As they walked back to Ryan's small curtained off room, Kirsten braced herself for the Atwood glare, but as they rounded the corner and Dr. Peterson pulled back the curtain, Ryan was asleep.
Kirsten raised an eye brow at the doctor, "We gave him a mild sedative, something to help with the pain and let him sleep. His body needs rest."
"Is he in a lot of pain?" Kirsten asked, as she approached the bed, Ryan seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
"Not right now, no, but he probably will be over the next few days. The damage in his lungs is… extensive. The coughing seriously aggravated his condition as well. The lining is very inflamed. It will probably be weeks before his lungs are at their full capacity again."
"I still don't understand… I thought he just had a cold…" Kirsten said, gently brushing his soft blond bangs off his forehead. "I'm so sorry Ryan…" She whispered. She was relieved at how much cooler his head felt beneath her hand. Still warm, but noticeably cooler than it had been.
"It's really not your fault," Dr. Danielson reminded her, "It's the lung damage combined with the chest infection."
"Mmm…" Kirsten said, still unconvinced that there was really nothing she could have done. "How soon until I take him home?"
"Well, I'd like to see him spend the night here. Maybe even keep him twenty- four hours for observation, make sure there's not another spike in his temperature. I'd like to keep him on the sedatives and IV antibiotics, not to mention clearing out his lungs a bit more. We can move him to a room in the pediatric ward." Kirsten tried not to smile as she thought about Ryan's reaction when he woke up surrounded by clowns and bunnies. She was also moderately bemused by the way Dr. Peterson spoke about it, as if they had some kind of opinion in the matter, when really it was all Dr. Peterson's decision.
"And his recovery?"
Dr. Danielson paused for a moment, looking at Ryan's chest rise and fall, and glanced at the numbers on the monitor, "He's lungs have just experienced a great deal of stress, it could be two, even three weeks before he really feels like himself again. The fever should be gone fairly soon, I'd say, four days maybe. The antibiotics should clear up the infection over the next week or, and the fever should go with it. I've already started him on an intensive treatment." He gestured to one of the clear tubes running into Ryan's body. "Once that's cleared up, his lungs should dry up a bit, so to speak. But, his body has been through a lot. He's going to need probably a solid week of bed rest." Easier said than done, thought Kirsten. Keep Ryan confined to bed for a week? They couldn't even do it for 24- hours. Maybe she should look into those restraints they used on hospital beds.
Dr. Peterson was still describing Ryan's post- hospital treatment, "He's going to be in some pain as well, breathing will not be easy for awhile. Although that bleed was very minor, he's going to be feeling that, as well as the general congestion, and of course, he needs to not cough, or he'll risk re-injury to the lungs, and we'll be right back where we started."
"What can I do?" Kirsten asked, feeling slightly overwhelmed by Ryan's delicate condition.
"Well, like I said, there's the antibiotic. He'll have to continue to take that orally for the next ten days. Also, I'll prescribe him an inhaler to help keep his airways clear and help him breathe." Ryan was really not going to like that. "Then there will be a cough syrup he can take- in limited doses. It contains codeine, it'll act as both a pain management tool and a cough suppressant. I'm also going to give him some regular pill- form codeine as well- just in case, but I'll suggest you're very careful about watching his doses. He'll only need the pills for the first few days, just until the pain subsides. Make sure he stays away from heavy machinery for awhile." Dr. Peterson attempted to joke, but Kirsten didn't smile.
"Right…"
"The main thing is to make sure that he doesn't exert himself at all for awhile. He should recover with minimal complications, but if he starts coughing heavily, well, like I said. We'll be right back where we started." He glanced at his watch, "I'm going to have a breathing therapist stop tomorrow as well, run through some tests with him. I may need to give him a few at- home tests for you to do with him, make sure his lungs get back to their full capacity."
"Of course…"
"Right, well I'm going to see about getting Ryan a room transfer."
"Of course… Thank you, Doctor." It was only when he was gone that Kirsten suddenly remembered that she hadn't told the rest of the family where they were.
