Chapter 283

The patients kept improving day by day. They were awake and alert a lot more. Kate was breathing on her own a couple of hours a day before she tired out too much and was put on the vent again. The tube in her neck, effectively preventing her from speaking, stayed in place.

Sara tried her best to avoid Kate. She usually pretended to sleep when Kate was awake. Kate was so frustrated not being able to speak but she was patient. Now that the girls were all stable and improving, Sax ordered the family to go back to the hotel. They were only allowed to see the patients during official visiting hours 3 times a day. Sax insisted that it was healthier and better for both the families and the patients.

One morning Kate woke up and caught Sara awake before she could fake sleep. She smiled and waved weekly. Sara shyly waved back. Tegan was still snoring in her bed.

Kate motioned to the nurse checking her monitors to move her bed closer to Sara's.

"Just need to suction you real quick doc" said the nurse and proceeded to shove a suction catheter down Kate's tracheal tube. Kate felt a bit embarrassed as the machine made a disgusting gurgling sound sucking out mucus plugs. She wanted to impress Sara not gross her out! When she was done the nurse moved Kate's bed against Sara's, they were instructed to facilitate as much as possible contact between Kate and Sara.

"There you go. I'll come check on you guys later. Have a fun visit" the nurse winked.

Kate put her arm out and searched for Sara's hand. Sara held her arm tight against her own body staring up at the ceiling. The heart monitor betrayed her anxiety by beeping much faster than it did a few minutes ago. Kate's hand found Sara's arm and her fingers rested there for a few seconds before moving down, searching for Sara's hand. Sara swallowed hard and with all the courage in her moved her hand closer to Kate's. She turned her face and saw Kate beaming at her. Kate squeezed her hand.

"I love you" Kate mouthed, as usual, no air escaped her lips to make a sound.

Sara just smiled reluctantly. Kate squeezed her hand again. She pointed at the framed photo of her, Sara and Amelia on the table at the foot of the bed.

"I'm sorry… I don't remember" Sara whispered. Kate just smiled kindly.

"How are you feeling?" asked Sara trying to make some one-sided conversation.

Kate gave a strong thumbs up. She pointed at the tube in her throat and made a sad puppy face. Sara giggled. Kate pointed at Sara with eyebrows raised in question.

"Better every day… except for my memory…. It sucks" said Sara. Kate squeezed her hand.

"So…" said Sara after a few minutes of silence where Kate just stared at her smiling.

"So" Kate mouthed with a smile.

"You are charming aren't you… you can't even speak and you're charming me" said Sara.

Kate shrugged, still smiling. She looked good. The nurses washed her hair the night before and she was starting to get some colour back in her cheeks.

Kate pressed the call button and a nurse came into the room almost immediately.

"You rang Dr Morgan?" she said sounding tired.

Kate indicated that she wanted to write something. The nurse sighed and gave her a pencil and paper.

"iPad" Kate wrote.

"Um… I think your brother took it with him, let me have a look"

Kate looked disappointed.

"What, you want to play Angry Birds?" said Sara.

Kate smiled and wrote on the paper. "Candy Crush"

Sara smiled and looked at Kate's gorgeous eyes.

"Here you go. Keep it on flight mode please. First monitor interference and it's gone!" said the nurse. She put Kate's bed a bit more upright and put the iPad on a pillow on her lap.

Kate nodded dutifully. She turned the iPad Alex left for her on and went to the notes app. She started typing.

"I love you so much. I'll make you remember that" she wrote and showed it to Sara.

"Um… thank you I guess?" said Sara.

"You knew Angry Birds" Kate typed.

"Huh… is that new?"

Kate nodded.

"I want this to stop… I just want my life back... well, not that I have any idea what I'm wishing to get back" said Sara.

"It's going to be okay. I promise" Kate typed.

Sara smiled. Kate winched a bit when she moved.

"Are you in pain? Should I call the nurse?"

"Yes. Hurts like hell. No don't call her. I've got a morphine pump" Kate typed. It took her forever to do so.

"So use it" said Sara.

"I want to be awake. I want to talk to you. I'm ok"

"I don't want you hurting" said Sara.

"So you do care" Kate wrote and winked.

Sara just shook her head and laughed.

"Charming and persistent" she said softly.

Tegan groaned in the bed next to Sara. She groaned louder. Sara pressed the call button a few times. The nurse walked in looking a bit annoyed.

"Can you open the curtain please, I think she's having another nightmare" said Sara.

When the nurse pulled the curtain back Tegan awoke with a large gasp. Her heart monitor was racing yet again.

"Tee… it's okay, just a dream. You're safe now" said Sara loudly.

Tegan was panting, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Oh… sorry" she mumbled and closed her eyes in an attempt to keep her emotions inside.

"That's it…. Deep breaths" said the nurse. Tegan tried to even out her breathing.

"Tegan, the orthopaedic surgeon will be here in a few minutes to have a look at your arm and shoulder alright. After that, Dr Sinclair instructed me to make sure I get some breakfast into you" said the nurse. Tegan just nodded, her eyes still closed. She felt shaky from the adrenaline rush.

"Tegan… you okay?" said Sara softly when the nurse left.

"Yeah Sar… I'm fine" said Tegan staring out in front of her.

-0-

The orthopaedic surgeon Dr Harris pulled up a chair and sat down next to Tegan's bed after examining her shoulder and arm.

"So, the movement in your fingers is greatly improving and that's excellent. However, your MRI showed an area of concern in the shoulder. That dislocation wreaked a bit more havoc than we thought. Looks as if there's a tear in one of the shoulder tendons. It can be fixed surgically with keyhole surgery but right now, that's not a priority and you're not stable enough for surgery anyway. I've met with your other doctors and they agree that this surgery can be postponed for a couple of months"

"Will this… fix it? Will I have permanent damage?" said Tegan sounding nervous.

"So far it looks as if the nerve damage isn't permanent, it will just take it's time to heal. The shoulder will need surgery. As I said, it's not major and for most people it's just a day procedure or an overnight stay. If you don't do it, you'll be in pain. So for now, the physio will help with range of motion etc. Of course it helps that your arm is immobilised"

"Alright… so I can have this done when I get back to LA?"

"Of course I would prefer to do it myself but if that's what you prefer, yes"

"Thanks, I mean you fixed my arm up great but I really would like to get back to LA as soon as possible. If this can wait, it's going to wait" said Tegan.

"Of course. We'll discuss your options in a couple of days" said the surgeon.

A/N: Two chapters in one day! I may even post another (a really cute one) today, if not, tomorrow. Remember to comment.