A/N Phew... this chapter took me a while but it's done. I have a feeling ya'll will like this one ;o) Enjoy!
Part 9
During Amy's early morning rounds, she was relieved to find that Mr. Jane's fever had finally broke which meant the medication was working and his vitals were stabilizing. Amy considered waking the woman she now knew as Teresa Lisbon to inform her of his progress but decided otherwise. She looked completely exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Instead, Amy noted the improvement on Jane's chart. Emily would be delighted to share the news with Miss Lisbon in the morning.
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Emily was indeed relieved to hear that Jane has made a vast improvement during the night. If she was honest with herself, Emily had expected to come in and find just the opposite. Oh, how good it felt to be wrong. She quickly updated herself on the rest of the night's developments, wanting to be the first one to tell Lisbon of the good news.
Emily had seen many things during her eight years working at the hospital but everything else paled in comparison to the sight that awaited her that morning. Lisbon was fast asleep, her head resting comfortably on Jane's lap. She had tear stains trailing down her face and Amy assumed she had cried herself to sleep. These observations weren't what held Emily's attention, however. Her eyes were fixed on her patient who was miraculously and most certainly awake. His gaze was fixed on something dangling from his hand while his other hand was subconsciously combing through Lisbon's raven hair.
Jane glanced up to see Emily in the doorway. She smiled and quietly entered the room.
"Hey you. It's about time. I'm going to notify the doctor that you are awake. Let's see what we can do about taking you off of that ventilator. We were all really worried about you Mr. Jane. I'll be right back."
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"What do you mean he's awake?" Jane's doctor couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I don't know. Amy said his fever broke early this morning. I walked into the room to check his vitals and he was awake."
"That's just not possible. Comatose patients don't come down with pneumonia one day and then wake up the next."
"I don't know what else to tell you. Why don't you come and see for yourself."
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Emily walked into Jane's room with the doctor in tow.
"Well I'll be." The doctor listened to Jane's lung sounds. "I wouldn't have believed it unless I saw it for myself. You'll probably want to wake her up for this." The doctor said referring to Lisbon.
Emily walked over to Lisbon and gently shook her shoulder. "Lisbon, sweetie."
Lisbon opened her eyes and looked around, still groggy from sleep.
"Jane… Is he?" Lisbon was panicking.
"No hun, everything is fine. Actually, there is someone who would like to see you." Emily nodded towards the bed.
Green eyes met blue and tears started flowing again only this time from happiness and relief. Jane lifted a shaky hand to Lisbon's face to wipe away the tears. Lisbon grasped the hand and held it against her cheek.
"Oh Jane." She shook with sobs. Lisbon lifted her eyes to the ceiling. "Thank you. Thank you!"
"Mr. Jane, we're going to remove your ventilation tube now." The doctor explained. "On the count of three I want you to exhale. One…two…THREE."
Jane exhaled as the tube was removed. The extraction irritated Jane's throat and he started to cough.
"Don't try to speak. Here's some water for the hoarseness." The doctor allowed Jane to sip water out of a straw. He then handed the cup to Lisbon. "Give him water as needed but no talking for a few hours."
The doctor continued. "I just have a few questions for you Mr. Jane. Just nod yes or no for me ok?"
Jane nodded
"Do you know where you are?"
Nod.
"Do you remember how you got here?"
Jane shook his head.
"You were brought here three days ago with acute hypothermia, multiple skull fractures, and a broken leg. Speaking of which, I need you to nod if you can feel this." The doctor took a tool from out of his lab coat pocket and added pressure to a point on Jane's exposed foot.
Jane hesitated before nodding.
"Good and here?"
Another nod.
"That's good news. I was worried about the damage the cold could have done to your broken leg. You'll still need some therapy once that break heals but at least you won't lose the limb. "
Jane was starting to nod off. Even though he had just woken up, the smallest of movements sapped his energy.
"You should get some rest Mr. Jane. I still have a few tests to run but I think we can move you out of intensive care to a quieter room for that." Jane's doctor wrote some notes down on his chart. "Emily, will you see to a quieter room so our patient can recover properly?"
