A/N: There's a lot of medical stuff in this chapter (and the coming chapters) and some of it (or a lot of it) may be wrong. I've done my best with research but probably didn't get everything right. And, yes, it's another depressing chapter (there's probably a good reason I had to take a break from writing this story) but I promise that I always put the characters back in mostly the same condition that I got them in. Well, not always, but this isn't one of those stories.
Summary: Everything gets worse? Athos, Porthos, and the others are trying their best to cope with the situation as it changes but find themselves overwhelmed and exhausted.
Thanks to Issai for beta reading. Any remaining mistakes are my own doing.
Porthos and Athos watch in a state of shock as Aramis is quickly whisked upstairs to the ICU. They're not allowed to follow; the couple of nurses and machines accompanying him are enough to fill the elevator and they don't want anyone getting in the way in case something happens. Porthos sends a text to d'Artagnan and Constance as Athos finds Treville. They won't be allowed in to see Aramis for a while anyway, so there's little good in going upstairs right away.
The change in Aramis' status brings everyone back quickly, though Constance does force d'Artagnan to stop long enough to get dinner for them all. They take the food and themselves up to the waiting room, where they have it to themselves, stepping off the elevator just as the family that was in there enters the elevator. None of them feel much like eating, but they feed their hungry stomachs. The room is quiet save for the sounds of their eating and the TV updating them on the latest news.
By the time the doctor steps into the waiting room, calling out for Aramis' family, it's nearly 9 pm. Aramis has already been in the ICU for close to an hour and they've been done eating for half as long.
"How's he doing?" Treville doesn't wait for the others to speak. He feels them standing behind and next to him, but Aramis is more than his employee. He's his boy and he needs to know how he is.
"He's stable, but I'm concerned about the latest tests we've had done," Dr. Farmeth says. He looks down at the tablet in his hands. "His O2 levels are lower than when he was first brought in and his urine output is low, but that could be from the dehydration. We'll have to monitor and see what happens."
"He's been depressed. Severely depressed and on medication," Porthos adds, feeling rather helpless.
"Yes, I've seen that in his records. We are treating that as well, but the depression is obviously the least of our concerns right now. His continued asthma is a bigger concern as it's weakened his lungs and it's making it more difficult to fight the pneumonia."
"Continued asthma," Treville questions. "I thought he was through the worst of it."
"No, Captain," Athos says. "It's stuck around through the winter. We figured part of it was from the depression and lack of activity. It was a hard fall season for him and I doubt the coming spring is going to do him any good."
"Whatever the reason, it's not helping him right now," Farmeth says. "The inability to get a good breath led to the quick build-up of fluid in his lungs and has made the pneumonia fairly severe. We may have to intubate soon if we can't get his O2 back up. It's not ideal, but it may need to be done."
"So, severe pneumonia? That's it," Porthos asks, his tone more of questioning than harshness.
"It's enough. Pneumonia can be fatal. Along with the breathing, the fever is consistently high and he's having bad hallucinations. We don't like sedating in his condition, so we've opted to restrain him. I understand your concerns, but he's already torn his IV once and we don't want to have that happen continually. We'll quickly run out of places to stick it. Not to mention it'll stress him out further."
"Is he alert?"
"No, not really. He didn't respond coherently the last time he woke, though he did fight against the restraints. As hard as it may sound, he is safe this way. He didn't hurt himself. They're soft restraints and he's being monitored. There's no signs of bruising."
"Will we be able to stay with him," Athos asks.
"Yes, though there may be times when we ask you to step out as we're working with him and we need space. We do close visiting hours for a couple hours in the morning for cleaning and rounds. No more than two at a time and any children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult." Farmeth pauses for a moment. "Now, before anyone goes in, you should know that in addition to the normal equipment he's hooked up to for monitoring, I have authorized an NG tube. He's just on the outside of the minimum for his height. We're starting off easy, so we don't upset his system. Getting weight back on is a goal, but not the primary objective."
"We knew that he'd been eating less, but not that bad." Porthos looks to the others, who share similar puzzled, guilty looks.
"I'm not pointing fingers. I don't know his history, but if he was as depressed as you said, then he might've made a point to not let you know. I think they were even surprised down in the ER once they took the layers of clothing off."
It doesn't do much to make them feel better about not seeing the pain their friend was enduring, but they don't pressure the doctor on it. Once he leaves, with a note that he'll be on duty for a while, checking in regularly, they discuss the visiting schedule.
The Inseparables are quick to request leave, which doesn't surprise Treville. It'll work for the first week, but depending on how long Aramis' recovery takes, they'll have to look into going back to work in shifts.
"I can spend a lot of my time here," Constance says, interrupting their conversation. "I'm just spending my days at home at this point working. It wouldn't be too difficult to shift that work here." She comes into the station for a day or two every week to do paperwork and attend meetings, but other than that, she is more free in terms of obligations.
