All in his Head

Fix

Shay dropped Kelly off at the hospital in the morning, stating she was happy to join him if he wanted, knowing how worried Kelly was about the transfer. He'd said no, but thanked her and steeled himself as he got out of the car. If all went well, he'd travel with Matt to the university hospital in a few hours' time.

Thankfully for all involved the transfer began well, and Kelly hopped into the back of the ambulance, sitting by Matt who was lying on his back, strapped to the gurney. At first, he'd thought they'd given Matt something, making him sleepy, he'd been clinging to Kelly's arm as they travelled out of the building together. Kelly had reassured him everything was fine. He was confused, and had been scared at first, but Kelly's presence calmed him.

Kelly held his hand, it had been a struggle to see Matt trying to cling to his arm with failing coordination and his weak hold. He'd managed to eat a little food for breakfast before they gave him something through the NG tube, but Kelly was concerned the disorienting journey might make him feel nauseous, but they soon arrived without incident.

They met one of the nurses from the critical care neurological ward and Matt managed to get himself off the gurney with some assistance and into the awaiting wheelchair. His movements were clumsy and weak, but Kelly supported him.

Matt's new room was far more clinical, which Kelly had expected, but it was still nice and there was even a large cushioned window seat as part of the furniture, all interconnected with some shelving, drawers, and even a mirror by the private bathroom. The hospital bed was large, with a pale blue blanket over the white sheets, there was a fresh gown folded at the end, and spare blankets on one of the shelves. There were also two chairs in the room as well as a TV connected to the bed, it looked like it could be positioned over the bed and moved into whatever position Matt wanted.

The nurse and orderly left them to get settled in, asking Matt to change from his sweatpants and hoody into the gown ready for the tests. A barrage of tests were planned for the day. Matts awareness grew after arriving at the hospital, he didn't seem worried or scared of the change though, in fact, Kelly realised how his paranoia had lessened over the last week or so.

Doctor Murphey entered the room with the nurse a short while after Matt had settled on the bed. "Hi, Matt, how are you?"

Matt nodded, acknowledging her.

"Ok, Matt, we've got a few things planned for the next couple of days, I want to do some more tests so we can figure out what's going on," she told Matt.

He groaned in response, at least that's what it sounded like to Kelly, he wasn't sure if Matt had been trying to say something or not. He'd not spoken at all so far today.

"Not how I'd want to spend my day either, but my staff and I will make this as comfortable as possible for you," she explained. She moved a cart over to the bedside. "Got this really funky headgear for you to wear for the next twenty-four hours, you had an EEG a while back, this is very similar, you'll just be wearing it for a longer period so we can try and detect any unusual activity."

Kelly gave Matt a reassuring smile as he watched him eying the electrodes suspiciously.

All the electrodes were put into position, and there was a lot of them, and then gently the nurse covered them in a tensor bandage, going once under his chin to stop it all from moving. Once his head was wrapped, the wires were tidied up, wrapped into one neat line. The doctor spoke to him the whole time. "So, you shouldn't become tangled in any of the wires and you can rest your head, walk about, pretty much anything with it on," she told him, adjusting it so that it fit him comfortably. His blond hair, which had grown longer than Kelly had ever seen him have it, poke through the white netted material.

She switched the monitor on, it would record everything so that it could all be looked at and reviewed.

"Always said you looked good wearing anything," Kelly commented, giving Matt a smile.

Matt smiled back at him but he wasn't sure why, he just figured it was the right thing to do.

"Ok, so now, Matt, we're gonna take some blood, and we've got the MRI booked for you in an hour, then we'll do a PET scan and then spinal tap," she told him, speaking to Kelly as well, as the nurse wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Matts arm. His BP was low which the doctor had expected, and they would continue to monitor it. "That'll be it for today. It sounds like a lot, I know, but it's for the best. And we'll be doing more tests tomorrow as well."

Several hours later and Kelly was still by Matts side. Blood had been taken, his vitals were being continually monitored, the MRI and PET scan had been done, and Matt was still having the continual EEG, the wires were neatly tied together and draped over the back of the bed so as not to disturb Matt too much. Next was the spinal tap, the one test Kelly was most worried about since he was concerned it would be painful.

"Do you think there's an infection? His blood tests didn't show anything last time," Kelly said as the doctor and nurse prepped Matt for the spinal tap.

"We're getting everything tested for more than just standard infections, and the spinal fluid can give us more information than a standard blood test," the doctor explained. "Depending on the results, which we'll get overnight, we'll do some more tests and different scans tomorrow."

"You have an idea what this could be?" Kelly asked.

"I do, his MRI showed inflammation which hadn't been there in his last scan. But I need to exclude some things first," the doctor responded.

"Excluding things is good a thing, I guess," he commented.

"We'll know more after these results," she told him.

"Sorry, I just want to know what's happening to him, it's been two months…"

"I should be able to give you some answers in a day or two," she told him before speaking louder, addressing Matt now that everything was ready for the procedure. "All right, Matt, can you move onto your side for me, doesn't matter which, whatever you're comfortable with."

Matt remained still, his eyes were open and he had heard the doctors request, but he couldn't even move his head, he stayed still, looking at her greying blonde hair and kind weathered features.

"Matt?" Kelly spoke up.

He groaned in response, unable to do anything more. His fingers were curled and wrists bent towards his body, they were trembling.

"It's all right, Matt," Doctor Murphy told him. "We're figuring this out, and I think we'll be able to treat it and get you better." She looked at the nurse and spoke again. "Let's get him onto his side."

Kelly held Matt's hand as the procedure took place, it was warm but eerily felt like he was holding a statue now he'd stopped trembling. Matt coped well with the spinal tap, the doctor had talked him through what was happening and it had been painless, for that Kelly was grateful as he'd seen the size of the aspiration needle and had blanched at the thought of it going into Matts spine.

"Ok, you need to lay still for the next hour or you'll get a nasty headache," she told Matt as the nurse cleared away the equipment.

Kelly said his thanks on Matts behalf before they left the room. His focus went back to Matt. "You did good, baby."

Matt made a guttural noise, and saliva tracked down the side of his face. Kelly wiped it away before it could hit the pillow. A tear leaked from Kelly's eye; Matt seemed trapped in an uncooperative body, he almost hoped he wasn't aware, but he knew that wasn't the case, he could see it in Matt's eyes, even in those moments when they weren't able to follow any movement. Eye paralysis, the doctor had called it. It seemed to fluctuate like with many of the things Matt was experiencing, but everything seemed to be happening far more often now, and there was little time where there was nothing obviously wrong.

A few hours after the spinal tap procedure, Matt and Kelly took a short walk around the ward, Matt couldn't manage much more. His movements were getting clumsier by the day, he didn't seem to notice though. Kelly supported him and pushed along the cart as they made the short journey, and they chatted, Matt able to speak again, though he didn't seem to remember being unable to.

"There we go, your room," Kelly said as they turned the corner.

Matt frowned. "Where we?"

"Hospital," he answered simply.

"No…"

"It's a different hospital," Kelly explained.

"Fix?"

Kelly stopped and looked at Matt, who's eyes were unfocused, uneven, his left was drifting away, the lid drooping a little. He had to stop himself from staring, his heart was in his throat. "The doctor is figuring out what's happening… I'm sorry I didn't get you here sooner, I'm sorry I didn't trust myself… I thought it was in your head, like everyone kept telling me… and I'm sorry I learnt about your past without, well, without waiting for you to tell me. I would have waited though. I'm sorry. I would have waited forever."

Matt's expression blanked. "Wha…?"

He forced a smile. "Doesn't matter. Let's get you back to bed."

TBC