Chapter 14: Wounds and Wraps, Part 2

"And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope." -- Job, 11:18


They exited the room and Sydney noticed that her father wasn't in the chair anymore. He must have gone to get something to eat.

"That went quite well Sydney, I need to thank you for your help."

"Not a problem, it was my pleasure. I'm sorry I kind of pushed you out there, but I figured it'd probably be better if I did the changing."

"It's not necessary to apologize, I'm of the opinion that we should do what's best for the patient, what's in their best interest, as long as it doesn't injure them further."

They were silent for a minute before Dr. Kerns said, "I know it was difficult to see the evidence of torture Sydney. Did you want to ask me any questions?"

"No, I think I can pretty much figure out what most of the wounds are from. Really though, Vaughn is the only one who knows what happened to him."

"Yes, I know. I was thinking about asking a colleague of mine to come down and chat with Mr. Vaughn…"

"About what?"

"About what happened to him. About his torture."

"The CIA has people that do that, I think Vaughn might be more comfortable with someone he's already familiar with and I don't mean any offense, but they might be more equipped to handle this sort of situation."

"Well, you said something about him having a nightmare, and that's what's worrying me. You were there for that one, but let's face it, you can't be with him every minute. At some point, you'll probably have to go home to rest, and then what do we do when he can't fall back on you? What if he hurts himself?"

"Well I don't plan on leaving him any time soon. My roommate can bring whatever I need here."

"I'm just saying Sydney that eventually he will have to learn to deal with this."

"Well I don't think that has to be today. And I don't think it has to be your colleague either."

"I've been very lenient where he is concerned, Sydney, more so than I usually am, because he's been through a horrible ordeal, and while I think it's wonderful that you have such a presence with him, I still think he's going to need more than just your support. And I don't want you to have to bear the full responsibility of his health. That wouldn't be healthy for you either."

"You don't need to worry about my health doctor, I'll be just fine, and I'm going to stay here with him until he says I don't need to. I don't particularly care for your presumption that I can't handle Vaughn on my own."

"I'm not saying that Sydney, I'm just saying it would be healthier for both of you if he had a wider support group."

"I think we should let Vaughn be the judge of that." And with that she walked back into Vaughn's room.

He was lying on the bed in the familiar way he had been for the last few days. She approached and sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at him. She was grateful that the oxygen mask was gone; because now they could talk more easily and she could also kiss him any time she wanted. She took full advantage of that and then looked back down at him again.

"I think I like not having that on anymore," he said slightly breathily with a smile.

"Me too…" and she took advantage of the mask's absence again. "How are you feeling now? Seriously, can you breathe ok with just the tube?"

"I haven't seemed to have a problem yet, but of course I've only had it on for like 10 minutes."

"If you have any trouble, you let me know, ok?"

"Yeah, ok…" Vaughn could sense something was wrong, "Sydney, what's the matter?"

She thought a moment before answering, "Well, how do I want to put this…there's really no easy way Vaughn…Dr. Kerns thinks that you need to talk to someone…" she let her thought trail off.

"Talk about what…about what happened to me?" he asked softly.

"Yeah…"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said looking away.

"Ok, listen, I don't think you have to talk about it now…but eventually Vaughn, you're going to have to talk about it…you know they'll never let you come back to work unless you've had a complete psych eval. If you refuse to do it or something, they won't let you come back."

"I know," he said quietly.

She just looked at him for a moment, and then reached out to stroke his cheek. "Look, I'm here whenever you want to talk, whenever you need me, ok…open invitation…" she smiled.

"Thanks Syd, really, for everything." He pulled her down for another kiss.