Chapter 119: Doctors Orders
"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died." – Erma Bombeck
"The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." – Voltaire
"To array a man's will against his sickness is the supreme art of medicine." – Henry Ward Beecher
"Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity." – Hippocrates
"A hug is worth a thousand words. A friend is worth more." – Unknown
"It's the friends you can call up at 4am that matter." – Marlene Dietrick
Sydney opened the door to a smiling Tom.
"Hey Syd!" he said enthusiastically, "how ya doin?"
"I'm ok Tom, come on in..." she said smiling and moving out of his way.
"Ok? What is that?"
"Just...lots going on..."
Tom turned serious, "Like what?"
"Just therapy and stuff...maybe I can talk to you about it a little later..."
"Ok..." he said, waiting for more, but Sydney didn't offer it.
"Yeah, and Vaughn's mom is here...so...I really didn't think she'd come over until later, but here she is..."
"Is that a problem?"
"Well, I mean she's seen his wounds, some of them, but she's never seen THIS wound...if you get my drift."
"Yeah, ok...well maybe you want to take her out of the room or something..."
"Well, ideally, yes, but I'd really like to stay with him...know what's going on..."
"Yeah, well she'll have to either stay then or decide."
Sydney nodded and started off to the bedroom. Tom followed.
"HEY!" Tom said as he entered the room, and went straight over to Vaughn to give him a strong handshake and a soft hug, "How ya doin?" he asked with a smile.
"Hey Tom, I'm ok...this is my mom Tom," he said gesturing to Amélie.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Tom Barker," Tom said as he extended a hand out to Amélie.
"I'm Amélie Vaughn...thank for you taking such good care of my son."
"Eh, well someone's got to...I'm the only one who'd take him..." Tom said with a wink.
He turned to Vaughn, "Why don't we get started, then we can talk for awhile ok?"
"Sure," Vaughn said.
"Ok, I'm just gonna check you over, then we'll look at the infected wound..."
"Gotcha..."
Tom busied himself then making Vaughn follow his flashlight and checking a few of the cuts on his face that had largely healed. The few stitches he'd had by his eye were almost fully disintegrated, "That looks good so far," he said smiling, "Let's check your shoulder." He helped Vaughn get out of the sling and then spent a few minutes rotating and manipulating the muscles in the shoulder. Vaughn winced several times, but the shoulder hadn't moved a whole lot in weeks, and it still had a ways to go. Tom assured him, however, that it was also healing nicely.
"I'm gonna check your ribs now," Tom said as he made a move take off Vaughn's shirt. Vaughn nodded and let him remove it as well as the wrap.
Amélie made a small clicking noise and shook her head when she saw all of the bandages again, but no one really made any comments.
Tom pressed gently on Vaughn's ribs, concentrating while examining them to see how they were healing. Vaughn winced again at a few spots, but Tom was very observant and he visually logged the spots for further reference. He finished and then got his stethoscope out and took off the oxygen, "Ok...deep breaths..."
Vaughn nodded and complied, taking a few deep breaths.
Tom smiled after a few breaths, "Much better than last time..."
Vaughn smiled.
"Must be doing what I told you too, huh?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, Sydney's a slave driver...makes me do it every day."
"I liked her from the start," Tom said looking over at her. Then he turned back to Vaughn, "How're your exercises going?"
"Sydney makes me do those too...and they go pretty well..."
Tom looked over to Sydney, "That true?"
Sydney smiled, "Yes it is...he's been doing great actually – he does more than he's supposed to – the crunches anyway...and we stand and everything, and..." she paused, beaming, "We've managed to walk a few places by ourselves too...not long distances, but he does great..."
Vaughn was smiling broadly and it got even bigger when Amélie said, "That's my boy..."
Tom replaced the oxygen and then looked down at Vaughn, "K, can you sit up for awhile...while I check it?"
Vaughn nodded and looked over at Sydney and then to his mother, and then back to Sydney again.
She got the hint, "Amélie, why don't you go have a seat in the living room and rest for awhile...I'll get you some coffee..."
Amélie Vaughn was not a stupid lady however, and she smiled saying, "Sydney...I know you and Michael want to protect me...but Michael is my son...and I want to be privy to what is going on with him – especially if it's a health concern."
Sydney looked helplessly at Vaughn, but he couldn't say anything to counter that.
Tom took over then and said, "Mrs. Vaughn..."
"Please, call me Amélie."
Tom smiled, "Amélie, I understand your want and need to know what's up with Michael...but...this wound...it's bad enough without an infection, and I don't know how much you know about infected wounds, but this one is a doozy...it's not so much about protecting you...just...sparing you from a sight that is not essential for you to know what's going on with Michael."
Amélie smiled, "You're a very good doctor Tom, and that's nice of you to say...you have a wonderful bedside manner, but...I'm staying."
Tom smiled and looked back at Vaughn, "Now I know where you get your stubbornness from."
Vaughn smiled but he shared a worried glance with Sydney. He admired his mother's tenaciousness but would have rather spared her the added burden of an infected wound.
Tom looked at Sydney, "Can you get a washcloth?"
"Sure," she said, disappearing and reappearing with the requested item. She moved over to the bed to help Vaughn sit and handed Tom the washcloth.
"While I'm looking at this one...I should check the others too..." Tom informed them.
