Before he could rest though, he really needed to get back to the office and finish the last of those after action reports. So, despite his promise to Alex, Don wheeled the Suburban out of the student parking lot and headed toward Wiltshire Blvd. He could always catch a nap in the break room, or crash room in the basement, if it came down to it.
An ache started up in his shoulder, traveling down to his fingertips but he shook it off and tried to ignore it. Then, something akin to a slow-pitched softball landed in his chest, making it difficult to breathe. He blinked and tried to refocus on the road but it was next impossible. A phone call from Elaine from a few days ago popped into his head and had him looking for her clinic.
He was lucky in that he hadn't driven past the cross street for City of Angels Clinic. He maneuvered the Suburban over into the right turn lane and turned down the street. The longer he stayed upright, the harder it was to focus. He couldn't be having--
He shook his head. The parking lot for the clinic loomed up on the right and Don all but threw the GMC into the first available parking space. He stumbled out of the driver's side, barely remembering to shut the door, let alone lock it. He, somehow, managed to make it up the sidewalk and through the glass door that led into the outer office.
A scattering of people sat around the small waiting room. Every last one of them looked up when Don staggered into the office. A nurse, who had happened to be talking to the secretary, took one look at Don and hollered "Dr. Walker!"
Elaine appeared in the doorway instantly. The clipboard in her hand was abandoned on the nearest flat surface. "Don?"
"Hey, Doc, uh - do you have time to fit me in to your schedule?" He was having a hard time focusing on the conversation.
She shook her head. "Damn." She came out into the waiting room and took him by the hand. "Get in here."
"Guess that's a 'yes' then..."
Elaine looked the waiting room and the five people waiting to see her. "I'll be with you as soon as I can. This is an emergency folks."
Don was not comforted by the nods the patients, and their family members, gave Elaine as she dragged him into the back.
Elaine directed him into the nearest exam room as she called down the hall. "Kellie! I need your vampire skills in here - stat. Angela, grab the portable ECG, will ya?" She followed Don into the room after barking orders and he realized she had one more to give. "Sit down before you fall down, Don." She reached up into a cupboard and pulled something down that she then tossed at him. "And strip."
Don blinked and looked at the gown in his hands. He nodded slowly and started to take off his tie, dress shirt and tee.
"You had to know this was coming if you willingly came in here. What are you, or did you, feel to bring you to my clinic?" Elaine asked him.
He swallowed. "I was on my way home and it was like a softball hit me in the chest." God, he was tired.
Elaine nodded, started to warm up the stethoscope and moved in to use it - then gracefully moved out of the way of the fast moving young woman who just buzzed into the room. "Full cardiac panel or just quick down and dirty, Doc?"
"Down and Dirty, Kellie and yesterday would be best."
Don looked at the young woman and wondered what she was there for.
"Got'cha." The tech didn't give much warning other than; "Put your arm out here, sir." He'd no sooner raised his arm then Don felt it trapped by her as the tourniquet and needles came out. He didn't have the time to pull his arm away before he felt the needle in his arm.
"Hey--" That was all the energy he had for a protest.
"Just one more vial and then you can have your arm back." Kellie advised him as she switched vials in a smooth movement.
He nodded. Elaine distracted him further by placing the scope against his chest. "Just breath normally, Don, I'm trying to listen to your ticker, not your lungs."
He nodded again, noticing just how coppery-red Elaine's hair was.
Kellie finished her bloodletting, put a cotton ball on the site and then made Don curl arm up to hold the fluff in place. "All done." She scooted out of the room and another person replaced her. This one was a guy and he made no short work of putting the B/P cuff around Don's arm and taking his blood pressure.
Elaine nodded at the man. "Thanks, Jorge. I would've thought you would've sent Elsa in to do that?"
"She was busy and I happened to be walking by. 140/70 with 78 bpm happening."
"78? Don, did you run in here?" Elaine teased her patient as the man, Jorge, headed back out.
"Don't worry about your next appointment, Elaine, I'll catch 'em until you're done." The man said.
"Thanks, Jorge."
Don shook his head. How many people did Elaine have working for her?
"Don't worry - Jorge Simental will not charge you for his little office visit. Okay, Angela, you standing out there?" Elaine called out toward the hall and, sure enough, another clinic employee came in, pushing a cart with what looked like the same heart monitor he'd had used on him before.
"What?" Don asked, bewildered by her statement about not being charged.
"Sorry, Doctor Jorge Simental - I forget you haven't met him. He's the senior partner in the clinic here." Elaine explained as she started placing electrodes on Don's chest.
"Okay. Sorry to interrupt him." He was totally confused now or maybe he was just too tired to care any more.
"Don't be. He'd do the same thing for one of his patients and I'd cover his cases too. In fact, I've done it in the past and will probably do it again in the future." She flipped on the machine and watched the first readings. "All of us here would prefer our patients come here when they feel that bad rather than ignore things until they have to call 9-1-1." She stood next to him and, with little resistance, managed to swing him around and had Don lay back on the exam bed. "Rest a little bit, I just want to monitor your heart for a few before I decide if I need to slap your happy ass into the hospital."
