Chapter 21

Fixing

Slowly it wanders,--pauses,--creeps,
--Anon it sparkles,--flashes and leaps
And ever as onward it gleaming goes
A light on the Bong-tree stems it throws.
And those who watch at that midnight hour
From Hall or Terrace, or lofty Tower
Cry, as the wild light passes along,--
'The Dong! The Dong!
The wandering Dong through the forest goes!
The Dong!the Dong!
The Dong with a luminous Nose!'

(Edward Lear)

Aaron was in surgery for a long time. The punctured and collapsed lung needed urgent treatment, his crushed chest and many broken and displaced ribs needed attention. The skin on his back needed a graft, but the area to be covered was too great for Aaron's own skin to be used. The surgeon removed the extensively damaged skin from Aaron's back and applied artificial temporary skin made of collagen and semipermeable silicon foil, and a Vacuum assisted closure on the site, ready for a cell cultured epithelial autograft .

Both his arms were broken, and the bones displaced. The orthopaedic surgeon plated and screwed the bones. His wrist needed an operation to realign the breaks, some of the small carpel bones were shattered, and it was not certain whether he would ever regain full use of his hand.

Aaron had a fractured skull, which also needed plating. There was a lot of tissue damage to his feet, and infected skin needed to be incised.

When at last Aaron was put back together, and the skin culture was begun, he was taken to recovery.

Had Spencer been awake, likely he would have asked to be with him. As it was...

"Lay down, please, Dr Reid. Now hold still."

Spencer gaped at the syringe, and belatedly screwed his eyes closed. He ought not have looked at the syringe, but the damage was done. He sat up quickly and threw up onto the floor. The nurse's lips shrunk into a small hard line.

"It's only an injection!" she berated him. "Be a brave boy for nursey!"

Reid glared at her in annoyance, and laid back down, allowing her to anaesthetise his nose. It felt very strange, but at least it didn't hurt now. The doctor entered, and smiled at him, noticed the puddle on the floor, and stopped smiling.

"Are you ready?"

Spencer nodded uncertainly. For this, he would not ever be ready!

The doctor put a speculum up Spencer's nose, and cranked open his nostrils. Spencer pulled himself backwards onto the bed. Then the doctor showed Spencer the forceps and the Boies elevator.

Spencer whimpered, his eyes huge and round.

"We use these to re-align the bones and cartilage." the doctor said, and stuck them up Spencer's little nose.

Spencer fainted.

The paramedic had saved Rossi's life. Under normal circumstances, a paramedic would not have carried out the aortic clamp procedure, but with Geiger running the show, anything could happen.

Dave was rushed into the OR and Dr Geiger repaired the aorta with little problem. Rossi though had lost a lot of blood. The pool of blood in his chest cavity was redirected into his system by means of a cell salvage machine, and plasma expanders were utilised while his body replaced the lost cells. Geiger left the OR happily – another life saved by the cardiothoracic God!

Morgan lay on his front in the ER, as his back was stitched up. The nurse cleaned the blood away so she could see the wounds, about twenty deep parallel cuts across his back. She offered him anaesthetic, which he refused. She answered him that it was not brave, but stupid to refuse it, so he agreed.

He was glad he did in the end. Even with anaesthetic, it hurt. When she had finished, she stuck a huge Melonin patch on his back.

"Ok, you're done!" she said with a smile. "You can wait in the waiting room, or sit with your friend Dr Reid. You have a visitor, too. Penny Garcia?"

The nurse called Garcia into the cubical. She gave Morgan a huge happy smile. They followed the nurse to Spencer's little cubical. He was lying back with his nose stuffed with padding, looking very white.

Morgan had to repress a grin when he saw Spencer's big purple nose.

"What happened to his pretty face?" he asked the nurse with a smirk.

"It's not permanent." she laughed. "The padding can come out in three days, and when the swelling and bruising goes down, it will be as good as new."

"Did he have a general anaesthetic?"

"No! He fainted."

Morgan snorted and sat beside Reid, and took his hand. Even with a nose like the Dong of Luminous Nose fame, he was still cute. Gently he brushed his long hair from his face, his fingers lingering just a moment longer than he needed to on Spencer's face.

"You really are pretty." Morgan thought."Fragile, effete, and very pretty!"Fainting just seemed to add to the picture.

Garcia's presence stopped him from kissing him.

He squeezed Reid's hand. "Wakey wakey, pretty boy!"

Spencer groaned and carefully opened his eyes.

"Hello, Borgad, Garcie." His hand went to his nose. "Whad have they dud to by dose?"

"They've reset it. They will take out the padding in three days."

"Can you find out how Aarod is? I really need to see hib."

Morgan nodded and left Spencer with Garcia while he went to find out about Aaron and Rossi.

They were both in recovery. Soon they would be on the ward and Morgan Reid and Garcia would be allowed to visit them.

Aaron slowly awoke. He was lying on his front, his arms outstretched and bandaged to boards an IV drip going into each. He wanted to check his head, but his arms were incapacitated. He tried to call for a nurse, and then he realised that he had a tube down his throat. His chest hurt when he breathed, and his back was sore and painful.

He couldn't call a nurse, so he made a noise.

He felt a hand on his arm. He couldn't turn to look at the owner of the hand, as his head was to the side, the tube making it impossible for him to move. She crossed to the other side and sat down so that she was level with him.

"Hello, Aaron. You are in recovery. The surgeons have fixed your fractured skull, and your arms are plated. You are going to need skin grafts on your back, and they have covered the injury with a temporary artificial skin. Your lung is fixed, and your ribs are back in place. The doctor will be with you shortly. Close your eyes now and rest."

Aaron wanted to ask about the others, but he couldn't make himself understood. So he closed his eyes and drifted off into that soft velvety world called unconsciousness.

When Rossi woke up, he was on the ward. His chest hurt, and there was a drip in each wrist. He looked for a bell, and called the nurse.

"You're fine, David. It was touch and go there for a bit, but Doctor Geiger fixed you."

"My colleagues?" Rossi said. "Ow that hurts!"

"You have stitches in your chest. The Doctor had to repair your aorta. Talking will hurt for a few days. Three of your friends are waiting outside to see you. The other..." She referred to the chart. "Aaron Hotchner, is in recovery. I'll get your friends."

She left the ward, and told Morgan, Garcia and Reid they could go in.

"Five minutes. He needs to rest."

Spencer, Garcia and Morgan went in to Rossi's room. Spencer had his hand over his face.

"Thanks, Dave." said Morgan. "Thanks for coming to get us."

Rossi smiled. "I suppose you want your jobs back now."