The next couple of days seemed to drag on. Clay was growing more and more restless and extremely bored. He wanted to go home and to not have someone hovering over him every second of the day, which he knew deep down was not even a possibility. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew he was going to need help once he was released.
By day seventeen, Clay's spirits started to drop and everyone was picking up on it. He was barely participating in conversations and when he did participate it was only because someone asked him a question to which he replied in very short, direct answers or because someone was doing something he didn't like. He was having more and more mood swings, was easily agitated and didn't have interest in much of anything.
Ray had tried to talk to him about a mission that Alpha team had went on for them, thought maybe that would get some kind of reaction out of him, but nothing more than a "cool" "good" yeah" came out of his mouth.
"We gotta do something boss. He's drowning in here." Sonny said to Jason as they stood outside of Clay's hospital room, watching him blankly stare at the tv in front of him while Ray sat in a chair next to him. "He's getting depressed and frankly, I don't blame him."
"I don't blame him either. As much as I don't like it we just gotta wait it out. He has some pretty serious injuries, we can't risk rushing him out of here too soon." Jason replied.
Moments later Ray noticed Sonny and Jason standing outside the room. As they entered the room Ray smiled and said hello. Clay just eyed them as they got closer and closer. "Don't you guys have anything better to do? Countries to go to? People to save?"
Sonny just looked at Jason with the 'still think we don't need to get him out of here' look. Normally he would have replied with an equally as snarky comment but he knew he needed to tread lightly. Clay was in no mood to be messed with and Sonny was going to respect that. He sat in a chair on the opposite side of Ray while Jason sat in one closer to the foot of the bed.
"If you're gonna sit in here can you at least sit where I can see you?" He was getting really tired of not being able to turn his head to look at who was talking.
By about the fourth snarky comment, Sonny's words about clay drowning here started swirling around Jason's head and he had had enough. He stood up and left the room without saying a word. Sonny and Ray looked at each other, unsure if one of them should follow, but ultimately decided to give Jason his space. Clay had no reaction to his boss leaving. If anything he was relieved. 'Now if only I could get the other two to follow suit' he thought to himself.
After Jason left the room, he went straight to the nurse's station and asked to talk to Clay's nurse. As soon as she appeared he asked to talk to her somewhere privately.
She took him to an empty room and had a pretty good idea what this was about. "Give it to me straight, when can he go home? He's drowning in here and it's going to quickly get to the point where him being here is going to do more harm than good."
"I actually wanted to talk to you about that today and I completely agree. He needs to go home. Is there any plan in place for that?" The nurse asked.
"He is going to stay at my place until he gets the cast off his leg and we think he's ok to be on his own. I have an open guest room in my house that's already been prepared for him and unlike his apartment there's no stairs."
"That's good, exactly what he needs. Stairs are a definite no-go until his ankle is out of the cast. Now, on to home care. I know he doesn't like pain meds but you have to make sure he takes them as scheduled. Failure to do so could result in him having to come back here. He's going to pretty much be on strict bed rest for the first few days. He's not allowed to get out of bed for any reason without assistance and the only acceptable reasons for him to get out of bed is for the bathroom, to move him to the couch or for doctor's appointments."
"The couch?" Jason asked, slightly surprised.
"During the day he'll be able to rest on the couch, that way he's not completely secluded from everyone. It will give him a small sense of his freedom back to not be confined to a single room." The nurse explained.
"Ok. Awesome, Yea. So when can he leave?" Jason asked.
"I'd say most likely by this evening. I've already talked to his doctor. He thinks Clay going home would be the best thing for him at this point. I'll just let him know the plan and get some things together for you, you know, instructions, his meds, important phone numbers."
"Awesome. So are you going to break the news or can I?" Jason asked eagerly.
"I think he would rather hear it from you, but Jason, you have to promise me you'll stay on top him. He's going to test you to see how much he can get away with. You can't let him get away with anything.
"Oh I promise. He knows better than to do anything stupid. He knows I'll pack his ass up and bring him right back here if he doesn't follow directions." Jason assured her.
"Alrighty then. Go break the good news." The nurse smiled.
Jason walked back into Clay's room with a big grin on his face.
"You son of a bitch, you did it didn't you?" Sonny asked with a smirk.
Jason winked at Sonny. "How would you like to get out of here tonight?" Jason asked Clay, who for the first time in days had a hint of a smile on his face.
"Are you serious?" Clay was trying not to get his hopes up in case it didn't actually happen.
"Would I joke about something like that?" He asked Clay. "Can you believe he thinks I would joke about something like that?" He then immediately asked Sonny and Ray.
Sonny and Ray laughed and shook their heads.
