A/N: Sorry about the confusion before I did not double check to make sure the copy and paste job worked (clearly it hadn't). Thanks Trish (sorry i'm mentally exhausted) for bringing to my attention.
When Harper and Lizze returned to the clinic, both were relieved to find that the patient was still alive. Harper was working quickly to unpack the necessary supplies to get the patient ready to be moved. She wondered why she was so clam, was it her training? It had been a long 24 hours. She had not only learned her father was back in the US in her city but he had been shot. She had tended to him, in a clinic, not a hospital. She managed to somehow perform life saving surgery in a clinic, for a man she barely remembered and had nothing nice to say about. Yet her she was still taking care of him and she felt calm. This was not normal, no even close. How could she be so calm, she had her hands inside her estranged father's body. The same man was lying unconscious on a clinic exam table. Shaking the thoughts away she chalked everything up to her training and her desire to help whenever she could.
"You wouldn't happen know how to be a catheter in?" Harper asked Dembe not really interested in doing that for her estranged father.
"No." Dembe said uncomfortable with the idea of what was about to happen.
Harper once again put gloves on her hands, and went to work not thinking about whom she was working on. Once she finished she took the gloves off and found new ones. Checking the stiches she was happy to find they all looked good still, his chest tubes had a decent output. Everything seemed to indicate he was ok, for now. She finished her work by connecting a new heart monitor that she borrowed from the hospital. It connected to his index finger, and would allow her to track his temperature. His temperature was elevated, but not too unexpected given the trauma. The new antibiotics she would start once he finished off the first set should help fight any infection, and she was prepared to obtain stronger ones.
The entire time Liz and Dembe stood back watching Harper work. Neither of them knew what to do, but neither of them could leave the room either. Both of them were worried for Raymond, and both were angry with the stubborn man. If he had stayed at the hotel none of this would be happening.
"We can probably move him if we are careful." Harper said, "We need to make sure we do not jostle the chest tubes too much."
Dembe took Red gently into his arms, carefully carrying his boss out the back of the clinic to a waiting van. He placed Red in the backseat taking up residence between his unconscious brother and the seat to ensure no harm came to Red during the drive to Harpers house.
Harper would drive the van. Liz had already stashed the Mercedes away at the hotel parking garage, and so she would ride in the front seat with Harper. Liz was watching to make sure no one was following them, as was Dembe. No one spoke the entire drive to Harpers house, the only noise came from the occasional soft moan from Red when the van jostled him.
Once outside of Harpers house, Dembe checked the street to ensure no one was around before he carried Red out of the van.
Inside the house, Harper asked, "Do you think you can get him up the stairs without too much trouble?"
Dembe answered, "Yes." Red was heavy in his arms, but Dembe would do anything for the man he considered to be his brother.
"I think he would be more comfortable in the guest room bed, then on the pullout in the study." Harper said wondering why she was caring about the bastards comfort, or doing any of this. It was insane. Yesterday she had been digging bullets out of gang members looking forward to a quiet time away from the hospital. In the past 12 hour, her father who abandoned her was dying, she saved him, digging bullets out of him. He was working with the FBI, there was the entire conversation with Liz, and just too much.
Harper rushed ahead of Dembe and made sure to get the bed ready before Dembe got to the room. Once inside, Harper had Dembe lay Red on the bed. She arranged his IV's so that they were hanging from metal headboard like a makeshift IV poll, reconnected the heart monitor wires to his chest, and the thermometer to his finger. Once she finished, she gently pulled the covers over his body, hoping the warmth would bring him some comfort.
"I will sit with him." Dembe said taking a seat in a chair that sat in the corner of the room.
Seeing and hearing the determination in Dembe's voice stopped any protest Harper may have had, "Do you want anything? A bagel, some coffee?"
"Water please." Dembe said not taking his eyes from Raymond's unconscious form.
Harper left the room wondering why Dembe, a person who seemed to be such a great man, was so loyal to a bastard like her father. When did he become her father, she wondered to herself too, instead of Raymond or just the bastard.
When she got back downstairs, Liz had already closed all of the shades and curtains. Liz was on a cellphone with someone named Cooper explaining Red's condition.
Quickly she grabbed two bottles of water and returned to the room upstairs. She handed Dembe a bottle and set a second once on the night stand. "Are you sure you can stay awake to watch him? The next hours are important."
