Kate woke up feeling a bit fuzzy and sore but okay all things considered.
"Hey beautiful" said Sara kissing her knuckles.
"Hey" Kate croaked looking groggy.
"You thirsty? Want some water?" asked Sara jumping up.
"Please" Kate whispered.
Kate turned her head and noticed Tegan sitting on a chair in the corner biting her thumb.
"Hi Tee" said Kate softly.
"Hey you, how are you feeling?" asked Tegan getting up and walking towards the bed.
"Good, fine" said Kate and took Tegan's hand. She shook it and smiled.
"Sorry you had to see that" said Kate.
"I'm just glad you're okay" said Tegan, her eyes glistening with tears.
Sara offered Kate some water through a straw.
"How's the patient?" asked Sax entering the room.
"Better thanks" said Kate.
"That's good news. Let me have a listen please" said Sax pulling her stethoscope from her shoulders.
Kate sighed but obliged.
"Sounds good. Breath sounds equal bilaterally" said Sax.
"Good, can I go home then?"
"No" said Sax curtly before Sara could even think of protesting.
"Maybe tomorrow or the next day. I want to monitor you at least overnight. Your blood tests came back and your blood count is low again and your white cell count is slightly elevated. Transfusion time" said Sax.
"Fuck me" Kate mumbled looking dejected.
"Sorry, no fucking for a while" Sax joked.
"Well aren't you just the stand-up comedian today" said Kate sarcastically.
"Patient appears to show signs of severe crankiness and sense of humour deficiency" said Sax and made a show of writing it on Kate's chart. Kate just rolled her eyes.
"Cheer up. You'll feel better after the blood boost I'm sure. We'll do another chest CT in the morning and see where we stand. Meanwhile I want you to focus on your breathing. Slow, even, deep, yadda yadda, you know the drill" said Sax.
"Uh huh" Kate grunted and rubbed the bridge of her nose to try and get rid of the throbbing headache.
Sax studied the monitor above Kate's bed for a minute and checked her chart again.
"Your pressure is struggling a bit too. Hopefully the extra fluid will do the trick and you won't need pressors"
"I won't need pressors Sax, jeez…" said Kate annoyed.
"Calm down, relax, and get some rest. I'll be back later" said Sax and turned to leave the room.
"Oh, I never had time to ask you, how'd this happen?"
"I just… Amelia fell and scraped her knee and I bent down to pick her up. When I straightened it just… bam… felt like someone knifed me. Just suddenly couldn't get a full breath and then it progressively got worse" said Kate.
"I see…. Probably not a good idea picking her up from the ground"
"I know… I wasn't thinking, my child was hurt and I just acted on instinct alright" Kate snapped.
"Okay. I get it. But I hope you'll be more careful in the future?"
"Of course" said Kate looked up at the ceiling.
"Dr Sinclair" said Sara quickly.
"Dr huh? It's Sax remember"
"Not in here it's not" said Sara.
"What's up Mrs Quin-Morgan?" Sax joked.
"Can you check Tegan out please? She has this hair brained idea of going to spend the summer on the other side of the country and I just want to make sure she's… medically cleared for it" said Sara.
"Sara, come on" Tegan moaned shaking her head.
"Sounds lovely. Tegan, I just have to check on a couple of patients. I'll let you know when I'm done and you can come up to the exam room next to my office. I shouldn't be more than twenty minutes" said Sax.
"Okay" said Tegan rolling her eyes. Sax smiled and left the room.
Tegan turned around looking mad. "She doesn't seem very concerned" she said rolling her eyes.
"Tegan, please just do it" said Sara looking frustrated.
"Don't fight… please" said Kate softly, she looked exhausted.
"I'm sorry sweetie… so sorry" said Sara kissing Kate's forehead.
"I won't take any chances guys. I promise. And I'm definitely not going anywhere if Kate's even a little sick" said Tegan swallowing hard.
"Oh! Here's your food baby" said Sara when somebody pushed in a trolley.
Tegan was glad for the distraction. She sat back down twirling a lock of hair around her fingers.
Kate pretended to be hungry but she only managed to force down a few spoons full of pasta before she called it quits and fell asleep again halfway through the dessert that Sara was feeding her.
"Tegan, Dr Sinclair is ready for you" said a nurse sticking her head into the room.
