Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Numb3rs as I've said many times before.
PLEASE READ THIS AUTHOR NOTE IF YOU READ MY FIRST EDITION OF THE FOURTH CHAPTER!
A/N: Ok I just replaced my first fourth chapter with this one. I am so sorry my readers but some of you wanted more angst so I had no choice but to comply.(evil grin)
The only way I thought I could actually lead into a large Charlie angst scene for you was I had to fix the talk with the Charlie's doctor and his family. The end was all I changed just in case you wanted to just skip to that part. So please stick with me and try to realize how much I am trying to make this fic interesting. I usually hate when people replace chapters so please try and understand that I think that this chapter needed some help. Thankies!
There weren't many people in the waiting room. There seemed to be only one other family besides the Eppes.
An older man with graying hair, who seemed to be almost as old as Alan, was sitting on the opposite side of the room from Don. A few seats away from him sat a small teenage boy with a sleeping toddler in his arms, who could be barley two, and a carriage, with a dreaming infant inside, was also in front of him. Next to him there was a girl who looked to be barley eighteen, who was extremely pregnant. The entire family, except for the older man, was pale from lack of sleep and dark circles were under their eyes.
Don didn't want to eaves drop but he had no choice in this situation. He unconsciously saw a man in scrubs come foreword through the doorway.
"Is there anyone here for Amy McTernan?" he asked.
Right away the girl stood up on unsteady feet. The older man followed slowly behind her.
Don heard them muttering and tried to tune them out. He almost succeeded when he heard the girl exclaim something and the man said something back.
"It's what she would've wanted Dad! You know this!" Don couldn't keep the words from entering his ears.
The man answered her quietly.
"Please there isn't much time. We need to know now…" the doctor said quietly.
"Dad…she's dead now. You know that right?" the girl said trying to get her point across but was apparently becoming overemotional. Tears were slowly making their way down her cheeks but the man didn't look phased at all. "She's brain dead…she's not coming back, but you know she would've wanted to do this…"
The man shook his head slightly.
"How can you be her legal guardian if you don't hold true to her wishes…she told me many times she wanted to give away her organs. All she did in life was help people…let her do it now in her death…please Dad…for Mom…"
The man slowly shook his head again and muttered something.
"How can you do this to her?" the girl screamed. "She wanted this! She wanted to be able to help people in a way that would really matter! How can you go against her last wish?" Her voice was loud enough to wake the infant and the toddler, who both woke up screaming. The girl rushed as quickly as she could to the infant and tried to calm it's screams. The boy tried the same with the toddler.
"Please sir…" she said walking back over to the doctor. "For my brother and me," she gestured to the boy still sitting in the chair calming the screaming child. "Do what she would've wanted…please…"
The doctor looked to be at a loss for words. He held up his hands slightly and shook his head. "I'm sorry but without the consent of her legal guardian I can't do anything," his voice became cold and he turned to glare at the girl's father. "No matter how much I'd like to."
The man returned the doctor's cold gaze. "Fine," he said spitefully. "Do it…give away her organs. You," he pointed his finger at his daughter. "Just remember that you killed your mother by doing this…"
The doctor looked at the family cautiously, but the girl ignored her father's words.
"Can we say goodbye to her?" her voice broke.
"Sure," he said gently. "But we don't allow children in the rooms. I'm sorry."
"It's alright," she put the now calm baby back in the stroller. "Tim can you watch them for me. When I come back you can go in."
The boy barely looked up and merely nodded.
"Thank you," she whispered to him.
The girl left the room after the doctor but the man hesitated. He looked at the gaggle of children in the chairs, shook his head and then followed the two.
Don was surprised that Alan hadn't woken up by the noise. The children that had been screaming should've woken him up for sure but he slept on. Don was slightly glad that his father didn't have to hear the depressing argument between the family.
The infant in the stroller couldn't fall back to sleep and the sullen mood seemed to distress the child. He burst into tears and the sound of his cries woke the toddler once again. The teen, Don suspected was Tim, tried calming the boy in his arms but neither of the children would stop their cries.
Don felt sorry for the boy so he walked over to him.
"Need any help?" he asked quietly.
The boy seemed to hesitate in his response. "Please," he said quietly standing and rocking the toddler gently.
Don picked the infant up out of the stroller and held him gently in his arms. He calmed down almost instantly and smiled widely looking at him.
"Looks like he likes you," Tim said a small smile on his tired face. The toddler calmed down enough and drifted back to sleep in his arms. Tim sat down gently so not to disturb him. Don placed the gurgling baby back down into the carriage and rocked it gently. He sat next to Tim, who sighed.
"Thank you…"
"No, problem. Children can be a handful sometimes," Don said remembering when he had to watch Charlie when he was little. "Are they yours?"
"Mine?" the boy asked slightly surprised. "No, no no." he said in a rush. "They're my sister's kids. I don't want kids until I'm actually married. Just being their uncle is hard."
He adjusted the child in his arms gently, making him more comfortable.
"This is Tristin and that there is little Julian." The baby gurgled happily at hearing his name. "Tristin just turned two last month and Matt will be one in a week. Stephanie is almost due with her third and fourth." Tim sighed again.
"Not much of and age gap is there?"