"We can't ask you to do that," Porthos says.
"Why not? The four of you are planning on living here and he's as much my friend as he is yours. I can do my research and writing here just as easily as I can at home. Better actually now as I'll be at home worried about him."
"You're right. Sorry."
"You're worried. We're all worried," she says. "And we probably shouldn't be wasting all of our time out here discussing what to do and leaving him alone in there. He may not be fully aware, but the emotions he's going through when he does wake can't be good for him."
"Yes," Treville nods, glancing down at his phone after it buzzes with an incoming text. "If you guys don't mind, I'm going to head in first for a bit. Sarah wants me to come home for a few hours. The kids are worried and won't calm down. She wants some help getting them into bed and reassuring them that their Uncle Aramis is doing okay."
"Of course, Captain," Porthos says. "One of us will be there soon. We just have some logistics to sort out."
"Well, as you're doing that, take this into consideration. I don't want to see more than one of you in there at a time and for no more than an hour. Sarah will be by tomorrow likely to help out. And you five have to eat and leave this building regularly. A few times a day at least, with one of those ventures including going home for a solid eight hours of sleep. If I come back tomorrow evening and find that any of you have spent more than 24 hours in here and awake unless his condition is dire, then you'll be banned from here for an entire day. Understand?"
They agree readily, grumbling slightly as their Captain knows them all too well. Their Captain then leaves them and makes his way into Aramis' ICU room. There's a nurse in there currently, checking his vitals and noting them on her tablet.
"Is he doing any better," Treville asks hopefully.
"He's holding his own," she says absently as she finishes her notes and then looks up at him. "The fever is a little worse as is the breathing, but he hasn't woken in another panic and delusional, so that's good."
"I know that Farmeth said the restraints were safe, but does he need to have them on if someone's in here with him? We don't plan on leaving him alone unless we have to." Treville doesn't like seeing the restraints and he knows that Aramis doesn't like them either.
"Unfortunately, it's for the best. I'm sure that Dr. Farmeth told you he ripped out his IV once, but if he's unrestrained he could hurt himself more. And holding him down, as I'm sure you're thinking you'd do, would only upset him more and possibly cause worse injury to him or whoever was holding him. This really is for the best," she explains.
"I understand. I just had to ask. He doesn't respond well to the restraints. He had them several years ago when he was injured and the doctors weren't good about the type or their use. He tends to panic easily."
"I can talk with Dr. Farmeth, but this really is for the best and we're watching him closely. I assure you, we won't let him come to any harm."
"I know, I know. We've always had good care here, in this hospital. I know it's for the best. Just the worries of a concerned father." Treville sits down heavily in the chair.
"He's your son?"
"Not in any conventional means. I'm more a father figure, I suppose. It's not that he didn't have a good dad. It just sort of happened when he needed someone to lean on, to help him through some rough patches."
She nods before excusing herself to continue on her rounds. Her disappearance leaves Treville feeling a bit lost. He stands to move close to Aramis, finding his hand with his own. It's awkward to hold with the arm held in the restraint, but Aramis doesn't budge. Treville wonders if he might actually be resting now. The dark circles around his eyes show that he needs it desperately. He wonders how long it has been since Aramis got good sleep. What had happened in these last few weeks? They'd all been busy and Aramis seemed to have fallen into a steady routine of going to his appointments and staying in his room. It sounds horrible as Treville tries to justify their reasoning for leaving the young man alone in his misery. He knows that the others checked on him, spoke with him, and made sure he was okay. Or at least, he thought they did. That's what they told him and they had little reason to lie. None of them want to see Aramis leave the task force.
Still, looking at Aramis' thin, pale body, a sheet pulled up to his waist, EKG electrodes on his chest, Treville wonders if any of them had really looked. If they'd been worn down by the months of declining illness that being caught up in the frenziness of their work had seemed like a better option, an easier thing to do. Had work been that busy?
Farmeth was right, though. All of that didn't matter at the moment. Right now, Aramis was sick, sick enough to be in the ICU without a clear prognosis. When he woke, when he was better, they would tackle the last few weeks. They'd find out what had gone wrong and work on getting him through the depression. They'd do better.
Treville stays with Aramis for a while longer, talking to him even though Aramis never wakes. When he leaves, he stops by the waiting room to let the others know to keep him up-to-date with what happens. He doesn't know when he'll be back, but he's hoping to be back during the early morning. Leaving is hard but he has obligations at home that he can't put aside.
In the waiting room, Athos opts to go first. None of them can decide what the order will be, so he volunteers. Porthos and d'Artagnan head home, using Constance's car, to get their own car and overnight bags as well as a change of clothes for themselves and Athos.
