The third day of the Touring Pro division ended with a tie. Renee had been going to the sports medicine locker room every night to use the hydrotherapy after each event. She would leave Echo with her brother when she would go to the Arena.
The third night was when she ran into Shorty, who was with the other bullfighters. They were busy enjoying the Arena's steam bath.
With the four bullfighters in the steam room, Renee slid into the hydrotherapy tub. She was enjoying the tub when she nodded off.
Inside the steam room, Shorty heard a splashing sound. The others told him that Renee was probably just moving around in the tub.
Shorty, however, knew Renee, and he knew that she just floated in hot tubs. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was not right.
He left his friends to just check on his best friend. Walking out of the steam room, he noticed that Renee's head seemed to be dropped. He didn't think that his friend was conscious.
As he approached Renee, he tripped over a bench. He tumbled quite a ways. When he was finally able to catch himself, he knocked over Renee's purse and clothes. A pill bottle rolled out and stopped on the side of the hydrotherapy tub. Without looking at the label, Shorty just slid the bottle back in his friend's purse as he goes to check on her.
At that moment, Renee gasped for air. She may have gasped for air, but she was not moving. Shorty still had a bad feeling about what just happened. Walking up to Renee, he gently shook his friend's shoulder.
"Nae... Nae... you okay?" He asked his childhood friend. When he touched her shoulder, Renee's head lolled limply backward.
Shorty was surprised.
"Frank! Jesse! Flint! Help, get out here. It's Renee," Shorty was yelling for help from the only people in the area.
It only took a few seconds for the three other bullfighters to get out to the locker. By the time they got out, Shorty was still trying to get Renee out of the tub.
"She's not breathing. Get Tandy, Jesse. Go get Tandy," Shorty tells the youngest of the group to run and get the doctor of the PBR.
"Frank, Flint, help me. We need to get her out. I need to start CPR, but I can't do that in the tub," He tells the remaining bullfighters.
The locker room was on the other side of the Arena. Jesse had to run to the doctor's office. Tandy's assistant tried to stop Jesse from going into the office since Tandy was talking to a bull rider. Jesse ignored the protest from the assistant. Renee didn't have any time to spare.
Barging into the office, he sees Tandy talking to Chase Outlaw. Jesse was a little out of breath, so it took a few moments to catch his breath.
"What is it, Jesse? I'm talking to Chase. Can it wait?" Tandy asks an out of breath Jesse Byrne.
"No, it can't wait. It's Renee. She was in the hydrotherapy tub, and she stopped breathing. Shorty sent me. He is trying to get her breathing on her own. Renee needs you," Jesse tells the doctor.
Without another word, Jesse, Chase, and Tandy took off running to the locker room. Before Tandy left, he grabbed his medical bag. He didn't know what he would find.
Meanwhile, back in the locker room, Shorty was still doing CPR on an unresponsive and unconscious Renee.
It took a few minutes for Dr. Tandy and the others to get to where Shorty and Renee were.
Running into the locker room, Tandy sees Shorty doing chest compressions on Renee. The doctor looked closer at Renee's chest.
"Her chest is not rising like it should," Tandy tells himself. Running to Renee's side, he quickly takes out a ballpoint pen.
Quickly he hollows it out, so it is just an empty tube. As he does that, he looks over to see that the other's had no idea what was going on.
"Knife, I need a knife. Renee's lung collapsed. Her chest is not rising, which means no air is getting inside. The probable cause would be a collapsed lung since she has a history of her lung collapsing."
"I need to put this tube into an incision that I will make into her chest cavity. I need to release the pressure that is preventing her lungs for filling up with air," Tandy tells Shorty and the others.
As soon as he cuts into Renee's chest cavity and pushes the hollowed out pen into the incision, the group hears a loud hiss of trapped air escaping.
When they hear the hissing, Tandy tells Shorty to breathe into Renee's airway. This time they see Renee's chest rise. It takes a few breaths for Renee to breathe on her own.
"She's not waking up," Shorty tells Tandy. To which the doctor tells him.
"The trauma was probably too much, and she slipped into a light coma."
When Shorty hears that he tells Tandy and the others, "I'm going with her. When we were in high school, I was knocked unconscious by a bull, and she not only carried me to the hospital on her horses back, she stayed with me until I woke up. She never left me, so I'll never leave her alone. She is like my sister."
When the ambulance got there, Shorty followed Renee and Tandy onto the bus. All three of them were going to the hospital. Dr. Tandy had admitting privilege to the hospital.
Renee gets admitted and in her private room before Shorty even thinks about calling Horatio.
Before Shorty can even call, his cell phone rings. Looking down at the caller ID, he sees "Horatio Caine" clearly on the phone's screen.
"No one called Horatio to tell him where his sister was. He is probably worried about her. That is why he is calling," Shorty thinks to himself.
