before, he loved his staff.