The night passes with them taking their turns, sitting with Aramis and trying to sleep in the waiting room. The seats are comfortable and, fortunately, designed with moveable armrests so they can stretch out, but their worry over Aramis and guilt over having missed his decline keeps them from resting. For his part, Aramis continues to struggle with breathing and delusions from the high fever. He wakes a few times during the night, fighting weakly against the restraints and coughing as he attempts to gain his freedom from whatever he is seeing. They don't understand him and can only guess at what his fever is conjuring up, but they do their best to get him calm again.
Morning comes with little celebration to them. Aramis is no better and, after a night of trying to sleep between worrying about him, they feel worn. It's Constance's turn to sit with Aramis, leaving the three men walking the hallway to stretch their legs.
"I don't know how I'm going to get through today," d'Artagnan says. "I mean, I want to be here for Aramis, but I'm not sure there's enough caffeine to wake me up."
"I know," Athos agrees. "We've already had a long week and I doubt any of us really got good sleep leading up to this."
"Maybe we should go home in shifts today," Porthos suggests. "Treville wants us out of here anyway regularly," he adds when the two look at him. "Two of us can go home and sleep for a while, then come back and relieve the others."
"That could work. Do either of you feel rested enough to drive?"
Both shake their heads.
"Neither do I," Athos agrees. "Uber it is then."
It's then a familiar voice calls out to them as they approach the nurses' station.
"Megan," Porthos says, the first to recognize her as the nurse from the ER they visit when they've had an injury at work. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm filling in for a friend. She had to go home for a family emergency and the ICU is already short a couple nurses due to the flu, so I volunteered to help out. The extra money will be nice when I'm heading out for vacation in a couple months. What are you three doing here? Where's Aramis?"
"We're here for him. He's sick with pneumonia and wound up here because of his breathing issues and high fever."
"Oh, no. The poor man just can't catch a break. I heard about the depression and leave. He's had such a rough year. I thought the new year might be better with him."
"How'd you hear about all of that?"
"You officers are gossips, don't you know? I get one of you in the ER and you don't shut up about the latest happenings at your station. It's not just the Musketeers, the police, too."
"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense." Porthos doesn't like that there's been someone going around telling others about what happened with Aramis and from the looks on d'Artagnan and Athos, they don't like it either. "Don't spread it around any further, please. Aramis hasn't been happy with what happened."
"I'd never." She gives them a warm smile. "What my patients tell me is confidential, unless it's threatening, of course. Well, I better go get clocked in and ready for the shift. I'll check in on Aramis later if he's not on my rounds." She waves a goodbye to them, which they return and they go their separate ways.
They eventually make their way back to the waiting room, running into Treville, who is carrying a bag of food and a coffee tray.
"I figured none of you would feel up to going out to get something to eat. Sarah did her best at calling in the order, so hopefully you all like it," Treville says as a way of greeting.
"I'm sure it's fine," Athos says. "Especially, considering we hadn't even got that far in thinking about food save for wondering if there's enough caffeine to wake us up for the rest of the day."
"Something happen during the night? Your texts said nothing changed."
"And nothing has," Porthos says. "We're just tired from a long weekend and spending the night here, worrying and wondering if he was going to be okay, didn't help."
"But you'll be pleased to know that we're going to be heading home to sleep in shifts later today," Athos says. "Whenever we can get ourselves to actually leave." Despite coming up with a plan for getting rest none of them had felt eager to volunteer to leave.
"If it helps, Sarah will be coming by later. She needs to get the kids to school and grab her homework for the day and then she's planning on coming," Treville says.
"It's not a lack of people. It's more the worry."
"I understand, but remember that in taking care of him, you need to be sure to take care of yourselves. Hopefully, his visit will be short."
"We'll go home at some point today, Captain. It's just going to take us some time to work ourselves up to it," Porthos says.
Treville accepts their answer, understanding their concern about Aramis. While he'd been ill for a long time, the severity of it seemed to come on suddenly leaving them all in a state of shock and worry. He sits with them as they eat breakfast and then leaves to go into the station. Much as he would like to stay, he knows he can't. Not only does he have to keep the station running, but he's also having to play interference with Richelieu with the ending of Aramis' leave about a week away. And he knows that as he's working, they'll keep him updated.
The morning is spent looking after Aramis in turns and toying with the idea of going home. Their tempers are short from worry and lack of sleep, leaving Sarah and Constance close to kicking all three out until the evening. When Porthos and d'Artagnan get into an argument about who's heading home mid-afternoon, Sarah is ready to drive them both home when Athos rushes into the waiting room. It'd been his turn to sit with Aramis.
"What's wrong," Sarah asks, seeing the panic on Athos right away.
