=Hunter's POV=
(Thursday, 5/24/2018-9:00 am)
(Archian Island, Berk)
(Berk General Hospital)
It's been five days since I was rushed here from the big game because I collapsed and it became a medical emergency after being struck in the chest hard. Apparently, my pulse was weak, my breathing was light, and my heart hadn't sounded right. This is what Keith told me the next day when he came in to check on me. I didn't feel bad about flipping out on my dad; I knew he was scared to lose me, but to keep acting like he was the only person who lost mom…It bugged me. On top of the fact I'd only just woken up and was upset with myself because of the day it was. I didn't know what happened with the game after I was taken away; I hadn't asked either. I wouldn't take visitors while here; it was just going to be a lot of sitting around and them trying to talk to me when I didn't want to. I blew my chance at a scholarship, and technically I did endanger myself; it had been the championship game and I knew that the chances of being roughed up a bit were there while the stakes were so high. My head wasn't in the game because of it being the one year anniversary of losing my mom, but how could I have told coach no. I didn't want them to have to forfeit just because I was miserable. If we lost, then I wanted to lose fairly.
But I don't know what happened after I got taken out by ambulance. I'd ask at some point, but not yet. I was kind of glad to have the weight off my shoulders about the tumor; it was gone now according to Keith and there would still be appointments to make sure nothing was missed or starting to develop again. That was fine with me; I didn't want to deal with this ever again. I spent a lot of my time just laying in the hospital bed; it hurt to do much else, but I figured that would be the case. It was open heart surgery. I hadn't really talked with Keith yet about how my recovery would go; he usually just came in, checked me over, and then left. I think it's because he could tell I was deep in thought and didn't want to talk. Hopefully, I was getting released soon; I wanted to get back to school. It was almost exam time, and even if I only stayed for the exams; I couldn't miss them. I got three meals a day, sometimes snacks if Keith approved them. I usually needed the help of a nurse to get to the bathroom, but only because of all the hookups I was attached to. I was fine to walk on my own, but they usually insisted on at least getting me to the door.
I got sponge baths, sort of. Just the first couple of days, but I'd typically do it myself. I didn't care if they did it all the time for others; I could handle getting clean on my own. I was going to be doing it when I left anyway, so might as well be used to it. Dad nor Glenn would be helping me. Right now, I'm waiting for Keith to come and find out if I can go home today. If not, probably tomorrow. I sighed as I was playing on my phone; I knew my friends and girlfriend were in school. I shouldn't be cold-shouldering them, but I just felt I like needed some time to sit with all this. I'd been…Upset since last Saturday, and I didn't know why. I knew it was a harder time of year, but it seemed more than that and I couldn't figure out why. There was a knock on the door; I was in a regular room now; I hadn't needed that really big one.
"Come in," I said. The door opened revealing Keith. "Hey, Doc…"
"Hello, Hunter. How are you feeling today?" Keith asked, closing the door behind him and then sanitizing his hands before coming closer.
"Still sore, hurts to breathe in, but I'm guess that's normal given where the wound is." I shrugged.
"You're right. Unfortunately, it's going to be sore for a while when you breathe, and move. Laying down can hurt too. There's a lot of factors, but normal and will fade as you recover more." Keith stated.
"About how long am I looking at for that?" I wondered. "Sorry that we haven't talked about it before now; my head has been a mess, trying to sort it out…" I added.
"Hunter, I understand. What you went through wasn't easy, and not just in needing emergency surgery…The whole ordeal of dealing with those symptoms and not knowing what caused them, then learning of the tumor, and continuing to push on normal life. I have to say, you handled it better than most. You're very driven to do the things you want to do, and I can admire it." Keith informed. "Would you like to discuss any of your mind being a mess? Having someone to talk to can help sometimes?"
"No…I'm okay. I just…Want to get out of here, go back home, go to school again…Some semblance of not being confined to the bed unless I'm bathing or using the bathroom…" I admitted.
"Are you sure? It doesn't have to be me, I can recommend a good therapist for you to see. I've picked up on you seeming distant and upset, which is not uncommon for someone in your position of being confined and limited from your…Shall we say, active lifestyle." Keith stated while sitting in the chair near my bed; he was wearing his doctor coat, a gray shirt underneath, and black pants with what I assumed had to be comfortable shoes if he was in them all day. Keith had one leg crossed over the over with my file in his lap, but he didn't have it open.
