Lucky
Complications
"Matt?"
Someone was rubbing his chest.
"Matt, baby, open your eyes for me, you're gonna want to hear this," it was Hallie.
He groaned and sleepily opened his eyes and discovered his wife only millimetres from his face. "Hals? You're smiling."
"You'll be smiling too in a moment," she replied.
He frowned, still half asleep, his brain still trying to figure out what she was talking about. "What?"
"The last test results have come back," she was still smiling, "They've all been negative, Matt."
"Negative?" he was still frowning, he couldn't believe what she was saying, he hadn't set himself up for this, he was certain they wouldn't be negative.
"Negative."
"I'm not sick?" he questioned.
"You're not sick," she beamed. "Do you think we should wake Kelly up and tell him?"
He frowned then followed her eyes over to the side where Severide was sprawled fast asleep in an armchair.
Hallie sat down on the stool by his bed as Severide woke up slowly. "The cancer didn't metastasise," Hallie smiled.
"What?" Severide frowned, still half asleep, just like Casey had been.
"There is no more cancer," he stated.
"The tumour was it?"
Casey nodded.
Severide stood up and hugged him before stepping back and stating, "I told you you'd be ok."
He smiled and looked over to Hallie. "Hey, does this mean I can go home?"
"Go home? Matt baby..." Hallie let a little laugh, "You had major surgery four days ago!"
"I know, I just thought you'd be in a good mood and let me go," he smiled.
"Ha... try your luck in a few more days and besides I'm not allowed to discharge you; it's not me you need to sweet talk."
"You two are just as adorable as the day you met." Severide stood up, "I'm gonna head home before you two start making out. I'll be by tomorrow, Case."
"There's something you're not telling me, I know I'm still not really with it most of the time but what happened yesterday was different, I thought I was going to…" he paused, he didn't want to sound dramatic. "I thought it was because I was sick but I'm not. It's something else?"
"I didn't want to worry you on top of everything else," she responded.
"You know I can handle it," he smiled.
"I know," she nodded, "But… but I'm not sure I can handle it… I don't want to see the devastated look on your face when I tell you…"
"Hals you're scaring me now," he stated.
"… When I tell you that it looks like your pancreas hasn't taken too kindly to the surgery… it's a sensitive organ and… and it's… yours is in shock… I mean your whole body went through hell really…"
"Hals?" he urged.
"Yesterday you slipped into a hypoglycaemic coma whilst the doctor tried to treat you," she explained, her voice steady now, she needed to be stronger for him, she needed to be able to talk everything through with him. "Your blood glucose levels were too low. They did another blood test afterwards to test for... your pancreas isn't breaking down glucose and converting it energy."
"That's diabetes?" he questioned.
"You have a damaged pancreas that will hopefully repair itself as you recover," she replied.
"Ok," he nodded numbly.
"Ok?" she repeated, she hadn't expected him to take the news so lightly.
"It's manageable isn't it? It's not going to kill me?" he questioned, he tried and failed to stop his voice from cracking, "I don't think I can work in the field with it… but I guess… I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it?" She was more than a little shocked at how well he was taking the information that she had desperately wanted to shield him from until they knew for definite.
He shrugged. "I guess."
"We've got at least two months before your doctor will consider signing you of for work, by then we'll have a clearer picture of what's going on, whether this is temporary or…"
Suddenly his stomach protested the meal he'd forced down a few hours ago. "Erm… think I might throw up…"
Quickly Hallie was holding a basin in front of him rubbing his back gently until he stopped heaving up the acidic contents of his stomach, she wordlessly passed him a drink of water to wash his mouth out with before removing the basin, disposing it in the hazardous waste bin.
"Ok?" she asked with concern when she joined him back on the bed.
"How likely…" he began.
She chose to answer his question and tried to ignore the fact that he'd thrown up at the news she had given him. "We don't know. Normally this type post-operative complication is because of resection but in your case they didn't need to remove any part of the organ."
"So it's just damaged and in shock? And no one really knows if it will heal?" He watched her nod in agreement to what he was saying, he sighed. "Can we maybe get some fresh air?"
"Of course," she stood up, "I'll go and get a chair."
"Oh… no… I didn't think…"
"You can walk but I'll be bringing it along just in case, that sound all right?" She left the room and Casey sat on his bed feeling as though the whole world was tumbling down on his shoulders, he felt acutely aware of the sound of the tap dripping in the bathroom, the sound of the nurse typing at the station outside his room, the sound of the monitors beeping away.
"So I got you the coolest looking..." Hallie stopped as soon as entered the room, "Matt?"
He was sitting on the bed trying desperately to stop the tears from flowing down his face.
"Baby it's ok, it's ok going to be ok," she quickly joined him on the bed and wrapped her arms around his quivering shoulders, "I'm here, it's ok, you're allowed to cry, just let it all out, I've got you…"
"I can't do this…"
"Shh…" she held him tighter in her arms, pressed her lips against his forehead, "I've got you and… This is shit and you don't deserve it but whatever happens I know you'll be fine, you are the strongest person I know."
