Author's Note: Thank ya'll so much for reading! I'm so excited that people like my story. I'm trying to update as fast as I can. I appreciate everyone's feedback. Thank you for reviewing! I appreciate it so much, and it helps me out a great deal! Please bear with me through the next chapters and I promise that it will get more exciting.
Special thanks to Bloodsuckers37 for helping me get the medical 'stuff' right, and fixing my many mistakes.
Bad to Worse
Chapter 4- No Improvement
7:43 ICU Cubicle 4
Don and Alan were resting peacefully, and Charlie was sitting, staring at Don. The lab and x-ray techs had come and taken blood and x-rays. Charlie was glad that Don had a tube especially for drawing blood so they did not have to stick him. Charlie cringed as the tech took blood. Charlie was not especially fond of blood or needles. Just as Erin promised, she returned with Dr.Andrews carrying a covered tray. Alan awoke when they entered the room and Erin put the tray on the rolling table. Charlie moved over to the other side of the bed and stood next to his father.
"Hello Mr.Eppes, Charlie. I'm just going to check the incision sites and go over his latest tests."
Dr.Andrews put on gloves while Erin untied Don's gown. Dr.Andrews pulled the gown down exposing Don's chest, most of which could not be seen due to the bandages. He turned Don's head and slowly pulled the bandage off of Don's neck. Charlie could faintly see the angry looking wound. The doctor said something quietly to the nurse and re-bandaged the wound. Dr.Andrews did the same thing to Don's chest. For a brief second Charlie could see a tube sticking out of his older brother's chest. After Dr.Andrews was done, Erin wrote down what the monitors read and hung another bag of fluids; she retied Don's hospital gown and left with the tray. Dr.Andrews opened Don's chart, wrote his findings, and closed it after reading its latest attachments.
"Well it looks like Dons' labwork hasn't improved that much. This concerns me because his blood counts are low when they should be increasing, so I'm going to give him another unit of blood after this one runs out," Dr.Andrews said pointing to the, nearly full, bag of blood hanging from an IV pole.
"Is that something we need to worry about?" Alan asked looking directly at the doctor.
"His labs aren't really where I would like them to be right now, but I am seeing some improvement. We are going to add another unit of blood to help improve his labs. We shouldn't worry necessarily, I am concerned because he hasn't improved as much as I would have liked. I'm going to go ahead and cut the sedation back so he can wake up, then we can get a better assessment of his progress."
"Thank you so much Dr. Andrews," Alan said while shaking Dr. Andrews' hand.
"It's not everyday that an FBI agent comes in here."
Dr. Andrew left. Charlie went back to his chair. He sat down and took Don's hand again. Charlie was watching as his dad's eyes were getting heavy.
"Dad, why don't you go home and get some rest."
"I don't want to leave either one of you by yourselves."
"I can stay here and keep Don company and he can keep me company."
"I don't know about that," Alan said eyeing Charlie suspiciously.
"Dad you really need to rest, even if you go home and just take a nap. You can bring back dinner."
Alan sat there thinking about the situation for a moment and started to get up. He thought about staying, but he was also thinking that Charlie wanted some time alone with his big brother.
"I guess I could use a nap and a shower. I want you to call me if anything happens or if you need anything. Anything at all, I want you to call me."
"Yes dad."
Alan gathered his coat and left the room. A couple of minutes later Erin came by.
"Hello Charlie, did your dad go home?" Erin asked while she was checking the various monitor leads attached to Don.
"Yeah, he went home to take a nap and a shower."
Erin checked the amount of fluids left in the multiple IV bags. She continued about her business and left. Charlie was deep thought when he heard a knocking at the door. He looked up to see Terry, who had obviously taken a shower and changed.
"Hey, can I come in?"
"Yeah, sure."
Terry walked over to the other chair and sat down. She carefully took Don's limp hand and looked at his face noticing the myriad of machinery connected to him.
"How is he?" Terry asked taking her eyes off Don.
"I-I think he is still bad. The doctor said something about being concerned about Don's labs and he is going to give him more blood. He also said that they are going to wake Don up soon to get a better idea of how he is doing."
Hang in there Don.
"I'm going to go get a drink, take a walk, get some fresh air, or something," Charlie said as he was getting up.
He left and headed for the vending machines. On the way he stopped in a waiting room that had the evening news on it. One story especially caught Charlie's attention.
"6 gunmen are dead, and one gunman and one FBI agent are in critical condition. That is what happened earlier today after a gunfight erupted at Loehman's Plaza at approximately 12:15. The gunmen were trying to steal weapons software from a nearby building. The FBI agent was rushed to LA Memorial with gunshot wounds. The FBI has not released the name of the injured agent but sources say that it was the agent in charge of the operation. Our prayers go out to the agent's family. Now we go to Chris Forgey with the traffic report…"
The room was silent as Charlie and a few other people watched the footage from a helicopter. Luckily they did not show the gunfight. Charlie got his drink, drank it, and returned to sit with his older brother.
"You missed it Don, you were on TV." Charlie seemed disappointed when Don did not respond.
8:45 PM, ICU Cubicle 4
Both Terry and Charlie were thinking about the day's events.
"Hello, my name is Gail, and I will be Mr.Eppes' nurse for tonight. Let me check Mr.Eppes and then I will check you," Gail said to Charlie.
She went over to Don and wrote down the numbers from the monitors. She checked Don's input and output, and adjusted some IV bags.
"Okay, Dr.Andrews already cut back the sedation so you may see some movement. If everything goes as planned Mr.Eppes should be waking up with in the next day or so."
Alan came in just as the nurse left.
"You ready to go home?" Alan asked Charlie.
"I guess," Charlie said standing up slowly.
"Are you going to stay here Terry?"
"If you don't mind, I'd like to," Terry said straightening up.
"I have no problem with that. If you need anything, just call."
"Thank you Alan. Get a good night's rest."
"Good night Terry," Alan and Charlie said in unison.
The two men took one last look at Don, and left.
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