"Intensive care," Conner breathed out, the high hopes he was beginning to feel were starting to plummet back down.
"It's just a precaution," Ethan reminded him. "It doesn't mean she's not okay." Conner ran a hand through his hair and sighed, trying to regain confidence and hope through Ethan's words. A few moments later, one of the nurses exited the room.
"Sir." She commented, looking at Tommy. "You can go see your cousin now." The four men rose to their feet to make their way to the room. "Oh, I'm sorry, only family," she said, giving the other three an apologetic look. "Hospital policy….my hands are tied."
"Wow, this hospital sure has a lot of policies," Conner spat out. Ethan placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Whatever, go ahead Tommy, at least someone will get to see her," Conner grumbled. Tommy looked over at him then back to the nurse who was going to walk away.
"Excuse me," he called after the nurse as he went over to her. The nurse stopped and turned back to him.
"Yes?" She asked. Tommy paused and looked back at Conner for a moment before looking back at the nurse. "I understand the family only policy but I was wondering…well…." He took a deep breath. "My….cousin's boyfi…" He paused as he saw the expression on the nurse's face look like she was about to answer his question with a negative response. "Fiancé," he quickly substituted, chuckling a bit as he scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, the two just got engaged so….sometimes it's hard not to slip," he said. It probably wouldn't do any good to give another lie, especially that of the nature he had in mid, but he could see Conner's desperation to see her. "He's a complete wreck, as you can see," he said. "Is there any way he can go see her?"
"Oh," the nurse said, blinking a bit before giving him a quick nod. "Yes, yes. I'm sorry, I didn't know." Tommy gave a small relieved sigh.
"Thanks," he said before going back to the other three.
"What was that all about?" Trent asked, not understanding why Tommy had returned to them instead of going to see Kira. Tommy looked at Conner.
"You can go see her," he said. Conner furrowed his brows.
"Seriously?" He asked. Tommy nodded.
"Yeah, go on. Just….if anyone asks, you two just got engaged," Tommy said. Conner blinked, definitely thrown by that.
"Oh," he said. He blinked again and shook his head, clearing it of the shock. "Thanks," he said. He stepped away from Ethan and making his way to the room.
"No problem." Tommy called after Conner as he walked into the recovery room. Conner paused in the doorway of the room as his eyes finally got a totally unobstructed view of Kira. She laid on the bed, unmoving. She was covered in a white hospital gown with the blankets of the bed pulled up under her arms. There was a soft beeping going off as a heart monitor recorded each steady beat. On either side of the bed was an IV stand. One had a few packets of blood hanging from it, the first of the line connected to a tube that went to her right arm. The one on her left held a clear liquid, which he figured to be the morphine Dr. Wells had mentioned. Conner sighed and walked closer into the room, finding the small plastic chair against the wall and pulling it close to Kira's bed.
"I guess Mia wasn't kidding about unloading a Buick's worth of blood," he gently joked to Kira's unconscious form as he sat down by her bed. Conner gently slid his hand into hers, gripping it softly. "God," he whispered, a lump forming in his throat. "God Kira, you…..you're not allowed to scare me like that ever again," he said, running a thumb over the back of the hand he held. "It took us this long to finally get together and I'll be damned if I lose you now," he said. He let out a shaky breath as a tear rolled out. He bent his head forward as he began to sob. He sat there for a while, letting his sobs roll out of him. After twenty minutes his sobs and tears ceased and he simply sat there, holding her hand. Another forty minutes passed and he considered going back to the waiting room to let the others see her but he couldn't bring himself to leave her. Beside him, he heard a small groan come from Kira as her head turned towards him. "Kira?" Conner asked softly.
"I feel funny," Kira mumbled, clenching her eyes shut. "Conner?" She asked.
"Yeah," Conner breathed out. "I'm here," he said, squeezing her hand. "I'm right here." She sighed.
"Good...But I feel funny." She replied, squeezing his hand back slightly. Conner smiled and brought his hand up to her forehead, gently stroking her skin.
"I'm just glad you're feeling anything," he whispered. Kira slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. "You had me pretty scared," he admitted.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "What happened? I remember Vengakix attacking me... And running home, but after that..." She trailed off.
