Author's Notes: Kind of a short chapter here, but I just sort of wanted to finish it and get it out there. And yes, I promise Will and Mac will discuss everything that was said when she first woke up. We're getting there. On with the show.
The one thing nobody tells you about hospitals is that unless you are bleeding from the head or in need of major surgery, they are really awful places to rest and recover in.
Mackenzie had been in St. Vincent's for two days now, and except for the fact that she was no longer attached to a ventilator, Will was convinced she actually looked worse than she had upon her admittance. The dark circles under her eyes were growing worse and he was sure she had in fact lost more weight since she'd been here. Looking at the dinner tray a hospital aide had just placed in front of her, he was sure he knew why.
"Good lord…are they trying to kill you? I'm not even sure what that is" Will lamented from the chair next to her bed.
"You're not the one who has to eat it. Can I go home yet? How am I meant to recover in this petrie dish of a building while they keep feeding me this crap and waking me every two hours during the night to check my vitals?" She was whining now, much like she had been since she woke up here.
The woman had a point though. Will was certain he had caught something while he spent his days here with her. He had been calling into the office during the day to try and give some input on the show. He would stay with Mackenzie until 7pm and then Lonny would drive him to the studio. He'd run in, do the show and be back at her bedside by 10:30. The schedule was running him ragged, and he didn't really know how much longer he could keep it up, particularly in this god-awful place.
Which was why they were both thrilled to see a doctor appear with discharge papers the next morning.
"You'll need to continue your nebulizer treatments and finish another seven days of antibiotics. I would prefer you limit the number of people you come in contact with for the next few days. Your immune system is trying it's best to fight off the infection you have…we don't need you exposed to anything else in the meantime. Am I clear Ms. McHale? Do a better job of taking care of yourself from now on, ok?"
Will could see that Mackenzie was already trying to form an argument, but he cut her off before she could really get going.
"She will, doc…I promise" Will assured the man.
"Since when are you my spokesperson…and why are you packing my things? I can do that!" Mackenzie shouted from the bed. It really was difficult to take her too seriously when every sentence still ended with a cough.
"Mac, you still get tired just walking to the bathroom. Could you just let me do this so we can get out of here?"
"Fine, but what's this we? You don't have to be here if you don't want to, you know. Just let me call a cab and I'll be fine on my own" she said, and slumped back into her pillows. Now she was just sulking like a petulant child. Albeit a very cute petulant child, Will thought to himself.
"Mackenzie, did you not just hear what the man said. Avoid germs…and you want to get into a New York City cab? Are you crazy? There are waste management facilities that are cleaner than the back seat of a cab in this town!"
She really had lost her mind. He was convinced of it. She had spent the last two days trying to have a deep and meaningful conversation with him about the things they had said to each other when she first woke up. It would have been comical really, if he hadn't still been worried about how sick she was. Every time she would try to start a conversation she would either be wracked by a coughing fit or fall asleep before she could get to the point. And now, when she was finally getting out of here, when they finally had a shot at being alone for awhile, she was ready to take a germ-infested cab across town and away from him?
"Look Mac, you already turned your parents away. And don't try to deny that, I heard the phone call. You told them you were fine and would be back at work in a couple of days, so no need to come visit, you'd be too busy anyway. That was a crock of shit and you and I both know it. You were practically holding your breath the entire call to try and keep from coughing. You don't like being sick and you don't like being taken care of…I get it. But could you just try and put up with me coddling you for a bit? You scared the hell out of me just a few days ago. I would really like a chance to try and get that image of you in the back of an ambulance out of my head." He said this last part quietly, as if just talking about how sick she had been could make it happen again, and he didn't want to take that risk.
"I'm sorry. You've been wonderful to me these last few days and I'm being an awful, cranky patient. You know I've never been good at being sick or being away from work for this long. It's making me a bit insane. Just let me get a few nights sleep in my own bed and I promise I'll be my usual happy-go-lucky self again in no time!" Mackenzie's apology was sincere enough…but the idea that she'd be her usual self very quickly was in doubt. She finished her speech with a wracking cough and was leaning against her hospital bed holding her ribs as if in pain.
"Mac…sit down before you fall down, please. We're trying to get you out of here…the doctors might change their minds if they see you gasping for breath and holding onto a nightstand for support" Will warned her.
Finally an orderly appeared with Mackenzie's paperwork, prescriptions and a wheelchair. Lonny wasn't far behind him.
"Why do I need a wheelchair?" Mackenzie whined.
"Because I'm not carrying you and you'll never make it down to the car. Now just sit in the damned wheelchair Mackenzie so we can get the hell out of this place!" Will shouted. Lonny just snorted his amusement with the scene in front of him.
"I'd carry you if you wanted me to Ms. McHale. You and me, alone in the car…we can get rid of Will if you want?" Lonny teased her. That did get a little chuckle of amusement from Mackenzie, but not from Will.
"Hey, fifth round draft pick…go pull the damn car around would you!" Will was quickly losing his patience with this whole situation. He just wanted to get home, get some decent food into Mackenzie and sleep for about two days…not necessarily in that order. He would also like the opportunity to continue his earlier conversation with Mac…once she could stay awake for more than an hour at a time and stop gasping for breath.
Mackenzie was nearly asleep in the back of the Escalade when she realized they were headed in the wrong direction.
"Will, we should be heading West not East. I don't' live in Soho anymore."
"Yeah, I know where you live. I also know you have no energy, no strength, no food in your apartment and you're supposed to be avoiding the general public. Just how are you going to take care of yourself with no help at home?" Will looked down at her blanketed form curled up next to him in the backseat of the car.
"I'm a big girl. Besides, where the hell else would I go besides home?" she asked.
"My home" he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Look Mac, you've already banished the well-meaning relatives who were going to try to come and care for you. Be realistic here, you don't have a lot of options. My apartment is well-stocked with food, thanks to the housekeeper and my building has a twenty-four hour concierge. You can get just about anything you want delivered. When I have to go to the studio, at least I'll know it will be easy for you to get anything you need. Please Mackenzie, let someone take care of you for a little while."
She was relenting, he could tell. Or maybe she was just too tired to argue anymore. She leaned more heavily into his shoulder and nodded her agreement.
"Hey look at it this way, when I call into the office to check on the kids you can chime in and take over the rundown again. You'll feel like you're back at work already!" Will said with a little too much enthusiasm for her cough-syrup addled brain.
"And maybe we can talk about us? And maybe we could do something about that kiss I was promised…you know, once my mouth has become familiar with a toothbrush and some mouthwash again?" she whispered to him.
"Yes Mackenzie, we can talk about a lot of things…once we get you home, ok?" Will said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Totally whipped" he heard Lonny whisper from the front seat. Will caught the man's eye in the rear-view mirror.
"Yeah, I am. Can you blame me?" Will said.
"Not one bit, man. Not one bit."
