Beep…beep…beep…beep.
TK's eyes tracked the rhythm of the heart monitor as it rose and fell in its predictable pattern. Bailey had been rushed into surgery. When her port had been pulled she'd done a decent amount of damage to her inner abdomen and there had been a lot of internal bleeding. The surgeon stabilized her and was able to repair the damage done. TK and Carlos had practically fallen over when the doctor had come out to tell them that Bailey was in recovery and was going to be okay. The team, unsurprisingly, had only left once or twice to change and get food. Owen had brought clothes for TK and Carlos to change into and though he'd tried to get them to eat it wasn't much of a success.
"I'll eat when she wakes up." Carlos had said.
TK was too anxious to even put together an audible response that wasn't a grunt. In Owen's eyes the two men were fathers and their child was in a dangerous place. He'd been them too many times and he knew how they felt. Scared, anxious, nervous, tired, but most of all they felt useless. The one feeling that a parent fears the most is the feeling of uselessness when their child is in imminent danger and they can't do anything to keep them from it. He could only hope that it wouldn't break them.
Pain, bright, cold. Bailey could only register so much as she fought her way back to consciousness. Why did her side hurt? Why were the lights so bright? Why was she so cold? Her eyes opened only briefly before the bright light forced her to close them again. She groaned and heard hurried rustling from either side of her.
"Bailey?" TK asked.
Bailey nodded. Her dad was there. She didn't know when she made the decision to call TK, dad, but that's how she saw him. And Carlos, though also dad, was Papá. Bailey tried to open her eyes again but the light was still too bright.
"Dad can you turn down the lights please?" TK asked.
The lights dimmed and Bailey was able to squint her eyes and take in the room. Dad on her left, Papá on her right, Owen and Judd beside them and the rest of the 126 scattered throughout the room.
"Hey mija," Carlos said brushing her loose hair out of her face. "Gave us quite a scare there."
Bailey blinked slowly, her hand roaming to her side, the source of her discomfort.
"What happened?" She asked, feeling a bandage underneath the layer of blankets.
"You clipped your port, knocked it out of place. Tore some muscle too," TK explained. "It somehow stayed in place for a while before inevitably dislodging and…you lost a lot of blood kiddo."
"I did?" She asked.
Carlos' brow furrowed.
"You don't remember waking up in the ambulance Bailey?" He asked.
"No," Bailey said. "Honestly the last thing that I clearly remember is being in the back cab while Judd and Paul were fixing the pump on the ladder truck."
Bailey looked around the room, suddenly anxious. Why couldn't she remember anything?
"Why can't I remember?" She asked trying to push herself up.
She couldn't be still anymore, she needed to move, she needed to think, she needed to remember.
"Woah, Bailey, slow down you just had surgery. Calm down kiddo." TK said, putting a gentle hand on Bailey's shoulder to keep her from straining herself too much.
"No, dad I can't remember. I don't know what I did?" Bailey said, her breathing picking up.
She reached up and ran her hands through her hair, squeezing her eyes shut. Think, think, think. The heart monitor's rhythm was increasing.
"Okay she's having a panic attack," TK said. "Can somebody get the doctor please?"
Owen jumped up quickly followed by Judd. The rest of the 126 could only stand helplessly as they watched their youngest family member struggle to stay in control. TK tried to put a hand on Bailey's arm again but she threw herself back into the bed. He looked to Carlos for help. Carlos had always had more success in calming Bailey's anxiety in the past.
"Bailey, open your eyes mija, you're okay." Carlos tried.
"Can't remember." Bailey breathed harshly.
"I know, but panicking isn't gonna help," Carlos said. "You're going to end up hurting yourself again."
But Bailey's heart rate only climbed as her body grew more and more rigid, her legs fought against the tight blankets and she cried out in pain as her struggle pulled on her incision. TK pushed her legs down to try and keep her from doing too much damage.
"She's gonna rip her incision open again." TK said.
"Screw it," Carlos said slipping behind Bailey and wrapping his arms tightly around her chest. Bailey fought him, tears streaming down her face but Carlos held firm. "Bails listen to me. Breathe in and out. Deep breaths. You're okay, it'll come back to you in time mija. You just have to give it time."
Bailey's legs stopped flailing but her heart rate didn't fall much. Finally Owen returned with the doctor. He took in the sight of the room, Bailey wrapped tightly in Carlos' arms, her heart rate sitting in the clouds and sucked in a breath. A nurse trailed in a second later, a syringe with what TK assumed to be a sedative in hand. Without needing any direction the nurse injected the sedative into Bailey's IV and almost immediately she began to relax. When Carlos felt her slump completely against him he took a deep breath, holding her a moment longer before kissing the top of her head and slipping out from behind her. The doctor looked over Bailey's stats with a careful eye, watching them as they evened out.
