Title:Last Drink Tonight
Author:Nicksfriend
Disclaimer:I do not own or have any sort of connection to CBS or the CSI franchise...wish I did though it would be nice to have a little extra cash.
Summary: A trip to a missing person is interrupted by a drunk driver.
Desert Palm Hospital
There is something about an angry woman in heels walking on tiled floors,especially when that angry woman is Catherine Willows. "What do you mean I can't see Nick Stokes? I'm listed as his next of kin." a look of aggravation and anger mix etched on her face.
"Dr Kasey was specific,he wants to see Nick first this morning." the nurse replied,fearing the woman with the attitude.
"Dr Kasey hasn't known Nick for as long as I have and I know that Nick needs his friends,his work family." her voice was getting loud now,Grissom nowhere in sight to calm the red headed woman down, she was protective of Nick,always had been and always would be,Nick was special,unique, a true friend.
Dr Kasey took that moment to step off the elevator,Catherine didn't waste a second,"I want to see Nick." she commanded as she approached him,her heels hitting the tile with a renewed sense of determination,but more restrained than she had been with the nurse.
"Ms Willows,we talked about this,Nick is isolated right now for his own good. He will not comply if you guys are there to caudal him,he needs to do this on his own this time."Dr Kasey was emphatic.
Her steps halted,"Caudal, so that is what you think we do to Nick,I think you have that wrong, we support him,his only support,god only knows that his family could care less.. I wish you really knew Nick,the sweetest,most compassionate person that I've ever known."
"I see Nick as that, but I also see him as a victim, a victim of many really bad things Mrs Willows,he has to do this the only way he knows how,by himself,he has never had that support from his family and he has come through worse." he continued his steps down the hallway.
"But he doesn't have to do it alone, he has us." she called out to him as he continued to walk.
Dr Kasey walked up tot he door,he took a breath and walked inside,Charlie had left for the day and Willie Daykins now sat beside Nick's bed,his patient still asleep.
"Has Dr Mason come in yet?" he asked the sitter.
"You just missed him. Mr Stokes evidently had a rough night with a cough so Dr Mason placed him on some oxygen and some breathing treatments in addition to his antibiotics." The male nursing student explained,wanting the psychologist to know that he was aware of what was going on with the patient.
"Has he been awake?" Dr Kasey asked as he walked around and assessed his patient,even in his sleep he looked exhausted.
"No, according to Charlie he slept all night but it was a restless sleep, he was coughing a lot." he moved out of the doctor's way,seeing that he wanted to speak with his patient.
"Nick, I need to talk to you for a few minutes. Can you wake up for me?" he asked as he sit in the chair beside the bed,vacated by Willie.
Nick opened his sticky eyes,he was a little confused at first because he tried to sit up,startled by being awakened and the drugs that he had been given to sleep, the fever still in his cheeks, he probably needed something for it.
"How are you feeling this morning?" he asked as Nick rolled over and looked at the doctor.
"Like hell." he looked around,still seeming to be lost,a little confused to his surroundings.
"Nick, do you know where you are?" seeing that Nick's odd expression on his face.
Nick rubbed at his face,"Not at home."
"Nick you're avoiding my question,do you know where you are?"
Nick shook his head,"Hell." he finally gave the only answer the doctor knew he would give,he hated the hospital and he referred to it as hell many times.
"Nick we have a long day ahead of us,we have to get you better. So today I have a task for you." he reached over and tapped Nick on the shoulder getting his attention.
"What?" irritated at the constant bother, who was his doctor,he felt bad,achy,and his head was starting to hurt.
"Nick, today we are going to start on something simple and if you complete the task then you get a visitor." he explained, setting tasks that were simple would give Nick some encouragement.
He laid back down on the bed,closing his eyes,"No tasks, no visitors! Just leave me the hell alone." his irritability concerned the doctor,this was not Nick, even on his worse day.
He continued though,wanting to get Nick better,"Your task is to drink today,all you have to do is drink something." he again reached over and touched Nick's shoulder wanting him to focus.
But that didn't work,Nick turned over and ignored the man,"Leave me the hell alone."
Dr Kasey was growing more concerned,this was different than the night before,"Nick,either you drink or we go back to restraints because you'll be showing me that you are not ready to move forward."
The doctors words angered him,he felt hot,sick to his stomach and his chest was on fire and he couldn't really remember where the hell he was but he was sure it was back at the hospital,the place of crazed nurses and needles,lots of pain, he hated pain,he hated hospitals and he was about to explode on the man if he didn't leave him alone."Please leave me alone. I want to go home."
He looked down at Nick's hands,they were balled up into fists, an anger he had never seen with the man,this was new and very concerning."Listen, I'm going to look at your lab work for this morning,maybe Dr Mason is still here or Dr Holt." he stood to leave when he heard Nick behind him.
The man was standing up beside his bed and walking with the IV pole towards the bathroom,"Nick, you can't go in there alone,your sitter needs to be with you."
"Wh? Afraid I might piss on myself?" he asked as he continued to walk towards the small room.
