Chapter 280

Lindsey opened the door to the hotel suite across the road from the hospital. She saw her two toddlers playing on the carpet in the living room area. Amelia was down for a nap. Tears immediately flooded Lindsey's vision. Casey looked up and spotted her.

"Mama" she yelled and jumped up. She raced towards her mother. Ryan leapt up and followed her. Lindsey knelt down and the twins fell into her arms.

"Mama" Ryan laughed and kissed Lindsey. They were so over her that she fell down on her bum.

"Hey monkeys, how are my little angels?" said Lindsey through her tears.

Casey looked at her mother and wiped away the tears. Lindsey supressed a sob. "Mama no cry" she said innocently.

"I'm just so happy to see you two. I think you've grown in just these few days!"

"I'm a big boy" said Ryan proudly.

"You sure are" said Lindsey as her big boy sat in her lap.

"Mommy Teetee" said Casey.

"Mommy" Ryan repeated looking around.

"Mommy Tegan's not here monkeys. Mommy got hurt but the doctors are fixing her"

"Mommy" said Casey again looking confused.

"Mommy told me to tell you that she loves you very much. So very much! When she's all better we're going out for ice cream and a pony ride" said Lindsey.

"I want Mommy" Casey cried.

"It's okay, it's okay" Lindsey held them both tight and tried to comfort them.

-0-

By that evening Tegan had a raging fever. Kate was doing a bit better, her fever finally broke and her infection count was down although still much higher than it should be. She was still far from being out of the woods. Sara was out of it most of the time on medication.

Tegan woke up looking groggy and in pain.

"Her lungs are wet, we're going to have to tap them" said the pulmonologist to Sax.

Sax nodded and went to speak to Tegan.

"Tegan"

"Huhh?" Tegan grunted weakly.

"You've got quite a lot of fluid on your lungs, we need to drain it" said Sax.

"Do whaaa?" Tegan mumbled.

"We're going to put a tube into your lungs to drain the fluid" said Sax.

Tegan just looked at her as if she didn't understand a word.

"Okay, Dr Delgado is your lung doctor Tegan. She's going to do the procedure okay"

"Huh" said Tegan, obviously pretty out of it.

"Go ahead" said Sax to the pretty blonde next to her.

"We'll be ready in about ten minutes" said Dr Delgado and left the room.

"Hey Teegs… guess what? I have a message for you" said Lindsey.

Tegan didn't answer.

"Can I show her something on my phone?" asked Lindsey.

"Is it on flight mode? We don't want the cellular signal interfering with the monitors" said Sax.

"It is"

"Okay, sure" Sax smiled.

Tegan's eyes were closed again.

"Boo… look who it is" said Lindsey and started playing a video. Tegan opened her eyes and blinked hard a few times.

"Mommy! Mommy! Love you Mommy!" the kids were yelling into the camera.

"The doctor make Mommy better" said Casey.

"Make Mommy ouchie better" said Ryan.

"Love you Mommy, love you" both yelled.

Tegan looked at the video and cried.

"Thank you… so much… Tell them… I love them… every day" said Tegan wheezing.

"You can tell them yourself soon you silly goose"

"I know… Tell them… anyway" Tegan whispered.

"I will honey"

"Over and over… tell them" said Tegan looking groggy.

"I will sweetie" said Lindsey and kissed Tegan's forehead.

"I want to… make a video… for them… but I think I'll… scare them" said Tegan. She coughed violently through a laugh.

"Yeah, maybe when you're feeling a bit better"

"Lindsey, go grab a cup of coffee" said Sax a few minutes later.

"Don't go… please!" said Tegan sounding scared.

"Please let me stay, please. She's scared. I beg you" said Lindsey.

"Okay, just stay at her head please and don't get in the way"

"Sure"

Two nurses gently turned Tegan on her side since it was pretty clear she wasn't going to be able to sit up at all.

When the surgical field was set up the doctor injected some local anaesthetic into Tegan's back on both sides. Tegan didn't complain too much. As soon as the doctor shoved the scalpel followed by the tubes into her back that needed to go into her lungs she moaned weakly in pain.

"I know sweetie, I know it hurts. It'll be over soon. It's okay" Lindsey tried to comfort Tegan. She tried not to look at the watery fluid dripping out of the tubes into two containers. Tegan was whimpering softly.

Sax looked up at the monitors after a few minutes. "BP's low. Let's get some dopamine running. Titrate to a systolic of 100. Get her on a 100% non-rebreather oxygen"

Tegan was now weeping softly into the oxygen mask. It hurt, but more than that, she felt helpless, vulnerable and scared. So fucking scared!

A few minutes after the ordeal of removing more than a litre of fluid off her lungs, Tegan was medicated to sleep. Lindsey was, as always, next to her bed holding her hand.

"I hate this… I just want to make this better for her… I don't know how to help her"

"Just be here with her Lindsey. I think that helps more than you can imagine" said Sax.

-0-

Cameron woke up knowing she fucked up… again. By the sounds of it she was in an ambulance and she was sure she wasn't on duty.

"Hi there Cam. Not used to seeing you on a gurney instead of pushing one" said James one of the paramedics she knew.

"What happened?" Cam mumbled and tried to sit up. She felt weak and disoriented.

"Lay back down, take it easy" said Craig looking up at the monitors concerned.

"I'm fine, I'm out of here" said Cam. She felt out of breath and lightheaded so she plonked back down a second later when the straps tightened across her chest.

"Cameron, we're just going to take you to hospital so they can check you out alright" said James.

Cam knew something was wrong, very wrong so she just nodded and allowed the nurse to put the oxygen mask back on her face.

-0-

Sara was constantly in and out of consciousness. The drugs they gave her to manage the lingering effects of the fat embolus made her confused and agitated. When she did wake up, she didn't know what time of the day it was, she was confused and tired. She didn't want to sleep anymore, weird jumbled dreams raced through her mind and she didn't know where the pieces fit. Were they memories or just dreams.

"Where's Tegan, I want Tegan" she mumbled.

"Tegan's right next to you Sara but she's sleeping now. We really shouldn't wake her up" said Sonia. She really didn't want Sara seeing Tegan right now.

"What happened?" asked Sara.

"You guys were in an accident Sara. You and Kate got hurt in the crash and Tegan got hurt trying to find help" said Sonia patiently.

"Who was driving?" asked Sara.

"It was a plane crash Sara… the pilots…"

"A plane crash? How did we get in a plane crash? Where are the other people?"

"Sara, the crew were killed. It was just you on the plane"

"A private plane? Serious?"

"Yes Sara"

"Oh god… that must have been… Jesus… That's crazy… Are they going to be okay?" asked Sara not sounding too hot herself.

"There's some excellent doctors taking very good care of them" said Sonia.

"That's not what I asked" said Sara.

"Sar… they're hanging in there"

"Why do I… I have this feeling… weird feeling that something is very wrong with Tegan" said Sara.

"She'll be okay Sar. She's doing okay"

"It feels kind of… like de ja vu… Tegan being sick. I remember her being sick when we were toddlers… maybe that's it" said Sara weakly.

Sonia just smiled. She didn't want to plant memories in Sara's mind. She knew however that Sara referred to the previous time Tegan was really sick in hospital.

A/N: What's happened to the reviews? You all too busy watching new T&S concert clips on YouTube? I have to say it's kind of weird having them back. They have become very fictional in my mind. The two aren't really related for me anymore.