A/N: Thanks everybody for reading 26, here's the long (a few days so what)
awaited 27!
Takes place at the hospital, right after 26...so if you haven't read that one I suggest you do so now...Let us continue on!
********** Chapter 27 **********
~~Jordan~~ As soon as those alarms started shrieking I was pretty much wide awake. After shouting for help I soon realized that there in fact WAS a nurse standing in the room with me. But, as my luck would have it, I was promptly shoved on the other side of the curtain as a mass of doctors swarmed his bed. I slowly walked backwards and sank to the floor in a heap, my mind racing. I had just been talking to him not a minute before, and now he was having a seizure...
"Jordan, sweetie, what the hell happened?!" Garret was quickly at my side, with Renee in tow. "Talk to me Jordan."
I bit my lip while attempting to slow my brain down. It wasn't working. The words I spoke came out at about a mile a minute. "He was fine--I was talking to him and he was fine--then the nurse gave him a shot and he was okay for a few seconds then he started twitching and then he..." My voice trailed off as the toneless cardiac monitor continued to sound.
"Do you know what she gave him?" Garret tried to shake me back into concentration.
I could tell he was running Nigel's personnel file over in his head. Obviously looking for allergies he'd listed.
"He's not allergic to anything." I shook my head. "The nurse asked him before she gave him the injection." I'd never knew Nigel to be allergic to any medication, but then again, I didn't really know his medical history that well.
"I'm sorry folks, but I'm going to need you to leave the room." We were interrupted in our thinking by a very annoyed looking doctor who was a bit frazzled at the moment. "Please go out to the waiting area."
"What's going on?" Renee quickly assumed her role of the "evil D.A." and demanded information.
Ironically, as she spoke, we heard the steady beep of the cardiac monitor change to random blips. Whirling around, I stared at the activity at his bedside and noticed a definite change. A good change.
"Well, we obviously just got him back, but he's going to need to be re- stabilized and we'll have to run some more tests to figure out what went wrong."
"Check for an allergic reaction to whatever drug they gave him." I glared at the doctor, fully prepared to give attitude back to him if he was giving it to us.
Nodding, the man motioned towards the doorway and then turned to go back to the bedside.
~~Garret~~ Helping Jordan up off the floor, I internally breathed a huge sigh of relief. I heard a cardiac monitor registering a heartbeat, and I knew he was breathing. Smiling weakly at Renee, then at Jordan, I led the way out of Nigel's room, down the hall, and out into the waiting area.
Making myself comfortable on an empty couch, I motioned for someone to sit next to me. I got both of them. Jordan on my left, Renee on my right. Jordan pulled her legs up onto the couch, snuggled against me and turned me into the aptly named "Garret pillow" in a matter of minutes, while Renee took the slow approach and just rested her forehead on my shoulder. I was very glad at the moment that no one else from the Morgue was here to see "me and my girls" snuggled up on the couch.
"You think he's alright?" Renee was muttering with her head still buried in my shoulder. "I mean, he's alive but do you think he'll walk?"
I sighed. "Out of here? Maybe. I'm really hoping he does though. I sure hope the damage to his spine isn't permanent, for his sake."
"Yeah...he won't be able to walk Rudy for a while..." Jordan smiled up at me. "Speaking of Rudy, one of us should probably go check up on him. Poor guy's probably starving."
"Yeah. Call...Bug, he's at the morgue...Nigel may have left a spare key in a coat pocket or something. Have him go check on him...and the cat. He has a cat right?"
She nodded. "Yeah, Rodger, the party cat."
"Whatever. Get his mail too, if you can." I smiled at Jordan as she stood to go call Bug. "Let them know what happened, but spare details. Tell them he's alright now."
She nodded as she walked away, pulling out her cell phone as she headed outside.
"How do you do it?"
I turned back to see Renee looking towards the swinging double doors.
"What?"
She looked back at me. "How can you keep yourself composed so well when one of your own is in there fighting for his life? I know that if it was you in there I'd be..." She stopped short.
I lifted her face with my hand. "You'd be what?"
"Scared as all hell that I might lose you."
I was shocked. I'd never heard her say anything like that before. I mean...it was great to hear her say it, but it was just so out of character for her to admit it.
"I mean...you and me are so close that if I were to watch you go through that I'd probably have a mental breakdown. You've never stopped being nice to me, since I walked my way into town and made my presence well known. And that night in Raleigh, you let me know that I had at least one person who cared in Boston. I don't know what I would do if you were to get hurt."
I sat back, absorbing what she had just said. After about five minutes of silence, I was about to speak, but she interrupted me again.