"Shorty, it's Horatio. Renee left for the Arena more than two hours ago. She should have been back by now. Have you seen her?" Horatio asks Shorty.
"Hello, Horatio. I was just going to call you. Something happened at the Arena. Nae is in the hospital. She was in the hydrotherapy tub when she stopped breathing. Dr. Tandy said her lung collapsed again. I'm staying here, but you might want to come down," Shorty tells Horatio the news.
Right after hanging up with Shorty, Horatio gathers Echo and rushes to the hospital. Running to the hospital's waiting room, Horatio asks for Renee Kerrigan's room.
Getting off the elevator, Horatio and Echo rush to his sister's room. It was only half an hour after Shorty had called him, letting Horatio know what happened to his sister.
Shorty was sitting in a chair in the room with Renee. Horatio's sister was in a coma for three days. By the time she woke up, the Touring Pro Division world finals had completed. Shorty never left Renee's room and had Jesse fill for him if they needed another bullfighter during that week.
It was just Horatio, Shorty, and Echo in Renee's room, waiting for Renee to wake up from her coma.
When Renee woke up, Horatio and Shorty were holding both of her hands. Horatio had her right hand, and Shorty was holding her left hand. Renee being left-handed, tightly squeezed her left hand first.
Shorty and Horatio had both nodded off, holding her hands.
Shorty was taken off guard and jumped up with a gasp.
"You're awake. Horatio, Nae's awake. I was so scared when I found you in the tub, Nae," Shorty tells both Renee and Horatio.
When Horatio heard that he wakes up. At that moment, Renee squeezed his hand too. She wanted to let him know she was still there and was still fighting.
"Nae... sweetheart... You're back," Horatio tells his sister.
Renee hadn't even opened her eyes yet. The only sound from her was quiet moans. She just lay there in bed while she struggled to open her eyes, which was very hard for her to do. Renee was just so tired and weak from waking up from her coma.
She very quickly fell asleep without opening her eyes. The next time that she opens her eyes, the three of them were not alone. Renee recognized some of them, but not everyone that was squeezed into her room.
Renee was sleeping quietly when she awakened by someone talking in the room. She didn't recognize the voice, so she slowly opened her eyes to see who was talking. Opening her eyes, she was finally able to recognize who was talking.
Dr. Tandy Freeman, Ty Murray, Sean Gleason, Frank Newsome, Jesse Byrne, Flint Rassmussen, Chase Outlaw, Jess Lockwood, Shorty Gorham, and her brother were all squeezed in her room.
Renee's pale blue eyes finally lock on the person who was talking. Jesse Byrne was the one talking.
"Renee, Glad you are okay. You scared us all. I don't think that I ever saw Shorty more scared than he was when you got hurt," Jesse tells a weak Renee.
She was still lying prone on the bed, but Renee managed a weak grin at Jesse. Before she whispered something that the whole room found very entertaining. Seeing his friend was awake, Shorty adjusted Renee's bed so that she could look everyone in the eye.
"You should have seen him when the bull attacked him in high school. In his defense, my bull did try to kill him."
Shorty looked at his friend from preschool and winked at her. At that moment, Renee could see Flint nudge her brother as the two men walked out into the hall to talk.
She didn't have time to wonder what they were talking about since Chase started to talk to her.
"I'm impressed. You give new meaning to the words cowboy tough. I just got finished reading your medical and military files, and my God have you survived more than anyone I have ever met," Chase tells a very tired Renee.
"I saw your facial x-rays from your attack in Miami. You put my facial injuries to shame," Chance finishes talking to his new friend.
Slowly one by one, the people slowly file out of her room. Eventually, only leaving Horatio, Shorty, and Dr. Tandy in with Renee.
"Can I talk to Renee in private?" Dr. Tandy tells Horatio and Shorty.
Quietly the two leave Renee with her doctor to talk.
Renee knew what the doctor wanted to talk about. Sure enough, as soon as the door closed, Dr. Tandy came out with the question.
"Renee, We have no idea why your lung collapsed. It might permanently be compromised. Can you think of any reason your heart rate was so high? That might be why your lung collapsed," Dr. Tandy asks Renee.
"Who found me? Was it Shorty?" Renee asks the doctor.
"Yes, he was the one that found you unresponsive in the tub. Why do you ask?" Tandy responds to the curious question.
"Then, can you please hand me my purse over there?" Renee makes her bizarre request from the doctor. Tandy was confused, but he does as he was asked and hands the Marine her bag.
Renee doesn't say a word just hands the doctor a nearly empty bottle of pills.
"Amphetamine, 20mg once a day." Looking at the name of the prescriber and city. "Dr. Loretta Wade, New Orleans." He then looks at how many were prescribed and when. "30 tablets and the prescription was only ten days old," Dr. Tandy was confused.
