Chapter 24: Last Minute Preparations/Calling Cronies
"Why is what doctor's do called practice?" – Anon.
"And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course." – Kahlil Gibran (The Prophet)
Sydney woke up first in the morning, or when she looked at her watch, she should have said afternoon. She and Vaughn had slept until 2:00 PM. 'Wow,' she thought, 'we must have really been exhausted.' She looked down at Vaughn's still sleeping form and smiled a sad smile…'if only,' she thought. 'He could have been this peaceful all along, if I only would have brought him here.' She sighed and extricated herself from Vaughn's grasp. She walked to the private bathroom and washed her face. 'I really need a shower. The bath with Vaughn was nice, but this really would be so much easier if they were at home,' she thought. 'Home…that's funny, I kept referring to my house as Vaughn's. Even before he was taken, he rarely spent a night at his apartment, now it seems he's destined for my house for good…our house.' She smiled at the thought. 'If I can live with him while he was hurt, I can certainly live with him when he's not.' She was still smiling when she heard him call her name. She came out of the bathroom with a towel, wiping off her face.
"Morning," he said torpidly.
"Actually, it's afternoon," she replied as she made her way over to the bed and kissed him. "I think they let us sleep in."
"Mmm, that was nice of them."
She stroked his face, "You were really exhausted…so was I."
He turned to her seriously, "See, Sydney, you really have to think about this. This is what it's going to be like for you for the next few months."
"Vaughn, yesterday and the previous days were a mirage, they were a detour on our way, a fork in the road, to use more than one cliché. Those things aren't going to happen again. I won't be letting any Hitler wannabe's near you any time soon, so rest assured…it won't all be this hard…I know it's not going to be effortless either, there will be times I'm sure where I get exhausted, but that's no reason to not have you at home. I want to take you home, ok?"
"Ok…do you realize you keep saying you're taking me home?"
"Yes, I was thinking about that a minute ago. Come on, let's face it; you spend more time at my place now than you do at your place. I want my home to be your home too."
"My home is wherever you are, Sydney."
She looked down at him and kissed him passionately. He responded eagerly until they were interrupted by Dr. Tom's entrance.
"Good afternoon, kids," he said in a sing-song-y voice, "Are we having a good time?" he added.
Both "kids" smiled. "Yeah, Tom, I was having a great time till you showed up. Wanna go away, and I'll try again?"
"Sorry kiddo, gotta check you out…gotta play doctor sometimes, you know."
"I bet you still use that line on all the ladies don't you, Tom?"
"Hey, a guy's gotta have a little fun, right?" he smiled down at Vaughn and continued on with a conversation about hockey while he examined him. Sydney realized it was much easier for Tom to examine Vaughn because he was already comfortable with him, and once again, she felt the familiar twinge of guilt.
When he was done he looked at both Sydney and Vaughn, "Ok, he looks good…you don't appear to have any injuries as a result of your fun time yesterday, you're breathing has stayed at a reasonable level, you still need the oxygen, but it's stable, and that's important. I think Barnett is going to be here in about a half hour, and then as long as she's ok with releasing you, I am too. Ok? Then we'll get everything ready that you're going to need at home, and we'll get you shipped out of here."
"Thanks Tom," Vaughn said.
"Anytime, Mike. Sydney, I'll see you guys later."
Once he left, Sydney went back over to Vaughn. He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"You're absolutely sure, Syd?"
"Yes, would you stop asking? For the last time, I want you to come home!"
"Ok, ok…"
"Hey, I should call Francie & Will, I haven't talked to them in days. Will you be ok while I'm gone?"
"Yeah, I'll be ok. Can you hand me the remote?"
"Sure," Sydney said happily, he hadn't ever asked for the remote in the other hospital. "Ok, I'll be back before Barnett gets here ok?"
"Yeah," he said as she kissed him.
She left him in the room and went to the phones. She dialed her house, and Francie answered, "Hello?"
"Francie it's me."
"Sydney! Where are you? Are you all right? Where have you been? My God, we've been worried sick!"
Sydney smiled as she heard Will practically yelling in the background.
"Yeah, I'm ok, I've been at the hospital."
"Oh my God! Are you hurt?" she could hear Will again.
"No, no, I'm ok…it's Vaughn, he's…hurt…"
"Oh no, what happened? Is he ok?"
Sydney tried to think of something really quickly…"Well, it's rather complicated, I'd rather not get into it over the phone, he's pretty beat up, but he's doing better. I'm actually bringing him home today, that's partly why I called. I'm sorry I didn't call sooner; I've just been with him 24/7. I'm so sorry I had you worried."
"That's ok, really, I'm glad…God would you stop…I'm glad he's ok…Syd, I'm sorry, Will's being an ass here, he wants to talk to you, here!" She could here Francie yelling at Will, something about men and control.
"Syd?"
"Hey Will."
"Are you ok? What happened?"
"Uh…I'll have to tell you later…I don't think these phones are…you know…"
"Right, right…but you're ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, it's Vaughn who got hurt, not me…remember, he went on that business trip…" she tried to get her point across. Will had known that Vaughn had been taken and presumably hurt, but he hadn't been in the loop since to know Vaughn was back.
"Business trip? OH! Right! Business trip…so something happened…while he was away?"
"Yeah, he's really banged up, but I'm bringing him home today if all goes well."
"Well he can't be too banged up if you're bringing him home…you bringing him here?"
"Yeah…and he is really banged up…we just…well…like I said…it's a long story…I'll tell you when we get home and he's settled, ok?"
"Yeah, sure, ok…"
"Can you put Francie back on for a minute Will?"
"Sure, here she is."
There was a rusting before Francie said in an annoyed tone "Thank You!" to Will. "Hey, ok, so before I was rudely bumped off the phone, you were saying…"
"Yeah, so I'm bringing Vaughn home, can you tidy up a bit? Go into my room and made sure the bed's got fresh sheets, and bring out some extra pillows from the linen closet? Oh, and make sure I don't have like bras hanging somewhere…"
"Sure…" there was pause and some muffled shouting, "Ok, I've sent gopher boy to go get them. Should we put them on your bed?"
"Yeah, that'd be great."
"Is there anything else we'll need for Michael?"
"Let me think…" Sydney thought for a minute, "We should probably stock up on some softer foods…you know, mashed potatoes, that kind of stuff."
"Like sick people food, soup and stuff? Or are we talking like invalid, Jell-O, pudding stuff."
Sydney chuckled, "Why don't you get some of all of that, I'm not sure what he's gonna want to eat, you know…fluids, lots of fluids…juices and stuff."
"Sure, we'll go to the store right now…when are you bringing him?"
"We should be there in a few hours, probably right around dinnertime, or a little after. Just try to keep the hallway and the walkway clean, so we can get him through to the bedroom."
"Sure thing Syd. We'll have it all ready."
"Thanks Francie, you guys are the best."
