A/N: Well, this has been rather slow in the making, eh? :P All right, five more reviews, people! Come on, review me! *whine* I'm going to try to make the parts longer after this. I've always hated writing really short chapters, but to be all cliffhanger-y, it seemed like a good idea….yeah. Anyway, thanks again to my mom, and to all ya readers out there. Enjoy this next part!
Kim waved to Joey as he ran up the stairs of his private school, backpack bouncing wildly on his scrawny frame. After watching to make sure he'd made it safely through the front doors she drove off in the direction of the hospital. As she turned right down a busy street, she was suddenly glad it was her day off. Mainly because she hoped Jimmy might wake up…but also because the city was a zoo. She'd already nearly been hit twice, and she'd only been driving for half an hour.
She parked in back of the hospital and rushed to the elevator, catching it before the doors shut. She squeezed beside a gurney and hit "6". When the elevator doors opened she squeezed back out and took a deep breath of the overly sterile, but cool air.
She gathered her hair back in a ponytail and headed into Jimmy's air-conditioned room, plopping down in that damn chair. It seemed custom made to fit only people with exceptionally small asses.
Sighing, Kim picked up a magazine from the table and began flipping through the worn pages, reading tired words and boring columns that meant nothing to her.
A noise so faint it was almost lost in the hiss of the oxygen and the beep of the heart monitor caught her attention. In an instant she had the magazine down on her knee so hard it slid off and fell to the floor, pages bent this way and that. An ad insert fluttered across the polished floor.
She knelt next to his bed, reaching through the metal rail to take his hand. "Jimmy? I'm here."
To her surprise and delight, his hand tightened ever so slightly around hers.
"Jimmy?" A tear fell from her eye. She cursed herself, knowing it wasn't a time to cry. Tentatively she reached her free hand up, ever so gently removing the strips of surgical tape from his closed eyes.
Almost as soon as she had, he peered at her from half lidded eyes. His lips worked around the tube in his mouth, and he made a face, half confusion, half discomfort.
"The doctors, they had to put a tube down your throat to help you breathe. It's probably uncomfortable, but it needed to be there. I'm going to go get Dr. bailey and we can see about getting it out, okay?" she asked, standing up but reluctant to let go of his hand.
She once again had to disturb the doctor in the lounge, but he was pleased when she told him that Jimmy had woken up.
He took Jimmy's vitals, and finally spoke, "Well, his vitals look good, but to be safe I think we need to keep him on an O2 feed. However, I believe now that he's awake, we can do so through other means. So, if you'll cooperate, Mr. Doherty, we'll have this out in a jiffy. All right?"
An ever so small nod from him.
Dr. Bailey left the room and returned a minute or two later with another cart. He stood by Jimmy's side and undid the tap holding the tube in place. "Now, I'm going to ask you to take in a deep breath. When I count to three, blow out. Got it?"
Another barely noticeable nod.
"Okay. Breathe in," Bailey instructed, getting a hold on the small tube. "Good. One, two, three!"
With a grimace, Jimmy exhaled the air in his pain-filled chest.
Kim winced as Bailey pulled the long tube out, and set it down on the cart. After a few seconds, he set up the new feed, gently clipping a bifurcated oxygen tube to his nasal septum.
Jimmy adjusted to this, opening and closing his dry mouth, wincing at his raw, sore throat.
"I'll leave you two now," Bailey said. "If there are any problems, hit the call button and someone will be down immediately."
With a quick smile, he was gone.
"Hey," Kim said softly, her voice shaky, lower lip trembling.
Jimmy opened his mouth to reply, but could form no words, and ended up working his mouth with a confused expression on his pale, bruised face.
"Umm…do you want some ice?" she asked, knowing he wouldn't be allowed water so soon after breaking a coma.
He nodded painfully.
She reached for the cup that Dr. Bailey had so conveniently placed on his bedside table and spooned small cube onto the plastic utensil.
The ice melted a cool trail over his tongue and down his red throat, and Jimmy was almost in heaven at the small oval of frozen water. It seemed silly, but he thought he'd never tasted anything so good.
Kim offered a few more pieces, but held off at five, knowing too much water is a stomach that had been relatively empty for weeks was not a good combination.
Jimmy licked his ashen, chapped lips and wheezed out in a voice so hoarse it was hard to recognize as his own, "Hey."
