CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Walking down the corridor, Sonny was so lost in his own thoughts that he walks right by Trent, Clay and Ray. They had commandeered three chairs outside the neurology testing room and had no plans to move until their brother was cleared.
"Hey, Sonny Boy!" Ray yelled, waking Sonny from his thoughts of dread.
"What are you guys doing here? I'm pretty sure neurological exams are not a spectator sport."
"Just here to lend some moral support, brother."
Clay clapped Sonny on the shoulder, "What he means is, we're here for actual evidence that you have working brain cells".
"Ha ha, Pretty Boy. I have plenty of brain cells, and they work just fine, thank you."
Sonny chats with the guys a few minutes, killing time before his 9am appointment. When he finally walks in to the office, he feels a little better.
The initial exam lasted over two hours. The doctors evaluated his cranial nerves, deep tendon reflexes, ocular tracking and cervical range of motion. Sonny let the doctors do what they needed to do and tried to do his best not to freak out.
Sonny had no idea if his results were good, or bad, when the doctors declared they were finished with the tests and would be ready to start the practical tests at 1pm.
Sonny was surprised to find Trent, Clay and Ray still in the hallway, this time joined by Brock and Cerberus. They all jump from their seats when Sonny walks out the door, all talking at once.
"Hey man."
"How'd it go?"
"You cleared yet?"
"BARK!"
"What did they say?"
"Woah, woah, woah. Not done yet. I have to come back a 1, for the practical."
Clay grabs Sonny by the neck, steering him down the hall. "I guess you have two hours to kill. Let's get food."
"Yeah, sure. Where's Boss?"
Ray scratches his head and avoids Sonny's eyes. "I don't know, man. He's on base, I saw his truck in the lot. But I haven't seen him. Probably got pulled in a meeting with Blackburn."
"Yeah, sure. Let's go."
The team piles into Clay's truck, Sonny in the passenger seat, Ray in the back, with Trent, Brock and Cerberus in the bed. Clay drives to the closest, team-approved, Cerberus-friendly spot he can think of "Senior Taco". Sonny keeps lunch a light-hearted affair, steering all conversation away from submarines, his breathing issues, and the upcoming tests.
As the team walks from the lot back on base, they run into Jason. He seems uneasy running into the team, and completely avoids eye contact from all of the guys, especially Sonny. He mumbles something about needing to get something out of his truck and runs off before anyone can call him out on missing lunch with the team.
"Was that weird?" Sonny asks, turning to Clay.
"Yeah, man. That was weird. I wonder what he's up to?"
"No idea."
"Hey, it's 12:55, you gotta get back."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm going."
Sonny walks back to the neurology office and is quickly escorted by two young blonde nurses to one of the rehab suites. There the doctors run him through drills to test his coordination, balance and ability to follow a serious of directions.
Sonny had no idea what half the drills had to do with his brain, but he was happy that he could move around, and could gauge whether he was doing well or not. The guys were happy that the rehab suite had a wall-to-wall window, so they got to watch their brother go through the drills.
The doctor tells Sonny to stand on one leg and throw a 20lb medicine ball against the cinderblock wall. Sonny raises his eyebrow, and shrugs, easily smashing the ball on the wall, and perfectly keeping his balance. The hallway erupts in a chorus of hoots, catcalls and high-fives and the guys celebrate their brother's success.
The rest of the drills go much like the first. Sonny shuffles to different colored markers, in a random order called out by the nurse, then has to close his eyes, and turn North, South, East, and West according to the doctor's calls. Sonny doesn't notice Davis has joined the audience until he hears her laugh, and calls of encouragement. Her sudden appearance distracts him and he promptly screws up the next drill - catching and throwing back three differently colored tennis balls.
By the time the drills are over, Sonny is exhausted, and his breathing is ragged. Davis tosses him an inhaler and gives him a hug.
"Looks like your brain still works, at least from what I saw."
"Could you tell Blondie that? I'm not sure he believes it yet."
The doctor and nurses walk out to join Bravo team, momentarily interrupting their celebratory high-fives.
One of the nurses hands Sonny his paperwork, and Davis notices a bright yellow post-it note stuck to the first page, with "Call me" and a phone number. Davis laughs when she sees the name at the bottom, Brittney. She plucks the note from the paperwork and hands it to Sonny,
"What is up with you and girls with names that end in Y?"
Confused, Sonny looks at the note in his hand, shakes his head, gives Davis a smirk and hands the note to Clay, "I think this one is for you, Pretty Boy. It's from the blonde."
"Huh? What blonde?"
"The nurse."
"They're both blonde."
"Does it matter?"
"I guess not…"
Just then, they were interrupted by the doctor.
"Well, Mr. Quinn. Your results are pretty clear. I see no neurological damage, what-so-ever. I'll send a letter to your C.O. officially clearing you. Rest up those lungs, you should be back in action soon."
"Thank you," Sonny says, shaking the doctor's hand, and turning to the group of SEALs, who are slowing moving in to party mode. "Let's get out here. Hospitals give me the creeps."
"Where to Tex? Drinks are on me," Clay offers.
Trent steps up, reminding everyone that Sonny is currently still wheezing from his neuro workout, and needs to go home, and rest.
Clay breaks into a broad grin, "I can work with that. To Davis'!"
"You guys are on your own. I still have a stack of paperwork to get through." Looking around the group of SEALs, Davis eyes Ray and Sonny, especially, before proclaiming, "Spenser is in charge, don't screw it up."
Ray and Sonny speak at once.
"What? The kid? That's just wrong."
Davis walks back to building 3, leaving the team arguing over where to go to celebrate.