"Mr. Eppes?" a faint voice whispered. "Mr. Eppes, are you with us?"
Are they talking to me? But Mr. Eppes is Dad.
More whispered voices and... a chuckle? "Agent Eppes," the voice corrected, speaking a little louder this time.
So they were talking to him. He guessed it would be rude not to answer, so he opened his mouth to speak, but no sound would come out.
"No talking, Agent Eppes – your throat is probably a bit sore. Can you open your eyes for me?"
Hmm, can I? He struggled to do so, his eyelids twitching from the effort. He finally cracked them open and was greeted by a blurry, blond woman who was leaning over him. "It's nice to see those eyes," she said cheerfully. "Now, I need to ask you some questions, and I need you to answer yes or no. Since we don't want you to talk, can you move your head?" He gave it a shot and was excited to succeed in nodding his head. He still wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but surely being able to move his head was a good sign. "Okay, Agent Eppes, question number one – are you cold?"
He wasn't much of anything right now, actually. His limbs felt heavy and he wasn't sure if he had the strength to move anything besides his head. But cold? He shook his head no.
"Good. Do you feel sick?"
Well he hadn't until she had brought it up, but now his stomach was starting to churn. He was going to go for the macho answer, but decided throwing up all over himself might not be the most macho thing to do. He nodded yes.
"That's normal after anesthesia – don't worry – but we will keep an eye on you just in case. Do you feel dizzy or light-headed?" He shook his head. "Good. How's your breathing? Are you feeling short of breath?" Well, he didn't like the cannula that was stuck in his nose, but he could breathe, so he shook his head again. "Good, good." Don watched as she made some notes on a chart. "Are you in any pain?"
He took mental inventory of his body. The pain that had been manifested in his stomach and back earlier was no longer there, replaced instead by a warm, fuzzy sensation. He shook his head.
"That's very good to hear." He watched as she flipped his chart shut and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You can go back to sleep now. We're going to get you moved into a room and then we'll bring in your family to visit."
He smiled at the mention of his family before drifting back to sleep.
--
Charlie watched as Don flew through the air. It was happening in slow motion and he could see every last detail. He saw the doors as they blew away from the classroom, saw Don's sudden look of surprise and pain as the doors connected with his lower back. Charlie watched as his brother crashed into the wall, his left side and stomach taking most of the impact. The doors kept pressing against Don until Charlie was sure he had been crushed to death, before finally falling away. He watched his big brother slump to the ground, his face still twisted in agony. Watched as he tried to call Charlie for help, but failing as his hand flopped uselessly to the ground. Charlie rushed toward him, cursing aloud as the hallway lengthened with each step. He had to get to Don!
Suddenly he was there, sitting on his knees and staring, horrified, at the blood spreading around Don's body. His brother's dark eyes stared lifelessly from his ashen face. I'm too late! "Don!" he screamed frantically. "Don!"
Charlie snapped awake, his eyes darting around the room. The waiting room, the hospital – now he remembered. He lifted his head from his father's shoulder, deliberately avoiding his father's concerned stare. "Are you okay, Charlie?"
He mutely nodded as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Charlie stretched his arms over his head, shocked as his joints loudly popped in the silence of the waiting room. The younger Eppes looked at his father and smiled to reassure him. Alan returned the smile and shook out his paper. Charlie glanced at the clock. He'd been asleep for forty minutes. "The doctor?" he nervously asked.
"He hasn't come by yet," Alan said, making a point of reading the paper. He didn't want to think about what that might mean any more than Charlie did.
Charlie sighed and shifted in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position, not that he planned on sleeping again – those dreams were too much for him until he knew for sure that Don was going to be all right.
"Eppes family?" The two men looked up and nodded at the nurse who was calling them from the doorway. She smiled brightly. "If you'll follow me, Doctor Scottsboro is ready to see you now."
They practically darted across the room, eagerly following the young nurse. "Is he okay?" Charlie asked.
"He made it through surgery," she promised them. "Doctor Scottsboro will go over all the details with you, including his care both here and at home."
"Home care?" Charlie questioned. "So that means he'll be coming home soon?"
The nurse gave him a patient smile. "Again, the doctor will discuss all of those details with you." She stopped in front of a wooden office door and let the two men inside.
"Ah," a middle aged man greeted them. "I'm Doctor Scottsboro." He firmly shook each man's hand.
"I'm Alan, Don's father. This is his younger brother Charlie."
"Please, have a seat." He waited for them to get settled before continuing in his deep, booming voice. "First of all, I wanted to let you know that Don came through the surgery with flying colors. He had a torn spleen which caused some internal bleeding, but we've repaired it and the bleeding has stopped. While we were in there, we went ahead and checked his other vital organs to be on the safe side. He has some bruising of the liver and kidneys, but nothing too serious. They should heal up quite nicely on their own." Charlie saw relief wash over his father's face, but couldn't quite bring himself to join him. "Don's left shoulder was dislocated so we've repaired that as well. He does have some head trauma, although it's nothing more serious than a mild concussion." He hesitated again as he looked at Charlie. He put on his brightest smile and aimed it directly at the younger man. "All in all, I'd say your brother was very lucky. And he is going to make a complete and full recovery." At this, Charlie finally allowed himself to relax, which made Scottsboro's smile grow even larger. "Shall we discuss his care?"
Alan and Charlie both nodded. "Please," Alan urged him.
"Well, he's stuck here for a while, I'm afraid."
"How long?" Charlie inquired, already knowing that Don wasn't going to like this.
"At least a week and a half, maybe two. It depends on how well he is doing. We need to keep an eye on his spleen because they sometimes will rupture after an injury like this, and I want Don where we can get him help if he needs it. We also need to monitor his kidneys. Although the bruising appears to be mild, all we can really do is watch and wait. And again, if something were to happen, Don will be much better off if he is already in the care of medical personnel."
"Sounds good to me," Alan agreed. "The hard part will be convincing Don."
"Yes," the doctor nodded. "The patients don't ever like to hear that." He leaned back in his chair and tapped his pen against his knee. "The most important part of Don's recovery is simple – bed rest and lots of it. So if you know of anything he likes to do – read, crosswords, anything – please feel free to bring something by. It might help distract him enough to stay in bed."
Alan gave a heavy sigh as Charlie chuckled. "Don doesn't 'do' stationary," Charlie informed him. "But we'll sit on him if we have to."
Scottsboro laughed deeply, thrilled by the younger man's sense of humor. "Excellent. The other part of Don's care will consist of antibiotics to prevent infection, anti-inflammatories and pain relievers. I will warn you now, even with heavy doses of pain medications, Don is going to be hurting a lot, especially for the first few days. I've had a bruised kidney myself, and it was some of the worst pain I have ever felt. Just keep that in mind if Don ever gets cranky or testy. Patience and encouragement, gentlemen – it will work wonders every time."
Alan and Charlie shared a glance and each one gave the other a reassuring smile. It would be tough, but they silently vowed to be as patient as they needed to be, even when Don was in full 'unhappy camper' mode. Nodding, they turned back to the doctor. "Anything else we need to know?" Alan asked.
"That's all from me, gentlemen. Don's nurses will go over his release information and home care when that day comes. For now, I need you to wait outside again until Don is out of recovery. I'll make sure his nurse – Anna – comes to get you when he's ready." The doctor stood and shook hands with the two men again. "Good luck gentlemen. Don't hesitate to call or have the nurses call me if you have any concerns."
"We won't," Charlie assured him as he and Alan exited the office.
TBC