TOM
Jane had been released from the hospital after a three week admission.
She had gotten her lung function back up to %55 which had put her mind at ease.
She still needed quite a bit of rest, but Dr. S was comfortable sending her home, as long she came to clinic once a week for a month or so to ensure she was still healing properly.
She was sitting on the corner of the couch looking out the window, while you were reading a new script that had come your way.
"Tom, it's so lovely outside, why don't we do something fun? Maybe Ben and Sophie would want to go for a little picnic? Sophie said they were in town for a bit and wanted to get together." She says eagerly, getting up and crossing over towards you and sitting on your lap.
You kiss her cheek. "Are you sure you're up for something like that?"
She rolls her eyes. "Tom, it's a picnic. I think I can manage sitting on a blanket in a park and eating a sandwich."
You sigh and look at her a moment. You understood her desire to get back to normal life. And it truly was a beautiful day. You were probably just being paranoid, she would be fine for a picnic.
"You go call Sophie, I'll start making up something to eat." She grins widely and kisses your forehead before leaving your lap and going to her phone to call Sophie.
You make your way to the kitchen to make up some sandwiches and pack some chips and cookies.
You get out the peanut butter and jelly and Jane skips down the hallway and back into the kitchen.
"They said they will meet us at Bakers Park in a half hour!" You smile at her excitement.
She comes to the counter to start helping make up lunch. Once that's done she goes to change into a sundress while you find a blanket to bring.
She comes out in a little mint sundress that goes to her knees, a white cardigan pulled over her bare arms.
"You look very pretty. Ready to go?"
She nods and takes your hand as you carry the basket and blanket to the car.
Once there you see Ben and Sophie already searching out the perfect spot. They see you pull up and Sophie hurries to the car, enveloping Jane in a hug.
Sophie and Jane were just as close as you and Ben. You really missed being just down the street from each other.
Ben came over and wrapped an arm around your shoulder. "Good to see you, Tom!"
"You too, Ben! And Sophie dear, how are you?" You make your way to Sophie and give her a kiss on the cheek, Ben does the same to Jane.
"I'm very well thanks. So are we ready to picnic?" Sophie says.
"We spotted a lovely spot here under this tree." Ben says leading the way.
Jane is practically giddy. She pauses a moment to close her eyes and just feel the breeze, you wait a moment for her to catch up. Watching her and smiling.
You make your way under the tree on top of a small hill, you lay out a blanket and Sophie and Jane start getting lunch out of the basket.
Jane and Sophie talk girl things and you and Ben talk movie roles coming up and projects you'd just finished.
After lunch you leaned against the tree and Jane lay inbetween your legs, laying her head on your chest. Ben and Sophie sat across from you, her leaning against Ben and his arms wrapped around her, resting on her stomach.
"So, we have a bit of news to share. We haven't told anyone yet as we want you two to be the first to know." Ben says with a huge grin.
Jane sits up from your chest and you from the tree.
"I'm pregnant!" Sophie practically shouts.
You feel joy rush through you, but look quickly to Jane to see if she was alright. You knew she would be overjoyed for them, but given the conversation you had not even two weeks ago, this was a sore subject.
She didn't even hesitate before leaning forward and grabbing them both in a hug. You lean forward and join in.
"Oh my goodness! I'm so happy for you both! You're going to be such wonderful parents!" She squeals.
You lean back and grab Ben's shoulder. "If it's a boy surely you'll be naming him Thomas?"
He rolls his eyes and gives a laugh.
Jane and Sophie start discussing baby things and how she's feeling, while Ben whispers to you how nervous he is.
"I can't even say pengwing, how am I supposed to raise a child and teach it right?" He mumbles to you.
You hold back a laugh and turn to reassure him. "Ben, you're going to be a great father. It's scary I'll give you that, but it will all just kick in once the little one arrives. Plus Uncle Tom can fix whatever you screw up."
He elbows you in the ribs and you both just sit back and watch the girls.
After all the excitement Jane returns to you and leans against you, laying her head on your chest again. You notice her wearing out, you had been out for a few hours now.