"Dammit Garret. I think I'm in love with you." Dropping her gaze to the floor, she continued, her voice low. "There. I said it."
Had we not been in the middle of a hospital waiting room, I would have kissed her right then and there. I stared at a spot on the wall until I couldn't take it any longer. "I know exactly what you mean Renee. You just said it first." I spoke. "There's something about you that just makes me feel like I've got something special..."
So much for not kissing in the hospital waiting room. She leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek, smiling softly. "There. No one noticed."
"Except me. I thought you two knew better than to get it on in public places." Jordan announced her return with a typical remark. "Although, if you consider my doorway private, I'd hate to see what you considered the bedroom."
I laughed. "Didn't Max ever tell you to stay out of other people's love lives?"
She was about to fling another remark at me when a doctor walked into the room. You could tell when it was a doctor because everyone in the room shut up, hoping that they would get some news on their loved ones. The man crossed the floor to the couch and sat across from us. "I've got some good news about Nigel."
Jordan immediately smiled, then looked at me. I smiled back.
"He's awake, and he's talking. He's asking to see all of you, and we need you to go in right away because he's refusing to take his pain medication until he speaks with you."
"Why doesn't he want painkillers?!" Jordan stood up, ready to run in and turn into a nurse of sorts.
"They'll make him fall asleep. He needs to talk to you."
"Then we'll go." I stood, helped Renee up, then started walking towards where I knew Nigel's room to be.
"He did have an allergic reaction to medication, if you're still wondering." The doctor touched Jordan on the shoulder. "Lidocaine. Nurse shot some into him and it didn't take too well."
"Oh okay. That's what I figured." She was the first to enter his room, and she was quickly by his side.
~~Jordan~~
"Hey Nige...how you feeling?" I leaned over and gently kissed him on the top of his head.
"The fact that I almost died has nothing to do with this, but frankly I'm a little tired, Love." He smiled up at me weakly from behind the oxygen mask.
"You didn't almost die...you just...had an allergic reaction."
"I know. I was thrashing around and seizing and all that good stuff." His face fell when as he finished the sentence.
"Nigel? You alright? You need to take your medication you know..."
"I--I'm fine Jordan. I just realized something though, and I have a question for you."
"What?" I looked down at his face, and his eyes were fixated at the end of his bed.
"Why can't I move my legs?"
****** TBC... ******
Takes place at the hospital, right after 26...so if you haven't read that one I suggest you do so now...Let us continue on!
********** Chapter 27 **********
~~Jordan~~ As soon as those alarms started shrieking I was pretty much wide awake. After shouting for help I soon realized that there in fact WAS a nurse standing in the room with me. But, as my luck would have it, I was promptly shoved on the other side of the curtain as a mass of doctors swarmed his bed. I slowly walked backwards and sank to the floor in a heap, my mind racing. I had just been talking to him not a minute before, and now he was having a seizure...
"Jordan, sweetie, what the hell happened?!" Garret was quickly at my side, with Renee in tow. "Talk to me Jordan."
I bit my lip while attempting to slow my brain down. It wasn't working. The words I spoke came out at about a mile a minute. "He was fine--I was talking to him and he was fine--then the nurse gave him a shot and he was okay for a few seconds then he started twitching and then he..." My voice trailed off as the toneless cardiac monitor continued to sound.
"Do you know what she gave him?" Garret tried to shake me back into concentration.
I could tell he was running Nigel's personnel file over in his head. Obviously looking for allergies he'd listed.
"He's not allergic to anything." I shook my head. "The nurse asked him before she gave him the injection." I'd never knew Nigel to be allergic to any medication, but then again, I didn't really know his medical history that well.
"I'm sorry folks, but I'm going to need you to leave the room." We were interrupted in our thinking by a very annoyed looking doctor who was a bit frazzled at the moment. "Please go out to the waiting area."
"What's going on?" Renee quickly assumed her role of the "evil D.A." and demanded information.
Ironically, as she spoke, we heard the steady beep of the cardiac monitor change to random blips. Whirling around, I stared at the activity at his bedside and noticed a definite change. A good change.
"Well, we obviously just got him back, but he's going to need to be re- stabilized and we'll have to run some more tests to figure out what went wrong."
"Check for an allergic reaction to whatever drug they gave him." I glared at the doctor, fully prepared to give attitude back to him if he was giving it to us.
Nodding, the man motioned towards the doorway and then turned to go back to the bedside.
~~Garret~~ Helping Jordan up off the floor, I internally breathed a huge sigh of relief. I heard a cardiac monitor registering a heartbeat, and I knew he was breathing. Smiling weakly at Renee, then at Jordan, I led the way out of Nigel's room, down the hall, and out into the waiting area.