"It's…Hard to know I can't do what I did before, but I accept it I guess. It's not like it wasn't inevitable as we were going to do the surgery in June where I'd be going through all this recovery anyway." I replied. "But no…I don't need anyone to talk to, Doc." I added in, realizing I didn't clarify my answer to his question. Keith said it was normal, so me being upset like I am was okay. I'm just…Dealing with everything at my own pace. Right now it was sadness, feeling helpless, but it would fade as I recovered; Keith said that, and I trusted him.
"Well, if you change your mind…Let me know." Keith smiled. "Now," He paused, opening my folder and flipping through it, seemingly scanning over information on the different pages. "You've been here for five days since the surgery. Normal hospital stay time is about four to seven days, pending results of post-surgery testing." He continued.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"To determine releasing you, in good conscience; tests will have to be run to ensure you will be okay to return home for the remainder of your recovery. Kind of like when we were watching the tumor, now we're watching your recovery. It's another round of x-rays, sonograms, bloodwork, and making sure your vitals stay solid." Keith explained.
"And if all that is good, I can go home and return to normal activities?" I hoped.
"Going home, yes…But Hunter; you won't be able to resume normal activities like before until you've completely healed. I know that's a letdown, but you have to consider that doing too much while you're still recovering could result in more damage than healing. We wouldn't want to have to rush you back here to fix the wound up again, or risk any infections that would also bring you back here for another lovely stay." Keith said gently. I sensed sarcasm in some of the words, so I wasn't completely bummed out about the news.
"That's true…" I agreed. "Not that it hasn't been great here, but…I guess I want some normal." I shrugged.
"Don't blame you. So as we've got some time; you've eaten and bathed already, why don't we get these tests out of the way? Hopefully, by lunch; we should have all the results. If things look good, I'll release you by dinner. One other test we run is that you're able to breathe without the oxygen assistance, and that you can move without too much pain as you are on IV-drip pain medication. So we will having to see how that goes as well. If you can't do it, and I expect you to be honest with me about it, you'll have to stay a little longer. As I said; we wouldn't want anymore emergencies when you're not in our immediate care." Keith informed.
"I understand. And yeah, I'm okay with doing tests…" I nodded.
"Excellent, I'll start making calls to those departments then." Keith closed the folder and stood up.
"Um…" I trailed off as I saw him look at me. "Removing the formality of you being my doctor…How's Nikki?" I asked.
"She's okay, mostly worried about and misses you. She comes home every day and asks how you are; I only say that you're alright and focusing on your recovery." Keith replied. "I know things are hard, Hunter, but as a word of advice…Both doctor and…Friend, I guess we can say; don't shut out your family and friends from this. I normally tell my patients who get any unfortunate news to tell people about it, have a good support system while they go through whatever it is. That is no different in recovery; it'll be good to have them around." He said.
"What happened five days ago is exactly why I didn't tell anyone…" I glanced off to the side now. "Looks of shock, worry, fear…Betrayal. Being scolded by dad…It's why I didn't say anything to anyone. Nothing would have been normal, and I didn't want pity I guess. People watching my every move, constantly asking if I was okay, making me take it easy…I don't know, that's…Just not how I am. There was already a lot to deal with knowing I had the tumor; that changed a lot things and I didn't want more to change…"
"Change is part of life, Hunter, and inevitable. Things change every day, in the blink of an eye, both good and bad. I can't make you do anything, as I've said before; it's only a suggestion and despite all those looks and what was said…They only want you to be okay, and willing to do anything to make sure of it. There's nothing wrong with asking for help, or accepting it. They only want you to be okay and help anyway their able to get you through this." Keith mentioned as he went towards the phone to start making calls while Hunter took in what he'd been told. Hunter still didn't know how to take it; his mood was still pretty down, and yet…He didn't feel like anyone would be able to help him tackle this. He didn't feel like they'd understand, so he was going to leave it alone and hope that things stayed somewhat normal.
. . .
(3:00 pm)
I hated waiting for results, but I had to assume that something must have come up and maybe my testing review got pushed back for something bigger. If that was the case, I didn't mind. I had my phone to keep my company; I did text Nicole for a bit when I knew school was out. I let her know I was okay and apologized for being so quiet, but dealing with a lot and needed to sort it out. She understood, of course. I asked her to pass the message of being okay and needing time to the others, she said she would and then I told her I was taking a nap. I did fall asleep for about twenty-minutes, but was uncomfortable, so that idea was lost. It was 3 pm now; I'd had lunch around 12:30, use the bathroom. My day was pretty dull in here.