"No. I don't think she can help it really. Her boyfriend is just so…I mean you'd think he'd learn how to keep from having more kids."
"She looks so young…"
"She turned eighteen this year," Tim sighed and rubbed his eyes carefully so as not to disturb his nephew. "She loves her kids don't get me wrong but she never expected them…I mean they were never planned…if you want to know why she has so many you'd have to ask her boyfriend." He said the last part spitefully.
Don looked concerned for a moment and would've asked him something else when another man in scrubs came through the door.
"Is there any family here for Charles Eppes?" he asked. The man was tall and had red hair. Freckles dotted his scruffy face.
Don stood up and Alan, as if by magic, awoke with a start. They walked quickly up to the man.
"I'm Doctor Thomas McGregory," he said extending his hand, which both men took turns shaking.
"I'm Charlie's father Alan and this is his brother Don," Alan said gesturing to his son. "How is he?"
"Why don't we have a seat," he said leading them over to the seats that they had just abandoned.
When they sat down the doctor sighed and Alan, along with his son, thought for the worst.
"Is he alive?" Alan asked quickly before Dr. McGregory had a chance to say anything.
The man sighed again.
"Yes," he finally said quietly and this time it was Alan and Don's turn to sigh. "But the bleeding in his chest cavity was pretty extensive, and he's suffering from something that we call Flail Chest," the man said quietly. His face was set in a grim line "Flail Chest is when most if not all the ribs collapse upon the lungs, usually creating damage to them. But that isn't what makes Flail Chest so damaging and dangerous. With no support to the thorax, because of his ribs collapse, his diaphragm is unable create pressure to expand the lungs. There is always a small chance of recovery from it.
"His right lung was punctured but we've treated that with a simple chest tube. He had some internal bleeding and we've been draining the lungs from blood that had started to fill them. He has a mild concussion and would've had serious brain damage if he hadn't been wearing a helmet. His left leg received three complex fractures that'll need surgery to repair, but we're waiting to make sure he is stable enough to handle the operation. His right arm also sustained a few minor breaks and his right shoulder was dislocated as well. We were able to set his arm and relocate his shoulder with no problems."
The man tried to give them each encouraging smiles.
"We hit a rough patch in the middle of surgery, where his heart stopped for a few moments but we started it up again and he made it through the rest of the operation without any problems. He was moved to the Intensive Care Unit to recover on the eighth floor. We'll be needing to monitor him closely for the next few days to make sure his lungs don't completely collapse and to make sure he is able to get oxygen."
Both the Eppes' didn't understand what he was telling them but they didn't need to. They could see it in the man's eyes.
Charlie was very sick…
He almost died…
He could get better…
He could get worse…
It all takes time…
"He'll need to go through some extensive therapy for his leg. His head injury was minor and the only thing we had major problems with was his breathing. We needed to intubate him once he was brought in because his lungs were unable to take air in and out. We almost had to perform a tracheotomy. We can't take him off the ventilator until we are sure he can handle it. And that wont be for awhile anyway."
They didn't hear him.
Charlie almost died…
Charlie could still die…
Charlie was very sick…
Charlie could die…
"When can we see him?" Alan asked quietly his voice breaking.
The doctor nodded and his voice became gentler. "You can come up and see him right now. Here, let me take you up."
They stood up and Don didn't know what was going on.
Charlie was very sick…
Charlie almost died…
Charlie could die…
Charlie's heart stopped…
Charlie was dead for a few seconds…
His brother died and a miraculously wasn't taken from him…
Charlie died…
Charlie could still die…
Don numbly followed the pair, who were still talking about his brothers condition. Don stopped in the doorway and turned to face the boy with his nephews. The boy had tears on his face as he rocked the child in his arms. He gave Don an encouraging smile and Don sent him one back.
Don knew life could be hard but his was never as hard as others could be. He felt sorry for the boy and his family. He wanted to do something to help but didn't know what.
Don's mind then wandered back to Charlie and he continued out the door.
Charlie was very sick…
He had to see him. He had to make it up to him.
His thoughts left the boy in the waiting room.
His baby brother could die…
That's all that mattered to him…
A/N: Ok there will be definite Charlie in the next chapter. I'm thinking I'll bring in the family in the waiting room again because I've always wanted to do a fic like this and…yea. We shall see…I have my reasons…
Ok guys I am so so so sorry about this! I really hate writing a chapter then taking it down to fix but when a few of you asked me to have more Charlie angst I had to do as you asked. The only true way I saw fit for actually leading into a large Charlie angst chapter was by fixing this one. I asked my mother about motor vehicle accident's and injures that occur from them (she's an ICU/CCU nurse and has been nursing for more than thirty years) and she mentioned Flail Chest. That is when your rib cage collapses around your lungs making it so your diaphragm is unable to move up and down so you can't create the pressure needed to open your lungs. The people become extremely sick and need to either be put on a ventilator or need a tracheotomy. A very slim chance at recovery…so I thought "Perfect for the Charlie angst lovers!"
OK I'm posting my next chapter soon because I wanted this to be up before it so people had a chance to read it and unless my computer totally dies on me you should have the chapter tomorrow evening. Ok? Tell me if you like this Chapter Four better. OK?
Thankies!
TheDudeLordOfFantasy a.k.a. Kathleen