Making myself comfortable on an empty couch, I motioned for someone to sit next to me. I got both of them. Jordan on my left, Renee on my right. Jordan pulled her legs up onto the couch, snuggled against me and turned me into the aptly named "Garret pillow" in a matter of minutes, while Renee took the slow approach and just rested her forehead on my shoulder. I was very glad at the moment that no one else from the Morgue was here to see "me and my girls" snuggled up on the couch.
"You think he's alright?" Renee was muttering with her head still buried in my shoulder. "I mean, he's alive but do you think he'll walk?"
I sighed. "Out of here? Maybe. I'm really hoping he does though. I sure hope the damage to his spine isn't permanent, for his sake."
"Yeah...he won't be able to walk Rudy for a while..." Jordan smiled up at me. "Speaking of Rudy, one of us should probably go check up on him. Poor guy's probably starving."
"Yeah. Call...Bug, he's at the morgue...Nigel may have left a spare key in a coat pocket or something. Have him go check on him...and the cat. He has a cat right?"
She nodded. "Yeah, Rodger, the party cat."
"Whatever. Get his mail too, if you can." I smiled at Jordan as she stood to go call Bug. "Let them know what happened, but spare details. Tell them he's alright now."
She nodded as she walked away, pulling out her cell phone as she headed outside.
"How do you do it?"
I turned back to see Renee looking towards the swinging double doors.
"What?"
She looked back at me. "How can you keep yourself composed so well when one of your own is in there fighting for his life? I know that if it was you in there I'd be..." She stopped short.
I lifted her face with my hand. "You'd be what?"
"Scared as all hell that I might lose you."
I was shocked. I'd never heard her say anything like that before. I mean...it was great to hear her say it, but it was just so out of character for her to admit it.
"I mean...you and me are so close that if I were to watch you go through that I'd probably have a mental breakdown. You've never stopped being nice to me, since I walked my way into town and made my presence well known. And that night in Raleigh, you let me know that I had at least one person who cared in Boston. I don't know what I would do if you were to get hurt."
I sat back, absorbing what she had just said. After about five minutes of silence, I was about to speak, but she interrupted me again.
"Dammit Garret. I think I'm in love with you." Dropping her gaze to the floor, she continued, her voice low. "There. I said it."
Had we not been in the middle of a hospital waiting room, I would have kissed her right then and there. I stared at a spot on the wall until I couldn't take it any longer. "I know exactly what you mean Renee. You just said it first." I spoke. "There's something about you that just makes me feel like I've got something special..."
So much for not kissing in the hospital waiting room. She leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek, smiling softly. "There. No one noticed."
"Except me. I thought you two knew better than to get it on in public places." Jordan announced her return with a typical remark. "Although, if you consider my doorway private, I'd hate to see what you considered the bedroom."
I laughed. "Didn't Max ever tell you to stay out of other people's love lives?"
She was about to fling another remark at me when a doctor walked into the room. You could tell when it was a doctor because everyone in the room shut up, hoping that they would get some news on their loved ones. The man crossed the floor to the couch and sat across from us. "I've got some good news about Nigel."
Jordan immediately smiled, then looked at me. I smiled back.
"He's awake, and he's talking. He's asking to see all of you, and we need you to go in right away because he's refusing to take his pain medication until he speaks with you."
"Why doesn't he want painkillers?!" Jordan stood up, ready to run in and turn into a nurse of sorts.
"They'll make him fall asleep. He needs to talk to you."
"Then we'll go." I stood, helped Renee up, then started walking towards where I knew Nigel's room to be.
"He did have an allergic reaction to medication, if you're still wondering." The doctor touched Jordan on the shoulder. "Lidocaine. Nurse shot some into him and it didn't take too well."
"Oh okay. That's what I figured." She was the first to enter his room, and she was quickly by his side.
~~Jordan~~
"Hey Nige...how you feeling?" I leaned over and gently kissed him on the top of his head.
"The fact that I almost died has nothing to do with this, but frankly I'm a little tired, Love." He smiled up at me weakly from behind the oxygen mask.
"You didn't almost die...you just...had an allergic reaction."
"I know. I was thrashing around and seizing and all that good stuff." His face fell when as he finished the sentence.
"Nigel? You alright? You need to take your medication you know..."
"I--I'm fine Jordan. I just realized something though, and I have a question for you."
"What?" I looked down at his face, and his eyes were fixated at the end of his bed.
"Why can't I move my legs?"
****** TBC... ******