Chapter 11

The doors suddenly opened and Dr. Lee came out, blood all over his scrubs. He saw the three waiting for him, apprehension and anticipation on their faces. He took off his surgical cap and inhaled deeply before beginning.

Hank's heart was beating furiously and his stomach was in knots. The image in his dream of Evan reaching out to their mom quickly flashed and he tried to shake it away.

"First of all, Evan is alive and in recovery right now."

Hank, Paige and Divya wanted to sigh in relief but none of them did. It seemed they were all holding their breath. Why did they feel that the doctor's next word would be "but"?

"But," he looked at all three of them sadly, "the next 24 hours will be critical."

He went on, "It took quite awhile for us to stem the bleeding. Apparently, the toxins from the venom of the spider did more damage than we initially assessed. The blood you donated helped so much as Evan was losing more blood than we could transfuse. We are also concerned about septicemia."

Paige gasped suddenly and her knees buckled under her. Divya and Hank caught her before she could fall completely. She immediately regained her composure and asked Dr. Lee to go on.

"We have started him on stronger antibiotics and will make adjustments once the cultures come in. The good news is, there has been no sign of further damage to the liver or kidneys, but we are monitoring that closely as well. Plus, Evan seemed to have been in excellent health before all this so, while his condition is still listed as critical, he's got that going for him."

Hank pondered that for a moment and tried to hold on to Dr. Lee's optimism. He thanked Dr. Lee then turned to the girls. He suddenly noticed that he and Divya were still supporting Paige, who in turn, was still clinging to them. As Dr. Lee left, Paige apologized to the other two for almost breaking down on them.

"I had an uncle who died of sepsis…is…is that the same thing as what Evan…has?" the obviously rattled young lady asked.

Hank cringed at the word, and the thought. "Dr. Lee said they are concerned…they're still waiting for the results of the culture, right? Besides, they're ahead on the treatment…" his voice trailed. He knew how bad it could get even with treatment.

Another one of Evan's doctors appeared, introduced himself and informed them that they would be moving Evan to his room soon. He also assured them that he would get the same monitoring and care there that he would have had in the ICU.

Jill was already in Evan's room when the three got there. She was finalizing the arrangements for round-the-clock monitoring. When she saw her friends enter, she went to Hank and hugged him. No words were needed for Hank to feel the comfort that Jill offered.

When Evan was finally wheeled in, they could not help but tense up as they took in his appearance. What they saw was the exact opposite of the usually vibrant young man who always introduced himself as "Evan R Lawson, CFO of HankMed". Was it even possible that he looked even sicker than he did before his surgery?

They waited for the patient to be settled, all tubes in place, all machines running well. When the last of them left, they approached the bed. Each had their little one-way talk with the unconscious man, then got themselves settled.

Dr. Emily Peck still could not believe what had transpired between her and Hank. She was used to getting her way with men and never in her life had any male chosen someone else over her, least of all their brother. She had siblings too but she would never let them get in the way of her happiness, and she was sure that Hank could not be happier with a brother than with a pretty little thing like herself.

She busied herself with her work, knowing that there was no use trying to get Hank back while Evan was still sick. She took it as the perfect opportunity to move in on the valued clients of HankMed. "Ha! I'll show them!"

Days passed. Hank, Paige and Divya had developed a routine that revolved around their beloved patient. Paige and Hank had refused to leave his side except for bathroom breaks and quick showers. Neither had seen their homes in days. Divya spent most nights there, but did go home once in awhile to shower, buy food and run other errands. She also took on some of the case load Hank would have normally covered. Fortunately, there were no pressing emergencies. She did find out that Emily had been approaching many of their regulars but when she told Hank about it, he didn't really care.

Jill visited often of course, and surprisingly so did Dr. Blair. Boris had dropped by, and on more than one occasion, had sent over sumptuous meals for Hank and company. Some of HankMeds' clients had either visited or sent cards and flowers.

Hank had watched Paige hover over him, and was even embarrassed one time when she caught him staring as she caressed his brother's face and whispered sweet nothings in his ear. He was filled with an overwhelming sense of brotherly love for this young lady who seemed to care so much for his baby brother.

For his part, Hank just missed Evan. It had literally been days since he heard the kid's (to him, Evan would always be a kid) crazy marketing ideas, or his wild proposals. He missed the banter and the jokes. He hated that their last real conversation was a stupid fight over Emily.

Evan had drifted in and out of consciousness but was never fully lucid to recognize what was going on around him. His blood cultures had confirmed Septicemia but it was awhile before they were able to get the most effective dosage of antibiotics to treat it. There were a couple of scary moments when Evan would moan and groan and end up screaming in pain. Then there were the fevers and chills, and on two occasions, he convulsed violently.

The most frightening though, was when they thought Evan was finally coming to. He had stirred and shifted his body, groaning, his eyes fluttering. Then he gasped out loud and his body was suddenly limp and deathly still as the beeps and blips of the machines became one long monotone. That had sent a whole army of medical personnel rushing in with a crash cart. Paige had become almost hysterical as Hank, with all his medical background, could do nothing but just stare in shock. That had to be the worst moment for them since the whole crisis started, although to Hank, it was right up there with his brother had asking "When did I become your last priority?"

Finally though, Evan started showing signs of improvement. It took a little more than a week. His vitals were stabilizing. There was no more fever. The septicemia had been treated and his organs were almost completely healed. All he had to do now was...wake up.