Five Minutes to Midnight
TEN: January 2nd, 2040
Monday was Claire's least favourite day of the week. Her morning started with an L4-L5 laminectomy +/- discectomy getting bumped for a cauda equina from the ER that required an urgent spinal decompression. The decompression ran late and her original case got put on hold when a type 1 aortic dissection came in and the vascular surgeons needed the room to perform a Bentall procedure. This, essentially, left her without a space to operate in so she gave up and stalked off to the ICU, leaving Mike, her resident to try and rearrange their OR list.
"Please tell me your day is going better than mine?" She grumbled to Dr. Thomas Ringer, the anesthesiologist who had taken over for Dr. Bristow.
Ringer didn't look up from the chest x-ray he was studying on the computer terminal.
"This is an 18-year-old male who's been here for a week after he decided to jump off a building. Cole took him to the OR yesterday for a tracheostomy and he goes into respiratory distress three hours after the trache was placed."
Claire leaned over him to squint at the screen and made a face.
"Is that a tooth?" she asked.
"Yeah," Ringer agreed. "Smack dab in the middle of his right main stem bronchus. It's been hanging out there for a week and no one noticed. One of the emerge docs must have knocked it loose when they intubated him."
"Shit."
"Uh huh…Cole's pissed he has to revise the trache." He selected the drop-down box on the status bar to pull up Juliet LaFleur's x-ray. "Your girl's doing good though. Lung has re-inflated nicely. I dialled back her sedation a little and she's breathing over the vent just fine."
Claire nodded. "Any thoughts on extubation?"
Ringer shrugged. "We can pull the ET tube today. Her chest tube is set to suction so that lung should stay happy. Did you err…. see her latest labs?"
Claire shook her head, causing a curl to spring free from the Snoopy patterned scrub hat she was wearing.
"We ran the usual trauma labs on her and the beta's back at over 25 000."
Claire swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.
"She's pregnant," she whispered.
"Yeah," Ringer breathed. "I grabbed the ultrasound probe and the fetus is measuring well. 10 weeks-ish. Good strong heartbeat. We'll have to watch what we're giving her and it's another reason to wean back the sedation. Obstetrics has already been consulted."
"Doctor Ringer, I thought you'd be off doing your Sudoku puzzles by now." Aaron greeted as he strode up to where they were huddled, Sawyer trailing a couple of feet behind him.
"Oh look it's my favourite surgeon. Mr. Table up, table down, reverse Trendelenburg every six seconds because he can't decide how he likes the patient positioned."
Ringer smirked at Claire. "He's just bitter because I'm behind the drape rocking the stock market while he's fishing out gallstones."
Aaron rolled his eyes. "Your job involves playing Candy Crush 90% of the time. Mine involves saving lives. How we doing here?"
Ringer let the comment slide with a grin. "Status quo, Austen. Status quo. Dr. Shephard and I were just chatting about yanking Mrs. LaFleur's ET tube."
Aaron winced, Sawyer's breath hitched and he didn't need to turn around to know that the man was staring at Claire. She was Juliet's primary physician so he didn't see the point of trying to hide her identity.
"Good," he agreed.
"Uh… James." He turned to face Sawyer. "Dr. Thomas Ringer is taking over for Dr. Bristow in the ICU this week and this—" he paused and offered Claire a small smile. "Is Dr. Claire Shephard, spinal surgeon. She's Juliet's primary physician and she also happens to be my cousin."
Sawyer looked a little frightened as he took Claire's pre-offered hand. He unconsciously pulled her into a brief hug that she easily returned.
"It's good to meet you," he croaked.
"Yeah," Claire agreed.
"So the Doc and Freckles?" He asked Aaron as they walked the short distance to Juliet's room, leaving Claire and Ringer to finish their discussion.
Aaron smirked and slid open the heavy glass door to Juliet's room. "They'll figure out their relationship…eventually—I hope."
Juliet was laying in the same position as the day before and Aaron pointed to the spot next to her on the bed. "You wanna get up there with her? We need to wake her up a little bit to take that breathing tube out."
Sawyer nodded and shakily lowered the rail before he climbed onto the bed and tentatively pulled Juliet so that she was laying against his chest, her head resting against his shoulder.
