"Hook?" Chris called as she came into Elmer's room. "I just
passed by the cafeteria and I saw Louis and Lona down there. They both
looked pretty upset. What's going on?"
"I wish I knew." Hook said with a shake of his head as he watched Elmer closely for any sign of a response, any sign that he was starting to wake up. It had been almost ten minutes since he had given him an injection to counteract any possible lingering effects of the anesthetic.
So why wasn't he starting to snap out of this? What in the world could he have missed? He had ordered practically every test that he could think of the night before, he had been so shocked to find that Elmer's wounds were actually minor after what damage he had expected.
Chris moved towards Elmer's bedside before stopping as something hit her. Elmer. Why in the world wasn't he sitting up in bed by now,
being his usual goofy self? "Hook, why isn't he awake?" Chris asked, a bit of worry slipping into her voice as she spoke. It had been well over twelve hours since Elmer had been injured. Surely any lingering effects of the anesthetic would have worn off long before now. So why was Elmer still laying there still and silent? Lona looked frantic and Louis wasn't much better. Shouldn't Elmer be awake and happily basking in them fussing over him?
"I don't know what's going on," Hook said with a shake of his head as he looked from Elmer to Chris, worry growing steadily. What in the world had he missed last night? He would have bet anything that Elmer had been perfectly fine but considering his condition now.... "Chris, come over here and take a look at these results from last night's scan."
Chris walked over, laying a gentle hand on Hook's shoulder before she reached out and took the offered papers. After seeing his little graveyard, she knew how seriously Hook took medical mistakes and the idea that he might have made one, especially one that could have resulted in harm to a friend, had to be tearing him apart.
"I don't see anything here." Chris said after reading through the results and then double checking them. "Negative for bleeding. Negative for skull fracture. Negative for swelling."
"I know." Hook reached out and took the records from her once more. "But what I don't understand is why in the world he isn't waking up if these results are correct!" He looked over at Elmer once more, barely able to hold back a bit of panic this time. If anything happened to him because of a mistake that he had made, he would never forgive himself.
"I hate to suggest it, but could he maybe be trying to milk things to get Lona and Louis's attention?" Chris said. She walked over to the bed as she spoke, reaching out and touching Elmer gently. She wasn't sure how in the world she could tell if he was faking, though.
"That was the first thing that I thought of." Hook said with a grimace. "He's not faking or he's way better at it than I would have ever thought. I was thinking that it was either the anesthesia or he was trying to milk this a bit so I told the nurse to give him the injection of medicine in the rear. Not even a twitch. Do you think...."
"No way Elmer would be able to fake it through getting a needle jabbed there." Chris said with a slight laugh. "So, what do you think is wrong?"
"I wish I knew." Hook shook his head as he thought about it, his mind running all the while as he tried to puzzle out what might be going on. "We're going to take him and do another scan. Do you have time to come with me? Maybe you'll spot whatever I've obviously missed."
Chris nodded. "Hook, don't beat yourself up over this, okay?" she said quietly as she wrapped her arms around him. "You're a fantastic doctor and I know you would never do anything to hurt Elmer. If something's wrong with him now, you'll just fix it and everything will be fine. Please don't be blaming yourself. Lona doing that's bad enough,
okay?"
"I know but.... I just wish I had a clue as to what I missed."
Hook said as he shook his head.
A little bit later, Hook and Chris slowly walked through the hallway heading up towards Elmer's room once more, the latest test results in hand.
"I just don't understand this." Hook said slowly as he looked at the results once more as if he expected what it said to have changed since the last time he had reread it. "Everything is still showing up fine.
Chris, did you see anything, anything at all? Maybe a tiny bleed that I missed somehow?"
"Hook, I saw the same things that you did." Chris wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders as she spoke. Hook really did like Elmer a lot and she knew that he was taking this hard. "There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary with the scan. Nothing.
Physically, Elmer's absolutely fine."
