"It was a success, they're thinking no more surgery," Sarah told Jack, relief visible on his face, but she expected him to be happier.
He looked down at the now bandaged limb, a saddened smile on his face. Four surgeries, they couldn't do any more. It was a success in there terms, but would he ever be able to walk unassisted again? Only time would tell; and he hated the uncertainty.
"How are you feeling?" She asked seeing hearing the slight grimace of pain as he reached across to grab the glass of water, not bothering to be careful with the tubes running into his arm. His other hand was still sore, but the pain was ebbing away and he wouldn't ask for anything to be handed to him.
It was his third night in the hospital and this was the calmest he had been. He agreed to stay in for more testing on his foot and shin, with the stipulation that he be treated by Sarah only. He had been barely conscious when they had struck the deal, and it only highlighted too well the aftershocks from China he was dealing with already.
He looked up at her and decided to be truthful - the two had developed a strange no bullshit relationship, Jack was grateful for her co-operation so he tried to do the same in return.
"Everything hurts," he said, his throat parched, "but believe me that's good."
She smiled as she began to reset the drips and check the blood work again. As soon as he had been wheeled out of surgery they had limited the amount of morphine they were giving him. He was given two days to readjust to the simmer of pain, and earlier this morning they had disconnected that particular I.V line completely. He had dozed during the hours it had taken to work its way out of his system; waking up from the discomfort he felt in his body and the flaring pain when he twitched his leg. The pain was constant despite the healing he had already completed - and it was the best thing he had ever felt.
Without the morphine his thoughts weren't in slow motion and he was awake for longer. He was coherent, even when the pain gripped him. His mood altogether had lifted, but nothing had been spoken of the 'incident' yet. When Kim mentioned Palmer or Heller he clammed up and would ask her to leave under the pretence of being tired. He tried to put her visit off the second day, but she wouldn't have it; instead she was smart enough to stray away from any painful topics. Heller agreed they would wait until he wasn't dependant on the hospital treatments, then the real work would begin.
Right now the doctors were still concerned with his leg, the slow healing ribs and bruises which refused to leave his battered body, despite the weeks which had passed. The health diet was also slow going. They had been pumping food vitamins into him constantly; and now he was trying to eat small meals too, but he still wasn't putting on the weight which was needed. Although some weight had been gained he was still close to the danger zone - but like everything else, they could only wait for the change.
It was the not knowing which angered Jack the most. He often displayed a mood of irritation but he was also too tired to act on it. Sarah had warned Kim that bad moods or displays of anger were positive, as it showed that his strength was returning. Jack was not convinced though, and despite the leaps of progress made he showed clear signs of depression. They worried about the mental treatment, sure that they should wait for the worst of the physical to be over with first. So until then he and Kim danced around painful topics when he was strong enough to hold a conversation; skirting around the edges of what had happened to put him in this condition in the first place. It wasn't ideal for the doctors and certainly not healthy for Jack, but until he healed there was nothing else they could do.