What a Pain! - Chapter Eight
Cap walked dejectedly from Mike's room, still upset by what he witnessed. Dr. Early assured him that it was very early in Stoker's recovery and not to worry too much, but that, of course, was much easier said than done. All eyes were on him as he returned to the ICU waiting area.
"Cap? What's wrong?" Roy asked, noticing his Captain's expression, "Is he okay?"
Cap ran a weary hand through his hair, "Yeah, he'll be okay. He's just... a little rattled by all the monitors and the vent and such. Dr. Early said not to be too concerned yet. I think Mike was just scared. Um, anyone else want to go in? He fell asleep again before I left, but you can still sit with him for awhile."
"Roy? You want to go with me? I think I'll go on in," Johnny said.
"Sure, I'll go." As the two friends walked towards Mike's room, Johnny looked back at Cap who was now sitting in a waiting room chair, his head in his hands. Marco and Chet moved to sit next to Cap.
"He'll be okay, Cap," Marco said softly.
"Yeah, I know. It's just...hard to see him like that. That...wasn't Mike in there," he told Marco and Chet. "I swear...I'll never get used to seeing one of you guys in a hospital bed," he said with a heavy sigh.
When John and Roy entered Mike's room, everything appeared fine to their trained eyes. Mike was asleep for now, his heart rate was steady and his breathing was even. His face, however, caused them both to wince. They could only imagine how painful having a hole drilled in your skull would be, and they paused to consider how Mike's recovery would go. Johnny placed his hand on Mike's knee and said, "Hey, Stoker, you hang in there, okay?"
"Yeah, Mike, we know it's weird to wake up in the hospital, but, uh, you know, everyone here is going to do everything possible to make it okay for you," Roy told his friend.
At that point, Mike began to stir again. His eyelids quivered and then opened. "Mike?" Johnny said, "Are you with us?"
It took a bit for Mike to find his voice again, but fortunately he was more lucid this time. His voice cracked as he felt the touch of his friends, "Heeey," he whispered, "I...I..."
"Mike, it's okay," Roy told him calmly. "Take all the time you need. Do you know what happened?"
Mike tried to shake his head "no," but the pain made him stop and close his eyes. He sighed as deeply as he could and looked at Roy again.
Johnny and Roy took turns explaining to Mike everything that had happened to him. It was a lot for the man to absorb, but he understood.
"You just relax, man; you'll be alright. You sleep now, and we'll be back tomorrow. You'll feel better then, too, okay?" Johnny told him. Mike smiled weakly and closed his eyes again.
Roy and John tiptoed out of the room, feeling reassured. Cap's expression when he returned to the waiting area had shaken them all up, but now they knew that Mike's fear had mostly been the side-effect of the anesthesia and waking up in an unfamiliar place. Things would surely be better tomorrow.
Chet made one quick trip in to see Mike, then decided it was better to let him sleep. He'd try again in the morning. He and Johnny said goodbye to the others, and headed back to Mike's house. It wasn't very late when they returned, so they decided to sit out on the patio for awhile. The cat had eaten the hotdog and welcomed them back with a litany of complaints. Johnny feigned interest, "Oh really?" he told the cat, "you don't say! Uh huh, then what happened? You did? Hmmm, I'm not sure that was a good idea..." and so on until Chet nearly blew a gasket.
"Will you stop that?!" Chet snarled. "Stop talking to that crazy animal and sit down. Sheesh, Gage, you're crazier than that cat!"
"Oh, Kelly, pipe down. I'm just trying to lighten things up around here. Take it easy," Johnny snarled back. He plopped down on a lounge chair and sipped on the beer they had brought back from their trip. Right after their visit to the hospital, he and Chet had swung by a late-night Mom-n-Pop for some essentials: Milk, bread, coffee, beer, Pop-tarts, eggs, bacon, cookies, cold meat, Funyuns, Cheeze Waffies and cat food. Nutritionally vague, to be sure, but those were the staples that both men were used to. Johnny tore open the bag of Cheeze Waffies and ate a fistful. The cat sat and stared at him. "What?" he asked the cat through a mouthful of snacks. Although the cat didn't answer, Johnny could have sworn he saw the animal roll his eyes at him before stalking off.