I heard a knock and set my phone down. "Come in," I said. Keith came in smiling.
"First off, I'm so sorry about the wait, Hunter. It's been a bit crazy today and your tests reviewing got set aside, but I have the results now." Keith said, taking his seat near my bed.
"I figured something must have happened, so no worries…Am I good? Well, good to go home, at least?" I asked, perhaps a bit anxiously.
"Let's take a look," Keith said, starting to flip through everything from the most recent tests done; he talked to himself and I couldn't make everything out. It seemed like he was comparing them to other ones from this week to see progress or decline. I felt a lot better, that was for sure. "So, it looks like everything is as it should be for where you are in recovery. No infections, no issues with blood flow or the new valve, your x-rays and sonograms came back good too. The biggest thing is that your heart looks and sounds a lot better." Keith informed.
"Does that mean I can go home?" I hoped.
"As long as you pass the other two tests. You remember what they are?" Keith inquired.
"Being able to breathe normally without the oxygen and move without much pain while off the meds?" I replied.
"That's right. What we're going to do is take you off the oxygen first, for about half an hour and see how you do. From there, we'll remove you from your IV-given pain medication and give that a little time. If all is going well by 5:00 pm, I'll discharge you before I punch out for the night." Keith explained. I nodded, feeling that all I could really do was agree. Keith smiled as he got up, patting my shoulder and went to make the order for the next two tests. I really hoped I could do this; I wanted to go home to rest and when I was good enough to do other things, I wanted to take Nicole on a date. I missed our five-month anniversary due to being stuck in the hospital, and not taking visitors. I guess all I could do right now was sit back and relax.
. . .
(5:00 pm)
It wasn't easy, and that was expected given the type of surgery I had to have. But I was able to breathe without an oxygen assist, and I could manage the pain once the medicine had worn off. The biggest thing I had to do was keep my breathing under control when I felt pain. Keith had just come into the room when the nurse was; they were watching me in small shifts on my breathing and pain after the order was given. I did have to get up and move around once in a while, basic things like using the bathroom, or sitting up to eat. I was just finishing up my dinner now as he was talking to the nurse watching me, going over how I've been doing all this time. Finally, she left after I finished eating and sat back.
"Seems you pass." Keith smiled.
"I do?" I asked, surprised.
"All your reports came back positive. You still have a bit of trouble, but that's to be expected and I'm sure you know that already," Keith said as I nodded to him. "So I'm going to discharge you back home after we go over home care and future appointments." Keith added.
I sat quiet, smiling some, and listening intently to everything Keith told me about how I'd have to do things at home. Also what to watch out and future check to ensure nothing was developing and that the recovery was going as it should be. I was told that my total recovery would be six weeks, but already served one in the hospital as of Saturday the 26th, when that came in two days. I was told that my one week check up happened here at the hospital and he wanted to do another one in two weeks. There would be another checkup three weeks follow that, marking the six weeks post operation. And then there would be another check up at the six month mark post operation. This wasn't just to check the surgery site, but also make sure nothing had redeveloped. Of course, if at any time I felt something off; I could let him know and they'd bring me in to take a look as no one wanted to take any chances. I understood, and agreed to everything he said, no conditions of my own this time. How could I? This man saved my life, and only tried to help me while I was being stubborn, and maybe a little reckless.
Keith got started on my discharge work as I got disconnected from everything. I had my bag from the gym that day, my change of clothes was in it along with my shower stuff. So while Keith did all my paperwork; I used the bathroom, sponged down, got on deodorant, and changed my clothes. By the time I was done, Keith was there with everything for me to sign. I got my sheet of warning symptoms, my home care instructions, and prescription for pain medication to help me manage at home. Keith punched out and offered to bring me home once we got my meds from the hospital pharmacy; he said we'd see about more at the two week checkup. From there, which it was about 6:15 after all said and done, we headed to my dad's house.
. . .