"You collapsed on the porch," Conner replied, a small shudder going though him at how frightening it was to see her just fall down before him like she had. "Ethan and I got you here to the hospital. Whatever Vengakix did to you, it broke some of your ribs and caused some internal bleeding." He blew out a shaky breath. "It's a miracle you didn't puncture your lung or anything when you ran home." He sighed and ran his thumb over the back of her hand again. "You were in surgery for a few hours so the doctors could stop the bleeding." Tears pricked the back of her eyes as Conner informed her what had occurred. She hadn't realized that it had been as bad as it was.
"Am I…..okay?" She asked. Conner nodded. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"They've already got some blood pumping into ya, so that should help," he said, pointing to the IV stand on the other side of her. "The doctor wants to move you to ICU at some point just to keep you under a close watch because of your ribs." He stroked her forehead again. "But….but you're going to be okay," he nodded. Kira nodded. She glanced down at her chest and noticed that a few inches above her breasts was wrapped up, down over them until almost the top of her ribs.
"Um...what's with the bandages?" She questioned. Conner furrowed his brows.
"I don't know," he said. "I guess to protect your ribs, or the stitches they did to close you up," Conner assumed.
"Conner." She replied, using her free hand to point slightly lower than where the bandages ended. "That's where my ribs start."
"You're not supposed to move too much," Conner gently admonished, reaching over to set her hand down to her side. Kira rolled her eyes.
"Because moving an uninjured arm is going to kill me." She muttered as she allowed Conner to put her arm down.
"You can't be too careful," Conner replied, bringing his hand back to her forehead. "Don't make me be glad you're okay and then worry I might actually lose you in the same hour," he said with a small smile. Kira closed her eyes and sighed softly.
"I'm sorry." She replied honestly. Conner leaned forward again and kissed her cheek.
"No need to be sorry," he whispered. "Just be okay," he said. Kira smiled.
"Oh, I'm sorry," a voice said. Conner sat back to see the nurse that Tommy had spoken too before standing at the doorway. "Didn't mean to interrupt anything, just wanted to check on the patient," she said. Her eyes went to Kira. "Oh, our awake patient," she said, giving Kira a warm smile. She walked over and stood at the other side of Kira's bed, checking to make sure the blood was going to Kira the right way. She looked down at Kira and Conner's joined hands and smiled at Kira. "Ya know," she said in a false whisper to Kira. "I'm pretty sure this will get you a pretty big ring from this guy over there," she said. Kira threw her a questioning gaze.
"I'm sorry?" She asked, confused. The nurse shrugged.
"Your cousin said you two just got engaged, I'm guessing no ring yet?" She asked.
"My who said we just got what?" Kira asked, shocked. Conner gave her hand a quick warning squeeze. The nurse frowned and walked around the bed to check on the morphine drip, worried Kira was getting too much and it was making her loopy.
"Oh honey I know you wanted to wait to make the big news known until we found the right ring," Conner said, giving Kira a pointed look. "But you know your cousin Tommy; he'd do anything to help us out, even if it means spilling the beans just so I can get in to see you." The news took a moment to sink in before Kira nodded.
"Typical Tommy." She replied, smiling softly. The nurse smiled at the couple and went back over to check on the IV at her other side.
"How does your chest feel?" She questioned as she looked at the IV drip.
"Pretty sore," Kira said. "And I'm trying to figure out why I've got these bandages…." she said, her voice trailing off. The nurse looked at her.
"Oh, yes, that. Well, there was a bit of a burn mark on your chest and the doctor needed to perform a skin graft." She frowned and looked at Conner. "Dr. Wells didn't mention it to you?" She asked. Before Conner could reply the nurse rolled her eyes. "Typical," she said, shaking her head. "He always just gives the bare basics and leaves everything else to us," she grumbled.
"Was...Was it a large area that was burned?" Kira questioned, still slightly in shock. The nurse nodded slightly.
"It was about the size of a football, give or take." She replied honestly. "But the plastic surgeon on call was able to graft some skin from your inner thigh on it and take care of it. You'll be fine," she assured her, giving her another warm smile. Kira's eyes widened.
"Oh good?" Kira replied, the question obvious in her tone. The nurse just laughed.
"Don't worry; you're going to be fine."
"Hey, think of it this way, at least you don't have butt skin on your chest," Conner joked, trying to lighten Kira's mood. Kira looked at him and chuckled a bit.
"Yeah, I guess I can be thankful for that," she said. The nurse smiled.
"There you go," she said. "Well, I'll give you two a some more time together, but we'll need to move her up to ICU in a little while," she said to Conner. Conner nodded.
"Thank you," he said. The nurse nodded and left the room. Kira waited until she was gone before looking at him.