Chet stayed for about an hour before he headed on home. Johnny tossed the empty snack bag in the trash, finished his beer and went to get ready for bed. Although Mike did have a spare room, Johnny thought he'd watch a little TV first, and so made a bed for himself on the sofa. He found a good movie to watch and snuggled down. He knew he'd probably fall asleep and wake up to the test pattern, but he also knew he'd never be able to get up to turn the set off beforehand; he was exhausted. "Man, I wish there was a way to turn a TV off from the couch. When I'm this pooped, I'd do anything to not have to get up to change a channel or turn the thing on or off." He giggled at the thought of that ever happening. "Right...a remote control television! Like that would ever be invented in my lifetime!"
To his surprise, the small gray cat leaped up to the back of the sofa and made himself a nest on the afghan Mike always kept lying there. He stared down at Johnny and began to purr loudly. He had decided that this human wasn't so bad. Maybe he'd watch over the man during the night, and perhaps his favorite human would come back soon. The cat closed his pretty green eyes and his gentle purring lulled Johnny to sleep before the first commercial break.
When the morning came, the static on the television crackled in the background as Johnny stretched and yawned loudly. He got up, cracked and crunched his joints and looked around for the cat. Staggering into the kitchen, he decided coffee was needed before anything else. When that was in progress, he saw the cat sitting patiently by the patio doors again, apparently waiting to be left out. Johnny did just that, mentally thanking the cat for being so willing to go outside to do his duty. At least that way, there would be no litter box that would need cleaning. No, he surely would not be able to face cat poop that early in the morning.
Johnny made toast and eggs to go with the coffee, fed the fish, watered the plants and set a plate of kitty-kibble on the floor for the cat. "I don't know what Mike feeds you, but this will have to do, cat," he told it once it returned to the indoors. Little did Johnny know that Mike had only fed the cat scraps outside. Eating real cat food, and indoors to boot, was a real treat for Sir Pain. Johnny patted the cat on the head before going back to his own breakfast. After a hot shower and shave, he dressed and decided to head to Rampart. Maybe things would be much easier on Mike today.
All the nurses smiled at Johnny, with the exception of one redhead who glared at him and turned on her heel as soon as they made eye contact. "Who was that again? Oh yeah, Ginny. She was the one I accidentally spilled the wine on. No, wait, she was the one who twisted her ankle falling at the bowling alley...wasn't she? Hmmm..." He wasn't surprised to see Cap already there and waiting for visiting hours to start at 10:00; just a few minutes to go.
"Hey, Cap!" Johnny greeted. "Anybody else here yet?"
"No, not that I've seen. I don't suppose it will be much longer though," Cap said glumly.
Detecting his captain's mood, Johnny said, "Cap, look, I'm sure he'll be better today. Yesterday was bound to be rough on him, ya' know?"
Nodding, Cap agreed. "I know, John, I'm just real anxious to see for myself." At that point, he looked up, noticed it was three minutes past ten, and fairly jogged to the nurses station. "Can we go in to see Michael Stoker in room 410, please?"
"Yes, Captain Stanley, I was informed that you and some of your men would be here this morning. You may go in, two at a time, for no more than ten minutes per visit, every half hour."
"Yes, ma'am, thank you. John? Let's go, pal."
With trepidation, they opened the door to Mike's room. They were thrilled to see him sitting partially up and talking with Dr. Early. Captain Stanley gripped his engineer's hand, "Mike! So glad to see you up and talking! How are you feeling this morning?" he asked with a large grin.
"Prrrrretty gooood, Caaap," Mike said, slowly. He concentrated on each syllable, struggling to get all the words out. Cap looked up at Dr. Early, who noticed his concern.
"Just a side-effect, Captain. He might have some trouble with speech or short term memory for a while, but he's doing very well this morning," he assured. "I think Mr. Stoker here will do just fine."
The three firemen grinned at each other, and Cap finally exhaled. "Can we get you anything, Mike?"
Mike looked over to Johnny, "Jooohhny,,, mmmy caaat okaaay?"
Johnny smiled, "Your cat? That thing's nuts, Mike, but yeah, he's okay."
Mike smiled and closed his eyes. Despite the morphine, his head still felt like a thousand hammers were pounding around inside. "Paaaiin..." he murmured.
Cap and Johnny looked at each other. "Mike?" Johnny asked, "are you in more pain? Do you need some meds?"
"Nnnnoo," he said as he opened his eyes again, "Paaaaiin iiiis mmmy caaaat," he tried to explain. "Hee saaaved mmmy liiife."
Bewildered, Cap and Johnny only gazed at Mike. "Uh, your cat's name is Pain? Really?" Johnny asked.
Mike nodded slowly and smiled. "Heee's aah gooood guuy."