(6:30 pm)
(Haddock Residence)
I was glad to be home; I would likely get into something comfortable and relax in my bed until I fell asleep. I'd likely update my friends I was home. I would be returning to school on the 28th. Unfortunately, I'd have to spend that week doing make up work and exams. But it was no big deal; I kind of figured it would be the case when I didn't get out of the hospital when I had wanted to. Pulling into the driveway, Keith helped me getting to the door, which instantly got opened by Glenn, who was very excited to see me and instantly called my dad to the room.
"Laddie! You're home! Spencer! Come quick, Hunter's home!" Glenn beamed with delight.
"Yes, I am…No bear hugs, please?" I asked.
"Of course, lad. Wouldn't want to have to send you back for squeezing the life out of you, or broken bones…" Glenn chuckled. He let me and Keith in, then closed the door as my dad came barreling through the main area to hug me tightly.
"Easy, Spencer…He's still sore and recovering, it's only been a week and he needs to take it easy…" Keith advised.
"Why didn't you call us for a ride?" Spencer inquired after hugging me very lightly, then Glenn next.
"I was heading home anyway after discharging Hunter, so we picked up his pain medication and as it's on the way; I brought him home." Keith smiled. "Now, I've already gone over everything with Hunter about home care, things to watch for, and checkup appointments in the future. We've made them already, and he is free to return to school on Monday morning. I've provided him with a note for the office. Hunter is clear to drive as well; we made sure to give him something that lasts long and won't impair his ability to drive or make him drowsy." He informed to Glenn and Spencer.
"Thank you, Keith. For bringing him home, and everything else too." Glenn shook Keith's hand.
"Yes…Thank you, Keith. I don't think I could ever repay you for all you've done for Hunter." Spencer smiled, shaking Keith's hand next.
"It was my pleasure, and no payback necessary. Hunter is more than my patient; he's also my daughter's boyfriend and that makes him a friend of the family." Keith said, which made Hunter happy to hear. "Now, I think it's time that you head off to get comfortable and resting, lad." He said calmly. "If you need anything, I'm a call or text away."
"Loving that idea, and I know…Thank you, Keith…And tell Nikki that I'll hit her up before the night is over?" I asked.
"You're welcome, Hunter, and I will pass the message along. I'm sure she's eagerly awaiting to be able to go on a date with you again, or just come see you in person." Keith chuckled as I nodded.
"I'll make it up to her for this past week. Drive safe, and have a good night." I told him with a smile.
"Will do and you as well." Keith said before he left the house and I faced my father and godfather.
"Are you alright right now? Need anything? Hungry perhaps?" Spencer asked.
"Yes, no, and ate at the hospital waiting for my discharge to finish…I'm just really tired, which is normal I guess. I'm likely just gonna get comfortable in pajama and lay in bed until I fall asleep. I'll see you in the morning?" I asked softly.
"Of course, laddie. If you need anything, just give a shout…" Glenn nodded.
"I will. Night, guys. Love you." I said before turning to head to my room.
"We love you too!" Spencer and Glenn called as I turned the corner to get to my room. "I feel like he's mad at me…" Spencer suddenly said.
"I mean…You did start with him not even five minutes after he woke up after a four-hour surgery, Spencer…I know it was scary, but we didn't lose him and it's clear that he did handle things, maturely. I know you still see him as your born two months early baby boy…But he's eighteen, my friend. You won't be around to do everything for him, protect him from everything forever. I'm not saying he should of hid things, but he did handle it like an adult and what happened last Saturday wouldn't have taken place if he hadn't gotten hit in the chest. Keith said that too. You have to love him enough to let him go so he can grow up. Just give him some space for now; he'll come around." Glenn said.
I heard my dad say he would and I just moved into my room. I quickly set my stuff down, changed into sweatpants, and laid down; happy to be in my own bed again. I texted Nicole I was home, that I loved her, and was laying down to rest. I told her that I wouldn't be awake long as one of the effects was being exhausted. I promised her we'd see one another at school on Monday, and that I owed her at least two dates and we'd get to do them next week when I figured out how my makeup stuff was gonna go. She was happy, excited, grateful, and couldn't wait for Monday now. I sent a group message to my friends, let them know I was home too; I said the same thing that they'd see me Monday because I was using the rest of the time off to rest and recover. Around 7:45 pm, I used the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and got back into bed. I said my goodnights to everyone, and an I love you to Nicole before finally setting the phone to charge and knocking out around 8 pm.