"Are you tired, love? Would you like to go home?" Ben and Sophie look to you both, waiting for her answer.
"No no, I want to stay a bit longer.." She says quietly.
Not even five minutes later she is sound asleep in your lap.
Sophie looks to you, a little worry on her face. "Tom, how is she really? She always downplays things with me."
"We're still waiting to see just how much damage the pneumonia has caused. She had a pretty rough go. She's concerned about the future. Things like children and a possible double lung transplant. She's hanging in there though. She's a tough one." You say looking down at her and stroking her hair.
Ben speaks up now. "Children? Oh God that never even occurred to us, we shouldn't have said anything. So sorry."
"Ben are you utterly insane? We are so excited and happy for you! Nothing to apologize for. We've discussed options, but for now things are just at a bit of a stand still. We will be fine. The most important thing right now is her health and doing what's best for her."
They both nod. "Maybe we should get going? She looks like she could use some rest." Sophie says.
You nod and Ben begins to clean up the picnic, you stand with Jane in your arms, she doesn't even stir. Sophie folds up the blanket and they walk with you back to the car.
You set Jane down in the seat and her eyes flutter open. "What's going on?" She whispers.
"You fell asleep, love. We're going home now."
She nods and Ben and Sophie come around to give her a hug.
"We are in town these next few weeks so we will spend lots of time together before we leave!" Sophie reassured Jane.
Ben came and hugged you goodbye. "If you need anything just let us know, ok?"
You nod. "Thank you Ben. I will. And you, too. We'll see you soon. And congrats again."
You hop in the car and Jane is back asleep before you make it home.
JANE
It was your first appointment since being home and you had to admit, you were pretty nervous.
You still felt better compared to a few weeks ago, but still not back to normal.
You were waiting to be called back for your lung function test, Tom sensed your nerves and squeezed your hand.
"Darling, it's going to be ok." He smiles at you.
You nod and then a man comes around the corner and calls you back.
Your weight was up a pound which got you excited, however your oxygen levels were only %94.
Probably just your cold hands you think optimistically.
You put on the nose clips and start your normal breathing into the machine.
"Ok, now deep breath and blast it out!" The man says.
You suck in a deep breath and blow out as fast as you can. So hard and fast you shake.
It always left an ache in your chest.
You break inbetween to cough and catch your breath, Tom watches from the chair across the room. He seemed nervous.
You repeat this two more times before the man prints out your results.
"So what's the magic number?" You ask.
"%50."
You felt your stomach swirl but you tried to relax. It's only down by %5, that's not horrible.
You take the papers and thank the man who performed the test and then Tom takes your hand in his as you walk to your appointment with Dr. S.
Tom is quiet beside you.
You get to his office and sit on the little bed with the familiar crunchy paper. Tom takes a seat beside you in a chair.
"Maybe you just need some more antibiotics." He says hopefully.
You grin at him, speaking softly. "Yeah, maybe."
Then you hear a tap on the door before it creaks open.
"Hello Jane and Tom. How are we today?" Dr. S says cheerfully, taking a seat at the small desk with a computer.
"I am about the same. Still kinda tired and weak and sometimes just overall blah. But my appetite is getting better."
He nods and takes a look at the results on the desk. He studies them a moment, his mouth twists into a slight grimace.
"Hmmm... Well, these aren't the numbers I was hoping for. How is your cough? Do you get any shortness of breath or tightness?"
You shrug. "My cough is about the same too I think-" you look to Tom to confirm before continuing. He nods. "I mean, I don't notice any shortness of breath or tightness really. I haven't done anything other than our usual activities though."
He nods and rubs his chin before standing up and crossing over to you, readying his stethoscope. "Deep breaths."
You take deep breaths as he moves his stethoscope around your back, chest, and sides. Tom watches carefully. A hint of anxiousness in his eyes.
He finishes and hangs the scope back around his neck.
"Well, you don't sound any different. I feel like more antibiotics may be the answer. Now, I know you were cooped up here for three weeks, so would you and Tom like a crash course on IV's so you can run them at home? It would mostly be Tom's responsibility because I still want you getting a great deal of rest."
