Irene came in only shortly after. "Your friends left for the night?" she asked, rolling Martin onto his side.
Douglas nodded. "Went back to the hotel. Figured it would be better for Arthur to sleep in his own bed rather than curled up on Martin's."
Irene smiled as she rolled Martin back. Douglas was still rather impressed with her strength, despite her not being more than 5'3'', 5'4'' tops.
"Shift change will be soon," she informed him, motioning to the clock. It was nearing eight. A bit early for Arthur to have fallen asleep, but god knows the boy had been through enough excitement and worry today for a lifetime.
"Do you know who Martin's new nurse will be? Someone who speaks English at least?"
"Oh yes. A friend of mine, Simen. He's fantastic with the patients and fluent in English. I think you'll get along nicely."
Douglas nodded. He was mostly worried about not being able to communicate with anyone if the unlikely circumstance arose of a complication.
"He should be here shortly. I'll introduce you two, give him the details of Martin's condition, and see you back here in the morning."
"You'll be his nurse tomorrow then?"
Irene nodded. "We try to give the patients some sense of stability, so we like to keep their day and night nurses the same if we can. I have next Monday off, so if Martin is still here then, which I'm hoping he isn't, you'll have a different nurse that day."
Douglas nodded. It made sense. He understood the need for stability in children, and figured it probably transferred over to those who were ill, who often acted like they were children.
"Oh, here he is now."
Douglas leaned over to see who she was pointing to, and spotted a tall skinny man with a head of hair similar to Martin's, or at least would be if Martin had dark hair.
"Simen, this is Douglas, Martin's partner."
Simen grinned at him. "Hello Douglas."
The man had, of all things, a Scottish accent. Douglas didn't even want to know how he'd ended up working at a small hospital in Norway.
"I hear Martin's pretty sick."
Irene nodded, and spoke to Simen in Norwegian. Douglas wasn't sure if it was for his benefit, not wanting him to hear all about how ill Martin was, or their benefit, being able to converse more easily in their native tongue. Either way, Douglas only watched the back and forth conversation until it finished, Simen nodding in all the right spots, and Irene pulling out Martin's chart to show him things, including the chest x-ray.
"The respiratory therapist wanted to see another chest x-ray tonight, so the techs should be by shortly."
It took Douglas a while to realize Irene was speaking English, and that it was directed at him.
He only nodded.
Irene placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry too much Douglas. Martin is doing well and Simen will take excellent care of him."
He nodded wearily, unsure of what else he could say to that. Tell Irene she was lying? Claim that Simen wouldn't take good care of Martin?
No, all he could do was smile and nod.
"I'll see you in the morning," she said, and with that she left.
Simen pulled the extra chair over that Carolyn had been sitting in and sat down next to Douglas.
"How are you doing about all this?" he asked, leaning over to make eye contact with Douglas.
Douglas only leaned back and rubbed his face. How was it possible for him to be so tired already?
"Fine. I'm doing fine. Not great, but that can hardly be expected."
Simen nodded, but Douglas got the feeling the conversation was far from over.
He set his clipboard down on his knees and leaned on it.
"When someone you love is in critical condition, it can be hard to see them this way. It's alright if you don't want to spend all your time around him, or even if you find it frightening."
"I don't-" love him, Douglas opened his mouth to say, but stopped himself, knowing that he had to keep up the charade or risk being kicked out. "I don't find it frightening," he finished weakly. "I'm doing fine, really. I mostly feel for Arthur, who can't be taking this well."
"Arthur?" Simen asked, consulting his notes.
"One of his colleagues. Friends. Our friend. He and Carolyn went back to the hotel for the night. He's the one who got Martin the otter. Oliver, he named it." Douglas smiled, and didn't know why he was telling the man this. He was virtually a stranger, and there was no need for him to know this information. It wasn't important to Martin's care, or even relevant to anything.
"Sorry," he said. "I don't know why I'm telling you this."
Simen smiled knowingly. "It's alright. The stress of the situation can make people act in unexpected ways. I've had people break down sobbing on my shoulder. I've had people punch me. And I've had people fall in love with me. It can be rather unnerving." He laughed.
Douglas smiled. "I suppose I'm quite tame then."
"No kidding." Simen stood up and went to check on Martin.
He suctioned the tube in Martin's throat, which Douglas couldn't bear to watch, so he focused on Martin's hand instead, and how not-blue his nail beds were looking.
When Simen finished, he moved on to checking the IV sites and adjusting the blood pressure cuff. Douglas watched with interest as he checked the bags of fluid hanging above Martin's head, dripping into his veins, and made a note on his clipboard.
"He'll be needing another dose of antibiotics soon," he explained. "And some more fluids while we're at it."
Douglas nodded.
There was a noise at the door, and they both turned to see a man with a portable x-ray machine.
He said something to Simen, who replied, and turned to Douglas.
"You're going to have to leave for this part," he told him. "The waiting room is just around the corner." He pointed the direction out to Douglas, and he set off, dropping into one of the chairs as soon as he reached it.
Since when was waiting by someone's bedside so exhausting?