One word, and not even much of a word, but it tore at Kim's heart and she was in tears.
Looking confused, Jimmy strained, reached up with his IV encumbered hand and wiping at her eyes. She clung tightly to him. He spoke, having to stop to take a breath too often. "Don't…cry…"
She sobbed again, but tried to hold back her tears. "I though I had lost you, Jimmy!"
His brow furrowed. "Right…here…"
She nodded. "I know…Jimmy, do you remember what happened?"
Again a furrowed brow and a frown. He was deep in thought for so long Kim thought maybe he's forgotten to answer. "Jimmy?"
"I remember…fire…" he rasped. "Fire…"
Kim nodded, worried now. But, it was normal for victims of head injuries not to remember the moments before the actual injury, wasn't it? "Well…how do you feel?"
"Never better," he said hoarsely. Already he was getting out of breath. "I hurt…all over."
"That's understandable," Kim said, surveying his patched up body. "You took quite a fall."
"Fall?" he asked softly. "Where…?"
"You don't remember," she said as more of a statement than a question.
With the C-collar on, it was hard for him to nod, not to mention painful, but he did.
"You were on the fourth floor of a burning building, Jimmy," Kim explained. "You found someone trapped in their apartment. You were waiting for the ladder at the window…and there was an open gas line. There was an explosion. You and the woman were knocked out the window."
Without giving any sign that he remembered this, he rolled his eyes towards her. "The woman…is she okay?"
"She's a pretty banged up, but she's fine. The doctor's released her last week. She sends her thanks," Kim assured him with a smile. "You saved her."
A faint smile crossed his lips, but he said nothing else.
There was a moment of silence, and Kim thought he'd fallen asleep when he closed his eyes, but soon he opened them again. "Joey?"
"He's at school," she said. "He's been spending time with my mom while I've been here."
"Thanks," he croaked.
"For what?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
"For…being here," he answered softly.
"Where else would I be, Jimmy?" she smiled.
"With the way I…treated you…anywhere but here," he said, closing his eyes.
"What?" she asked, caught off guard.
He didn't reply. He had fallen asleep, exhausted.
She stared down at him, smoothing a lock of dark hair off his forehead. "You've got it backwards, Jimmy. I'd rather be here than anywhere else."
Kim waved to Joey as he ran up the stairs of his private school, backpack bouncing wildly on his scrawny frame. After watching to make sure he'd made it safely through the front doors she drove off in the direction of the hospital. As she turned right down a busy street, she was suddenly glad it was her day off. Mainly because she hoped Jimmy might wake up…but also because the city was a zoo. She'd already nearly been hit twice, and she'd only been driving for half an hour.
She parked in back of the hospital and rushed to the elevator, catching it before the doors shut. She squeezed beside a gurney and hit "6". When the elevator doors opened she squeezed back out and took a deep breath of the overly sterile, but cool air.
She gathered her hair back in a ponytail and headed into Jimmy's air-conditioned room, plopping down in that damn chair. It seemed custom made to fit only people with exceptionally small asses.
Sighing, Kim picked up a magazine from the table and began flipping through the worn pages, reading tired words and boring columns that meant nothing to her.
A noise so faint it was almost lost in the hiss of the oxygen and the beep of the heart monitor caught her attention. In an instant she had the magazine down on her knee so hard it slid off and fell to the floor, pages bent this way and that. An ad insert fluttered across the polished floor.
She knelt next to his bed, reaching through the metal rail to take his hand. "Jimmy? I'm here."
To her surprise and delight, his hand tightened ever so slightly around hers.
"Jimmy?" A tear fell from her eye. She cursed herself, knowing it wasn't a time to cry. Tentatively she reached her free hand up, ever so gently removing the strips of surgical tape from his closed eyes.
Almost as soon as she had, he peered at her from half lidded eyes. His lips worked around the tube in his mouth, and he made a face, half confusion, half discomfort.
"The doctors, they had to put a tube down your throat to help you breathe. It's probably uncomfortable, but it needed to be there. I'm going to go get Dr. bailey and we can see about getting it out, okay?" she asked, standing up but reluctant to let go of his hand.
She once again had to disturb the doctor in the lounge, but he was pleased when she told him that Jimmy had woken up.
