Agent Pheonix:Thank you so much for your reviwes, and for your suggestions.I am glad that someone is liking the story. Because you are the only one who has yet to review this chapter is dedicated to you! Yay arent you happy? Enjoy
P/N: This used to be in the summary, but now I am putting it here. I did not write this. It belongs to Jonelle Przybylski a.k.a vartan88. I am just spreading the joy because I love it so much. I hope you enjoy. I f you do review, or even if you don't just let me know what you think please.
Chapter 10: Attack of the Evil Nurse and Her Equally Evil Lackeys
"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names." – John F. Kennedy
"Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say "Nay, sorrow is the greater." But I say to you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed." – Kahlil Gibran (The Prophet)
The three raced down the hall to Vaughn's room. Sydney entered just in time to see two orderlies holding Vaughn down while a rather large and vicious-looking nurse was injecting Vaughn in the neck with something. One of the orderlies was forcing Vaughn's neck to the side while the nurse finished. The oxygen mask seemed to have gotten pushed aside in the commotion and Sydney could see Vaughn was struggling to breathe.
"What the hell are you doing?" she yelled. Immediately she went over and pulled the nurse away from Vaughn, but she had already finished with whatever she had injected him with so it was of little use. She pried the hands of one of the orderlies off of Vaughn, yelling, "Get your goddamn hands off of him, RIGHT NOW!"
Dr. Kerns stepped in then, "What's going on in here?"
Sydney wasted no time as she moved over to a shaking Vaughn, who seemed dazed. She found the oxygen mask and placed it back where it belonged. Vaughn seemed to realize that she was there and tried to sit up, but she placed a hand on his chest and her other hand on the back of his neck and eased him back down. She inspected his neck and saw the puncture mark from the needle as well as some nasty looking bruises and red marks appearing. "These idiots were holding him down and injecting him with something!" Had Vaughn not needed her she would have launched herself at those responsible, but the fear and pain in his eyes and the way he was clutching her desperately made her only want to hold him. She moved him back to the middle of the bed and pillow and cradled his head, speaking inaudible words in an effort to soothe him.
Jack spoke up next, "Would you like to explain exactly what the hell you were doing?"
The orderlies looked to the nurse who said in an arrogant and snippy tone, "I came in to check on his IVs and examine his bandages. He jerked away from me and acted extremely aggressive! I called the orderlies in when he wouldn't sit still. Then I injected him with a sedative, a muscle relaxant."
Dr. Kerns looked wildly at the nurse, "You gave him a muscle relaxant! Didn't you read his chart? He has severe breathing problems; a sedative is only going to make his breathing more difficult right now! Muscle relaxants can only be used once a patient no longer requires a chest tube! I want all of you in my office in five minutes. Disciplinary action will be taken immediately! Get out, NOW!"
The orderlies made quick work of getting out of the room, the nurse seemed to be in shock to the way the doctor had yelled at her. She seemed about to say something, but took one look at Jack and decided against her retort. She too left the room. Dr. Kerns left the room and came back in a minute with a syringe. He approached Sydney and Vaughn, and the moment that Vaughn caught sight of the needle, he freaked out and practically launched himself off the bed. Had Sydney not been sitting so close to him, he probably would have succeeded and ended up in a heap on the floor. She looked to Dr. Kerns, "What are you doing? Don't you think he's had enough needles today?"
Dr. Kerns said, "I need to give him something to counter-act the sedative, otherwise his breathing will only get worse. Try to understand," he asked Vaughn imploringly, "I'm only trying to help. I'm only trying to repair the damage that the nurse has caused. I need to give you this, rest assured, I won't give it to you in your neck."
Sydney looked down at Vaughn and said, "Vaughn, I trust him. Let him give you the shot, ok? Then everyone is going to go away and leave us alone, ok?"
Vaughn didn't respond, but he allowed Dr. Kerns to give him the shot in the arm. Sydney waited until he was done and then said, "I want to be alone with him. He needs to calm down and get some rest. I don't want him to be disturbed, alright?"
"I'll see to it," replied Dr. Kerns.
"Is there a way to lock the door?" Sydney asked before he left.
