Hello everyone! for the majorit of you, you'll see in a few hours this 3-way crossover! So I wanted to post this chapter so you can read it before this #OneChicago.
Enjoy!
CHAPTER 9: Withdrawal
Nine days passed, nine days of waiting for Kelly. Nine long days of anxiety in this hospital room of Chicago Med. Nine days that doctors and nurses were making comings and goings near Matt, to check if everything was okay, if he was becoming stronger, they were running some tests. To reassure him, Kelly Severide, best friend and brother of this form laying still and comatose, inert in this bed. He was missing Matt. He saw him every day when he could, he was missing his voice, making jokes and pranks with him, it tortured him to tell himself that Matt will probably never be the same. They got through many things together: the firefighter Academy, the reunion on the field, their promotion of lieutenant, their transfer in the same firehouse than their third brother, the loss of this third brother, the death of Hallie, his head injury and this time this accident. So many things he wanted to forget for the majority. The part after the death of Andy. He wanted so many to coma back in time. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear Riley enter the room and talk to him.
Kelly?"
Finally jumping up, he looked the room hurrily. His gaze locked on the bed, on Matt, then the doctor, standing on the other side of the bed.
"What?"
Doctor Riley continued to examine Matt, looking at the screens encircling the bed, then smiled.
"Matt is going better, as I can see. His vitals are stable since three days in a suitable level, his fever is down, his brain activity is becoming stronger, as well as his heart. With your permission, I would like to begin to decrease sedation slowly and carefully to wake him up".
Kelly opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no word, no sound came out. His heart was dealing with two completely opposite emotions: joy and fear.
"Uh... It's uh... Not too soon?" Kelly asked hesitating.
"To tell the truth, he is good. With the type of cerebral operation he had, we keep the patient around three days in a coma. And it's the same case for a major heart surgery. And nine days passed since the operation because he wasn't enough stable for us, but I think he is stable enough to try".
Kelly wasn't reassured by this explanation. And the doctor saw this.
"I wouldn't propose this if I didn't think he couldn't do it. I sincerely think he can do it. Trust me".
Kelly frowned.
"The last time I trusted you, Matt almost didn't survive".
"It's a random risk Kelly. And I'm sorry about this. This time, the risk is much lower".
"But it's still a random risk".
"And we can't control these risks, but we can prevent them".
Kelly closed his eyes and sighed deeply while passing his hands on his face.
"What are the risks of waking him up?"
"The most common are pain, provocking an increasing BP and heart rate. If the pain is too much to bear, we'll sedate him again. In his case, he might fight the ET tube, but he needs it for a few more days because of his diaphragmatic rupture, the collapsed lung and the hemothorax".
"I know Matt, he will find a way to pull it out. When he had this head injury a couple months ago, he woke up with the ventilator. We told him he needed it for a few more hours, nurses almost attached him so he couldn't touch the tube and the ventilator".
"The main advantage, if we can say that, it's he will be too weak to fight it the first hours, I hope".
Kelly let escape a smile.
"It won't stop him. But uh... You really think it's time?"
"Keeping him in an induced coma too long will stress him, make him feel lost, and this isn't good for his body".
He nodded, then approached the bed. He tooked his left hand in his, and pressed it.
"You... Said he will suffer?"
"When we put someone in a coma, it's to avoid the pain mainly. So when the patient is waking up, it's logical to feel pain, but when he is awake, we can optimally regulate the pain meds, so we can ease the pain".
Kelly didn't hide his concern and his fear. He didn't want to see his borther in pain. But on the other side, the more they were waiting...
"How many time before his awakening?"
"In his case, we'll decrease sedation step by step. If everything is going fine, in two days, he will be awake, groggy and mainly asleep, but awake".
He bit his lips, thinking about what he had to do.
"Okay. Do what you want".
The doctor touched one of the machines, then smiled.
"A nurse will come to take his vitals. I programmed this machine to decrease sedation by itself. If something is wrong, we'll push this button so the decreasing sedation will stop".
Giving him a last smile, the doctor left the room, letting Kelly alone with Matt. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Shay's number. He knew she was with Antonio at Lakeshore, in her room, Gabby's.
Lakeshore, three days after surgery, flashback.
At Lakeshore, doctors held a speech about Gabby: they wanted to decrease the sedation to see her reaction and let her wake in her rhythm. Antonio didn't hesitate a second before accepting the process.
"It's a good thing Antonio", Shay assured smiling.
"Yeah".
Antonio feigned a smile. He was really tired, exhausted by these last days. Shay put her left hand on his right shoulder so he could look at her.
"I know you don't want to leave Gabby, but you should rest and sleep a little. I'll stay here the time you need. She will need her brother, not a zombie!"