"Okay, so I get why you became my fiancé," Kira chuckled. "But when did Tommy become my cousin?" She asked.
"They only give information to family members," Conner said. "When you were still in surgery and the doctor came out to see us, Tommy stepped up and told the little fib." Kira nodded.
"Makes sense I guess." She replied. "I don't think Trent or Ethan would've had the same success with that lie and I really don't think I'd want you to be my cousin," she giggled. Conner laughed.
"Probably not." He replied. Kira looked down for a moment as a thought occurred to her.
"Are the kids okay? I mean…If Vengakix came after me she could've-"
"They were here, they're okay," Conner assured her. She breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Thank god." She whispered.
"After you were taken to surgery, Ethan called them to be on alert for Vengakix…..We had our suspicions that was what happened," he said. "Apparently Vengakix got to Andy and Mia before Ethan could," he said. Kira looked at him. "They're okay," he said again. "But Vengakix ran her mouth off a bit and gave them the wrong idea."
"Meaning?" Kira asked.
"From what Mia was saying, sounds like Vengakix thinks she killed you…..And didn't stop herself from gloating with Mia and Andy." Kira's eyebrows went up.
"Well, that's…..lovely," she muttered. Conner nodded.
"You're telling me." He replied. "I'm just thankful that bitch wasn't right." Came the soft comment. Kira gently squeezed his hand.
"Ditto," she said.
"Thank god that none of the kids were hurt... If they would have been, Mia wouldn't have been able to give you 'a Buick's worth of blood'" Kira looked at him.
"Mia?" She asked, confused.
"The doctor told Tommy the hospital didn't have enough blood for you," he said. "Someone had to donate. You're O positive, she's O negative."
"Oh my god." She breathed out, shocking and incredibly grateful at Mia's donation. She looked over to the IV stand that held the blood packets. "She gave a lot, is she okay?"
"She was a little weak," Conner replied. "But between her two warring nursemaids, I'm sure she'll be fine," Conner stated. Kira laughed.
"I swear she has those boys wrapped around her finger." She commented. Conner shrugged.
"All I know is Andy and Christian practically fighting over Mia and Nathan trying to keep everything civil was getting old fast, we had to tell them to go home." Kira nodded, understanding.
"Poor Mia." She commented out loud. Conner opened his mouth to reply but the arrival of the nurse accompanied by a few orderlies stopped him.
"I'm sorry," the nurse said, giving an apologetic look to Conner. "We need to move her down to the ICU now," she said. Conner sighed, his head dropping down slightly.
"Of course." He replied.
"After she's settled in down there, you're welcome to stay with her," the nurse said, hoping that'd help. Conner nodded.
"Thank you," he said. He turned back to Kira and placed a quick kiss on her lips. "I'm going to go tell the others how you're doing and then we'll go see you in you're new room, okay?" He said. Kira nodded.
"Okay," she said, giving him a small smile. Conner smiled back at her and stood up, leaving the room so as to let the orderlies and nurse prepare to move her. He looked at the guys as he exited the room and waited until Kira and her entrouge had filed out of the room and headed towards the elevator before he spoke.
"Seems the Doc forgot to mention something about Kira having a skin graft done while she was in surgery." He commented. Tommy blinked and looked at him.
"Are you serious?!" He questioned. Conner nodded.
"She had a burn on her chest, they were able to take some skin from her thigh to graft over it but still," he said, shaking his head. "The nurse's been more helpful than the doctor, that's kind of sad." Ethan shrugged.
"That's usually the way it works though. I wouldn't have known that Shelly had given birth unless the nurse told me." He said. "More often than not, you want the story given to you straight, deal with a nurse. Interns are good in the way of actually seeming to care what's going on and giving you information, but sometimes they don't even know half the stuff that's going on," Ethan continued.
"Well that's good to know now." Trent replied. Tommy sighed.
"I should've asked for the whole story when he talked to me," Tommy said, shaking his head.
"It's not your fault," Ethan said.
"Well at least we wouldn't have gotten blindsided by it." Tommy replied.
"Let's just be glad she's okay," Conner said. He was too relieved that Kira looked to be alright to think about how much he wanted to wring Dr. Wells' neck. Ethan nodded.
"Conner's right. Kira's alive and is going to be fine...We can worry about kicking the Doc's ass later." Conner chuckled.
"Exactly," he said. "We should move downstairs to the ICU," he suggested. The group nodded as they headed towards the elevators.