Vaughn just nodded as Sydney supported his form.
She had a sudden thought, "Tom – did I tell you that Vaughn sat up for a whole meal? At the table and everything..."
Tom stopped and moved to the front of Vaughn for a minute, "Really?"
Vaughn smiled and nodded.
"That's great Mike...really great...I mean it..."
Vaughn smiled wider and looked over at his mother as Tom moved in back of Vaughn again; she was beaming at him, clearly proud of her son.
Tom started to peel the bandage off, and Amélie moved closer. Vaughn winced when the bandage came off. Amélie looked down at the wound as Tom examined it.
"Oh my God Michael..." Amélie said gasping, covering her mouth with her hand. She found her way to the chair and sat down, shaking her head.
Vaughn looked over at her, "Mom? You ok?" he asked worriedly.
She waved her hand, trying not to cry, but it just made Vaughn tenser.
Both Sydney and Tom noticed his muscles tensing, and Sydney ran her hand through his hair a few times, trying to get him to relax. The tenser he was, the more this was going to hurt.
"I'm sorry Mike...I have to...I have to check to see how far the infection has spread – it's not gonna feel too good, ok?"
Vaughn grabbed Sydney's other hand and nodded.
Sydney held his hand tightly, "I'm right here," she said as she kissed his slightly stubbled cheek.
He smiled faintly before Tom pressed on the edge of the wound and then his eyes closed tightly and his grip on Sydney's hand became tighter. Tom continued to prod around the edges of the wound, which were red and obviously infected, but he needed to know the extent.
He examined the wound itself. It looked slightly better, but there was still evidence of pus on the bandage he had removed. At least it seemed to have stopped bleeding. There was a slightly scabrous layer of pus that Tom could detect as well, a few areas still moist and oozing. He pressed a gloved finger directly over the middle of the wound and Vaughn jerked away, letting out a small grunt.
"Sorry Mike...just bear with me..." he said apologetically as he prodded around the inside of the wound for a few more minutes.
Amélie looked as though she was ready to bolt or vomit, but no one could tell which. She also seemed to be glued to the chair. Sydney risked a glance over to see how she was handling it, and would have liked to ask her how she was, but Vaughn needed her at the moment. Amélie looked horrified but compelled to watch.
Tom moved from the inside of the wound back out to the edges and then slowly made his way outward, seeing how far the infection had spread.
Once he had made his observations, he put some of the Cavilon on the wound and then re-bandaged it with a TAD. He gave Sydney a sympathetic smile and an imploring look as he started to remove the other bandages to check them as well.
"I'm sorry Mike," Tom said softly, "Just a few more minutes...hang in there..."
Sydney soothed him with soft caresses and touches, trying to make it easier for him, but knowing that nothing she did was really going to help.
Tom removed all the bandages at once, and checked each one, examining and inspecting them all for infection and tape irritation. He didn't find any others on his back that were infected, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief, knowing that if the infection had spread and become systemic that he would have to go back to the hospital and the didn't want to do that to him.
He re-bandaged all of those as well and then placed a gentle hand on Vaughn's shoulder.
His eyes weren't squeezed shut any more, but Tom could see that he was still in a fair amount of discomfort, and Sydney was supporting more of his frame than she had started out with.
"You ok?" Tom asked gently.
Vaughn nodded, but he looked completely worn out already.
Tom shared a glance with Sydney and decided that they should just continue and get it over with.
He asked Vaughn first though, "Hey, you wanna take a break Mike? Or should we finish the front?"
"Just finish," he said in a pain-laden voice.
He shared one more look with Sydney for reassurance and she nodded, moving to support Vaughn from behind and helped him lean back so that Tom had easier access. Vaughn leaned heavily into her, and Sydney risked a glance at Amélie, and she seemed much as she had before – her gaze was transfixed on the scene as though she couldn't look away, but she looked less pale, more composed.
Tom continued on, removing the bandages on the front of Vaughn's torso and inspected each in turn like he had the ones on Vaughn's back. He frowned slightly at the tape irritation on one of the wounds, but it wasn't infected as he found upon closer inspection. He put some Cavilon on the edges of that one and then bandaged it again, and bandaged the rest as well. Then he and Sydney worked together to get the rib wrap back on him and Sydney grabbed a fresh shirt as Tom held him up. Sydney put it over his shoulders and Tom buttoned it up before replacing the sling. Tom positioned the pillows and then eased Vaughn back onto them.
Sydney took her spot next to him on the bed.
"Ok," Tom started, "Let me just say – you're doing great. I mean with all the exercises and the breathing...truly phenomenal. Your shoulder is healing nicely – it'll be a little while yet but it's progressing and since you're walking, I can gather your ankle is much better too...Your lungs are stronger, but they're gonna take a long time to fully heal – you'll start noticing differences though when they happen. The ribs are better too, but again, they're gonna take a while. Your reflexes are all good, no lasting damage...to the brain that is...except what was already there," Tom said smiling. "Now – the wounds – most of them seem to be healing well – some better than others – obviously the smaller ones are doing better – and the ones on your face are really good. The bruising is starting to lessen as well...the larger wounds and the surgical incisions are, again, obviously going to take a longer time." He stopped a took a breath, "Ok...now the infected one..."