"That's good," Aaron encouraged and bent to manipulate the controls on the bed so that the head was at 90 degrees.
"In order to do this we need to turn off her sedation for a few minutes to make sure she has a good cough reflex. Once she wakes up enough to obey commands we'll yank the tube and monitor her closely. Then we'll turn the sedation back on just enough to make her sleepy and keep her anxiety level down, but not high enough to affect her breathing."
"Will she be in pain?" Sawyer asked apprehensively, one hand rubbing her shoulder.
"No," Aaron agreed. "She gets regular medications for that." He paused. "I will warn you, she isn't going to like that tube down her throat. She's probably buck against it and try to pull it out herself. Your job will be to hold her and keep her nice and calm while we assess her, okay?"
Sawyer looked like he was going to be sick.
Aaron offered a reassuring smile. "You got this. She's in excellent hands. Claire's actually more anal than Jack if that's at all possible."
"Yer kidding."
Aaron shook his head as he dialed back Juliet's propofol infusion. "She used to place ornaments on the Christmas tree with a ruler. In case you haven't guessed, we've intentionally avoided telling Jack and Kate that they've got kids. I think poor Jack would have a stroke."
"Kids as in pleural?" Sawyer blinked.
Aaron's smile widened. "Yeah. Kids as in pleural. Kate had twins. Claire you've met and Sam's the spit image of Jack, but one hundred percent Kate in personality. Impulsive, and stubborn as hell."
"Also a doc?"
Aaron chuckled and shook his head. "God no. FBI Agent. I don't think he'd be able to handle a job where he works inside all day. His hobbies include mountain climbing, deep sea diving, and piloting airplanes and he does a lot of consultant work all over the world. Even takes photos for National Geographic."
Claire ducked her head around the corner. "Hey," she greeted. "How are we doing?"
"Propofol infusion is off and I can see she's weaned back to just a sniff of levophed." Aaron said happily.
"Good." She smiled when she saw Sawyer on the bed with Juliet in his arms. "She's doing really well," She told him.
He nodded, and still looked a little shaky. He startled badly when Juliet suddenly jerked against him.
"It's alright," Aaron assured. "She's just starting to wake up. Try and keep her nice and calm. She's in a safe place, you're there with her, it's all gonna be okay." He turned to Claire. "Ringer coming?"
She shook her head. "He needed to throw in a CVP line, but told us we can go ahead if we're comfortable.
"Oh, so he's designated the task to two lowly surgeons," Aaron smirked.
Juliet whimpered and tried to lift her head off of Sawyer's shoulder.
"Oh god Blondie, it's okay," Sawyer smoothed her hair back and hugged her tighter to his chest. She weakly tried to bring her hand toward her mouth, just as Aaron said she would. "Shhhhhh…Blondie…It's just me. It's James. It got ya…yer okay." He kissed her forehead and covered her hand with his larger one, squeezing it. "I ain't gonna let anything happen to ya. Yer safe. Yer in the hospital." He told her. Her eyelids flicked open and she tried to talk around the tube, resulting in a thick gurgling sound.
Aaron watched her heart rate climb and jabbed at the monitor to silence the alarm. "Take a nice deep breath, James. You're doing great," He told Sawyer, noticing how pale the man had become when the alarm stated to blare. "Everything's going fine. Just remember to breath...nice and slow."
Sawyer pinched his eyes together and did as instructed, uncaring what it must have looked like.
"Alright James," Claire gave him a moment to compose himself. "Now lets see how awake she is. Can you ask Juliet to squeeze your hand please?" She asked.
"Ya hear that Sleepin' Beauty? Yer doc wants ya to to squeeze my hand. Think you can do it?" He brushed her hair back and slipped his hand under hers.
She whimpered again.
"Come on, Juliet. I know you can do it. Squeeze my hand and the docs will get that tube out of yer throat."
He felt her fingers curl against his.
"Great job, Blondie," He whispered hoarsely. "Now can ya open those pretty blue eyes again for us?"
Her eyes flickered, just for a second and he kissed her cheek.
"There we are," Aaron said kindly.
