Hi guys! Thanks again for the reviews. Just a little reminder: ZERO MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE so I apologize now for anything that might not be accurate. Anyway here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!
As the next morning rolled around, and the rest of the team returned to the hospital, no one was surprised to find Kim had spent the night along with Kevin. She didn't stir when Jay and Hailey entered the room or when Hank walked in five minutes after. It wasn't until Trudy came in with coffee and breakfast sandwiches that she finally opened her eyes.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." Trudy said as she handed Kim her breakfast and a cup of coffee.
Kim wanted to protest, still not having much of an appetite, but everyone was watching her, so she accepted the sandwich without a fight.
"How'd he doing?" Trudy asked. The rest of the team had already been given the low down by Kevin.
"Had a bit of a rough night, but with a few med changes he seems to be more stable." Kim answered quietly remembering her night. He didn't crash at any point throughout the night, but he did come close a few times. "Overall, the doctors seem pleased with his progress, though they want to keep him on that stupid vent for a little longer." Kim hated seeing Adam on a ventilator. She understood it was a necessity at the moment, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
"You heard the doctors, Kim. It's just as a precaution. They're only pushing it back till later today so it's not too terrible." Kevin reminded her.
"I know Kev, I just want him to wake up and tell me everything's going to be fine."
Jay and Hailey looked at each other hoping more than anything he would be fine. They knew the odds were stacked against him making a full recovery, but Adam had beaten the odds many times before and hoped this time was no different.
Throughout the day, the intelligence team was in and out of the room, Kim being the only one that refused to leave. Her sitter had called around 12 letting her know she would have to leave by 2 so Trudy told Kim she would go hang out with Makayla.
"Does she know?" Trudy asked Kim, wondering what to tell the little girl if something was asked.
"She knows he was hurt and that I have to stay with him right now, but she doesn't know the extent of it and I'd like to keep it like that for right now. At least until he wakes up and we know what we're dealing with."
Trudy nodded her head. "Understood. Keep me updated. I'm gonna head to the store and get some things for our little sleep over tonight." Trudy smirked.
Kim gave a slight smile back knowing her daughter was going to be spoiled rotten tonight. She was grateful to have so many people in her corner to get her through times like this. It made being away from Makayla a little easier, knowing she wouldn't have to worry about her.
Once Trudy left, it was only Kim and Hank that remained. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, only hearing the sounds of the machines attached to Adam. Kim holding Adam's hand, rubbing it with her thumb while Hank worked on a crossword puzzle book. It was kind of amusing to Kim to see Hank doing crossword puzzles but if that's what he wanted to do, who was she to judge.
About an hour later, Will had returned for half a shift. It was supposed to be his off day, but someone had to leave early so he was called in. He didn't mind though. It gave him a chance to check on Adam and to hopefully be there when he woke up. He was a bit bummed to learn the extubation and process to wake him up had been delayed but was overly concerned by it yet.
A little before dinner, Will had returned to see Kim, Jay and Hailey in the room. There was a look between the two Halstead brothers that Hailey knew what it meant, but Kim was oblivious to. "Hey guys, not sure if you met Lisa yet, but she's one of our nurses, and this is Robyn, she's a respiratory therapist."
The three officers smiled at her. Kim had met Lisa earlier in the day when she was making her rounds, but this was the first time she entered the room with Jay and Hailey there. As for Robyn, this was the first time any of them had seen her.
Will introduced Robyn to all three officers and Lisa to his brother and his fiancé, then got down to business. "So, after running a few tests, we believe it's safe to take the ventilator out so were going to begin the process of extubating him. It can be a bit rough so we're going to ask you guys to step out into the hallway until we're finished."
Jay and Hailey both stood up to exit the room when they noticed Kim didn't budge.
"I'm not leaving him." She stated firmly.
"Come on, Kim." Jay walked over to her. "It won't take long, we're only going right outside the door."
"No." She stated again, prompting Will and Jay to look at each other. Will eventually nodded, indicating she could stay.
"You can stay, Kim, but I need you to sit over here." Will moved a chair slightly away from the bed so the he and the two women with him would have easy access to Adam.
Kim reluctantly got up and switched chairs. She wanted to stay holding Adam's hand, afraid of what would happen if she let go, but she knew she was already pushing her luck by staying in the room, so she decided not to put up a fight.
As will explained, the process was a bit rough. Adam struggled to breathe on his own, even with an oxygen mask, which caused Kim to panic. "What's going on? Why can't he breathe? Put the tube back in!" Alarms were going off in the background, indicating rapid heartbeat and low oxygen and Kim didn't understand why everyone looked so calm. "Are you trying to kill him!?"
"This is normal, Kim. His body is just re-adjusting to having to work on its own." Will explained. As if on cue, the alarms became quitter as his oxygen levels and heart rate evened out.
Kim had tears in her eyes. She knew she overreacted, but she was terrified. Will walked over to her and wrapped her in a hug. "You know I would never do anything to hurt him." Kim nodded as she continued to cry. The other two nurses finished what they were doing then left the room, letting Jay and Hailey know they could re-enter.