"This is a nearly empty bottle, but it is only ten days old. You have been taking more than your doctor told you too," Tandy tells a very nervous Renee.
Hanging her head out of shame, Renee tries to explain why she took more than her doctor had told her too.
"I took one in the morning, but it didn't help, so I took another around 2 pm. I don't know why, but the Amphetamine doesn't help with my energy at all. It is almost like they have the opposite effect on me. Is this possible? When I was a kid, my mom always gave me black tea before bed. At the time, I thought that that was normal, but know I'm thinking differently," Renee poses the last statement as a question.
"If you have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, then stimulants can have a calming effect on you, "Tandy tells a nervous Renee.
"I think that that is possible since when I was little, I could never focus on anything for more than five minutes. It drove my teachers crazy, but they figured out how to keep still. I was always go... go... go...," Renee confirms Tandy's statement.
"There is nothing I can do for energy, but we can figure out something to help you sleep. I need you to stop taking these. I know they didn't cause your lung to collapse. If you sleep enough, you shouldn't have an energy problem. How much do you normally sleep?" Tandy asks Renee one last question.
"I normally sleep 2-4 hours a night. Since I was in kindergarten, I have only ever catnapped. When I sleep, it is only about one hour at a time," Renee answers the doctor's question.
"Holy cow, you have managed to only sleep an average of 2-4 hours a night for thirty-three years. Most people need eight hours of sleep every night. You have thrived on less than half of that. If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for the rest of the night? Everyone else in the house is asleep," Tandy is very curious about the answer to his question.
"Well, when I was really little, I would do jigsaw puzzles, Legos, or K'Nex building sets. When I got older, I would either learn a new language or clean my guns. As of now, I am fluent or near-fluent in French, Spanish, Farsi, Russian, Dari, Pashto, and Portuguese."
"My mom gave me a hunting rifle when I was ten. She got me a Browning BAR 30-.06. My mom gave me my first handgun for my twelveth birthday. Our school had a shooting class for firearms safety. I would go down to the living room when I would wake up. My handgun was always in my bedside table, but my rifle was in the living room. When I would go downstairs, I would time myself and try to beat my previous time of cleaning my gun/rifle. I got really fast at cleaning my firearms."
"That hunting rifle saved my life. When I was fourteen years old, my horse and I were dear hunting when a mountain lion attacked us. I managed to kill the cougar before it killed us both. I usually take my Catahoula Leopard Dog, but she just had puppies."
Tandy sat in the chair nearest to Renee and took all the information in. Not saying a word until Renee was finished talking.
"It sounds like you have been both brave and determined since you were young. It seems to me like you have always been self-entertained. I am very impressed with this information. Can I talk to Shorty about your past, I need to get more insight to help you get some more sleep?" Tandy asks Renee the passing question as he stands up and walks to the door to leave.
"Sure, Shorty knows everything about me." We have been friends since I saved him from getting bullied in Pre-school. The bully was teasing him because of his name," Renee answers Tandy's question just as the doctor opens the door.
As Tandy gets to Shorty, he motions that he wants to talk. Seeing that, Shorty looks over at Renee to see if it is okay with her. Renee nods to her friend.
This all happens behind Horatio, so he never saw anything.
Horatio never pressed his sister on what the doctor wanted to talk about.
Meanwhile, in the hall, Shorty and Tandy talk in private.
"I take it that you two have been friends for a very long time. Can you tell me what she was like when she was little? Did she sleep normally, or did she just catnap? Did Renee ever take medications for anything that you are aware of? Do you know of any sensitivities that she has?" Tandy asks Renee's oldest friend.
"Renee was always a talker. The teacher would move her because she would talk to me. She would talk to whoever they put her next to. So they would put her by herself. But even that didn't help. She would just talk to herself. The teachers would eventually put her back next to me since I knew how to tune her out. It drove the teachers crazy."
"If I think about it at our sleepovers, she would only sleep a few hours all night. She would only sleep an hour or so at a time too. She has overdosed on a lot of medications in her past. She can't ever take a full dose. Sometimes she can't even take a half of a dose. When Renee was in middle school, and she broke her arm, her doctor gave her Oxycodone, but she overdosed on it. Renee only took half a dose."
"Her doctor then gave her a toddler's dose of Morphine, and that worked. She knows how to give it to herself. If you are asking me what she can take to help her sleep, but she will not overdose on, I'd say Morphine," Shorty tells her doctor before he rejoins his friends in Renee's room.
With that information, Dr. Tandy gave Renee a toddler's dose of Morphine to see if that helps his patient sleep at all. Tandy didn't want Renee to have an IV line connected to the Morphine pump. Rather he wanted the injection do be done one at a time.