"Then why isn't he waking up?" Hook said quietly as he thought of that still, silent figure. "If he's fine, then why in the world isn't he waking up?"
"I wish I knew." Hook said with a shake of his head as he watched Elmer closely for any sign of a response, any sign that he was starting to wake up. It had been almost ten minutes since he had given him an injection to counteract any possible lingering effects of the anesthetic.
So why wasn't he starting to snap out of this? What in the world could he have missed? He had ordered practically every test that he could think of the night before, he had been so shocked to find that Elmer's wounds were actually minor after what damage he had expected.
Chris moved towards Elmer's bedside before stopping as something hit her. Elmer. Why in the world wasn't he sitting up in bed by now,
being his usual goofy self? "Hook, why isn't he awake?" Chris asked, a bit of worry slipping into her voice as she spoke. It had been well over twelve hours since Elmer had been injured. Surely any lingering effects of the anesthetic would have worn off long before now. So why was Elmer still laying there still and silent? Lona looked frantic and Louis wasn't much better. Shouldn't Elmer be awake and happily basking in them fussing over him?
"I don't know what's going on," Hook said with a shake of his head as he looked from Elmer to Chris, worry growing steadily. What in the world had he missed last night? He would have bet anything that Elmer had been perfectly fine but considering his condition now.... "Chris, come over here and take a look at these results from last night's scan."
Chris walked over, laying a gentle hand on Hook's shoulder before she reached out and took the offered papers. After seeing his little graveyard, she knew how seriously Hook took medical mistakes and the idea that he might have made one, especially one that could have resulted in harm to a friend, had to be tearing him apart.
"I don't see anything here." Chris said after reading through the results and then double checking them. "Negative for bleeding. Negative for skull fracture. Negative for swelling."
"I know." Hook reached out and took the records from her once more. "But what I don't understand is why in the world he isn't waking up if these results are correct!" He looked over at Elmer once more, barely able to hold back a bit of panic this time. If anything happened to him because of a mistake that he had made, he would never forgive himself.
"I hate to suggest it, but could he maybe be trying to milk things to get Lona and Louis's attention?" Chris said. She walked over to the bed as she spoke, reaching out and touching Elmer gently. She wasn't sure how in the world she could tell if he was faking, though.
"That was the first thing that I thought of." Hook said with a grimace. "He's not faking or he's way better at it than I would have ever thought. I was thinking that it was either the anesthesia or he was trying to milk this a bit so I told the nurse to give him the injection of medicine in the rear. Not even a twitch. Do you think...."
"No way Elmer would be able to fake it through getting a needle jabbed there." Chris said with a slight laugh. "So, what do you think is wrong?"
"I wish I knew." Hook shook his head as he thought about it, his mind running all the while as he tried to puzzle out what might be going on. "We're going to take him and do another scan. Do you have time to come with me? Maybe you'll spot whatever I've obviously missed."
Chris nodded. "Hook, don't beat yourself up over this, okay?" she said quietly as she wrapped her arms around him. "You're a fantastic doctor and I know you would never do anything to hurt Elmer. If something's wrong with him now, you'll just fix it and everything will be fine. Please don't be blaming yourself. Lona doing that's bad enough,
okay?"
"I know but.... I just wish I had a clue as to what I missed."
Hook said as he shook his head.
A little bit later, Hook and Chris slowly walked through the hallway heading up towards Elmer's room once more, the latest test results in hand.
"I just don't understand this." Hook said slowly as he looked at the results once more as if he expected what it said to have changed since the last time he had reread it. "Everything is still showing up fine.
Chris, did you see anything, anything at all? Maybe a tiny bleed that I missed somehow?"
"Hook, I saw the same things that you did." Chris wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders as she spoke. Hook really did like Elmer a lot and she knew that he was taking this hard. "There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary with the scan. Nothing.
Physically, Elmer's absolutely fine."
"Then why isn't he waking up?" Hook said quietly as he thought of that still, silent figure. "If he's fine, then why in the world isn't he waking up?"