"Okay." Maybe he could get a little sleep, that would be nice.
Elaine reached under the bed and pulled up a light blanket. "Here, Don, it'll get a little chilly in here without this. I'll be back in just a few minutes."
He took the blanket from her and spread it over his legs, then closed his eyes. Yeah, sleep would be real nice. A little nap couldn't hurt.
It didn't seem like a lot of time had passed before Elaine was back, gently tapping his arm. "Don? Did you fall asleep? Come on. Wakey-wakey."
He blinked and looked up at the green-eyed gaze of Elaine. "Am I having a heart attack?"
"Nope. Your blood work is fine and, though a little faster than I'd expect from you, your heart's acting normal. Can you sit back up for me, Don?"
He nodded. "Then what happened?"
Elaine sat down on a tall stool and wheeled her way back toward him. "Just a few questions first, then I can tell you for certain. Okay?"
"Sure."
"Good. Now, first off, when was the last time you slept for more than 30-60 minutes at a shot?"
He had to think on that one. "What's today?"
Elaine let out a sigh. "Thought so. Does three days sound about right?"
"Not that long. Two days maybe?"
"Granger was admitted to UCLA three days ago, have you slept since then?"
He thought. "Guess not."
"Question two - have you been eating properly or changed your caffeine intake recently?"
"In the last three days?"
"Yes."
He thought again. He'd gotten something to eat the evening Granger had been found and then Megan had dragged him off to get breakfast the next day. "I've eaten."
"Uh-huh." She scribbled something onto the chart in her lap. "Okay, Amendment to Question Two - since you brought it up - have you changed your eating or drinking habits in the last month or so? Been hitting the leaded vs. the unleaded coffee pretty hard lately?"
He flushed. "No. Megan keeps me away from the leaded as much as she can. Everybody in the whole office knows too." He sounded downright depressed about that fact.
"I am happy to hear that, even if it has cramped your style." Elaine made another notation. "Final question - and this one may cause that monitor to go off, so I will apologize now. Been chewed on recently for reasons that escape you?"
He frowned. "What?"
She let out a sigh. "High pressure meetings, chew-outs, bosses been ragging your ass?"
He nodded. Ever since he pulled Granger off that freighter, it had been almost nonstop. Not that he cared; he'd do it again in an instant.
"I'd like a verbal to go along with the nod and the increased rhythm of your heart rate, Don."
"Yeah."
She made a final notation and, closing her pen, put the chart on the counter and shook her head. "Diagnoses: Exhaustion. Stress-related chest pangs, not unlike angina, added to make things interesting."
"So I'm just tired?"
"No, you're exhausted. There is a major difference." She moved in a little closer and placed a hand on his knee. "Don, you're not a spring chicken anymore. There's only so much crap your body can take before it starts burning off what little reserves you had and then, when you reach the end of those, the body starts screaming for attention. In your case, that meant making you think 'heart attack' to get you to slow down."
He nodded. "Okay. So if I get some sleep I won't feel like I'm going to fall over?"
"Sleep, a couple of decent meals that aren't from a damn drive-thru and no more high-pressure meetings for at least 10 hours."
Don snorted. "Sleep I can do, meals I can do, I don't have any control over the meetings."
"I could always slap your ass in the hospital. Think your bosses would leave you alone if I did that and forbade all visitors?"
He smiled. "Promise? Seriously, Elaine, that'd probably be the only way to get them to leave me alone."
Elaine reached for the phone on the wall underneath the cupboard she'd pulled the gown out of.
"No!" He said, surprised she had taken him seriously.
"What? It's just a phone call away and I can have your butt in a bed so fast Alan's future grandkids will be born dizzy."
"That's the last thing my dad needs, another trip to another hospital because of me."
She put the handset back in the cradle. "Okay, so what do you really want me to do, Don?"
He thought for a moment. "A doctor's excuse."
"A damn note? That's it?" She looked over at him, disbelief written all over her face.
"What else is there?" He asked, confused. "I can go home, get some sleep and they'll leave me alone for a while."
Elaine quirked an eyebrow. "It would also help if you stopped trying to be everywhere and do everything, Don. Really."
"It's not like I've had a lot of choice in that, Elaine."
She shook her head. "You're missing my point." She draped her stethoscope around her neck. "But you did the right thing coming here. You drive yourself here?"
"Yeah."
"Because you were on your way to the office?" Don flushed, eliciting another sigh from Elaine. "All right," she said. "I'll call your boss and tell him, I'm sending you home on medical advice and you go to Charlie's."
Don smiled. "Thank you, Elaine. I promise to do just that."
"Are you going to be okay to drive over there?" She asked.
Don nodded. "I should be okay to drive to Charlie's, if not, I'll pull over into a parking area and grab a nap."
Elaine shook her head. "That's not acceptable. I'll get someone to drive you. You just sit and I'll be back in a moment."
"Okay." He finished getting dressed once Elaine left the exam room, then sat back down and did exactly what she'd told him to do. Sit.