He took Jimmy's vitals, and finally spoke, "Well, his vitals look good, but to be safe I think we need to keep him on an O2 feed. However, I believe now that he's awake, we can do so through other means. So, if you'll cooperate, Mr. Doherty, we'll have this out in a jiffy. All right?"
An ever so small nod from him.
Dr. Bailey left the room and returned a minute or two later with another cart. He stood by Jimmy's side and undid the tap holding the tube in place. "Now, I'm going to ask you to take in a deep breath. When I count to three, blow out. Got it?"
Another barely noticeable nod.
"Okay. Breathe in," Bailey instructed, getting a hold on the small tube. "Good. One, two, three!"
With a grimace, Jimmy exhaled the air in his pain-filled chest.
Kim winced as Bailey pulled the long tube out, and set it down on the cart. After a few seconds, he set up the new feed, gently clipping a bifurcated oxygen tube to his nasal septum.
Jimmy adjusted to this, opening and closing his dry mouth, wincing at his raw, sore throat.
"I'll leave you two now," Bailey said. "If there are any problems, hit the call button and someone will be down immediately."
With a quick smile, he was gone.
"Hey," Kim said softly, her voice shaky, lower lip trembling.
Jimmy opened his mouth to reply, but could form no words, and ended up working his mouth with a confused expression on his pale, bruised face.
"Umm…do you want some ice?" she asked, knowing he wouldn't be allowed water so soon after breaking a coma.
He nodded painfully.
She reached for the cup that Dr. Bailey had so conveniently placed on his bedside table and spooned small cube onto the plastic utensil.
The ice melted a cool trail over his tongue and down his red throat, and Jimmy was almost in heaven at the small oval of frozen water. It seemed silly, but he thought he'd never tasted anything so good.
Kim offered a few more pieces, but held off at five, knowing too much water is a stomach that had been relatively empty for weeks was not a good combination.
Jimmy licked his ashen, chapped lips and wheezed out in a voice so hoarse it was hard to recognize as his own, "Hey."
One word, and not even much of a word, but it tore at Kim's heart and she was in tears.
Looking confused, Jimmy strained, reached up with his IV encumbered hand and wiping at her eyes. She clung tightly to him. He spoke, having to stop to take a breath too often. "Don't…cry…"
She sobbed again, but tried to hold back her tears. "I though I had lost you, Jimmy!"
His brow furrowed. "Right…here…"
She nodded. "I know…Jimmy, do you remember what happened?"
Again a furrowed brow and a frown. He was deep in thought for so long Kim thought maybe he's forgotten to answer. "Jimmy?"
"I remember…fire…" he rasped. "Fire…"
Kim nodded, worried now. But, it was normal for victims of head injuries not to remember the moments before the actual injury, wasn't it? "Well…how do you feel?"
"Never better," he said hoarsely. Already he was getting out of breath. "I hurt…all over."
"That's understandable," Kim said, surveying his patched up body. "You took quite a fall."
"Fall?" he asked softly. "Where…?"
"You don't remember," she said as more of a statement than a question.
With the C-collar on, it was hard for him to nod, not to mention painful, but he did.
"You were on the fourth floor of a burning building, Jimmy," Kim explained. "You found someone trapped in their apartment. You were waiting for the ladder at the window…and there was an open gas line. There was an explosion. You and the woman were knocked out the window."
Without giving any sign that he remembered this, he rolled his eyes towards her. "The woman…is she okay?"
"She's a pretty banged up, but she's fine. The doctor's released her last week. She sends her thanks," Kim assured him with a smile. "You saved her."
A faint smile crossed his lips, but he said nothing else.
There was a moment of silence, and Kim thought he'd fallen asleep when he closed his eyes, but soon he opened them again. "Joey?"
"He's at school," she said. "He's been spending time with my mom while I've been here."
"Thanks," he croaked.
"For what?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
"For…being here," he answered softly.
"Where else would I be, Jimmy?" she smiled.
"With the way I…treated you…anywhere but here," he said, closing his eyes.
"What?" she asked, caught off guard.
He didn't reply. He had fallen asleep, exhausted.
She stared down at him, smoothing a lock of dark hair off his forehead. "You've got it backwards, Jimmy. I'd rather be here than anywhere else."