Burn Notice - The Man He Is
A/N: Almost there :) Thank you all for the reviews! I hope you're enjoying this
After what seemed like forever, a Doctor finally approached them.
"Family of Michael Westen?" He asked, his face an impenetrable mask.
"Yes." Fiona answered, standing up and walking towards him, "How is he? Is he okay?"
"My name is Doctor Hanson, I was the head surgeon who operated on Mr. Westen," Dr. Hanson said, looking around at them as Sam and Jesse walked closer, "Mr. Westen made it through the surgery, but it was touch and go for the first few hours."
Taking a breath, Dr. Hanson continued, "He was in rough shape, he'd lost a lot of blood from two gunshot wounds, one older, one more recent, his body is fighting an infection, and he is extremely malnourished. We had to go in and remove the bullet. The bullet was lodged in Mr. Weston's external oblique, to the left of his lumbar vertebra. If it had been any farther to the right, the damage would have been much worse. As it was, there was no organ damage."
Moving over, he motioned for them to take a seat.
"Mr. Westen has at least one broken rib, several others are severely bruised, possibly fractured. He also sustained a multitude of bone bruises. Alone, I wouldn't be worried about the bruises, however, coupled with his other injuries, his head wound is specifically concerning, and severe malnutrition, his body has been through a lot. His recovery won't be fast, but these next few days will be critical," taking a breath, the Doctor looked directly at Fiona, somehow knowing she would be the one to take the next news the hardest.
"Mr. Westen has stabilized, however, he hasn't woken up from the anesthesia. His brain waves indicate that he has fallen into a coma." Fiona gasped, Sam cursed, and Jesse stood up from his seat, walking across the room.
Seeing the reactions, Dr. Hanson did his best to reassure them, "We are monitoring him closely, hopefully, the coma will allow his body to get the rests it needs, but he's not out of the woods yet. We're giving him blood transfusions, he's on an IV to replace the fluid and nutrients he's lost, all we can do now is wait."
Sam wrapped his arms around Fiona as the Doctor stood. Jesse moved to stand beside Sam and Fiona.
Before he could walk away, Fiona stopped him with a question, "When can we see him?"
Dr. Hanson met her tear-filled eyes, "He's being settled into a room now, but it may be sometime before anyone can see him. A nurse will come to get you." With that, he nodded and left. They all settled back into the chairs for a long wait, no one was going anywhere.
Sam had called Madeline when they'd first gotten to the hospital, but her flight from Tampa wouldn't land for another hour.
The evening came and went, Madeline showed up around an hour and a half after the Doctor had left and they had no new news to give her. Jesse met her outside, knowing that he needed to apologize, that this was his fault. Madeline had walked past him, ignoring his apologies as she made her way towards Sam and Fiona.
After exchanging hugs, they all settled in to wait for the nurse. Dozing in shifts, Sam finally saw a nurse approaching and moved away from the others to talk to her.
"Mr. Westen is settled in a private room in the ICU, he's still in a coma. Per the Doctor's orders, you can all go see him briefly, however, only two can stay."
"Thank you so much," Sam said and then the nurse gave him the room number and he woke Fiona, Maddy, and Jesse.
They all made their way through the hospital to Michael's room. Upon sliding the door open, they were confronted with the tubes and wires connecting Michael to the machines. Maddy gasped, Fiona covered her mouth, and Jesse quietly stepped back out of the room.
Fiona and Maddy moved chairs to either side of the bed and just touched Michael's still form, needing to confirm that he was still with them.
Sam stood around, taking in the state of his best friend before a nurse came by and informed them that only two could stay. Leaving Maddy and Fiona to look after Michael, Sam found Jesse sitting on the floor in the hall.
Placing a hand on his shoulder, Jesse looked up and then he and Sam left the hospital to get some drinks and wait out the rest of the night before returning in the morning, Sam knew neither Fiona nor Maddy would be eating tonight.
All night Michael's condition didn't change. He didn't move, didn't make a sound, Fiona wasn't sure which would be worse, hearing him in pain or hearing nothing and knowing the pain was there, nonetheless.
Three days went by. Maddy was a constant at Michael's side; Sam, Fiona, and Jesse swapping out. At first, Jesse had protested, but Fiona didn't give him a choice, she argued that he should witness his handiwork and if he left, she'd shoot him. So Jesse stayed.
They brought Maddy food and she slept in the chair by Michael's bed, only stepping away to use the restroom.
