A/N: Hi... no reviews last chapter! So rude! And I worked hard on that chapter too... well I suppose I'll just take it out on baby Roach. *Evil laugh* Lol, enjoy chapter 8! ;D
Ghost awoke to the sound of retching and choking. He sat up and scanned the room for Roach, who he had noticed was no longer in bed beside him. He found him on the floor, his head bent over the trashcan as he was violently sick.
His arm that had been handcuffed to the bed was now, well... not. He had managed to unlock it somehow, but Ghost currently didn't care about that. He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his back comfortingly, murmuring quiet reassurances and soothing words.
He gasped for breath, fighting down the waves of nausea that washed over him. He swallowed thickly and his stomach revolted again, bile rising in his throat. Tears sprang to his eyes as pain spiked in his stomach.
"G-" He gasped, but was interrupted as more came up.
He clutched at his stomach in an effort to get the pain to subside. Every time he moved, it doubled. Every time he threw up, it tripled. It was terrible. He had thrown up many times before, but he knew for a fact that it wasn't supposed to hurt this bad. Something was wrong.
"Easy, Roach. It's okay, you're gonna be fine." Ghost said quietly, brushing his damp bangs back and feeling his forehead.
He nearly recoiled at the heat radiating from it. It was definitely higher than a few hours ago. This was bad. He needed Luke, but didn't want to leave Roach alone to go get him. Not while he was puking everywhere.
It was especially worrying since he hadn't eaten in at least a day. He didn't have anything to throw up...
His point was proved when Roach started dry heaving a few minutes later. He spat into the trashcan and sat there for a moment, breathing deeply through his mouth.
"You good?" Ghost asked.
Roach tried to reply, but the only thing that came out was a whimper as pain exploded in his side. He curled in on himself and tears began to pour from his bloodshot eyes.
"Roach? Roach, what's wrong?!" Ghost asked frantically, beginning to panic.
He pulled him into his arms and wiped his mouth, setting him on the bed and earning another cry in response. Tears welled up in his eyes as well at the thought of Roach in pain.
"I'm going to get Luke, okay? I'll be back in a minute, I promise." He hurriedly explained, then left the room.
He ran down the hallway as fast as his legs could carry him. Everyone looked up when he bolted into the rec room, his eyes jumping around in search of Luke.
"What's wrong?" Said person asked, standing up.
He strode across the room and grabbed his arm, dragging him along behind him and explaining as he went.
"Roach's fever got higher and he's been throwing up for the past ten minutes. Now he's holding his stomach and crying and I don't know what's wrong with him, so would you please help him?" He begged, even though he was literally dragging him back to the infirmary.
Luke simply nodded and quickened his pace. The others began to follow, but he waved them off.
"You guys can see him after he's okay, he's not gonna want you in there right now."
They looked really worried, but listened to him anyways. They arrived at the infirmary and Roach was still in the same position- curled up on his side and crying. Luke ran over to him and cupped his cheeks, feeling his forehead and confirming that his fever had indeed climbed.
"Gary, Gary look at me. Can you tell me what's wrong?" He asked.
Roach's eyes were tightly closed and his jaw was clenched. His breathing came in ragged, irregular gasps that indicated he was in pain. Luke knew he was, but wanted to be sure about things instead of guessing.
"H... hurts..." He choked out, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Where?"
Luke noticed he was laying on the left side and holding the right side of his abdomen. Severe lower right abdominal pain, nausea, throwing up, the sudden onset of symptoms... it all pointed to one thing- appendicitis. He wanted to test something first though.
He pushed Roach onto his back and managed to get his arms away from his side. He lifted his shirt and examined the area. It was a bit swollen and looked irritated- not a good sign.
He lightly pressed down on the area and Roach nearly screamed. That confirmed it. They needed to get to a hospital right now. Ghost glared at him.
"Don't hurt him!" He complained, stress making him lash out at Luke, who was only trying to help.
Roach gave a loud whimper and curled onto his side again, wrapping his arms around his abdomen tighter this time and refusing to let go.
"Sorry, I had to check something." He muttered, pulling at the arm that had the IV in it.
"Gary, I need to remove the IV, can you let go for a moment?"
After a moment of hesitation, his arm loosened slightly and he allowed him to pull the IV out, protectively moving his arm back in place as soon as it was out. His whole body tensed as his stomach muscles clenched again, making him feel like someone was repeatedly stabbing him.
His breathing hitched as he felt his stomach rebel again. He fought the urge to be sick again down, swallowing several times even though the action set his sore throat aflame.
He heard people talking around him and felt a pair of arms picking him up. The movement caused him to cry harder as the sharp pain in his side intensified.
"Shhh, I know it hurts. It's okay, we're gonna go somewhere and make it better." Luke said, careful not to mention where they were going because he knew it would upset him.
Ghost carried him down the hall and they made a quick stop in the rec room to tell the others.
"We're going to the hospital, I think he has appendicitis." Luke explained, making sure he was out of Roach's earshot when he said 'hospital'.
"Oh shit, is he okay?" Hesh asked.
He had finally been allowed to leave the infirmary, but only if he was extremely cautious. A cry echoed from the hallway, efficiently answering his question. He paled slightly.
"No... he's not okay. But we've gotta go before it ruptures. I'll stay in touch and keep you guys updated. We'll be back as soon as possible, but you know how hospitals are." He said, waving to them and leaving the room.