A few minutes later, she breezed back in the room. "Someone from Gary's unit will be by shortly to pick you up. I also called and left a message for Megan."
"Thanks, Doc, but I--" He stopped when she glared at him with ice-cold eyes. "Right, say 'thank you,' shut up, and leave it at that."
"You're learning." She said, with a small smile. "I'll have to tell Gary, he'll be amused."
There was a knock on the door, interrupting their conversation.
"Dr. Walker?" It was the nurse who had seen Don after he'd staggered in the door.
Yes?" Elaine looked at the nurse.
"I've got Agent Reeves on the phone."
"All right, tell her I'll be there … no, wait, see if you can't transfer it back here but let her know she might get disconnected." Elaine said.
Don looked at Elaine. "And I thought the phone system in my building was screwy."
She turned and looked at Don. "Great idea to be able to transfer calls to the exam rooms. Doesn't really work though." She shrugged. "We seem to be at the end of the phone grid and that's where all the problems go. We had the entire phone system quit last week out of the blue."
"Ouch." Don said.
"I'm surprised you didn't hear me. I just about turned the air blue." The phone rang and Elaine picked up the receiver. "Agent Reeves, you got my message."
"Yes, I did. You're sending Don home on medical advice?"
"That's right. He's about to fall over. I'm frankly surprised he's still upright."
Even Don could hear the sigh from the other end of the phone. "I've been telling him, and our bosses, that for the last 12 hours. Just before he ordered me home to sleep for 6 hours."
Elaine shook her head. "Gotta love the federal government, really." She eyed Don. "But that's typical for him, send you home and he keeps going. He'll realize that he's not the Energizer Bunny one of these days."
"No, I'm pretty sure that distinction belongs to the younger Eppes these days."
"Would you like to speak to him for a moment? We're just waiting for his ride."
"If you don't mind?"
"Of course not." Elaine handed the phone over to Don. "Megan would like to speak to you."
He nodded and took the handset from Elaine. "Yeah, Megan, what's up?"
"You apparently. Why haven't you gone home? Why did it take Elaine to make you go?"
She wasn't mad at him, she was concerned. He could hear it in her voice.
"I was on my way home when I...look, it turned out to be nothing but I felt like I had taken a line-drive to the chest and decided to stop by her office. Okay?"
"Okay, I'm glad you did. Really. I'll keep the lions at bay until you get back. I'll even break out my whip and chair."
"Thank you, Megan. Don't tell them where I'm going but tell them for the next--" He looked at his watch, "--eight hours I'm incommunicado."
"Longer I hope." Megan replied. "Sleep well."
Don handed the phone back to Elaine; not bothering to tell either one of them that eight hours was all he was going to permit himself. Once the 'crisis cluster' was done, then he'd sleep himself out, but until then 8 hours would have to suffice.
Elaine hung up the phone, then turned back around and eyed Don, giving him a look.
Don grinned at her. "Elaine, you're my doctor, not my wife, or that look might actually work."
"Yes, I know. I'm also the one sending you home on medical advice." She crossed her arms. "Eight hours isn't going to cut it. If I send you home, it's going to be at least 10. Got it? And I'll pray for the woman who marries you."
Don shook his head. "I can't promise that. Eight I can probably wheedle out of the administration monkeys without too much grief. Ten? They're not going to let me escape their grasp that long."
She quirked an eyebrow. "You think so? You only think you've seen me in action."
Don looked at Elaine, mentally picturing her in HRT combat gear and decided that, yes, she would be the type to storm the bastions of upper Management in the FBI and keep his conjones out of the fire.
"Ten hours, Don. And I'm calling Charlie and your father to tell them."
"Yes, ma'am." He handed her a business card, one he'd snagged from Wright's office. "Here, you'll need that then."
She took the card from his hand and fastened it to the clipboard in her hand.
Another knock came on the door. "Dr. Walker? Officer Sefuentes is here to pick up Agent Eppes."
Don, remembering that he'd parked a little close to the office complex, dug into his pocket and handed Elaine the keys to his GMC. "You might want to see about moving that beast of mine. So your patients can park close to the building?"
She took the keys. "I'll get one of the techs to move it. Get some sleep, please!" She put a hand on his arm. "I only want to see you during social occasions."
"Right Doc, I'll call Sinclair on the way to Pasadena and ask him to pick up my vehicle and take it back to our offices after hours." He gave her a kiss on the cheek before leaving the exam room only to find a uniformed officer standing there in the hall. "You must be Sefuentes."
The olive skinned man about Don's height nodded. "That'd be me. Dr. Walker?" he called out.
"Yes, Jaime?" Elaine called back, looking around the exam room door.
"Lt. Walker said, and this is a direct quote, 'When you're done saving Eppes from himself, don't forget about the Hastings birthday party tonight'."
"Crap! Right. Eppes, out! I've got five more patients to see and a party to get to. Jaime, make sure you take him straight to the address Gary gave you in Pasadena and that he only makes ONE phone call en route."
"Yes, ma'am."
Officer Sefuentes stood to the side and waited for Don to go through first. "C'mon. No sense in ticking her off any more than normal."