"I am fine." Dembe said knowing his limits. He had at least another 24 hours before he would not be able to stay alert enough to keep an eye on his injured friend.
"Ok." Harper said taking note of Raymond's vitals. "There are a few things you need to watch for and come get me if they occur. The first is his temperature. If it does not go down over the next hour you need to come get me. I could have missed some debris or the debris carried in an infection. Either way, we need to stay ahead of any possible infection. If infection takes hold, he will have to go to the hospital. I cannot treat him here." Dembe nodded understanding her statements.
"Next you need to keep an eye on his blood pressure. I am confident I fixed all of the internal damage, but it's not always guaranteed the stiches will hold. If his blood pressure decreases, there could be internal bleeding that will need to be treated. Also check the output in the chest tubes. No output is not good, we could have shifted them moving him. Too much output is bad too. Again could be due to internal bleeding. Also his urine output. His body went through a trauma, and while I did not use anesthesia to fix this trauma, however there could be complications with his kidneys due to trauma. It is also a side effect of the antibiotic. Changing the antibiotic won't be too hard, but if it is due to trauma, than he will have to go to the hospital."
Harper paused to make sure Dembe understood everything, "Breathing, while the chest tubes should keep his chest from filling with fluid or air, it may not be enough. If he seems like he is struggling to breathe come get me. Also, his heart rate is important too. If it starts to increase, it could be an indication of a lot of things. In his case, I would guess pain. The pain medicine he is on is moderately strong. He may need more, but I want to wait to make sure his internal organs are working properly to filter it out. It also could be a sign of fluid building around his heart. Either way, it is important you come get me fast so I can access and fix it if I can."
"I will watch for all of these." Dembe said having enough general knowledge to know what she was asking him to look out for. This was not his first rodeo.
"I am going to go rest down the hallway. If you need me wake me. Feel free to make yourself at home if you need anything just get it."
"Thank you." Dembe said thanking her for much more than just her statements.
Harper was not sure how to respond so she just forced a smile and said, "He seems strong. I'm sure he'll make it." She left the room after that statement, leaving behind many questions that seem to rise to the surface each time she looked at her estranged father.
Before she went to lay down, she checked on Liz to make sure she had everything she needed.
"How is he doing?" Liz asked standing in the living room having just hung up from Cooper who was not too happy about the latest development.
"Resting." Harper was not sure how comfortable he was, but it seemed like something to say. "You should rest too. He will unlikely not wake until tomorrow. His body needs time to recover from the trauma."
"Is Dembe watching him?"
"Yes he wouldn't leave the room."
"Red means a lot to Dembe." Liz stated for no reason other than she knew Red meant a lot to a handful of people, her being one of them.
"You should rest now. There is another room upstairs." When Liz went to protest, Harper cut her off, "You can help him by taking care of yourself. Dembe can watch him for awhile."
"I want to stay down here just to be safe. I'll sleep on the couch." Liz said looking at the couch knowing she would not sleep.
"There is a comfortable futon in my office. If you must stay on the first floor you can rest in there." Harper stated knowing the futon was more than comfortable having purchased the cushion separate from the frame to ensure she did not get the cheap uncomfortable cushion that came with the frame. This was especially made. She had spent a few nights on it when she drifted off to sleep reading medical journals or working on her own journal articles. "There are spare blankets in the closet in that room too."
"Thank you." Liz said.
"If you need anything else please feel free to get it. I will be upstairs in the last room in the hallway if you need me." Harper left Liz to rest and made her way to her own bedroom. She stopped for a few seconds outside of the room her estranged father lay unconscious in watching Dembe watch him. What had her father done to make these two people care so much about him? She could not help but feel a pang of jealousy at the idea that he had a happy life. Many of times after she had learned the truth, she had wished horrible things on him for abandoning his family. For abandoning her. The hatred that had filled her teens receded some, but the feelings of abandonment never did. He choose this life over his family, she thought bitterly as she walked into her room.
Despite the days events she found herself quickly drifting off to sleep. If anything her restful sleep proved her college roommate right, Harper could sleep through almost anything when she was tired enough. She would dream of when she was a child and the walks around a pond not far from her house, where her father would tell her tales of life on the high seas. Stories so descriptive that her child imagination would turn the pond into a vast ocean and she could feel the wind on her face as she and her beloved father would sail across to a foreign land in search of adventure.