Thank you to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, and following this story. This is a shorter chapter, so I wanted to get it up sooner. Hoping I can continue with the faster updates and move the story along. Let's see what happens.
Once again, without the incredible help of Indianagreaser, the medical portion would not be possible. Let's hope I got it right!
XX
When Steve came back to Pony's hospital room balancing three hot drinks in a tray of cupholders and carrying a plastic bag of egg sandwiches, Darry was standing at the foot of Pony's bed giving the doctor space to check him over. A nurse stood off to the side, next to Soda, who was closer to the bed as the doctor leaned over the still-unconscious boy and checked his breathing with a stethoscope.
"Hey," Steve said, moving forward to be next to Darry. He didn't know why but he felt like he had to be quiet. "What's going on?" He handed Darry his coffee but Darry shook his head, his stomach turning.
Steve pulled it back and placed the drinks and sandwiches on a small wooden table near the door.
"They're doing some checks to see if Pony's breathing is stable so they can take the breathing tube out," Darry said in a low voice. "They already started taking him off the sedation."
Steve nodded, but wanted to know who this new doctor was. Pony had already had his share of doctors and now here was another one? Who was this guy?
He didn't say anything.
This doctor seemed middle age, or at least older than the doctors they had encountered so far. He was slightly balding in front, though he had most of his hair and he wore thick black square frames that added a dignified look to his otherwise casual demeanor.
The doctor pulled back the blanket, holding it up one hand as he checked Pony's lungs with the other. "Almost done," he said aloud.
Steve caught Soda's eyes and nodded at him. Soda, who looked dead on his feet, gave him a small smile but it failed to reach his eyes.
"Yep, it sounds good," the doctor said aloud and he seemed pleased.
"So," he continued, moving closer to Darry, but he was talking to the nurse, too. "We've suctioned the patient for secretions. I've performed all the necessary weaning parameter checks. Everything seems to look good and I think we can get ready to extubate him -" he cleared his throat, "to pull the breathing tube out."
"He's on minimal support right now. I want to increase the oxygen to 100 percent," the doctor said, "To get him well oxygenated prior to pulling," the doctor explained and none of the guys really had a clue what he was talking about but they didn't argue.
The doctor called the nurse over to begin the procedure. The nurse opened up a blue pad and spread it over Ponyboy's chest, absorbent side up.
"Carol, get the suction ready and hand it to me, please," the doctor said.
The boys watched as the nurse tightened a hard blue tip into the end of a longer, softer tube that was connected to a canister on the wall. The nurse handed it to him and he tucked it under Pony's pillow.
"Ok, silence the alarm on the ventilator please," the doctor told her. The nurse pressed a button so that the alarm wouldn't make a sound once the ventilator was taken out.
He took the scissors and cut the tape that held the tube, keeping a firm grip on it because it was no longer supported. Then the doctor pulled the tape from behind Pony's neck until it was off his face.
"Alright, air is out of the cuff," the doctor said out loud, "I'm removing the tube...let's do a quick suction..."
Timing it with Ponyboy's inhale and then exhale, the doctor pulled the tube out quickly. Then he took the suction tip and sweeped it's tip through Pony's mouth looking for secretions.
Darry, Soda, and Steve were all taken aback when they heard a weak cough come from Pony's mouth. But he was otherwise still. It didn't look like he was awake or anything.
The doctor answered what they were all thinking before they had a chance to ask. "The cough is just his body responding to the fact that the breathing tube has been pulled out now that we are weaning him off the sedation," he explained. "It doesn't mean that he is fully awake yet."
Soda and Darry couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
After the doctor took the suction tube out, he grabbed the nasal cannula from behind Pony's pillow and placed its two plastic prongs in Ponyboy's nose, fitting the rest of the tube around his ears. Then as they all realized that Pony was breathing normally, he took his stethoscope out again to check his patient, who no longer had a ventilator.
The nurse moved the ventilator away as the doctor finished his check of the throat and the chest.
Then he walked over to Darry and Steve. He didn't say hello to Steve, just continued with what he wanted to say. Soda joined them.
"So now we've taken out the breathing tube and your brother seems to be breathing well on his own. We're obviously going to keep checking - if you notice something strange, please summon a nurse," he said, "We've also begun the process of weaning him off the sedation. It's going to take some time for him to wake up - it's not going to happen right away - but you know, if you want to speed up the process, familiar voices help. Talk to him, try to get him to respond to you in some way. We've seen with past patients that those methods have been effective."