Eventually he fell asleep in her arms, she continued her whispered words of encouragement until Shay popped her head through the door about to speak, but when she saw the scene in front of her she stopped herself and remained outside.
Shay waited outside and Hallie eventually joined her. "Kelly told me the good news so I brought cake… What's happened?"
"Just… complications…" she explained. "He'll cope, he always does."
"Is there anything I can do?" Shay asked.
"I need to get back to work," she sighed as she looked into her husband's room, thankfully he was still fast asleep, she had wiped off the tear tracks that had marred his face but she couldn't get the image out of the front her mind.
"I'll sit with him," Shay replied.
"I don't want to work, I want to sit with him and…" Hallie shook her head, "He'll hate that though; he'll hate that everything is paused for him."
"Hallie, I'll sit with him. Go on, the distraction of work will be good for you. Does he need to eat? Get up?" she asked.
"Both if you can but he's…"
"I'm a master at bribery," she teased.
"Thank you for this, you and Kelly," Hallie smiled.
"You don't need to thank us."
Casey woke up blearily an hour later, he pushed himself up from his almost curled up position on the bed, his side was aching and he was grateful for the painkillers, he knew he'd be in a lot more pain from the way he had slept if it weren't for them.
"Hey you," Shay greeted him gently; she passed him a drink of water and set it back down on the table when he'd had enough to quench his thirst and soothe his throat.
"Did I worry her?" he questioned as he looked up at her through tired eyes. "I didn't mean…"
"Matt, she loves you and she will worry about you whether you are hurt or not, ill nor not."
On Sunday, one week since the accident, Severide persuaded Casey to get some fresh air. Casey had been determined to walk all the way but admitted defeat when they reached the front doors of the hospital. It was clear to all who visited him that he had lost weight but even Hallie wasn't too worried, she knew how he hated to be in hospital and she knew that he was still in pain from the surgery, and the anxiousness her husband felt wouldn't be helping his appetite at all. But it didn't stop Severide being worried at the sight of his best friends loose joggers as he'd walked slowly out of his hospital room.
They sat outside in the warm sun although Hallie had insisted that Casey be kept warm and comfortable at all times so Severide followed her instructions and made sure Casey's legs were covered by a thick blanket. "This really isn't necessary," he had protested.
"Do you want your wife to tell us both off?" Severide had counted.
"How was work yesterday?" he asked lightly after they had been sat silently for a while.
"Typical," Severide teased with Casey's usual non-descript response.
Casey just looked over to him and smiled, the cuts were starting to heal nicely, soon there would be no evidence of them at all, and the bruises had begun to fade, where they were bright and vivid they were now dull and yellowing at the edges.
"So, all the guys want to see you…" Severide edged.
He shook his head. "I can't… I want to see them but… I just can't."
"Talk to me, Case," Severide urged.
Casey glanced around the small courtyard, there was a nurse pushing an elderly man over to a bench with a small memorial plaque on it and there was a woman sat smoking, glancing around suspiciously, in her hospital gown. After a few moments he admitted, "I might not be going back to work."
"You've not got cancer. They didn't remove your spleen," Severide stated, wondering where Casey's decision had come from.
Casey remained silent, looking anywhere but towards Severide.
"Tell me," he pressed.
"The tumour was on my pancreas," Casey said.
Severide nodded, urging him to explain.
"It was damaged when they removed it and it's not repaired yet," he explained simply. "It's... it's not producing insulin... well it does but sometimes it doesn't and sometimes it produces too much... it's being 'sporadic' and well... it's basically failing as an organ right now," he scoffed.
"It's not repaired yet," Severide repeated, "So it will repair?"
"They're hopeful. That's all they say. They don't know anything for sure," he replied, "It's an unusual case."
"When will they know if it's…" Severide hesitated, he didn't want to use the word, he didn't want to upset him, worry him.
"Permanent?" he shrugged, "They're giving it two months, there's no way I'd be cleared for duty before then anyway… a nurse was with me yesterday showing me how to test my blood sugar and explaining what to… it's all pretty serious… I mean they only found out because I…"
"Because you?" Severide urged.
He sighed before admitting quickly, "I slipped into a coma for nearly six minutes a few days ago."
"What?"
"My blood sugar got really low and I just slipped into a coma… just like that…" he let out a deep breath, "Whatever I eat or drink, it's going to affect…"
"Is that why you're hardly eating?" Severide blurted.
"What? No…" he frowned, "I don't think so…"
"You don't think so?" Severide questioned.
"I… I just wasn't hungry but now… but now when I am it feels like it's going to be so complicated… I just want to go home."
"Well, they're not going to let you go home if you don't take care of yourself no matter how much sweet talk them and look at them with your best puppy dogs eyes," he teased, "Why don't we go back to your room now and look over all the stuff they've given you? Simplify it, and have a none drug addled brain look at it with you?"
Casey smiled. "That's what Hallie suggested."
"Two of us can't be wrong. Come on, let's go."
TBC
