Time
Chapter 9
Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Alan had finished out the final ten minutes in the first twenty they were allowed with Don. The next allotted time was split between Charlie and Alan, and so the rest of the overnight and early morning went. Robin had visited with Don one other occasion, then from the mental and emotional exhaustion she fell asleep on the small couch in the waiting area. Alan was unable to sleep as was Charlie, so they each continued to take turns. The morning light started to filter through the waiting room windows as Larry and Amita returned around seven.
Bringing him a cup of coffee they had stopped and gotten them Amita approached Charlie. "How's Don doing?" She hugged Charlie as he stood. Larry had taken one of the other cups to Alan, as Robin was slowly sitting up.
"He's doing the same, which they say is good." Charlie rubbed his eyes, "It's so hard to see him like that." Again Amita hugged him.
"You and Alan should get some rest, even if it's just a couple of hours. Let me take you guy's home and I'll see if Robin wants me to take her by her place. Larry said he would stay here until you came back." Charlie saw the wisdom in what Amita was saying, but convincing his father could be another matter.
Charlie moved toward Alan, who was speaking with Larry, "I'll see if I can get dad to go, you talk to Robin." Amita nodded as she went to sit by Don's girlfriend. As Charlie stepped next to his father he heard the same argument from Larry that Amita had just used on him, then Charlie spoke. "Amita's going to see if she can get Robin to go home for a while, and as much as I hate to leave, you should get some rest too dad."
Larry saw Alan about to protest, "Alan, I'll stay here until you return. When I visit with Don I will tell him you will be back soon, but you know as well as I do that he would want you to take care of yourself. Just for a couple hours, I'll call you if anything changes."
Alan looked at Charlie, knowing he looked as exhausted as his youngest son did. The elder Eppes nodded in agreement. "Just a couple hours, I want to be back when the doctors do their rounds." Charlie and Larry exchanged subtle grins, as Amita approached them with Robin next to her.
"Robin has agreed to go home for a few hours; I hope you two are willing to do the same?" Amita said.
Larry smiled at her, "Yes, Alan and Charles have seen the wisdom of our argument and have agreed to a couple hours, of which I will remain here and visit with Don in their absence." With that the remaining Eppes men and Robin allowed Amita to take them home, Larry took a seat to await the twenty minute time window when he would be allowed to visit with Don.
OXOXOXOXOXOXOX
By the time Charlie and Alan returned to the hospital only two hours had passed, neither was able to stay away any longer, at least not until Don was off the ventilator, something that was still at least a day away. Being back by nine, they arrived shortly after the doctor had made his rounds. The new doctor in charge of Don's care in the ICU was Dr. Henderson, coming into the waiting room containing not only the Eppes men, but Larry, the doctor walked right toward Alan. "Mr. Eppes?" Alan stood, extending his hand, "I'm Dr. Henderson and I will be looking after Don while he is in the ICU."
"Please, call me Alan; this is Charlie, Don's brother and Larry Fleinhardt, a close family friend. How is Donnie this morning?" Alan wanted to get to the point, he would be going to see Don right after the doctor talked to them and he wanted to make sure everything was going as expected.
"Please, let's have a seat." The doctor motioned for them to sit. "Don is doing as well as we expected, his blood pressure has stabilized with the additional units of blood given to him after surgery, the wound seems to be healing nicely, we will keep a drain tube in until later today. The fact that he is a healthy, fit man is helping in his healing, we are monitoring him closely to make sure pneumonia doesn't set up in his lungs, but as of this morning everything still sounds good. The ventilator will stay on throughout the rest of today, maybe by this evening, if everything continues to go well, we will consider readjusting it to where it will only activate if his oxygen levels drop below a certain point, slowly allowing the damaged lung to start working on it's own again."
"When will my son wake up?" Alan listened to all the positive words the doctor was saying, but he would not be satisfied until Donnie's eyes opened and Alan could see for himself his son was getting better.
The doctor understood the concern, it was hard on families to see their loved ones unconscious and it always took that person finally being awake, before families really believed that they would recover. "We will see how he does when we adjust the vent, if he is able to take on most of the lung function on his own, by tomorrow morning we can consider cutting back on the medication that we are using to keep him sedated. I know its difficult seeing your son like this, but please be reassured that everything is looking very good and we are doing our best to take care of him."
After a moment of silence the doctor stood, Alan following suit. "Thank you for everything doctor."
The doctor accepted the hand offered. "If you need anything or have any other questions, please have the nurses page me." with that the doctor left as a nurse came out to allow Alan to see his son for the allotted time this hour.
OXOXOXOXOXOX
Just as Alan disappeared through the ICU doors, David and Colby stepped from the elevators, Charlie and Larry stood to greet the agents, "How's Don this morning?" Colby asked, shaking Charlie's hand.
The four sat down, "The doctor just left and said he was doing as well as they expected. He did say they were going to consider readjusting the ventilator to activate only when he needed it, if everything continues the way it has been going. Dad just went back to visit with him."
David looked at Charlie, "Did you guys get a chance to go home and get some rest?" David had noticed that Charlie's cloths were different, but the young professor looked just as exhausted as he had last night.
Charlie smiled slightly at the sound of concern, "Amita took us home for a couple hours, we couldn't stay away to long, she also took Robin home."
Considering what had happened the night before a comfortable silence settled over the group as they waited for Alan to return and exactly fifteen minutes after Colby and David arrived, Alan came back into the waiting room. "David, Colby, it's nice to see you both, but you didn't have to come back up here this early."
David spoke, "We wanted to check on you guys and on Don. Charlie says everything is looking good?"
Alan sat down heavily, "That's what they say, but I'll feel better when that tube is gone and he is awake." the two agents nodded in understanding.
A few silent moments passed before David finally spoke. "Alan?" the younger man waited until Alan looked at him to continue. "Would it be possible for you and I talk for few minutes?" David had given what he wanted to say much thought over the night. It wasn't like he could really sleep after what had happened and no matter how many times Colby told him, or that he replayed the whole event over in his mind, David felt he should have done more to protect Don. He wasn't sure if he was looking for absolution from Alan or himself, but he felt he owed Don's father an explanation of what happened and he figured now was as good a time as any. Without any comment Alan nodded and stood, David then followed the older man to the elevators.