They waved back and mumbled sad goodbyes. They all felt bad for Roach, who's condition had gone from bad to much worse overnight.
Roach gave a low moan when he felt himself being laid down in the back seat of what he guessed to be a car. He vaguely heard the car start and felt it begin to move, a familiar hand running through his hair.
Where are we going? He wondered, but didn't have much time to think on it as pain flared in his side, scattering his thoughts.
He bit his lip in an attempt to stop the pitiful whimpers from escaping and failing miserably.
Ghost was worried. Roach looked terrible- his skin was incredibly pale but flushed with fever at the same time, dark circles sat under his tired eyes, and the whimpers flying past his lips were a testament to how much pain he was in. The worst part was there was nothing he could do to help, other then sitting with him and offering his moral support.
Luckily the hospital wasn't far and it only took them about 10 minutes to get there. Although, to Ghost it seemed like hours since Roach was hurting and upset. He hated it when he was in pain. Especially when there was nothing he could do to help...
Luke jumped out of the car and opened the door for him, as he had his arms full of crying Roach, who hadn't even noticed the car had stopped. He was too far gone and that scared him more, as normally Roach was very aware of his surroundings.
They rushed through the double doors of the entrance and called for help. Almost immediately, nurses flooded over to them with a gurney, asking about symptoms and details. Roach was laid on the gurney and they started working on him, taking his temperature, blood pressure, etc.
"How long has he had the fever?" A nurse named Amber asked.
"About two days. Symptoms include loss of appetite, severe abdominal pain, throwing up, and fever. I believe he has appendicitis." Luke rattled off.
Amber's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected a list of symptoms.
"Oh... were you a nurse at some point? Maybe a doctor?" She asked curiously.
"Yes, I worked in the ICU of Backwell Medical Centre in Bristol for five years."
"It seems like you know what you're doing, too. Alright then, we'll look him over just to be sure."
"Thank you. When you confirm that he has appendicitis, if you can fit him in, I'd prefer immediate appendectomy. He has no food in his system, so if you can fit him in he'll be good to go."
She nodded and said, "Sure. We'll definitely do so if we have room."
Ghost sighed and his heart throbbed in his chest as he pried Roach's hand off of his. He couldn't stay with him and the nurses needed to bring him to the back. Roach whined in distress, then was rushed down the hall, out of sight.
He hated being taken away from Ghost. He was scared too, because there were at least five unfamiliar faces looming over him and it made him uneasy.
Bright lights flashed by overhead and he sucked in a shallow breath. Pain ripped through his side again and he screamed, clutching at it and wanting Ghost to be there. Where was he? Why had he left him? More tears welled up in his eyes at the thought. Maybe he had grown tired of dealing with him...
Amber glanced down at the man, Gary, she thought it was, and felt sorry for him. He was crying and had these huge, beautiful brown eyes that made her want to cry as well. She shook her head, shoving the thought away. She had work to do.
They brought him to a room and examined him, realizing after a few tests that he did indeed have appendicitis. Damn, the guy who brought him in was smart.
"Amber! We have an opening and his guardian finished all the paperwork. His insurance checks out, too. I'll get the anesthesiologist, you start prepping him. As soon as I get Claire here, we'll be all set for laparoscopic appendectomy." Anthony, another nurse said.
She nodded and did as he said, carefully changing the man into a hospital gown since he currently couldn't do so himself. She also put an IV in his arm. Claire, the anesthesiologist, arrived a few minutes later.
She smiled at Amber and said, "Let's get this show on the road!"
She was always very cheerful, which made the patients happy most of the time. Her and Amber were good friends. Amber nodded and returned the smile. Roach was laying on the bed, hands still clutching his stomach.
It hurt like hell. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there. He just knew it hurt and no one was doing anything about it... and Ghost was missing.
Suddenly the face of a woman came into view. He didn't like this. She was a stranger, therefore he didn't like her. She ruffled his hair and he wanted to swat her hand away. He wanted Ghost. Where was Ghost?! She held up a mask and began explaining its purpose.
"This is gonna go over your mouth and nose, alright? It's going to make you go to sleep, so just try to relax." She instructed, bringing the mask to his face.
Hell no it's not!
He turned his head away and made it difficult for her to get it on. She looked sympathetic.
"Hey, it's okay. This won't hurt, I swear. You'll feel better soon, don't worry. I need you to sit still for me. Can you do that?" She asked with an encouraging smile.
No. No I can't.
He turned his head every time she tried to put it on. After several tries, she was finally quick enough to get it on, holding it in place. Now he really didn't like this lady. He held his breath, refusing to breathe in the gas. However, his efforts were proved futile as he began to get drowsy. Claire smiled and patted him on the head.
"That's it, just relax."
A minute later he was being wheeled down the hall again, bright lights zooming by above him. Everything was blurry and out of focus. He couldn't move. His limbs felt heavy and it took a ton of effort just to slightly turn his head.
He was pushed through the operating room doors and could see doctors standing over him for a moment, then everything went black.
A/N: MUHAHAHAHA! This is what happens when I see that 32 people have read the last chapter and not one bothered to review. So rude. I worked hard. And yes, for those of you who may not have been aware, I CAN see the views going up! Ugh... it makes me sad... *cries*
Anywho, I still love you guys! I'm not mad, I'm just saying that I work hard to update as often as I do and the least you could do is take 30 seconds to review. It makes my day! Please PLEASE review! Pretty please! :)