"Okay Juliet, this is just some suction." He warned her before he inserted the suction catheter in her mouth. She tensed and latched onto Sawyer's arm, which was resting across her chest.
"Yer doin' great, Sweetheart" Sawyer assured her.
"Alright, tube's coming out now. Take a nice deep breath in, Juliet" Aaron said slowly. Claire pulled causing Juliet to cough violently as the tube was freed from her airway.
"All done," Sawyer whispered and rubbed her shoulders while she coughed and sputtered against him. His eyes were watering badly, but he wouldn't move to wipe them.
Claire reached in to slip and oxygen mask over Juliet's face.
"The oxygen is just for a couple of minutes until she relaxes. You're doing an excellent job." She assured Sawyer, noticing how much he was trembling. "Take another deep breath," she whispered and set her hand on his left shoulder, rubbing slow circles. "Nice and slow. I know this is hard and you are doing fantastic. Juliet's okay James."
He nodded, not trusting his words to speak. He was so distracted he didn't see Aaron had slipped out of the room until he came back in with a couple of heated blankets, which he spread over both of them.
Juliet moaned and tried to pull the mask off her face. Sawyer stiffened.
"Alright, let's do 10 of propofol," Claire told Aaron as she reached in to re-adjust the mask.
Aaron nodded.
"What's happening?" Sawyer looked between the two docs.
"We are going to turn Juliet's sedation back on now just to keep her calm." Claire explained. "It'll be light and just for a little while longer so she can rest up, but we'll still be able to wake her up easily if we need to."
He closed his eyes and hugged her closer, kissing the top of her head. He knew she was completely out when she sagged against him and tried to bury her head under his chin. Her hair tickled his nose.
"See," Aaron reassured. "She's a little more lively now even though she still asleep." He gave Sawyer's shoulder another pat. "I know it's hard, but try and relax. Claire and I have to get back to the OR, but we'll be up to check on you later."
"And the nurses are right outside if you need anything," Claire assured, watching him nod. She waited until they had stepped into corridor before she grabbed Aaron by the sleeve and pulled him into the empty broom closet of a room that the ICU team used for handover.
Once inside she sat on the edge of the conference table and looked down at her feet.
"What?" Aaron frowned at her. "She looks good."
"She's pregnant," she whispered.
When Jack opened his eyes he found himself staring at the television playing some cartoon that he didn't recognize. He studied it for a bit, watching a series of yellow, one-eyed characters waddle across the screen. For a moment, he tried to make out what they were saying, assuming they could talk, but the image was distorted as though he was viewing it through a thick fog that swirled at the very edge of his senses. He gave up and shut his eyes as a bolt of sharp, hot pain sliced through his skull. He groaned and rolled onto his stomach, burying his head in one of several overstuffed pillows that had been propped under his head and shoulders. The smell of cookies baking seemed to linger in his nostrils, reminding him that something wasn't quite right.
Perhaps he was having a very lucid dream? Why wasn't he in bed?
Jack knew he was laying on the couch, but he couldn't remember falling asleep there. He must have drifted off at some point because god he was stiff. Every muscle in his back and chest seemed to pulse in unison with his throbbing head. Somewhere off in the distance he could hear a fire crackling a soothing melody that lulled him back into a drowsy half doze. He had just began relax, feeling the heaviness of sleep insinuate his limbs when he felt something sticky press against forehead. He ignored it and stretched slightly, feeling the slight drag of something else clinging to his neck. He grunted and tried to swat it away, which only resulting in another of the sticky objects ending up on the back of his hand.
He groaned in frustration.
"Kate, do you think he'd like the Disney Princess or the Paw Patrol ones better? I don't think he likes the Minion ones very much." A small voice asked.
"Oh definitely the Disney Princess."
Was that Kate? His eyes popped open and he rolled his head so that only his left cheek was flush with the pillow. His vantage point gave him a zoomed in view of the pig-tailed blonde hovering over him.
Jack stared at her blearily.
"Hi!" She squeaked, when she noticed his eyes were now open.
"You slept a loooooooong time," she sounded impressed. "We had lunch and everything."
Jack groaned and blinked again, weakly rubbing his eyes when the little girl didn't dissolve into his subconscious. Instead she leaned in over him and pressed the stubborn edge of a Band-Aid back against his skin.