Maddy was sleeping in the chair, Michael's hand firmly held in her own, Fiona was on his other side. Doctors and nurses had been in and out at all times of the day and night. Fiona gently held Michael's other hand and almost missed the small movement of Michael's eyes fluttering. Quickly pressing the call button, Fiona softly called his name, hoping to see his deep blue eyes for even the briefest of moments.
Unfortunately, she didn't get her wish, as nurses came into the room and she and Maddy were asked to leave.
"What's going on?" Sam asked as he and Jesse came back with sandwiches for everyone.
"He was waking up, I called a nurse, and they gave us the boot," Fiona replied, glaring at the nurses who had kicked her out of the room before she could speak to Michael.
Before Sam could ask any more questions, a nurse came out of the room, "Mr. Westen has come out of his coma. He is sleeping now, and some Doctors will be by to run some tests a little later to make sure everything is as it should be. You can go back inside." With that, she nodded and walked away, the rest of the medical personnel who had occupied the room leaving as well.
Fiona didn't see any particular change in Michael's face, save that his eyes fluttered every now and then.
It took another full day before Michael regained consciousness for any serious amount of time.
Slowly, sounds and smells brought him back from the recesses of his mind. Carefully, he took stock of how he felt, noting that everything was slightly floaty, he was grateful that the pain wasn't as bad as it had been.
Carefully, he tested his voice, "Fi-fio-na."
"Michael!" Fiona gasped, holding his hand tighter, beyond grateful to hear his voice.
"I'm a-live? Michael whispered, doing his best to hold on to her hand, his throat felt scratchy, everything was a little fuzzy, but Fiona was here, so he must be okay.
"Yes, Michael, you're alive. A little worse for the wear, but alive." Michael carefully moved his head, blinking rapidly as he look around the room.
"M-my Mom?" He asked, his breath catching as his muscles spazzed.
"She's in the bathroom, she hasn't left your side since she got here."
"J-jesse?" Fiona rolled her eyes, of course that was who he'd ask about next.
"He's alright. You pushed him out of the way of that bullet. Do you remember?" Her voice was tight with emotion. She hadn't forgiven Jesse yet and she knew it might take a while.
"It's a-a li-ttl-le fuzz-zy." Michael slurred, still whispering as he found that talking drained him more than he thought possible.
"Jesse shot you. Then he sold you to the Serbians, who were then going to sell you to the Russians. Luckily, we found you in time." Fiona said, her frustration and anger making her face flush.
"H-he w-as an-ngry..." Michael gave a feeble attempt to defend Jesse's actions.
"Yes. But I was also stupid." Jesse said, bracing against Fiona's glare as he entered the room.
"I'm, I'm sorry Mike." Jesse stood there, waiting for Michael to ignore him, curse him, or give Fiona permission to shoot him. He was completely taken off-guard when Michael nodded.
"I-it's o-okay. I-I'm s-sorry I-I li-ied to y-ou. D-didn't m-mea-n t-o bur-n y-yo-" Michael broke off coughing, his good arm going to his side to protect his ribs. Fiona hit the morphine drip and Michael relaxed.
When Michael again had control of his faculties, he looked Jesse in the eye, "T-hank you f-for c-comi-ng f-for me."
Jesse just stared, amazed and ashamed of how wrong he'd been about Michael. Fiona caught his eye and nodded, anger still in her gaze, but forgiveness there also. Jesse realized that, though his relationships with Michael, Fiona, and Sam still needed work, they were willing to forgive and forget. He vowed that he would do the same.
With that, he left the room.
Fiona looked back at Michael, guilt clouding her expression, "I'm sorry I didn't realize something was wrong sooner."
Michael slowly shook his head, his heart still stung from her words the night Jesse shot him, but he didn't want to rehash it right now, if at all. Fiona continued anyway, "I, I love you, Michael. I know you, I'm sorry that I doubted you. I'm sorry that I blamed you for Jesse. I was mad at myself for letting the kiss he and I shared while undercover hurt him deeper because he had feelings that I didn't share and making my part in his betrayal harsher."
Michael just listened, understanding that Fiona needed to say this and that he could deal with what he felt later. Fiona turned her face away, apologizing again.
With effort, Michael tugged on her hand and she turned back towards him.
"I love you, Fiona." Michael closed his eyes, trying to gather the energy for a longer response when Fiona stopped him with a kiss. She then kissed him softly on his cheeks and his forehead. When she pulled away, Michael was sound asleep, a slight smile on his face.