"When he wakes up," the doctor continued, "notify the nurse and she will page me to come check him again. So far he seems to be doing well. His temperature is a little elevated but nothing alarming. But we don't know what he will be like when he wakes - maybe some head pain, hearing loss, memory loss, he may be disoriented - all things to look out for. He's on strong antibiotics, we don't know what exactly they are doing to him just yet. Or how the infection is affecting him. He needs to be awake for that.
"Hearing loss? Memory loss? How likely are these complications? Are they temporary?" Darry asked suddenly, the look of fear on his face betraying his usual control.
The doctor turned to him. "Like I said, it's hard to say right now because he's not awake just yet so we can't test it. But these are the most common complications associated with meningitis, so we always need to be on the lookout for them. Some people have them, some don't," the doctor explained. "The nurses will be checking on him periodically, but, like I said, try to talk to him, it might help him wake faster. Alright, good luck," he added.
"Thank you, Dr. Wexler," Darry said, shaking the doctor's hand. Soda did the same. With that, the doctor left the room, the nurse trailing behind him.
"I won't be far," Carol said as she headed out, "Press the call button if you need anything," she said.
Darry and Soda were impressed with how kind the nurses had been to them so far.
After they left, Soda moved up to Pony's bedside to be closer to him. He sat down heavily in a chair that was still set up next to the bed. "Pony…" Steve and Darry heard him say, "You're breathing on your own now, huh Pony? You're gonna wake up for us soon, right kiddo?" He smoothed the hair on one side of Pony's head behind his ear, being extra careful not to go anywhere near the bandage on the other side.
There was no response, not even an eye flutter. Sodapop pressed his lips together in a tight line for a moment. Then he leaned over and kissed Pony on the forehead and gently brushed some of his hair away.
That bandage sure was big. Soda wondered how bad the scar looked underneath.
Soda turned his head to face Darry and Steve who were still at the back towards the door. Darry was gripping the end of the bed heavily.
"Darry?" Soda called out, "You think he's going to be ok?" he asked, looking worried.
Darry sighed. He had no idea, but he didn't want his other brother to think negatively. "Yeah, Soda, I think he's going to wake up soon."
"But what about what the doctor said? All these complications...Losing his hearing? Losing his memory?"
"We can't know how he's going to be until he wakes up, Soda. Let's not think about that now," Darry said trying to sound more confident.
"But what if he isn't?" Soda whined, and he sounded like a small child.
"Soda," Steve said suddenly, "The kid is going to be fine. Even if he has a few problems, I'm sure he'll still be the same annoying, whiny ass kid," he said and he flashed Darry a grin.
Soda cracked a smile at that and turned back to the still figure on the bed. He took Pony's right hand and placed it in his, interlocking their fingers so he could hold on to his brother.
"You hear that Pony? You're going to be fine, honey. And you and Steve will start arguing like brothers again," he said with a smile. "But first, you need to come out of this…"
He continued whispering easy, comforting words to his little brother, willing him to wake up as Darry turned to Steve at the footrest. The coffee and hot drinks had long been forgotten although Steve made a mental note to get the guys to eat their sandwiches later.
"So you called Two-Bit?" Darry asked Steve.
"Yeah," Steve responded, "Told him everything. He asked why nobody called him last night. Then he hung up on me the little -" he went on to call Two-Bit every bad word under the sun.
"You didn't tell him to come over though right?" Darry asked. "The weather -"
"Of course not, Darry, I told him to stay put and that we're doing ok. He didn't sound too thrilled about it," Steve sighed. "I hope he won't do anything crazy," He didn't feel too convinced.
"Darry - " Soda called out and there was something in his voice that made Darry look up, "I think you better get over here - "
Both Darry and Steve rushed to Soda's side of the bed. Soda, who had his hand cupped around Pony's in a fist, slowly unfolded it and tucked it under so the guys could see.
"Look…" Soda said softly.
The sight made Darry's heart twist.
Pony's hand had grabbed one of Soda's fingers and was holding on tightly, his palm grasping it like a newborn baby holding on to his mother's finger for the very first time.