Chapter 94: Break of a New Day

"I was her, she was me / We were one, we were free
And if there's somebody calling me on / She's the one
If there's somebody calling me on / She's the one
We were young, we were wrong / We were fine all along
If there's somebody calling me on / She's the one
When you get to where you wanna go / And you know the things you wanna know / You're smiling
When you said what you wanna say / And you know the way you wanna play / You'll be so high you'll be flying
Though the sea will be strong / I know we'll carry on
Cos if there's somebody calling me on / She's the one
If there's somebody calling me on / She's the one" – "She's the One" – Robbie Williams

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don't give up." – Anne Lamott


As Will went off to get Sydney, Francie moved over to the bed, laying a hand on Vaughn's head, "Just lie still…Syd's on her way," she said soothingly, rubbing his neck.

Sydney came flying it the room, moving to the side his head was facing. "Hey," she said quietly, sitting and touching his face.

"Hi," he said softly, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

"How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?"

He nodded against the pillow, "Yeah…it hurt…a lot…"

She rubbed his face gently, "I know baby…do you remember Tom coming over?"

"Vaguely."

"You were bleeding…the wound was bleeding…and you were in so much pain honey."

"That I remember," he said quietly.

She smiled, "How are you feeling now?"

"I'm tired…and sore…"

"Yeah," she said running her hand in his hair, "Tom said you would be…"

She just spent a few minutes gently playing with strands of his hair. "Are you comfortable the way you're laying?"

"Yeah…it's ok…can you turn my head though? I think I'm getting a kink…"

"Sure sweetie," she said, gently lifting his head and turning it to the other side, facing the door.

Vaughn's gaze met Will and Francie, "Hey," he said.

"Hi," both Will and Francie said, smiling at him.

Francie came closer and squatted down so she was level with his eyes. She reached out a hand and touched his head, "Rough night…"

"Yeah…"

"I'm glad you're ok…"

"Thanks," he said managing a small smile.

She got up then and backed away. Sydney smiled widely at her.

"Syd?" Vaughn said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come over on this side?"

"Sure," Sydney moved to sit nest to him on the bed and laid a gentle hand on his back.

She looked down at the washcloth, "I should bandage that Vaughn."

He mumbled an affirmative answer and Sydney moved the washcloth off, checking the wound. It was bleeding slightly, but nowhere near the amount it had last night. She placed some Cavilon on it and then covered it with a TAD bandage. She made the bandage looser than normal, using less tape so that maybe it wouldn't hurt him so much.

Will and Francie looked at each other, "Well…we're gonna let you guys rest…take a little nap ourselves…Call if you need anything…"

"Thanks guys," Sydney said, "I couldn't have done it without you…"

"Our pleasure," Francie said and with that, they left, shutting the door quietly.

Sydney looked down at Vaughn, running her hand in his hair. She could look at him, but from his angle and the exhausted and sore state of his body, he couldn't bring his head and neck up that far to look at her.

"Syd?"

"Yeah honey?"

"Can you lay down with me?"

"Of course," she said, moving the covers and laying down next to him. She laid on her side so she could face him, and replaced the covers. She reached out a hand and caressed his cheek.

He smiled, "How did I sleep so well?"

She returned the smile, but hers was sadder, "Tom sedated you…" she said, running her thumb over his cheek, and running her palm over his stubble.

He nodded.

"He said it was because you overexerted again…and maybe some Barnett stress too…"

"Hmm…" he said.

"I'm sorry…"

"What for?"

"I'm sure a fair amount of the pain was due to my little rolling incident…"

"We exercised too…"

"Yeah…too much…"

"This sucks," he said with a defeated sigh.

"We just gotta take it easy this weekend…but we're supposed to keep up with a fair amount of exercise. Not today…but tomorrow…" she trailed off as she noticed his eyelids beginning to get heavy.

She moved her hand back to his head, stroking his hair, which she had noticed lately, seemed to help him sleep.

She smiled, "You rest now…"

He was asleep before she could say anything else.

Sydney took a nap herself after she was satisfied that Vaughn was comfortable and sleeping soundly. She woke about 11:00 and stayed where she was to keep Vaughn comfortable.

He woke around noon, yawning sleepily. She noted that he still looked rather exhausted.
"Hey baby," she said, smiling softly.

"Hi," he said in reply.

"Sleep well?"

He nodded.

"You hungry?"

"Yeah…"

"Ok…I'll go get you something to eat…and I'll get your pills too…you in a lot of pain?"

"It's there…but it's kind of in the background…I think the morphine is still there…but I'm really sore…"

"Ok…I'll make sure to get the ibuprofen and the naproxen," she said kissing his temple and moving off the bed.

She went into the hall, yawning herself, and continued into the kitchen.

She could see Francie and Will on the couch, watching TV. She snickered when she saw that they were still in their pajamas…just like Sydney and Vaughn were.

"Hey guys…" she said.

"Hey! Syd! How's it goin? How is he?" Will asked in a rush.

She smiled, "He's tired…and sore…just like Tom said he would be. He seems ok though…just exhausted."