"Are you going to sleep some more? My Daddy said you might because you weren't feeling well. It's ok though cause I brought Mr. Rabbit to help you feel better." She motioned to the battered looking stuffed rabbit that was tucked into Jack's left shoulder.
"What?" he croaked. His voice sounded creaky and weak in his own ears.
Stiffly he turned and pushed himself up with his elbows. As he did so, the brightly coloured quilt that was tangled in his legs fell away from his torso, revealing a gray Harvard Medicine t-shirt and green and black plaid pajama pants that he was sure he didn't own.
"Daddy turned on the fireplace because you stayed out in the rain too long and he didn't want you to get cold." Caitlyn tried to explain. "He never lets me play in the rain without my rain coat."
Jack took a long, deep breath as his brain desperately tried to comprehend what was happening. His senses did not seem to match up with the rational part of his mind and the whirlwind of thoughts and nonsensical images left him feeling sluggish and dazed.
Kate, who was leaning over the couch trying to stifle her laughter finally relented and took pity on him.
"Caitlyn," she asked sweetly. "Can you go find your Mom and ask her if she has a container to put the cookies in?"
"Sure!" She agreed. "I just need to put one more of these….here!" She placed a pink Disney Princess Band-Aid next to the Minion one the back of Jack's left hand where his IV site had been bleeding and crusted blood still clung to the skin.
"Oh, you're going to be a great doctor when you grow up," Kate praised, chuckling.
Caitlyn shook her head. "Nah, I want to be a princess first. Then maybe a doctor like Daddy."
"Kate, what's happening?" Jack wheezed once the little girl was out of sight and she had moved to sit next to him on the couch.
Kate studied him and bit her lip. He had four Paw Patrol, Minion, and Disney Princess Band-Aids plastered across his forehead, at least three on his neck, and two covering the back of his left hand.
"Aaron's little girl decided you were in need of a few Band-Aids." She grinned at him, but her tone changed when he stared at her blankly.
"Remember this morning? We ended up in 2040. You met Aaron and—" Jack nodded, his thoughts slowly catching up with him.
"We were in his car," Jack told her absently. "Then I woke up here."
"He said he gave you something that would make you pretty sleepy," Kate explained. "You don't remember him walking you in?"
"The diazepam," Jack grumbled, barely suppressing a yawn. "It screws up memories." He knew it was still in his system. He was foggy and far too relaxed.
Kate smiled. "You didn't miss much. You slept most of the morning and afternoon. Aaron's at the hospital with Sawyer."
"He didn't have to take my clothes off," he muttered petulantly.
"You were soaking wet, Jack."
He nodded and shifted to rest against the back of the couch. His eyes must have drifted shut because when he opened them Kate was gone and another brown-haired woman was standing over him.
"See Mommy, all better!" Caitlyn declared, proudly.
Ellie did her best to hide her amusement and offered Jack a warm smile.
"Hey Jack, my name's Ellie. I'm Aaron's wife." She rested her hand on his shoulder as spoke.
He blinked up at her.
"There's a turkey sandwich and a glass of milk on the table beside you if you're hungry." She offered, giving his shoulder a squeeze before disappearing from his field of vision.
"You should eat." Now Kate was back and holding half a sandwich in front of him.
He groggily reached for it and bent forward so his elbows were resting on his knees. The movement seemed to wake him up a little more and he tentatively took a bite of the sandwich.
"Thanks."
Kate nodded.
"I hate being sick." Jack muttered with a frustrated shake of his head.
"I could always get you some crackers." Kate offered. She studied him for a moment, the corners of her lips curling into a wide smile.
"What?" Jack asked, puzzled.
She reached up and plucked the Band-Aid from his eyebrow.
A/N: Thanks to DimpleCurlAeternaGirl for the idea for the Band-Aid scene! If anyone has any scene ideas let me know. Happy to include if I can. :) Next up: Aaron has a chat with Sawyer, Sawyer meets 2040 Jack, and Jay visits Sawyer and Juliet...sort of ;) Thanks to everyone for reviewed. REALLY REALLY appreciate it and if you review I write more and update faster.