Chapter 4 Lost In My Head BitzerClucky
Turns out the wrong man was named Bear because that was exactly what Walt acted like when he woke up. The alarms were from him pulling out practically every tube and wire attached to him. He thrashed and lashed out like the meanest black bear in the Big Horn Range. He really wasn't coherent; he was just running scared and definitely went with the fight versus flight response. The doc was eventually able to get a sedative into him and once he was out he was re-attached to all the equipment and kept sedated for a few days. Doc said it was to keep him quiet so he could begin to heal but I think it was just as much to make sure he didn't pull a Longmire. I'm just so relieved he came to on his own even if they just turned around and put him back out. Doc said there still could be some lasting head trauma but he's much more optimistic now as well. It's been five days since Walt was put under sedation and they plan to wean him off the drugs today and hopefully he'll come around in a more civilized manner.
Ferg and I are nowhere on the investigation. And by nowhere, I mean nada, no leads, not even any non-leads. The case is dead. We tried to find Dr Monahan but that's been for not. Her house looks like no one really ever lived there. It's more like a fake staged house and her bank accounts haven't been touched. When we dug deeper into her past HIPAA laws blocked us. As far as Ferg and I figure, the only reason her records would be blocked were if she herself was cuckoo cocoa puffs and if that were the case we are wondering how she got cleared to work for the VA. It's all really grey. I've contacted the FBI to look into it for me but so far they haven't found anything either or have chosen not to share. Ferg thought we should list her as a missing person as well as a potential suspect to Walt's attack and I agreed with him readily so we added the missing person along with the APB from earlier. We really need Walt's side of the attack if we are even going to pursue this further. Dr Weston has continued to remind us that there is a good chance Walt wont even remember the attack and if that's the case then we'll have no choice but to mark this one as a cold case and move on. Browning also is still MIA. It's like these two were just plucked out of Absaroka County by aliens or something. And it turns out Zach fell of the proverbial wagon and once he sobered up was arraigned on DUII charges. He has a strong alibi for the ass kickin' time frame as well so like I said we got nothing.
I've been watching over Walt for the last hour or so just waiting for him to wake up. Dr Weston said it should be any time now. He actually looks better. The swelling has gone down and his cuts don't look nearly as bad as they did just a few days ago. The bruising on the other hand is spectacular. He lucked out on the hand too. It was a clean fracture and they were able to set it and cast it up to his elbow. Doc said he should be out of the cast in 3-5 weeks. Since Walt was going to have an extended stay in the hospital, his toe fracture was just re-set and taped to it's buddy and will be good to go long before he's good to go. The ribs on the other hand are going to take some time. And of course we still don't know for sure on his head.
As I sit here watching him, I have the opportunity to replay the last year over and over in my mind. I've been such a fool. Walt's been such a fool. For two relatively smart people we both have made a cluster out of everything. We both had our own motives for it but the end is the same, we made poor choices that we need to fix. I feel like I've been given a second chance and I plan to not waste it. I hope Walt will feel the same. Regardless, I plan to stick it out here and with him. I'll do what it takes to get him back physically from his injuries as well as mentally. I also plan to get going on fixing myself. I truly hope we can do this together as a team, as partners and rebuild the trust we once had with each other. All this inner musing almost made me miss the signs of his waking up. A finger twitch here and there, some eye movement under his lids and an occasional groan…yup he's coming around.
I push the call button for the doctor as I'm encouraging Walt to open his eyes. He's trying, I can tell that much but he's struggling. I keep calling his name, encouraging him when he finally opens his eyes for me. I'm so happy. I keep telling him over and over again he's going to be all right and tears are spilling form my eyes. Dr Weston steps over and starts doing some bedside tests. Asking Walt to blink, shines a light in his eyes and explains to him how he's going to remove the tube from his throat. Once the tube is out and the coughing fit has ended, Dr Weston asks Walt some questions but he doesn't seem able to answer. Not like he doesn't know the answers but more like he just cant get the words out. We're both encouraging him when he finally rasps out, "Where are my pants?"