"You can lock it from the inside, I'll let the nurses know that you're locking it and it's ok. I'm truly sorry for this…it should have never happened. When you get a chance, try to get him to tell you what happened. I'll deal with the three responsible, I assure you."
"I don't want to see that nurse near him again, in fact, it would be better if I didn't see her at all…" Sydney threatened.
Jack then added, "We could very well sue for malpractice, doctor. Perhaps it would be better if the nurse didn't work at this hospital anymore."
Dr. Kerns shook his head and left. Jack smiled at Sydney and made his way over to the door as well. Before he left he added, "I'll be outside the door if you need me, ok? You take care of him." With that, he left.
Sydney locked the door after him, and went back to Vaughn who was gradually moving towards the edge of the bed again.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" She said softly. She sat down and made him look at her. Tears were running down his face. "Hey, it's ok…I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."
He moved the oxygen mask off of his mouth and asked in a raspy tone, "Where were you? Why did you leave?"
She instantly felt horrible. "Oh Vaughn, I'm so sorry, I left for just a few minutes, I was talking to the doctor. I'm sorry, I wouldn't have left if I had known, you know that. I'm so sorry honey…" she paused for a moment and then asked, "what happened when the nurse came in here?"
He stopped to catch his breath and then said, "I was sleeping…and I woke up and you…you weren't there…the door opened and I thought it was you…but…but…" he broke out in a series of coughs. Sydney instantly moved the mask back and tried to hold on to him while his body was racked with coughs. He winced and she knew that his ribs had taken the brunt of the coughing impact. He tried to compose himself, but every time he tried to move the mask again, he would cough. He gave up after a few more tries and more tears poured out of his eyes.
Sydney tried to comfort him, "Easy, honey, easy. Just try to relax for a while. We'll try again in a little bit." He seemed to be in more pain now, and with every breath, a new wince appeared. She realized he was really hurting and felt the urge to do something, anything about it.
"Hey, Dr. Kerns said something about when injured ribs are compressed that it helps with the pain and some of the pressure is taken off. Should we try that?"
He nodded weakly through the pain.
"Ok, you relax and let me move you over a little, ok?"
He nodded again. She got to work. She moved the pillow over slightly and then began to gently scoot him over a little. When she had enough room, she moved the blanket off of him slightly, removed her shoes and lay down on the bed next to him. Once in the bed, she moved so her body covered half of his and so that her body put pressure on his ribs. She laid her head next to his on the pillow and tried to gauge his reaction. After several minutes, his breathing seemed to even out and the pain that had gripped his face seemed to lessen as well.
"Is this helping?" she asked and he nodded his head yes.
"I'm not hurting you, am I?" she added and he nodded his head no. "Good."
He waited for a while and got settled and then took the mask off. "Thanks," he said.
She smiled, "You're very welcome." She was glad that there was actually something that she could do to make him feel better.
"When she came in, she tried to look me over. I tried to lie still, but she kept pressing on my shoulder and then she moved to my ribs. After a few minutes, I think she got fed up with my moving, and that's when she brought the other guys in…" he let the sentence end there, and Sydney sensed that he wanted to say more, but he didn't offer anything else.
She was quiet but then remarked, "That must have been really scary when they came in. I saw what they were doing. I bet it felt like you were right back with…well…right back there…it must have been horrible…I'm so sorry you had to go through that…"
He looked over at her, "The best part was after you came in and basically told the doctor you'd beat the shit out of the nurse if you saw her again. That was classic, Syd." He laughed but the laugh was cut off by a cough and pain surged through him again.
Sydney put her arm around Vaughn's ribs and tried to compress them some more. "That's better, thanks…" he let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry this is happening to you Vaughn. It's all my fault."
"None of this is your fault. You haven't had control over anything that's happened to me."
"If you wouldn't have met me, you wouldn't be hurt."
"Maybe not, but I wouldn't be happy either." He had to replace the mask then, but Sydney moved it for a minute and kissed him deeply. He smiled as she put it back in place. She snuggled closer and watched as he finally relaxed in her touch, and she was rewarded with his trust – he fell asleep again.