Chapter 35
Three weeks later, Steve wakes up with a killer headache. He feels pretty much the same as he did after the seizure he had during his first session with Dr. Tyson in the hospital. By now he is completely off two of the drugs and is only taking a minimal dose of the carbamazapine and has been having seizures almost every day for the last week or so. But in the last 36 hours he has had three. The first one was two nights ago and it lasted about three minutes the second was yesterday after lunch and it last two and a half minutes and the last one happened in his sleep last night around midnight. Bo woke Cath up just before it started and it too lasted three minutes.
He is pretty much having seizures at the same frequency now as he was when he was in the hospital before they got his meds figured out. He stopped going into the office a few days ago. He was going in at least for the morning until last week but now he doesn't feel comfortable being at work knowing he could have a seizure at any minute, especially when his team is out of the office.
Today is Saturday so Catherine is home with him. Mary has started her job at the coffee shop and also just finished her first week of classes at UH so she isn't home as much anymore. Most of her classes are in the evenings and she works three mornings a week at the coffee shop so between her and Catherine Steve usually isn't home alone for more than a couple hours at a time. Something that would normally annoy him but with the frequency and severity of some of his seizures he hates being completely alone all the time. He feels more secure when there is someone else with him; especially since now he is more at risk for status epilepticus.
Steve rolls over and glances at the alarm clock. It is a little after seven, Cath isn't in bed next to him anymore and Bo isn't laying on his dog bed so he figures she must have taken him out for his morning walk before giving him his breakfast.
Steve wants nothing more than to go back to sleep but his stomach is churning with nausea. He is pretty sure he is going to be sick so he rolls out of bed as quickly as he can; he has to stop and sit on the edge for a moment while his head stops spinning before he can make his dash to the bathroom. He makes it just in time to lose the meager contents of his stomach in the toilet bowl. Steve heaves for a few minutes before sinking back so he is leaning against the wall with his knees drawn up to his chest. He rests his head back and closes his eyes. He feels absolutely miserable; his head is pounding in time with his heart and his stomach is still churning despite having nothing left in it. He wants to get up and go back to bed but he can't find the strength to move from his spot on the floor.
He isn't sure how long he sits like that before he hears Catherine calling his name. "Steve?" her voice is filled with concern. "Are you ok, Steve?"
Steve turns his head slightly and squints at her, the light is making his head hurt even more. He hadn't noticed that she was kneeling next to him. Bo is standing behind her looking worried.
"What's wrong, Babe? You look awful."
"Migraine." Steve mutters, his eyes are tightly closed again. The nausea is still threatening to overwhelm him but he is sure there isn't anything left in his stomach to expel. He didn't eat much after his afternoon seizure yesterday.
"Did you take anything for it?" Catherine questions as she gently rubs his shoulder.
Steve shakes his head ever so slightly. "Won't stay down, already hurled once. Don't want to do it again."
She drops her hand down so she is grasping his wrist. "Come on; let's get you back to bed. You will feel better lying down."
Steve doesn't object when she gently tugs his arm and helps him into a standing position. Catherine guides him to the bed and as soon as he is lying down flat she quickly pulls the curtains closed so there isn't as much light in the room. "Are you sure you don't want to try to take something for the migraine? I know you still have some Vicodin in the medicine cabinet."
"Not yet, maybe in a few minutes." He mumbles into his pillow. He is lying on his stomach, Cath is sitting next to him and gently massaging his back and shoulders.
Bo sits next to the bed staring at Steve. The dog knows there is something wrong but he doesn't know what. He isn't sensing a seizure coming so he knows it isn't that but he can't figure out what his wrong with his human. Bo nudges Steve's shoulder with his nose and gives it a couple licks. Steve blindly reaches over and gives him a couple pats on the head. Catherine's gentle touch is doing wonders to help him relax. It might all be in his head but he thinks it is maybe helping with his headache too.