At least, this made Antonio laugh. He passed his hand on his eyes.
"I think this time, I will hear your advice. I will eat, take a shower and sleep for hours".
He began to stand up when Shay's phone rang. Reading Kelly's name, she smiled.
"Kelly? You have good news?"
"Uh... Not really".
Kelly stopped a second, and continued with a smile on his face.
"Riley wanted to withdraw sedation. He wanted to do this carefully to avoid too much stress on his body, mainly his brain and his heart. But uh... He isn't stable and his fever doesn't want to go down".
Shay, who put Kelly on a speaker, stood up hurrily, opening her mouth, astonished.
"Oh my God!"
Shay knew what Matt got through these past few days, she had been with Kelly when his brain activity restart, almost in time before being permanently brain dead. But Shay was worried.
"But Riley thinks that waiting too long will stress his body and lost him. So more problems than good things".
As a paramedic, she understood the point of vue of the doctor and knew they had to trust him.
"The doctor just said something about Dawson".
She waited a reaction through the phone.
"What?"
Kelly was confused, totally lost.
"He wants to begin to drop the sedation to let her wake by her own, slowly and without too much stress".
"Oah, uh... This a good thing then. Gabby will be awake in a few days and we'll know if... If the accident let some damage, physically and mentally".
"Yeah. But for now, we need to focus on their awakening, so damage later okay?"
Kelly didn't talk for a second.
"You're right Shay. Focussing on their awakening, and we'll see later".
"You keep me updated okay?"
"Yeah, you too?"
"I will".
She hung up with a smile on her face. Matt and Gabby faced hell, but she was getting better enough to put her out of their coma. Finally, they will have their friends with them again.
End of flashback
A day passed and doctor Riley lowered the sedation in a half way, keeping Matt in a coma. His vitals were increasing in a regular rhythm: his heartbeat was stronger and faster, his BP was stabilized at 11 over 8, 'an acceptable blood pressure' according to Riley after the trauma he suffered.
"We need to run more tests when he will be awake, espacially cerebral tests. His pupils are reacting well, and he seems to not have visual problems. But as I'm saying, we need to wait his awakening".
"When he will begin to wake?"
"Not too long. Look".
The doctor pointed Matt's eyes. His eyelids were closed, but his eyes were moving.
"He is beginning to show sign of consciousness".
Kelly was hit by asthonishment.
"He... He can hear us?"
"It's a high probability yes!" Riley confirmed with a smile.
Kelly was straight in his chair and took instinctively Matt's left hand while smiling.
"I will let you, I have other patients to see. Push the nurse button if there are changes".
Passing near him, doctor Riley tapped friendly his shoulder and left the room. A huge tension left Kelly. He didn't slept but a few hours these past few days, he felt tiredness invaded him slowly. Still with his brother's hand on his, he squeezed it stronger and put his head on the bed.
"I'm happy. To know that soon, I will have my brother again".
He smiled a last time before falling asleep slowly, falling in a dream world he didn't see for a long time.
During the following hours, nurses came again and again to take Matt's vitals, while making the least noise to not wake Kelly up, who was sleeping peacefully for the first time in days. Knowing he didn't eat either, they prepared a trash full of food so he could gain strengh. Four hours after falling asleep, Kelly woke up suddenly. He had felt a little pinch on his hand and it had been enough to wake him up. He looked his own hand, this one that was holding his brother's hand. It was moving slightly. He straightened, and while he was waking up, he took a serious look.
"Matt? Come on sleepy head, it's time to open your eyes".
He squeezed his hand stronger and waited a reaction from Matt. He could see his eyes moving more than before his nap, he saw Matt begin to frown.
"Open your eyes Matt. Come on bud', open your eyes".
Slowly, his eyes opened. Without waiting Kelly smiled and pushed the nurse button. His hand squeezed Matt's hand harder. After a minute, a nurse came in the room. Seeing the smile on his face, she approached the bed.
"He... He just opened his eyes".
The nurse ran to this bed. She took her penlight and pointed it in the level of Matt's eyes. He closed them almost immediately, frowning again.
"I will find the doctor".
"No! No..."
The nurse stopped, turning to Kelly. She wanted to ask him why but she didn't have the time.
"Let him regain strengh. It will ease his work".
The nurse took the time to answer. She looked Matt, paralyzed in this bed, asleep already. She nodded.
"You're right".
She pointed at the tray behind Kelly.
"We prepared you a cold meal. You also need to regain strengh. For your brother".
He turned and saw the tray, containing two homemade ham sandwishes, a salad, a banana and a bottle of water. He smiled and turned to the nurse.
"Thank you... Emily", he said reading her badge.