They walked in to Kim and Will hugging, Kim clearly upset. They broke free from the hug when Will noticed his brother in the room.
"Everything okay?" Jay asked.
"Yeah, it was just rough for her. That's exactly why we ask family to leave the room."
Kim shrugged, knowing she probably should have listened, she just couldn't bring herself to leave Adam yet. "So, what happens now? He wakes up?" Kim asked.
"Not quite yet. We have to monitor his airway closely to make sure he's still breathing on his own okay. If not, there's a chance we would have to re-intubate. But if he continues to breathe on his own without any further complications, then we can begin the process of waking him up." Will explained.
"How long does that take?" Hailey asked.
"If all goes well, there's a chance we could start waking him up in the morning. For right now though, he seems to be doing good. I know it was hard to watch and it might not seem like it, but he did better than a lot of other patients. Some of them take a lot longer to even out while some need to be immediately re-intubated." Will admitted. He was pleasantly surprised with how smooth the process was. He asked if anyone had any questions and then left the room.
A little before 8 pm, Kim received a phone call from Trudy. She was pleasantly surprised to hear Makayla's voice on the other end of the phone.
"Hi momma!" Makayla said happily. Kim was still getting used to Makayla calling her mom but she loved it.
"Hey baby, how's your sleepover going?" Kim asked.
"It's so much fun. We ordered pizza, made cookies, made a fort in the living room out of blankets and chairs, now were getting ready to watch a movie!" Kim could tell Makayla was having a great time just by the sound of her voice.
"Wow. That does sound like a whole lot of fun!" Kim smiled.
"It is. When you and Adam come home can we make another tent?" The little girl asked.
"I don't see why not." Kim replied, trying to hide the concern in her voice. She only hoped Adam would not only make it out of the hospital, but not be paralyzed as well. That's something she didn't want Makayla to know about yet.
"It's gonna be so much fun." The little girl trailed off. Kim could tell something was on her mind. Before she could ask though, Makayla started speaking again. "Is Adam still sleeping? I told Trudy I wanted to talk to him to tell him I hope he feels better but she told me he might be sleeping."
Kim's heart broke a little. "I'm sorry baby. He is sleeping right now."
"But it's not even 8:00." Makayla was trying to understand. Trudy told her Adam was sleeping when she first picked her up from the babysitter and that was hours ago.
"I know baby, but remember Adam got hurt. They have him on medicine that makes him really tired and sleep a lot. But I'll tell you what, as soon as he's up to it, I'll make sure you're the first person he calls, deal?" Kim prayed everything would go as planned and that Adam would wake up tomorrow. Makayla was a smart little girl, and it was only a matter of time till she figured out just how bad things were.
"Deal!" Makayla agreed.
"Ok baby, I love you. Can you put Trudy on the phone for me?" Kim asked.
"Love you too momma. And Adam. Here's Trudy." Makayla handed the phone off.
Kim could here Trudy telling Makayla to head to the kitchen to grab the popcorn and some cookies. "I'm so sorry Kim. She's been asking to call since I picked her up. I explained the best I could without telling her too much."
"It's okay Trudy. We're hoping he wakes up tomorrow so hopefully we can get him to call her then. Hopefully that'll help her a little bit."
"How's he doing?" Trudy asked.
"He's breathing on his own now. They took him off the ventilator about an hour or two ago, so I guess that's a step in the right direction."
"That's great!" Trudy was relieved.
"Will said they still had to monitor his breathing but they're hoping to start waking him in the morning." Kim admitted.
"That's even better. Why don't you sound like that's good news?" Trudy could sense the worry in Kim's voice.
"I don't know. I guess I'm just trying not to get my hopes up. Worst case scenario is still a huge possibility, and I don't want to be caught off guard if it happens." Kim replied, as she watched the rise and fall of Adam's chest. It's something she had done for years when she would wake up before him. Right now, it looked off to her which was a bit concerning, but she had to keep reminding herself he did just come off the ventilator, so she chalked it up to that.
"Kim, he's going to be okay. Nothing ever keeps that boy down for long." Trudy began to say as Makayla made her way back into the room. "Anyway, I've just been told it's time to start the movie, so keep me updated and make sure you're taking care of yourself."
"I will. Thanks Trudy. And tell Makayla I love her." Kim hung up the phone right as she heard Makayla in the background. "Love you momma!"
Kim's heart was happy after talking to Makayla. She always had a way of making her feel better. She put her phone back down, grabbing the crossword puzzle book that Hank had left behind. She decided to try to do a couple to try to keep her mind distracted. It worked for a bit until she started to hear alarms going off again.
Will, along with the two nurses from earlier came running in. This time they made her leave the room as they started rattling off words that she never even heard of. Tears fell from her eyes as she was practically carried out of the room. Luckily Maggie was nearby so she took control, taking Kim to the employee break room to give her some privacy. She kept her there, trying her best to comfort her, until Will walked in with an unreadable expression.