"I'll be back soon okay. Get some rest" said Tegan patting Sara's shoulder.
-0-
"An hour and a half later Tegan was finally back in Kate's room after Sax examined her, put her through a CT scan and drew a lot of blood for testing. It was evening visiting hours by then.
"How'd it go?" asked Kate still looking almost as pale as the sheets she was lying on. A bag of blood was now running into a new IV line in her other arm.
"Good. Lungs are fine. Heart's fine. Shoulder is slightly hinky still but okay. Knee is good. So yeah… all and all I'm good" said Tegan nonchalantly. She knew she was exaggerating a bit but at that moment she felt that her health had nothing to do with Sara or Kate.
"Well done bud" Kate smiled.
"How are you Mrs Tissue paper lung?"
"Really?" Kate laughed and rolled her eyes.
"I'm fine, feeling a lot better thanks"
"Good, keep up the good work" Tegan smiled.
Sara looked exhausted where she sat with her elbow on the bed, head in her hand.
"You okay Sara?" asked Tegan.
"Yes thanks. Just worried… about both of you"
"Everything's going to be okay Sar. We'll be fine" said Kate and ran her fingers through Sara's hair.
"Excuse me a minute" said Sara when she saw Sax outside in the hall.
"Dr Sinclair, do you have a minute" asked Sara.
"Sure, what's up?" asked Sax.
"Tegan… is she okay? She said she is but I wanted to check with you. Oh and by the way, please don't encourage her with this. I was pretty sure you would tell her to stay here"
"Um… I… I didn't think we were ganging up on her, you should have informed me of the plan" said Sax sarcastically as she snapped closed a chart and walked into a waiting room.
"I'm sorry… I'm just really worried"
"I did a full physical and a bunch of scans and tests on her. She's probably not quite a hundred percent yet but in my professional opinion, she's okay to travel. I think it will do her good to get away for a while. It would be good if she wasn't alone though, just as a precaution"
Sara shook her head. "I don't want her to get hurt or sick or…"
"Sara, you can't always babysit her. She needs this"
"I'm scared, like all the time. I'm scared… for Kate… for Tegan"
"Everything's going to be okay Sara, you're all going to be okay" said Sax and rubbed Sara's back.
A few minutes later Sax and Sara headed back to Kate's room.
"You should go home and get some rest. Let's not forget you're still recovering too" said Sax.
"I'm not leaving her" said Sara.
"Sara, she's not in ICU. It's against hospital rules to have family stay over and…"
"Fuck the rules. I'm staying, even if I have to stay in the waiting room" said Sara.
Sax sighed deeply. "Okay… you can stay. I'll get the nurses to bring in a cot which you will sleep in or I'll personally go put you in bed at home"
"Whatever, as long as I can stay"
"Tegan can forget about it though, she's going home"
"Yes, I agree" said Sara.
Tegan and Kate were talking softly when Sara and Sax came into the room.
"Everything okay?" asked Sara and kissed Kate's forehead.
"Yeah, I'm just really tired" said Kate.
"Visiting time is over Tegan, you should go home and get some rest" said Sax.
"I think I should stay" said Tegan.
"Nothing you can do here. Please go home and get some rest" said Sax.
"But… I want to stay"
"Tee, I'll be here with her and I promise I'll call if anything happens. Go home, please"
Tegan looked torn in two and sick with stress and worry. "Okay… I guess. Call me if there's anything to worry about, please!"
"We will. It's late, the kids are probably asleep already, why don't you stay over at Erin's tonight" said Sara.
"Why, you think I need a babysitter again?" said Tegan sounding mad.
"No. I'm thinking that you probably shouldn't be taking the kids out in the rain if you don't have to" said Sara pointing to the window, it was drizzling softly outside. She was lying of course, she wanted Tegan safe with somebody that could comfort her and help her take care of the kids. Tegan was still so fragile right now.
"Sorry… I'm a bit on edge" Tegan mumbled.
"Go get some rest Tegan, we'll see you tomorrow" said Kate.
"Get better soon buddy" said Tegan and hugged both Sara and Kate goodbye.
A/N: Sorry this update took so long. I'm not in a great space right now so the writing has taken a bit of a back seat. Hopefully the next chapter will come much sooner. Please remember to review.