You look to Tom, and him to you. His eyes slightly wide.
"What do you think? If you don't I understand. It's alot of work." You say to Tom.
"I want to do whatever I can to help. Let's take the course." He says confidently.
Dr. S smiles and then stands and heads towards the door. "Great! I think this will work well. Now I'm going to go and start writing the orders for supplies and antibiotics and I'll send Mindy in to access your mediport and teach you and Tom some things. I will write for a Home Health Nurse to come each day to check on things too. And I will see you next week, alright?"
You nod and thank him. Once he's gone Tom comes and sits next to you on the crinkly paper.
"I told you it was probably just more antibiotics. Just call me Dr. Tom." He grins cheekily.
You roll your eyes just before the nurse Mindy comes in.
"Hi guys, I'm Mindy and I'm gonna teach you a few things to take care of at home. The Home Health Nurse will teach you about running the actual antibiotics as I don't have that supplies handy."
"Hello Mindy," Tom says as she starts setting things up to access your mediport. Once she's finished you lay back and pull your shirt down as far as it goes so she can get to your mediport properly. That all goes smoothly and then she covers it with dressing.
Before flushing it with saline and heparin she tells Tom to put on some gloves so he can do it.
"Ok, so I want you to take that alcohol swab and wipe off the cap of both her port tube, and the saline syringe."
He nods and does so carefully.
"Ok, now connect the two and push the saline in slowly. Once that's done do the same, but with the blue syringe. That's the heparin, that locks it off for a few hours so that her line doesn't close up."
He does a great job, not showing any hint of uneasiness.
She tells you a few more things about making sure to clean the caps before administering and antibiotics, saline, or heparin and a few things to watch for and if I experience any of those symptoms to come in right away.
We head home and then our Home Health Nurse, Rachel, shows up with the antibiotics, syringe pump, and all the other supplies.
She was very sweet and very patient as Tom and I asked questions and double checked certain things while she taught us both, mostly Tom though as I was supposed to try and rest as much as possible still, how to setup and run IV's.
Right here in the living room. It was a strange feeling. We attached the syringe pump to my pole with my g-tube pump and set up an area on the dining room table for all my new supplies, an antibiotic chart with the times and steps hanging on the fridge.
I felt so happy not to be stuck in the hospital again, but sick at the same time as our home was turning into my own personal hospital.
And Tom was almost my new nurse.
You tried to push these feelings down, laying down and closing your eyes as Tom and Rachel talked about a few more questions he had.
She left her work cell and made sure things were running smooth before she left. Assuring that she would be back tomorrow at the same time. She had stayed for around two hours.
Tom came and sat beside you on the couch, pulling your afghan over you.
You look up and smile.
"I love you."
He grins and leans to kiss your forehead.
"I love you too, darling. So I have a question."
You sit up and adjust so that you're leaning on his shoulder. "Mmmm?"
"Am I a nurse, or am I veterinarian of some sort? Is there a certain word for a penguin nurse?" You hear him chuckle before he finishes his sentence.
You sit up and look at him with a smirk. "How long have you been waiting to crack that joke now?"
"About thirty minutes. I didn't want to say it in front of the nurse, she would probably think me terrible since she wouldn't get the penguin thing." He grins and giggles to himself again.
You laugh at the thought of him calling himself a vet while caring for his sick wife in front of a stranger. Suddenly feeling better about the situation. If you had to do this, you were grateful it was with Tom.
"Thank you for making this easier on me. For making me laugh. I was just feeling bummed out about our home being turned into my own personal hospital and my husband my new nurse, and then you go and call yourself a vet and make me forget."
He kisses you gently.
"Laughter is the best medicine, love."
Authors note: I know you hate this, but I swear it's going somewhere, and it's not all bad! Just trying to keep realistic to the disease. But hey, making you be so worried for her means I'm doing a good job, right? And I realize my timeline is off as far as movie roles I've mentioned and now Ben and Sophies pregnancy, but it's a fictional story so now it has a fictional timeline. Sorry if that makes anyone frustrated. Another thank you to all those who read!