"Is he still in pain?" Francie asked.

"He says it's subdued, but it's still there…"

"Man…is he hungry?" Francie asked.

"Yeah…"

"You want me to make him something?"

"That'd be great…but I'm still not sure how he's gonna eat. He can't eat while laying on his stomach…I'm gonna hafta sit him up…"

"Hmm…well…I can ask him if he wants me to make him something," Francie suggested.

Sydney smiled, "Sure…actually…maybe we can all go…then we can sit him up if he wants too…"

"Lead the way," Will said happily, gesturing for her to do just that.

They all entered the room smiling and rather happy.

When Sydney sat down on the bed, their tone changed…that bothered Vaughn…

Sydney placed her hand in his hair.

Francie asked, "You want me to make you something to eat? I'll make whatever you feel like…"

He was silent and shrugged his shoulders haphazardly.

Will seemed to notice his mood, "You wanna sit up so you can see these beautiful ladies?"

Vaughn managed a small smile, but Sydney could tell something was wrong too.

"You ok, baby?" she asked.

"Yeah…" he said softly.

She looked over at Will and Francie. Will shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to do. Francie just looked concerned.

She leaned down so she could look him in the eyes, "Is something wrong?"

He looked back at her, but didn't say anything.

She started intently, not letting him get away from the question.

He finally caved, "I just…" he stopped; not knowing how to voice what was going on in his mind.

Francie and everyone else waited patiently for him to continue. Sydney kept up a steady rhythm of soothing caresses to try to ease him into whatever he needed to say.

They waited several minutes before he continued, "Doesn't it bother any of you that I have the ability to suck the fun right out of every situation? I mean…none of you should like me at the moment…"

They all looked between each other for a few minutes until Will hunkered down to join Francie in her squatted position, "So…you wanna sit up and eat one of Francie's great meals or you wanna lie here and sulk?" Will smiled, "Cause those are the only two options I can think of at the moment…"

Vaughn actually laughed, which made the tension in Sydney's chest, as well as the tension in the whole room break.

He smiled looking at Will and Francie, "You're just as bad as Sydney – not gonna let me be depressed at all, are ya?"

Francie touched his cheek, "You can be depressed, but that doesn't mean we can't cheer you up!" She smiled at him and then continued, "What do you want to eat?"

Vaughn thought a moment, "Uh…how about just some spaghetti or noodles or something…"

"You got it," she said rising and going into the kitchen.

Will took over, "You wanna try sitting?"

Vaughn nodded.

Sydney moved to Vaughn's left side, while Will stayed on the right.

"Ok…" Sydney said, "this is what I think we should do…we'll pull you up until you're kneeling – that way nothing is compressed – and we'll pivot you and ease you to a sitting position…"

Vaughn looked unconvinced by the plan and Will seemed to echo his uncertainty, "Uh…how do we pivot him on his knees?" Will asked.

Sydney smiled, "We'll both kneel on the bed of course…"

Will loved her enthusiasm, but seriously doubted the validity of the plan. He held his tongue though, "Ok."

Vaughn was resigned to the fact – it was gonna hurt no matter what they did. He just hoped that the morphine would still be in his system enough to dull the pain.

Sydney and Will took position kneeling on either side of Vaughn and each took an arm. Sydney had deliberately picked the left side because she knew how to be careful with Vaughn's shoulder. With a grunt of effort from Will and Sydney and an accompanied grunt of pain from Vaughn, Will and Sydney had Vaughn kneeling.

Vaughn was rather surprised that they'd gotten this far, but now it got really tricky.

Sydney nodded to Will, "Ok…pivot so that you end up on this side and I end up on your side."
Will returned the nod and they started to pivot Vaughn, both crawling on their knees in a circle around the bed. The whole scene was very comical to witness, proved by Francie's shocked look and subsequent cry of laughter as she witnessed the performance that resembled an old musical-movie number. She snickered, "I hear Busby Berkeley is hiring…"

Both Sydney and Will ignored her for the moment, more inclined to worry about the wounded man that they held in their hands.

Once they were on opposite sides, Vaughn was facing away from the headboard, as he should have been. Now they had a small problem: somehow Vaughn was going to have to kick his legs out in front of him so he could lie down.

Sydney looked wildly at Will, who seemed to share the sudden burst of panic, but Francie just laughed at them, setting down the tray with Vaughn's meal on it. She moved to aid them; grabbing Vaughn's legs from behind as Sydney and Will lifted him up. Then she pulled his legs gently until they lay straight in front of him.

Sydney and Will let him down and Will moved to let Sydney handle the reclining.

She reached for a bunch of pillows, motioning for Will to hold Vaughn up. She moved several pillows into a pile and then eased Vaughn back to them. Once his lower back was supported, she grabbed a few more and a small blanket which she rolled into something that looked like a bedroll. She eased him back further, his mid-back region now supported as well and then placed the "bedroll" pillow level with his neck and eased him back into that to finish.

Vaughn smiled in comfort – he was sitting, mostly pain free, and his back wound was not pressed on anything.