When Chelsea heard a voice say hello, she froze. For the hundredth time she wondered if she was doing the right thing. She heard "Hello" a second time and replied.
"Dr. Kimura? Hi, this is Chelsea Lozano, Dr. Spencer Reid's girlfriend, well now fiancé. Do you remember me from when he was ill?"
There was a pause. Chelsea was afraid she was going to ask how she had got the number and not let her tell the reason for the call. "Is Dr. Reid OK? Is he having lung issues or headaches?"
Breathing a sigh of relief, she answered, "No, nothing like that. But he's not OK. He was shot in the knee today while working a case."
"That's not really my area of expertise." Dr. Kimura stated.
"I know. Something happened today and I'm wondering if the patient/doctor confidentiality agreement is still in effect now that you are no longer his doctor?"
"Ms. Lozano, was it?" she asked, and when Chelsea replied in the affirmative she continued. "Ms. Lozano, I thought you understood that I can not talk about anything related to Dr. Reid's illness."
Chelsea nearly cut her off, "I know. What I really want to know is how the patient/doctor confidentiality works. If I tell you of a preexisting condition that Spencer had but never told you about, is that still confidential? Can you tell anyone?"
"I don't understand." Dr. Kimura started to sound a bit annoyed and Chelsea couldn't blame her. She had just called her at 11:00 at night on a private cell phone asking odd questions.
"Spencer has a problem regarding a past illness and I was hoping you might be able to help. What I wanted to know, before I asked for your help, is if I tell you about an illness from before he was your patient, would you still keep it confidential? Even if you can't help him."
Dr Kimura thought for a moment before answering. "This is highly unusual. I suppose as long as it is something he could have told me, but it wasn't needed at the time and it was preexisting, it wouldn't be something I could talk about unless for some reason I was subpoenaed. What is it you want me to do? It must be important to you or we wouldn't be having this highly irregular conversation."
Chelsea breathed a sign of relief. Even if Dr. Kimura wasn't willing to help, she knew she had done everything in her power to try and help Spencer. And at least Dr. Kimura had agreed to not tell anyone. "Spencer just had a highly invasive knee surgery at MedStar Washington Hospital by orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Blaze…"
#
Half an hour later she was back in the room sitting next to Spencer holding his hand. Not long after she got back, he started to stir. He looked around and smiled as he saw Chelsea and squeezed her hand; whispering a weak "hi."
The nurse came in just after that to take his vitals and was glad to see him awake. "How are you feeling Dr. Reid?"
"Not bad, considering." He whispered again. "Can I have some water?"
"Of course," she found a picture and poured some water in a glass with a straw and handed it to Chelsea to help him. "Slow, small sips to start with, OK?"
He nodded, raised his head a little and took a couple of sips before laying his head back down.
The nurse finished her tasks and said, "Everything looks good. I think
Dr. Blaze is still here and I know he would like to talk to you. I'll go see if I can find him" and she was out the door.
Chelsea leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the lips and then moved to whisper in his ear. "There has a been a lot going on that I need to tell you. I'll talk to you after the doctor leaves, but you need to know that Rossi called to tell them I am your fiancé so I can be in her with you. So if they say something you need to know that. OK?" She kissed him softly again and just as Dr. Blaze walked into the room.
"Dr. Reid, I'm glad to see you awake. I was hanging around waiting for you to wake up to speak with you about your surgery before I left for the night." He didn't wait for a response and continued, "I told you everything I planned to do before the surgery, do you remember?"
Spencer nodded so Dr. Blaze said, "Good. Everything went as planned and we had very few problems. We had some minor bleeding so it took a little longer than we originally planned, but all of your ligaments are intact and the two screws I mentioned are holding everything together for now. You will need to keep still with your leg elevated for the next 48 hours and then you can have some limited movement. I should be able to release you the next day if you have someone staying with you." He looked at Chelsea for the first time since coming in the room. "I understand that you will be going home with him?"
Chelsea nodded, "We live together, so yes I will be taking him back to our place. I work from our home, so I will stay with him." She almost felt like she was in a principal's office or an interrogation room with the way he was staring at her.
He seemed pleased with her answer, and turned back to Spencer. "You will need a few medical supplies before you can go home. A walker and crutches. A foam leg wedge to keep your leg elevated while you sleep and several other items. If you have room, renting a hospital bed for the first week will make you more comfortable also. I'll have the nurse give you a list that your fiancé can order all of it for you."
Spencer looked slightly towards Chelsea. The doctor was talking to him, asking Chelsea to take care of things for him and acting like she was not even in the room. He was very groggy and figured it was still the effects of the anesthesia, but something seemed off about the doctor's behavior. Before he could say anything else, Dr. Blaze told him to get some sleep. "Sleep is the best way to heal. The medications will help you relax and get good rest for the next couple of days. We don't want you to move very much and mess up any of my good work." He seemed awfully proud of himself.
Spencer asked, "What medicine am I on?"
"As well as a saline solution, your IV has both cefuroxime to protect you against a SSI," turning to Chelsea speaking in a condescending tone, "that is an antibiotic to protect him from Surgical Site Infections." Then looking back at Spencer he continued, " and morphine."
Trying not to sound alarmed, Spencer asked, "How long until the morphine is done? I'm sure I can handle the pain on a less potent prescription."
"Yes, I've heard your fiancé has been asking about changing your meds also. Why don't the two of you just concentrate on getting you rested and I'll worry about your recovery."
Spencer was now getting frustrated and maybe a little scared. "I am the patient and I know my pain tolerance, I'm asking you to please change my medication."
The doctor just smiled, "You are currently under the influence of a narcotic and it is not in your best interest that I follow your advice."
With that last statement, even groggy Spencer was pissed. "I do NOT want any more of the morphine!" He started to reach towards his IV to pull it out.
The doctor was calling for an orderly to restrain the patient and Chelsea was starting to panic. She wished she'd had more time to talk to Spencer before Dr. Blaze had arrived. Before Spencer could pull out the IV or the orderlies arrived, Chelsea jumped to sit on the side of the bed and pulled his had away from the IV. Leaning her head near his face she tried to look Spencer in the eyes. She said, "Stop."
Even though Chelsea had the position of leverage and he was groggy from the meds, Spencer still was stronger than she was. He started to pull back his hand, but he realized he might hurt her. Taking a breath he looked back to her face. Once she finally had his attention she said, "Do you trust me?" He didn't answer and just kept looking in her eyes. Again she asked, "Spencer, Do you trust me?"
He stopped struggling and nodded. She leaned over and whispered. "I did something. I, uh, I called someone. Don't make them restrain you. Please. I think it will be OK." She continued to plead with him until he fully relaxed.
She turned around to see Dr. Blaze, the nurse, and two orderlies, staring at them. She let go of Spencer and turned to the doctor. "As you can see, he has calmed down. I promise you he will not try that again. If he does, we know you will restrain him. Just leave and let him get some rest now."
They all looked at Dr. Blaze for his reaction. "Dr. Reid, I know you are under the influence at this time so I will let that pass, but you understand that the staff is now under orders to restrain you if you pull that stunt again."
Spencer nodded looking defeated. It broke her heart that he was in this position and she just wanted everyone to leave so she could tell him what she had done. She hoped that he wouldn't be upset that she had told someone his secret, but she couldn't see any other way to help him.