"What's the catch?" Clay asked, he knew there had to be one.
Jason looked at him and paused. "You're staying at my house." Jason started. Clay's heart sank a little bit at the fact that he wasn't going straight back to his place but at this point he would go anywhere if it meant leaving the hospital. "You'll be on strict bed rest but you will be allowed to hangout on the couch during the day. You HAVE to take your pain meds as scheduled, no ifs, ands or buts, I don't care how 'good' you're feeling and lastly, until your ankle heals, you are not to get up for any reason without supervision, understand?"
"Understood." Clay answered, throwing Jason off a bit. He fully expected Clay to have some sort of argument about all the 'rules' and when he didn't argue he was almost speechless.
"Ok. Good. The nurse will be here with the discharge information soon." Jason told him.
Clay's mood had seemed to improve while they were waiting for the nurse. He was more active in participating in conversations and wasn't quite as grumpy.
When the nurse finally walked in she was pushing a wheelchair and had a to-go bag which she handed to Jason. She began explaining things for being discharged and Clay was glad Jason was paying attention because all of his focus was on getting out of that damn bed. He heard the words the nurse was saying but wasn't comprehending a single word. It was almost as if she speaking a completely different language, one that Clay didn't speak.
"Clay?" She asked, snapping Clay out of his thoughts. "Did you hear a single word I just said?"
"Yea, sorry… I'm just ready to go." He completely lied through his teeth. The nurse knew it but wasn't going to push. She knew Jason was paying attention and was confident that he could keep Clay in line.
"Alright then. Let's get you out of here." She smiled. She then started disconnecting him from the monitors and IV's. Once he was disconnected from everything it was time to move him from the bed to the wheelchair. It was a lot harder than Clay anticipated.
"Ok. We're going to help you sit straight up. Then we will carefully swing your legs to the side of bed and help you into the wheelchair." The nurse told him.
Sitting up was more painful than he expected it to be. His broken ribs, although healing nicely, were still very sore. Sonny was on his left side while Ray was on his right. The pain was written all over his face. They gave him a minute to compose himself a bit before moving him to edge of the bed. Once there it was time to move him to the wheelchair.
Sonny and Jason each took a side and were getting ready to lift him when Clay stopped them. "Stop. I can do it. I still have one good leg. Just help me." He was adamant. Jason, Ray and Sonny all looked at the nurse to make sure it was ok. She was hesitant but gave him the go ahead.
"Just remember, it's been two and a half weeks since you've put any pressure on your feet. It might be a little harder than you expect." She reminded him.
Jason and Sonny each grabbed Clay under the arms as he attempted to stand up. As soon as his good foot hit the ground he was a bit surprised at just how hard it was. He felt like he was attempting to support a thousand pounds on his one leg. He was glad Jason and Sonny had a strong hold of him or else he would have went down. The nurse quickly got the wheelchair under him and they sat him down, propping his casted ankle up.
"Alright. I'm going to go pull my truck up. I'll meet you guys outside." Jason said as he took his keys out of his pocket and headed for the door.
After gathering up all of his belongings, Sonny pushed Clay while Ray and the nurse walked next to him. Clay was trying his best to control his anxiety but the closer they got to the door the harder it became. They arrived at the door the same time that Jason pulled up. Jason jogged in, carrying a heavy jacket to put on Clay.
Clay was thankful for the Jacket. He knew that it was the dead of winter but it was still a lot colder than he anticipated it being. He took note of all the snow on the ground and was relived to notice all the snow on the roads was melted.
Sonny wheeled him over to Jason's truck and as they were about to lift him out of the chair and into the passenger seat he stopped them. "Wait." He said.
"What's up? Did you forget something?" Ray asked.
"No. I just need a minute." Clay mumbled.
Everyone looked at each other. They knew there was a strong possibility that Clay would be weary of the vehicle but were hoping that wouldn't be the case.
Once Clay pulled himself together Jason and Sonny lifted him into the passenger seat. Ray folded up the wheelchair and put it the back.
"Ok. We'll meet you guys there." Ray said once Jason's truck was all loaded up.
Jason hopped into the driver's seat and turned the truck on, pretending not to notice Clay flinch as he did so. "Hey. It'll be fine. I live close and I'll drive slowly. The roads are all clear from her to my house so nothing to worry about there. Ok?" Jason knew this had to be hard.
"Ok." Clay whispered, not entirely convinced.
"Alright. Lets go." Jason said as he slowly put his truck in drive and drove off.
Sorry this chapter took so long. I actually rewrote it a couple different times trying to figure out where I wanted to go with it. Sorry if any of the medical stuff is off. I tried my best.