"Can we have a minute guys, please." TK asked, looking at the others in the room.
"Of course." Owen said, ushering everybody out of the room, leaving TK, Carlos and the doctor alone with Bailey.
"What happened?" The doctor asked, looking to TK and Carlos for answers.
"She couldn't remember what happened," Carlos said, sitting on the edge of Bailey's bed as she slept. "It scared her."
"That's to be expected, the memories will come back to her slowly. But it will take time," The doctor assured them. "For now we'll let the sedative work its way through her system and when she wakes up we'll reassess her status."
Carlos smiled and nodded but said nothing.
"Thanks Dr. Evans." TK said and the doctor took his leave.
"I hate when she has to go through things like this. The drops, the anxiety…" Carlos tapered off.
"The foster system," TK finished before looking at his boyfriend, a fierce determination in his eye. "Have you thought about what we talked about?"
Carlos looked up at TK, his brows raised.
"The adoption?" Carlos asked and TK nodded. "Every day since she stepped through the door. I honestly can't believe it's been almost two months since we got custody."
TK smiled.
"So what are we waiting for?" TK asked.
Carlos shrugged.
"I guess I just want to make sure that it's what she wants." He said.
"We'll give it a couple weeks and then once she's healed, we can talk to her about it." TK said.
Carlos nodded.
"I think that's a good plan." He agreed.
TK and Carlos were dozing in their chairs when Bailey woke up again. The rest of the 126 had gone home an hour or so before, after some moderately aggressive persuasion. Bailey groaned, moving a bit heavily under her blankets. TK and Carlos both hopped up and stood next to her bed, waiting for her to come to a bit more.
"Dad?" She muttered. "Papá?"
"Yeah mija, we're both here." Carlos said. "How are you feeling?"
"Sore," She swallowed thickly. "Thirsty."
"I'll get Dr. Evans." Carlos said, kissing her forehead lightly and leaving the room.
TK poured a cup of water for Bailey and helped her sit up enough to drink it. Once she was done he sat on the edge of her bed holding her hand lightly.
"It's good to see you awake again Bails," He said. He was hesitant to ask his next question but knew that it needed to be asked. "Do you remember anything?"
Bailey's brow furrowed but she shook her head.
"I remember waking up and freaking out but that's it." She said.
"I mean about why you're here." TK said.
"Oh," Bailey mumbled. "I remember a little bit. But it's just flashes."
"Like what?" TK asked, keeping his voice even and calm.
"I remember getting out of the cab and not feeling right, talking to you and then taking a nap. Then it's just flashes, hazy. A little bit of the house, and the ambulance and then waking up here." Bailey said.
TK nodded.
"I think that's all you're gonna remember sweetheart," He said. "You were unconscious for the majority of everything else."
There was a knock at the door and TK turned to see Carlos and Dr. Evans walk in.
"Hey Bailey, good to see you." Dr. Evans said.
"Hi." Bailey said, giving a shy smile.
"I'm Dr. Evans, I was the doctor who operated on your port when you came in." Dr. Evans explained.
"Nice to meet you," Bailey said. "And thank you."
"My pleasure. You are one in a million kiddo," Dr. Evans said and Bailey laughed a bit. "I've only done a few of these port placements but to do a full repair and a placement, that was interesting. You're gonna be sore for a few days but we'll make sure to get you on some pain meds to manage everything. You've got twenty stitches in your side and another forty or so internally but those will dissolve in the next week or so. We'll make an appointment to get the external stitches removed in a couple of weeks."
"When can I go home?" Bailey asked.
Dr. Evans laughed.
"You weren't kidding about her not being still." He said to Carlos.
"I've lived with the girl for two months and known her for longer than that. Trust me, she couldn't sit still if her life depended on it." Carlos said.
"Well," Dr. Evans said. "It's a good thing we can get you out of here tomorrow morning. You'll be on bed rest for a couple days but I don't see why you can't return to most of your normal activities. Nothing too strenuous until those stitches come out though."
"Can I go back to school this week?" Bailey asked. "I've got assignments and midterms are coming up, I can't miss-"
"Woah, woah. Slow down Bails." TK said.
"You can go back to school next week but I still don't want you lifting anything too heavy." Dr. Evans said.
Bailey nodded.
"Thank you." She said.
"Of course. Now get some sleep and I will see you all in the morning." Dr. Evans said.
"Night doc," TK said before looking at his daughter. "Only you would be worried about midterms after surgery."
Bailey chuckled and shrugged.
"I'm trying to be proactive." She tried.
"No," Carlos said. "You're trying to get out of resting and want to see Noah."
Bailey opened her mouth but closed it quickly after.
"Yeah, that might be more accurate." She said with a laugh.