Disclaimer: I don't own them, don't truly own myself.


Authors note: This is the second part to Hydrocephalus. I am still trying to find a cause to Lucas getting hydrocephalus(real). This is unbeta'd, so there may be some mistakes. It has been spell checked, but nothing else.


Dedicated to my boyfriend who has hydrocephalus.



The Bridger household started to wake up at 0600 with Commander Ford and Sensor chief Miguel Ortiz. They had planned to go running before the rest of the house woke up. Jonathan was the first to wake. He got dressed, then went to wake Migs. Migs and Tim were on the fold out couch, with the blankets pulled over their heads. Jonathan tried to figure out which head belonged to who, then finally just pulled to cover down. Migs tried to grab the covers back, while Tim rolled over and growled something incoherent. Jonathan almost laughed at the sight.

"Migs"

"What?"

"It's time to go running."

"Ok."

Migs slowly opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the dim sunlight.

"What time is it?"

"0600"

Migs stretched, then tried to get up without waking Tim any further.

"Sorry, Tim."

"What are you guys doing?"

"Going running, want to come along?"

Tim rolled toward Migs and Jonathan. "Running on leave? I just want to sleep."

"He's not much of a morning person is he?"

"Morning starts at noon on leave!"

The Comm tech then rolled back over, pulling the blanket back over his head.

Migs and Jonathan just laughed at the now grumbling Tim. They then went to eat and run.

Kristen was the next up, waking at 0730. She stopped at Lucas's door to see if he was awake yet. She didn't expect him to be, and wasn't disappointed. He was sleeping on his back, mumbling some kind of computer jarjun. She laughed softly, letting the sight calm her. She had been terrified the last 2 days. There was no logical reason for this to happen. He had all the classic signs of hydrocephalus shunt failure. The only problem with that was that Lucas didn't have a shunt or any previous symptoms that would even point that direction. Hydrocephalus wasn't something you just caught. She had a whole list of tests and scans to do on Lucas when they got back to the SeaQuest.

She jumped slightly as a hand touched her arm. She looked up, seeing Nathan behind her.

"How is he?"

"He's talking to his computer right now. I believe he just threatened to take a magnet gun to the hard drive."

"He is even dreaming of his computer?"

"I assume. He also snores."

Nathan just laughed. Kristen could see the fear start to leave Nathan's eyes. He must have been even more terrified than she had been. He had taken Lucas in as a son. Lucas didn't even realize it, but he'd pretty well accepted Nathan as the father he'd never really had. Lucas's father seemed too busy to ever call or have anything to do with Lucas. Kristen really didn't see why they even bothered to call the man at all. He never called back. The only person that SeaQuest had ever talked to was the lawyer. He handled all the reports, then sent the money expenditures to the accountant.

Kristen smiled at Nathan, then turned around and gave him a hug. Nathan resisted at first, then relaxed, letting some of his tension out. He felt Kristen's hand gently rub down his neck, relaxing the trapezous muscle as she did.

"He's going to be ok. He's got a Captain and crew that love him and will be there for him no matter what. "

Nathan smiled into her hair.

"Your right, but I just know that I don't want to lose him."

Kristen stepped away from Nathan.

"Your not going to lose him. If you keep that attitude up, I'll put you through the tests you always try to avoid!"

Nathan smiled, knowing she was serious. She was somewhat sadistic when it came to tests that you didn't want to take.

"Want a cup of coffee?"

"Sure."

They walked down the hall, trying not to hit the squeaky floor joists.

The rest of the crew woke at about 0900. It seemed that most of them would rather sleep than get up at the crack of dawn. Lucas woke up at 0930. He walked downstairs, slightly hunched over. He walked into the kitchen, then looked up. He saw eight pairs of eyes watching him with concern.

"I'm ok. My stomach is kind of sore, don't worry about me."

Kristen looked at him then said "It is to be expected, but no we won't stop worrying about you."

Lucas smiled, then got a glass of milk. He went to the cabinet, got out 2 cookies, then got the icing out of the refrigerator. He knew this would make Kristen crazy....

Kristen watched the boy make spread at least 1 inch of icing on one cookie, then put the other one on top. "Your doing this just for my benefit aren't you?"

"No Doc, Why would I do that?"

Kristen looked at Nathan, then said "You let him eat this way?" Nathan turned slightly red.

"He has eaten that for the last 3 days."

Kristen just shook her head.

"You'll have no teeth left if you keep eating like that."

Lucas just smiled with icing smeared on both of his cheeks. After he swallowed the bite he asked "Want a bite? It's really good." He tempted her with it, until she finally took a bite. It really wasn't half bad. The rest of the crew tried it, then decided it wasn't exactly what they'd eat every day, but that it did taste good.