It takes another fifteen minutes before Steve's stomach finally settles enough that he thinks he will be able to keep down a couple pain pills. His head is still pounding unbearably but he is happy the nausea is finally gone. He rolls over and is surprised to see the bottle of Vicodin and a glass of water on his night stand. He hadn't even noticed Catherine leaving and coming back a few minutes ago, he must have drifted off for a couple minutes. Gingerly he props himself up on one elbow and reaches for the bottle of pills, he shakes two into his hand before swallowing them down with a few sips of water.
"Feeling better?" Cath questions, she has one hand on his hip and the other is petting Bo.
Steve shrugs, "The nausea is mostly gone but my head is killing me." He sinks back into his pillow and throws his arm over his eyes. Even the little bit of light coming through the curtains is sending daggers of pain through his head.
"Go back to sleep, Steve. I'm going to take care of some stuff downstairs." She squeezes his hand and leans over to give him a gentle kiss before retreating out of the room. She leaves the door open a crack incase Bo wants to leave but she is pretty sure he will stay by Steve's side until he is feeling better. Bo is loyal like that.
Steve is already half asleep when she leaves. Bo rests his head on the side of the bed, he nudges Steve's hand again and gives it a lick. He is still worried about his human. Steve pats the bed next to him a couple times in invitation to Bo to get on the bed. Steve doesn't let Bo on the bed or other furniture very often but he makes exceptions on occasion, usually when he isn't feeling well. And amazingly, Bo always waits for an invitation before jumping on furniture with the exception of when Steve is seizing. He tried to get away with it a few times after he learned to jump up but Steve broke him of that habit pretty quickly. Bo never ceases to amaze Steve by picking up on his moods and making him feel better. Bo jumps up on the bed and makes himself comfortable so he is pressing up against Steve's side with his head resting on Steve's shoulder. It only takes a minute or two for the pair to fall asleep.
-H50-
Steve wakes up again six hours later. He is feeling much better than he was when he first woke up. The headache is still there but down to a mild ache that he can pretty much ignore. He's not at a hundred percent yet but he is much improved from this morning. After a seizure it usually takes a couple days before Steve feels completely normal again. His brain takes a while to reboot after a seizure so depending on how long and how many seizures he has it takes at least two days for him to operate at a hundred percent again. Due to him being weaned off his meds he hasn't felt normal in about a two weeks since about the time his brain is completely caught up again he has another seizure.
Steve rolls over onto his back and stretches. He is surprised when his hand bumps against Bo's furry form sprawled on the bed next to him. He remembers inviting Bo up onto the bed right before he fell asleep but he is a little surprised that Bo is still here with him. He thought the pup would have gotten bored and gone to find a toy to chew on or gone to see what was happening in the rest of the house. Steve is always surprised by how mellow Bo is. Everything he read about German Shepherds prior to bringing Bo home was that they tend to be hyper as puppies and need to be kept busy to prevent them from tearing apart the house. While Bo does have a lot of energy and likes to run, play, and swim, he is also more than content to just lie around the house or office if Steve isn't feeling well.
Bo rolls over for a belly rub, wagging his tail when Steve complies. Human and dog lie there contently for a few minutes contemplating life before Steve slowly sits up and rolls out of bed, "What do you think, Bo? Should we go find Catherine and then maybe play a game of fetch?"
Bo is off the bed before Steve even finishes speaking. Steve has to laugh at the dogs excitement. He quickly changes into a pair of black boardies and a gray t-shirt. He makes a detour to the bathroom to relieve himself, brush his teeth, and splash some water on his face before he wanders downstairs. He is surprised that the living room and kitchen are completely empty. He makes a stop at the fridge to find something to eat. Now that he isn't sick to his stomach anymore, he actually feels hungry after not having eaten in almost 24 hours. Catherine apparently made beef sandwich spread with last night's leftover roast beef; he throws together a sandwich quick before snagging a bottle of water from the fridge and his sunglasses from the counter and heading out to the lanai. Bo has been waiting semi patiently by the door to go outside.