"Of course."
Lisbon couldn't take her eyes off the consultant as he drifted to sleep. Emily walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"He's sleeping naturally now. He'll do that a lot for a while but little by little, he'll be able to stay awake for longer periods. I'm going to see about getting him moved. As much as I'll miss being his nurse, I couldn't have wished for a better outcome. Besides, a little birdie told me he can be a pain in the butt when it comes to nurses."
Lisbon chuckled slightly. "Yeah, get out while you still can. You have no idea."
"Oh, I'll be down for a visit or two. Of that I'm sure. Besides, you haven't officially introduced me to this man who has won your heart."
Lisbon blushed.
"I'll be back as soon as I can to take him to his new room."
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Thirty minutes out of a coma and Patrick Jane was already in the middle of what Lisbon assumed must be a very strong nightmare. She was torn with what to do. On one hand, she wanted to do anything to rid Jane of the unconscious torment he was obviously experiencing but on the other hand, Emily said he needed rest. Was it still rest if you were subconsciously re-living the worst moments of your life over and over again? Lisbon wasn't sure. She remembered her mother used to sing to her after a particularly bad nightmare but there was no way Lisbon was going to start singing. It would only intensify the poor man's nightmares. Eventually, she resorted to humming all the while, lightly tracing her finger up and down the consultant's arm. Slowly, Jane's trashing and mumbling subsided. Lisbon continued to hum if it meant a few moments of peace for the weary man.
Jane's eyes fluttered open.
"Humming?" His voice was still hoarse.
Lisbon looked up, surprised that he was awake.
"You, are NOT supposed to be talking."
"Never you mind them. What the doctor doesn't know won't hurt him. But humming Lisbon? I'm touched."
"Well you were having a pretty intense nightmare. My uh, mom used to sing to me when I would get them."
"It's nice. You should hum more often."
"Should I now?"
"Yup."
"Is my patient speaking when he was clearly told not to?" Where had Emily come from?
"You must be Emily."
"What, now we're physic?"
"No such thing. Uh, your name badge."
"Oh, yeah."
Lisbon sighed. "Well it's officially started."
Emily was confused. "What has?"
"Oh, Jane's already started with his nurse torture techniques. By the end of the week you'll be practically throwing him out of the hospital."
"Hey! Jane's still in the room. I do NOT torture nurses. I just happen to not like hospitals and who says I'm staying here a week?"
Emily put her hands on her hips. "Well mister, I'm here to move you to a new ward which means you'll have to torture another poor nurse."
"Humph, and I almost had you all figured out."
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It took Emily a good twenty five minutes to get the consultant situated in his new room two floors below the ICU. "This room is nice. It has a large window with a nice view of the grounds."
Jane yawned, obviously not interested or too tired to care.
"Mr. Jane, you should get some sleep."
"Meh, don't want to sleep. Unless my friend Pepper here would like to hum me to sleep."
Lisbon glared at Jane.
The consultant's eyes began to droop again despite not wanting to sleep. In only three minutes, he was out again.
"So…Pepper?" Emily gave Lisbon a weird look.
"Don't ask."
"Well, I have to head back to my own ward now. Is there anything I can get you before I go?"
"Uh, no, but I did forget a book in the room on the table. When you get a chance, would you mind setting it aside for me?"
"No problem."
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Emily made her rounds and then stopped by Jane's old room for the book Lisbon had left in there. Rounding the corner, she heard voices. The room was supposed to be empty. Then, she recognized one of the voices as Jane's other lady friend. Van Pelt was it? She sounded very upset. Wait, had Lisbon forgotten to call them this morning? Crap! And she had just moved Jane so they must think… Double Crap!
End part 9
Finally! Three days without Jane was waaay too long. I couldn't take it anymore and I figured neither could you guys. So did you think I had forgotten about the rest of the team? Nah...but I really miss Sadie. LOL... stupid hospitals and no dog rules. Don't worry though, she'll be around in the next chapter (I'll figure out something) ;o) Let me know what you think.
