Hey everyone! I am SOOOO sorry it took me this long to update this story. Life got in the way and I sort of lost all motivation towards writing but I'm finally back! I promise to finish this story and will do my best not to update as quick as I can!
"Trudy?" Kevin was the first to break the silence.
Trudy looked up at the sound of her name to see Kevin and the rest of the team approaching. "He's got a fever. They kicked us out of the room."
Hank walked over and put a hand on Kim's shoulder. "Hey kid, he'll be alright. They already have him on heavy antibiotics. If he's got an infection I'm sure they caught it early enough."
Kim knew all that and she knew Voight was just trying to help, but right now all she wanted was to be left alone. She didn't want people talking to her, telling her everything was going to be ok because right now she had no idea how that could be true.
Luckily they didn't have to wait too long for answers as Dr. Choi entered the room. All eyes immediately turned to him. "Hey guys. I know that was scary." He directed his attention to Kim and Trudy. "But we did find the cause of the fever."
"What is it?" Jay asked before even giving Choi a chance to continue.
"Fortunately, there are still no signs of infection, but after running some tests, we've discovered the fever was cause by a reaction to the blood transfusion he received. As a result, we have ended the transfusion and will be checking his vitals every 15 minutes to make sure there are no further complications." Ethan explained.
"Doesn't he need the transfusion though?" Hailey asked.
"He did, and while we would have liked to continue the transfusion for a little longer, continuing it would be doing for harm then good at this point."
"Can I go back in to see him now?" Kim quietly asked.
"Sure, follow me." How smiled.
Kim followed, along with the rest of the team. Normally they wouldn't let that many people in the room at a time, but this was a special circumstance. These people were family and Ethan knew a lot of them still hadn't laid eyes on Adam. He made the call to let them all join under the condition that after a half hour, no more than two people will be in the room.
As they entered, the shock hit everyone except Kim and almost couldn't even believe this was Adam. Seeing him like this broke all of their hearts. As a few of them started to take a seat, Trudy asked the question they were all dreading. "I'm assuming you caught the guy?"
"In a way, yes." Hank replied, prompting Kim to look up at him. "Once we threatened to take Lucia's daughter, she told us everything knew. She didn't know any details about the accident but she did tell us where we could find her brother." Hank paused. "When we arrived at the address she gave us, we found our suspect dead. Turns out he overdosed the night before."
Kim wasn't happy they had found Sydney dead. She wanted his to suffer the same way Adam was, but she was glad to know he was no longer out on the streets and could never do this to anyone else ever again.
When the half hour passed, everyone said their goodbyes except for Kevin and Kim. They were the two who were closest to Adam so it wasn't any surprise that they both wanted to stay.
"How you holding up?" Kevin asked after everyone was gone.
"I don't know Kev. Just trying to keep it all together for him, you know?"
Kevin nodded. He didn't know what else to say. They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes until the nurse came back for her next 15 minute vitals check.
Every time she entered the room, Kim and Kevin kept their eyes fixed on her until she spoke and every time she gave them an update all she said was 'no change.'
It wasn't until a few hours that she finally gave them the update they were praying for. "His fever finally broke, looks like he's finally headed in the right direction."
"Thank god." Both Kim and Kevin sighed out in relief.
"Your friends a fighter. We're all rooting for him." She smiled as she left the room.
That made Kim smile. She knew just how stubborn Adam really was and he never gave up on anything without putting in honest effort. Her biggest fear in all of this was that Adam wouldn't find anything worth fighting for and would just give up. So far, she's glad she was wrong. She made it a point to tell him just how sorry she was, how much she loved him, and how wrong she's been. Kevin also apologized on numerous occasions explaining it was easier for him to take his frustrations of racism out on Adam which wasn't fair to him.
They had no idea if Adam was listening or if he could even hear them, but they always say patients in a coma can hear, so that's what they were choosing to believe. They were saying anything they could think of to give Adam reasons to fight.
As visiting hours came to end, Kevin decided to call it a night, promising he would be back in the morning. Kim had convinced Maggie to let her stay the night. Maggie had put up a little bit of a fight, but she knew Kim wasn't going to budge and eventually gave in.
Once morning rolled around, Kevin returned with coffee and breakfast sandwiches for him and Kim. He knew she hadn't had a decent meal since the accident and hoped by bringing some of Adam's favorites, he would smell it and wake up.
Kim was very appreciative of Kevin, but she really didn't have much of an appetite. Kevin wasn't taking no for an answer and made her eat at least half of the sandwich.
It wasn't long until Will came back in for his morning check. "How's it going guys?" Will greeted them with a smile.
"Well, we're still here." Kim shrugged.
Will smiled and began his evaluation, looking at charts, checking vitals, and changing bandages. During the bandage check, Kim and Kevin got their first real look at the true damage to Adam's body. Will had pulled the blanket down to Adam's waist, checking the main incision running from the center of his chest, down to his belly button. A majority of his torso was covered in deep black and blue bruises and cuts.
The look of it made Kim feel sick to her stomach. She would hate to see anyone like this but the fact that it was Adam made it that much worse.
Will however, seemed please with the way Adam looked. "Looks like everything is healing nicely." He noticed the looks on both Kim and Kevins face. "I know it looks ugly right now, but it already looks better than yesterday, and the incisions are healing nicely. We gotta take all the wins we can get." Adam was still far from out of the woods so any small victory was a win in his book. "Anyway, the plan today is to take him back up for some tests and if all goes well, hopefully get his collarbone and rotator cuff fixed up."
Kim was nervous about him going back into surgery already. Just yesterday they had to cut the surgery off early because Adam's body couldn't handle the stress of it. She was afraid rushing back into the OR could be a bad thing. "Can he handle that?"
"We'll find out during the tests, but I believe he can. He made it through the night without any further complications which is a great sign. He also broke the fever. By the looks of him it might not seem like, but he is healing and getting stronger Kim." Will could see the apprehension all over Kims face despite his reassurances. He walked over to her, crouched down so that he was eye level with her and grabbed her hand. "Look at me Kim. Adam's like family to me. I would never do anything that could jeapordize his life, but the sooner we get the surgeries done, the better."
Kim wiped a tear that escaped from her eye. "I know. I just- I'm scared Will. I'm terrified to let him out of my sight."
"I completely understand, but like I said, his body is healing. If he's not ready for surgery we'll push it another day or two, but I really do think he can handle it. Do you trust me?"
She nodded her head. "You know I do."
"Ok then. I'm gonna take him upstairs." He looked over at Kevin. "Why don't you take her home for a few hours and make sure she gets some sleep."
"And a shower." Kevin added, trying to lighten the moment.
Kim just rolled her eyes, but did manage to let out a little smirk. She by no means wanted to go home but between Will and Kevin she knew she was fighting a losing battle. She reluctantly said goodbye to Adam as Will started getting him ready to go upstairs and promised to be back by 3:00.