"Bo sit." Steve says as he puts his hand on the door knob. He waits for the excited dog to sit down before he pulls the door open and lets Bo run outside. Steve is surprised to hear Grace giggle on the lanai when Bo runs over to her and licks her face in greeting. Catherine is sitting on the ground cross legged in front of Grace, who has her knees bent and her feet resting flat on the ground in front of her as Catherine paints her toes with sparkly purple nail polish.
"Hey Gracie! What are you doing here?" Steve greets his 'niece' as he pulls a chair out from the table and takes a seat.
"Danno had to go to work so Aunt Catherine said I could stay here today. Are you feeling better Uncle Steve? Catherine said you were sleeping because you were sick this morning."
"Yeah, Gracie, I feel a lot better now. I just needed some sleep." He replies around a mouthful of sandwich.
"Was it because of the epilepsy?" Grace asks curiously, "Danno said you were going to try a new medicine for it but first you had to stop the old stuff and you were going to have a lot of seizures again before you can start the new one. I hope the new medicine works."
"Yeah, Gracie. I wasn't feeling well because I had a couple seizures earlier and I needed lots of sleep to make me feel better. I hope it works too. Hopefully in a couple weeks I can start the new medication and we will know for sure if it will work or not." Steve changes the subject before taking a sip of water, "So what have you and Catherine been up to today?"
Steve watches Bo run around in the grass as he listens to Grace and Catherine chatter about what they have done so far today and what their plans are for the rest of the day. He is glad to have them as a distraction from his thoughts today.
Catherine checks to see if Grace's toes are dry before speaking, "Gracie, why don't you run inside and change into your swimming suit and we can go paddle boarding?" Once Grace is inside and out of earshot, Catherine stands and wraps her arms around Steve from behind and plants a kiss on his cheek. "How are you feeling?"
"A lot better actually, the headache is almost gone. Still not a hundred percent but much better than before." He leans back into her touch and twists his head back to capture a kiss. "Hopefully after the last few days, I'll be ok for a few days."
"So what are your plans for the afternoon? Grace and I are going to spend some time paddle boarding."
"I figured I'd let Bo play in the water and run around for a while since he spent all morning sleeping on the bed with me. And then I thought maybe I would spend some time working on the Marquis." Since Steve hasn't been going into the office for the last few days, he has spent a lot of his time, when he's been feeling up to it, in the garage working on the Marquis and doing some small home improvement projects. He still hasn't fix everything that was ruined when Nick Taylor and his goons attacked the house during the General Pak fiasco.
Steve spends a few minutes working with Bo on obedience training before he takes him down to the water to play fetch. Bo is really coming along with his training. He isn't perfect yet being a puppy still but more often than not he does what Steve asks of him without too much trouble. Sometimes he doesn't always listen when Steve is calling him if he is sniffing something or if he is on the trail of something interesting to him. But for the most part he is pretty good at listening, and most importantly, he hasn't failed to alert Steve of any impending seizures.
-H50-
The weekend passes seizure free for Steve, which makes them all extremely happy. Grace ended up spending Saturday night with Steve and Catherine because Danny couldn't get away from the case. By Sunday afternoon, they had their suspect under arrest and Chin and Danny managed to get a confession out of him after a couple hours in the interrogation room.
Monday morning Steve takes his last dose of carbamazapine, something that excites him and terrifies him at the same time. He has to wait at least another 7 days before he can have another blood test done to see if it is completely out of his system and start the medication that he will have to inject into his abdomen every day.
Mary is home with him all day today after working the weekend at the coffee house. Steve spends most of the day in the garage working on the Marquis. The car still has a long way to go before it is ready to run and he still needs to find a few parts for it, but at least he has something to keep him occupied since he isn't working at the moment.