Dr Kasey motioned for Willie to move towards the room but Nick saw the man coming and waved him off,"I don't need help holding my dick." he grabbed the door and opened it,walking inside,pulling down his sweat pants and taking care of business.
"We need to measure that." the sitter explained as he got the urinal.
Nick stood there,feeling as he just needed to be left alone,to feel as if he could do something without somebody there. He jerked the offered bottle out of the man's hand and tried to urinate,"I can't do this with an audience,he's shy."
Willie smiled,"I'll turn my head but I can't leave you."
"I just need to piss in private." giving up on the task,he threw the bottle down and walked over to the sink to wash his hands,he flipped on the water and washed his hands as Willie grabbed some paper towels.
"You still need to go,and if you don't go then they will place the foley catheter again." wanting his patient to know what the staff would do if he at least didn't try.
Nick ignored him and crawled back into bed,he felt horrible,worse than he had in a long time and that was saying a lot.
He closed his eyes and turned away from the sitter,ignoring the man in the room.
The nurse walked in to give him his medications,something for fever, an anti-depressant and a bag of antibiotic."Good morning Mr Stokes." she greeted as she reached up to grab the empty bag of antibiotic to replace it with a new one.
Again he ignored his company,Dr Kasey had gone to the desk and ordered him some new drugs.
"I need you to take some pills." she poured a glass of water and attempted to get him to pay attention to her.
"Mr Stokes your nurse needs to give your medication to you,roll over." Willie's authoritative voice got through to Nick and he rolled over but he sight of more pills,more medication frustrated him,he just wanted to go home,his bloody home, the home where his mother,grandmother,whatever the hell she was, was shot,where she had confessed that he was truly a bastard child, he couldn't help himself, the pain was there and he took the pills and threw them across the room,"I don't want no more damned pills!"
"Hey, hey, it's okay Nick,it's okay." Willie comforted.
"I won't tolerate that behavior Mr Stokes, I have too many patients to see and you are not going to act like this,do I make myself clear?" the nurse fussed at him,gathering the pills off the floor and throwing them in the sink, they were contaminated.
"Go to hell!' he yelled back at her, then he was in motion again, he needed to go to the bathroom, his oxygen pulling out, he made his way to the other side of the bed,the sitter and nurse now attempting to grab his arms to put him back in the bed,the nurse calling out for restraints and assistance. "Just let me take a piss." his voice now pleading.
Then within minutes the room was filled with other staff and they were all determined to make sure he didn't leave the room or hurt himself.
Then a voice at the door stopped his irrational movements,it was Catherine,"Nick,you need to lie down please."
His motions stopped as he spotted a familiar face, he felt overwhelmed though and he didn't want her to see him like this,"Catherine go away, please. I can't do this anymore." he went down on his knees, exhaustion and pain winning out.
The staff was there to assist him back into the bed, the wrist restraints reapplied and the side rails pulled up.
The nurse was attempting to rid the room of the visitor which only agitated him more,"Let her stay!"
"Mr Stokes, you aren't allowed visitors yet,not until Dr Kasey okays it." she was adamant and was unrelenting as she continued to point Catherine out the door.
He was now pulling at the restraints again trying to get out of the bed , another nurse entered with a syringe and the door was shut in Catherine's face.
"Listen, we need to calm you down, you are a very sick man, so I have a shot that will help you relax. Okay?" the nurse's sweet voice was not penetrating his terror,his pain.
Several people rolled him over,the needle as always stung the thick liquid hurt and he was then placed on his back,his anger still present."What are you going to do?Drug me every time I want to see a friend or every time I need to piss?" he hit the side rail hard,hard enough to cause his hand to bleed, then the door opened before Willie could get control of his patient's hand to stop the bleeding.
"What is going on?" Dr Kasey was upset, Catherine standing behind him,the staff wasn't trained to handle this type of patient and he should have known better than to place him back on the medical floor.
"He's acting irrational." the nurse attempted to explain as as she dropped the syringe into the needle container.
"He's acting like a trauma patient. He has post traumatic stress disorder,it's in the chart, if you took the time to read it you would know." he walked over and took off the restraints,"Sorry Nick, this was not what I had planned for you.'
"He needs a private facility,I will make arrangements, I won't allow Nick to be treated like this and as far I'm concerned I am his power of attorney." her words stung the doctor,but he knew they were warranted, the staff hadn't known how to react to Nick's attempt of independence.
"Just needed to pee." he spoke in a low voice,the drugs now permeating his brain.
"It's okay Nick, I just learned a lesson." he pulled up the sheet to see that Nick needed to be changed,"I'll help change you."
Willie shook his head,"We over reacted."
"That's putting it lightly." angered at the staff's treatment of Nick he closed the door and pulled out a gown as he and Willie changed his clothing and washed his body. He felt horrible for his patient.
Nick closed his eyes and allowed them to clean up the mess,he felt worse,he just wanted to be left alone.
Don't think that the nursing staff are bad people,they are people who weren't trained to take care of traumatic stress patients. But they should have listened better,Nick was telling them what he wanted but they over-reacted,because of their own fears.