"His fever spiked, he's seizing. They kicked me out so they could take care of him." Athos runs a tired hand over his face and through his hair. He's awake now, but it's the sort of nauseating awake that comes with a sudden start. He feels like throwing up and before he knows, someone is helping him to sit and pushing his head down between his knees. Someone else is rubbing hand on his back. He takes several breaths, working to calm himself before he sits back up. They're all around him, worrying about him and it makes him feel silly because it's Aramis who's sick.
"Here," Porthos says, holding out a small can of ginger ale. Athos doesn't know where he got it, but he's grateful to see it. He thanks Porthos and takes the can, drinking slowly from it. The taste and carbonation do wonders for his nausea and he slowly starts feeling better.
"Better," Porthos asks. He's sitting next to Athos, on the edge of his seat.
"Yeah." Athos lets out a breath as he sinks back into the chair.
"What happened?"
"Aramis had a seizure."
"I got that. With you?"
"I don't know. I just started feeling sick and then I was sitting down." Athos looks up at them. Sarah's sitting opposite him with d'Artagnan and Constance standing in front, all with worried looks.
"And now?" This time it's Sarah who asks.
"Better, like I said."
"You should probably rest more, then you're going home. The three of you boys are going home to sleep for eight hours and get a good meal before you come back."
"But Aramis…"
"As far as we know, he's holding his own and will be whether you're here or not."
"I'll sleep here. On the chairs. I don't want to go home, not now." Athos begins to shake but not from anger.
"Do you want to wind up in a room downstairs with an IV and unable to see Aramis?"
"Sarah, I will sleep here and once we know more about Aramis, once he's stabilized, we'll go home, but you didn't see him. You didn't see…."
And Sarah has to concede his point there. She didn't witness what Athos had, which has clearly shaken the normally stoic man.
"Fine. Drink the rest of that, eat some of this, and then stretch out on the chairs. The same goes for the three of you." She points to Constance, d'Artagnan, and Porthos. "Get a snack and stretch out. Take advantage of the room being empty now. I'll wake you once I know more about Aramis."
They reluctantly agree. She would prefer that they take advantage of her time here. Meg had gone to a friend's house after kindergarten and soon the boys would be out of school for the day and would also be going to a friend's house. She has to be heading home in an hour or two to collect the kids and get dinner together. Though she knows they'd like to see Aramis, she's hesitant about bringing them, especially with Aramis doing worse. They know that he's sick, but she worries about them be confronted with it like when Athos came in with the latest news and then nearly passed out himself. Perhaps over the weekend, when they have more time to deal with any repercussions and when Aramis might be doing better. Until then, she's glad to have such understanding friends to allow the kids to stay for so long.
It seems the others have just settled when Farmeth comes to see them. They all quickly get up to meet him.
"First, he's doing okay. The seizure was short, which is good. What's not so good is that we can't get the fever to break. He's been on an antibiotic since last night, but it hasn't had much of an effect, yet," Farmeth explains.
"What're the plans then," Porthos asks.
"We're going to keep him on the antibiotic. It can take time to have an impact. We're also starting with some cooling packs to try to bring his temperature down. The seizure is concerning and our goal now is to keep the temperature down low enough to avoid more seizures."
"And this will work?"
"I'm hopeful. It can take time for medication and treatment to have an effect. We'll know more in the morning."
"Is that a thing like, if he makes it through the night type thing," d'Artagnan asks hesitantly.
"No, he's not that bad off. But in the morning, we'll know if the treatment is working and what to do next. We'll keep monitoring, though, and if he grows worse through the night, we'll make adjustments."
"Okay."
"But for now he's doing okay. We're watching him closely. And I would recommend that you all get some rest, outside of here. If you don't want to go far, the hotel across the street is often happy to work with patients' families."
"We'll think about it," Porthos says. The doctor leaves them to talk and decide on their plans. Before they get too far in making plans, Sarah is on her phone. Though they quickly pick on her talking with the hotel, they wisely don't push to speak with her while she's on the phone.
"Alright," she says once she's done with her call. "There is a room with two beds booked at the hotel. I know that with Aramis' condition, none of you are going to want to go back home, so here's what going to happen because you can't get good sleep here. Two of you will go there to sleep for at least four hours. Then you'll trade off. Jean, I expect, will be here later tonight to help with watching him. Who's going first?"
"Athos will," Porthos says and fortunately, Athos doesn't argue. Though he's feeling better, exhaustion is quickly settling back in.
"I'll go to," d'Artagnan says. "If you guys are okay with it."
Constance and Porthos agree easily.
"Alright, then. It's all in my name, so I'll head over with the two of you. Then I have to head out and collect the kids. Please keep me updated, though. Jean will be home later and once he's had something to eat, I'll send him over with some dinner. But if something happens, don't hesitate to call."
They agree and thank her for her help, apologizing for having taken her away from the kids.
"It's fine. We're a family. It's what family does," she tells them.