The week passes slowly for Steve. He hates not being able to work but when he is having seizures almost every day being in the office is not convenient. Especially when he is out of it and it takes him so long to recover afterwards. The couple that he did have in the office, Danny and Chin practically had to carry him to the car and into the house when they were over.
Thursday morning Steve has an appointment with Dr. Tyson. He has been seeing Dr. Tyson once every other week for the last month or so; of course Steve can call him anytime if he feels he needs to talk between scheduled appointments. So far that hasn't happened yet. His appointment is at 8 so Cath drops him and Bo off at the hospital on her way to work that morning. Danny or one of the cousins will pick him up when he is done.
"How are things going, Steve?" Dr. Tyson greets him upon entering the office. Steve takes his usual spot in the arm chair by the window and orders Bo to lie down next to him.
"Alright I guess." Steve shrugs "I haven't been into the office in a week and a half because I'm having seizures almost every day. Being at home all the time is driving me crazy."
"You have what, another week before you get to try the new drug?"
"I go in Monday for another blood test. If its clear then I'll be able to try it on Tuesday morning."
"Are you still having reservations about trying this new medication?"
Steve shrugs and picks at an imaginary spot on his jeans. "I don't know. I really want it to work but at the same time I don't want to deal with the let down when it doesn't. I'm just trying to be real."
"What do your friends say about it?"
"They are all convinced it will work. Catherine tells me that every time I have another seizure. 'Just a little longer and this will all be over.' She says." Steve mocks her voice. His temper starts to flare up as he continues, "She doesn't know that. Dr. Freeman is pretty confident the drug will work but he says there is still a chance that it won't and that we should be prepared for that just incase. I feel like I'm the only one who is prepared for that." At Steve's outburst, Bo sits up and licks Steve's hand that is slightly hanging over the edge of the armrest. He doesn't like it when his human is distressed. Steve pets Bo as he tries to calm down a little bit.
"I understand your frustration, Steve. But I think you need to relax a little. Maybe Catherine and your friends are prepared for the scenario that the drug doesn't work but are putting on a positive front for you since they know you have reservations about it."
"I just wish they would acknowledge it. I hate how everyone treats me differently now. Like I need to be handled with kid gloves. Everyone with the exception of Cath goes out of their way to avoid mention the epilepsy. Like its a topic to be avoid at all costs. Its annoying. I'm not going to snap if it is mentioned or they asks questions about it."
"Have you talked to them about it?"
Steve shakes his head, "No. Well not to anyone but Catherine anyway."
"You should talk to them about it, Steve. Let them know that tiptoeing around it bothers you. Maybe sit down with them and have a frank discussion about it. Have you done that at all?"
"Not since it was first diagnosed. I told them about it but I guess I haven't really had an in-depth discussion about it with anyone but my sister, Danny, Grace, and Catherine. I told Chin and Kono about it the same day I got the official diagnosis but I was exhausted and pretty doped up on painkillers and muscle relaxants so I don't really remember our conversation about it. I think Danny filled them in on the finer details but I don't really know. They didn't ask questions and at that point I wasn't ready to deal with it."
Dr. Tyson nods and reiterates, "You should talk to them about it, Steve."
Steve just shrugs non-committally. He knows Dr. Tyson is right but he really doesn't want to have that awkward conversation. And if the new drug works like everyone says it will then he won't have to have that conversation with his team.
"Think about it at least." At Steve's nod he continues, "I think that is enough for today, Steve. Unless there is something else you want to talk about?"
"No, I think we covered it all."
"Alright then. Let me know how the new drug works out before your next appointment in two weeks. Don't be afraid to call if you need to."
"I'll let you know, if I get to start it next week anyway." Steve grabs Bo's leash from where he had it tucked under his thigh and tousles the dog's ears. "C'mon Bo, lets go home." Steve stands to leave. "Thanks Doc." he says on his way out the door.
TBC
So chapter 35 was getting really really long so I decided to split it into 2 chapters. The second part will be up within the next 2 weeks or so.