She smiled and left the room. Kelly turned to Matt, squeezed his hand and smiled.
"I know you enough to know that you closed your eyes to not be bothered. Open your little eyes for your big brother".
Almost immediately after, Matt reopened his eyes and locked them on Kelly. He moved slightly his head left to right, painfully. His heartbeat was increasing regularly, and Kelly understood why.
"If you don't want to see the nurse, you need to stay calm. This tube is here to help you, you can't breathe for now".
But Matt was still fighting the tube. Kelly sighed, tightening his hand.
"I promise that soon, it won't be here anymore. But for now, you need to gain strengh, and to do this, you need to stop fighting the respirator".
Matt still wanted to fight it, to fight the tube invading his throat. But he didn't have the strengh anymore. He gave up, closing his eyes immediately. He let escape a little tear that came down his cheek. He felt his brother passed his finger on this cheek to wipe it.
"I know it's hard, but you need to rest. Close your eyes, and sleep for now. We'll have time later".
Matt was feeling good with this voice. This voice that deep down, he knew it. He felt himself drift to sleep, his brother's hand caressing his hand. Seeing his heartbeat dropping, Kelly was satisfied.
"That's it. Get back to sleep".
The same nurse came back in the room, slowly.
"I saw his heartbeat increased on the computer".
"All good. He fought the ventilator, but he fell asleep again", Kelly whispered.
She smiled and approached the bed, wanting to know if the breathing tube moved, but this wasn't the case.
"How much time he will keep it? The ventilator I mean".
"It depends on him and the doctor. My opinion, at least another day, the time for him to be out of sedation".
Kelly nodded, but stayed worried.
"I know him, each time he will wake up, he will fight the ventilator".
"I think that doctor Riley can approve something on him. I will page him and see".
She left the room and called the doctor. He arrived almost immediately.
"He is awake?"
"Barely. But it's not why I paged you".
Riley put his hands on his hips and frowned.
"He's fighting the tube and Mr. Severide assured he will each time he will be awake".
The doctor opened the door of the room znd approached the bed.
"Doc?" Kelly said whispering and surprised.
He said nothing, looking at the screens one by one and stopped on one of them.
"This is why I paged you".
Kelly didn't understand.
"What is it?"
"Your brother Matt has pulmonary reflex", Riley confirmed.
"And... And it's a good thing?"
"This is one of the reasons he's fighting the tube".
Riley stopped the sedation.
"What are you doing?"
"He is awake enough to fight the respirator, so I stopped the sedation. It can be abrupt, but he is healing faster than I thought".
"What?"
Surprised, Kelly stood up. Riley lifted his hands up and turned to Kelly.
"He shouldn't have these reflex. Not so soon after the surgery. The only way to find a solution, so not stress him, is to wake him up fully".
Kelly struggled to understand the doctor.
"Doctor? His heartbeat is increasing".
"Alright. Can you bring the material?"
"On it".
Emily left the room while Kelly is beginning to panic.
"I have two solutions and Matt has to chose. Either we remove the ventilator and he will try to breathe on his own, or we let it in place but we start a program so he can breathe with the ventilator".
Kelly wanted to talk and opened his mouth, but asthonishment invaved him and avoided him to speak. He got out of his shape because of a pinch on his hand. Matt was reopening his eyes. The nurse came back with a cart and the material needed for the extubation.
"Hello!"
Matt had fully opened his eyes, and turned to Kelly who smiled.
"Listen to the doctor. He has things to say".
He passed his eyes toward Riley and frowned. Then he began to fight the tube again.
"That's why I'm here. I have two solutions, but for now, I need you to stop to fight and stay calm".
Matt took several seconds before stopping to fight. His heartrate began to drop slowly.
"Here we go. As I said, I have two solutions. Either I will remove the tube and let your breathe alone but your body will be stressed. Or I let it but I let you breathe with the respirator; and it will help your body to heal properly and gain strengh. You understand?"
Matt stayed still, eyes opened. Riley frowned.
"Blink once if you can hear me".
Four seconds later, relief invaved the doctor when he saw Matt blinking once.
"Doc?" Kelly called him. "What is it?"
"He is still too groggy to understand completely what we are saying. We leave him to wake up, he will sleep a few hours and then we'll come back".
Kelly nodded and turned to Matt.
"Go back to sleep and keep gain strengh. You'll need this".
Matt tried to nod, but he couldn't. He closed his eyes and got back to sleep peacefully, while the doctor frowned.
"Is there a problem?" Kelly asked.
"I don't know yet. We'll see when he'll be fully awake, but I think he's just too groggy. We'll run tests to know if there are damages from the brain dead and the bleeding. And we'll see after this".