Everyone settled into a simple routine, some swimming or fishing, while others preferred to soak up the sun's rays. Lucas sat through Kristen poking and prodding him. She did mostly simple procedures to him. She took his vitals (Blood Pressure, temperature, Respirations and pulse), then removed his bandages and looked at his incision sites. The stitches looked fine, as did the incision. The edges of the incisions were well approximated and pink. There was no drainage from any of the sites. He had a slight headache. It was a 0.5 on a scale of 10. It was common to have a low pressure headache after the surgery. Lucas refused to take any medications, saying the headache wasn't even bad enough for a baby aspirin.

By 1100 he was starting to squirm, so she let him go out and sun bath. It was on the condition that he NOT on any circumstance get near the water or get sand in his incisions. He promised to be good, not wanting the wrath of Westphalen on him. He'd seen it once, that was enough. The crewmen that got it didn't get to leave sick bay for 2 weeks. He sat back on the blanket that Katie had laid out. She was currently sleeping on her stomach. He noticed her back was getting slightly red, so he put more sun block on her.

Ben and Crocker were doing underwater handstands, while Darwin and Tim were fishing. Jonathan, Migs, Nathan and Kristen were playing volleyball next to Lucas and Katie. Nathan asked Lucas if he wanted to play, but Lucas said no.

"Are you sure? You could serve for Kristen...she serves like a girl."

Lucas laughed as Kristen turned to Nathan and said "maybe that's because I am a girl!"

Miguel laughed and was about to make a comment, when Kristen turned his direction.

"Any comments Mr. Ortiz?"

"No Ma'am, wouldn't think of it."

"What about you Mr. Ford?"

Jonathan tried to look innocent, but then said "I'm being good! Captain started it!"

Lucas was doubled over laughing by this time.

"Ow, it hurts to laugh, quit!"

Lucas heard a snicker behind him. Katie was trying to cover her laugh, but it wasn't working well.

Lucas shook his head, then said, "you guys need help." With that, Lucas turned to lay on his stomach.

Lucas put the sterile pad over his abdominal incision, then lay on his stomach, letting the sun reach his back.

The volleyball game resumed play, with Migs and Jonathan winning.

At about 4, Lucas begged Kristen to let him go in the water to his thighs. He wanted to play with Darwin.

"Please Kristen! I won't get my stitches wet. I don't want peritonitis. I just want to pet Darwin."

Kristen could see the boy wasn't going to let up.

"If and only if you do not get your stitches wet."

"I promise."

Lucas walked into the water. Darwin swam up, but didn't splash. He looked at Lucas and gently nosed around the incision. Lucas rubbed Darwin's melon, then said "Race ya!"

Darwin shook his head no. "Lucas no get stitches wet!"

"She got to you too?"

"No! Want Lucas to get better so can swim with Darwin!"

"Ok, but that might be a few weeks."

Darwin seemed to accept it.

"Want to play catch?"

"Yes!" With that Darwin dove off to get his ball.

Lucas stayed out in the water for about 20 minutes, then said goodbye to Darwin.

Everyone was getting hungry, so they started to get supper ready. Crocker and Nathan were cleaning the fish that Tim and Darwin caught, while Katie and Ben made the salad. Tim, Migs and Jonathan made some pasta stuff that Migs said was great with fish.

While the rest of the crew cooked, Lucas and Kristen did another check up. Everything looked fine. He hadn't even gotten sand in his incision. He did have a slight sunburn, but then again, so did everybody.

Kristen was finishing writing in her notes, when Lucas asked her "Do you know what caused this?"

"I have no idea. This isn't normal to have to have a shunt put in or just to wake up with this. You basically just woke up with hydrocephalus. You can have encephalitis that leads to hydrocephalus, but this is baffling me. I've got a series of tests to run on you when we get back to the SeaQuest. "

Lucas just nodded. "Am I going to have this shunt for the rest of my life?"

"I don't know. It will stay in until I can find justification to remove it. If it is permanent, it may need to be revised, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"What happens if it needs to be replaced and it doesn't get replaced?"

"Your headache gets worse, and your ventricles swell. Your head will swell, trying to compensate for the increasing ventricle pressure. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. I know some people have died with this."

"Yes, back in the 1960's and before they had the technology to help reduce the pressure . You have to be cautious, but you can still have a life. Most people with this lead normal and happy lives."

Lucas still looked concerned.

" There are many different levels of severity. There are many different factors that go along with it as well. This condition can be controlled."

That seemed to soothe Lucas.

"Are you done with me?"

"Yes, but still take it easy! You are not invincible."

Lucas smiled, then winked at her. Kristen just rolled her eyes. She didn't know who made worse patients, Captains or kids.




End for now.......