Chapter 194: Transportation in Style
"Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves." – Carol Pearson
"It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end." – Ursula K. LeGuin
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear." – H.P. Lovecraft
"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared." – Eddie Rickenbacher
"Gimme fuel
Gimme fire
Gimme that which I desire
Oh Yeah
Turn on, I see red
Adrenaline crash and crack my head
Nitro junkie, paint me dead
And I see red
A hundred plus through black and white
Oh
On I burn
Fuel is pumping engines
Burning hard
Loose and clean
Oh
And on I burn
Churning my direction
Quench my thirst with gasoline
So gimme fuel
Gimme fire
Gimme that which I desire
Yeah" – "Fuel" – Metallica
Will went off to answer the door, pointing the EMTs in the right direction.
They skillfully moved Vaughn onto the stretcher and everyone followed them out the door. They loaded him into the ambulance and Sydney and Tom got in the back with him. Will and Francie went to Francie's car and they followed right behind.
Once they had him settled in the ambulance, Tom made sure they started him on IV pain medication. Sydney leaned over close to his ear so no one else would hear, "You really doing ok?"
He smiled, "Yeah…I'm ok…"
She returned the smile, plainly seeing that he wasn't trying to hide anything from her.
Tom spent much of the ride on the phone prepping the Radiology department and making arrangements for a temporary room for Vaughn.
Once he got off the phone, Vaughn asked, "Are you gonna turn the siren on?" with a boyish gleam.
Tom smiled, "Pete! Turn on the siren…and floor it…"
Pete turned and regarded Tom strangely, "Why?"
"Just do it," Tom said in an authoritative tone.
Pete shook his head and flipped on the siren, pushing the pedal down to the floor.
Sydney had to laugh when she witnessed Vaughn and Tom's elated reactions to the now speeding ambulance. There was no need for the rush; Vaughn was not in danger, yet she wouldn't have made them stop for the world. Their little boy looks were all too adorable.
They slowed significantly before they reached the hospital so the poor ER staff didn't think they had a huge emergency on their hands. Vaughn and Tom were still giggling on their way into the ER.
The EMTs moved Vaughn to a different gurney and Tom took over the task of transporting Vaughn to Radiology. Sydney at first thought this was a great idea, until she witnessed Tom and Vaughn careening his gurney down the hallways like they were in the middle of a drag race, complete with car noises from Tom. The trip took several minutes, Tom "Vrooming" them down the long halls and through elevators until he stopped in front of the Radiology doors with a "Screeeech."
Sydney shook her head as she caught up the final few meters, "I'm not sure what to think of you now Tom…I mean – are you a doctor or a playmate?"
"Sometimes…I'm both," he said with a wink.
Sydney chuckled and took Vaughn's hand as Tom pushed the gurney through the double doors into the rather large and sparse Radiology room. It was a standard room; equipment littering almost every available area, the technician room and the wall where visitors and family members stood while the x-ray was in progress.
A sexy young man, about 6'1", with a nice build, brown hair and blue-green eyes, stepped out of the technician room.
"Hi," he said, smiling, "I'm Ryan Johnson, radiologist technician…"
Sydney smiled, "I'm Sydney…this is my boyfriend Michael…"
"Hi," Ryan said looking down at Vaughn, "Tom's told me all about you…"
"Oh great," Vaughn said smiling at Tom.
Tom chuckled, "Yeah, it was all good, so shut up."
"Yeah, I can about imagine…" Vaughn added.
Tom went into doctor mode momentarily, telling Ryan which films needed to be taken, "Ok, I want to be sure we get a few films – abdomen and upper chest…I want to be sure…"
"Got it," Ryan said with a smile, "We can manage that…"
"I want to make sure the films are clear especially the ones around his ribs…so if you have to take a few more – then take a few more…ok?"
"Yeah…broken ribs, huh?" he asked looking down at Vaughn.
Vaughn nodded, "Yeah…well I hope they aren't again…"
"Dude…I've had ribs fractured and bruised…see – I was playing football – tackle football – with no pads…cause, anyway…this one guy – he's really competitive, and I tend to not back down…so, I wound up getting slammed into the goal post – yeah NOT cool…so I wound up in the ER, fractured one, bruised two," he shook his head, "My girlfriend, Nikkia, she was PISSED man…wow…and it hurt…screwed up my back too…"
"Ryan?" Tom said.
"Yeah…"
"Films? Pain…"
"OH right…" Ryan said, smiling sheepishly.
Sydney and Vaughn smiled at him as he went into the technician room again and emerged a few seconds later.
"K, just let me get the stuff set up."
Tom smiled, "He's a really great technician…why don't we get your shirt off while we wait…" he looked down at Vaughn, "Do you like this shirt?"
Vaughn looked down, "Uh…not especially…it's not like a favorite…"
"Ok, good," Tom walked off to the technician room and came back with a scissors, "Then you won't mind when I cut it off…" he said with a smile.
Vaughn chuckled.
"Much less painful this way," he said with a wink.
Ryan was busily buzzing all over the room, moving equipment, adjusting arms on the machines to set them up for the correct film positions.
Once Tom had Vaughn's shirt off, he took the scissors again, "Ok…I'm just gonna cut the wrap too, cause otherwise I'd have to sit you up…"
"Ok," Vaughn agreed.
Tom busily cut through the material of the wrap, "This is probably gonna hurt more now…without the wrap, your ribs won't be compressed…" he said with a apologetic smile.
Vaughn nodded, "I know."
Sydney tightened her grip on Vaughn's hand as Tom made the last few cuts, and the wrap fell away.
He grimaced and let out a groan as the pain moved to the surface, his ribs losing the valuable pressure that kept the pain at bay.
"Ok," Vaughn said through gritted teeth, "Ryan's gonna have to hurry up…cause this…really hurts."
"K," Tom said, "RYAN!"
Ryan appeared out of the technician room, "Yeah?"
"Hurry," Tom stated simply.
Ryan got the message. He quickened his pace, flying around the room, making last minute adjustments. He finally appeared again at the gurney, "Ok, let's get him on the table."
Tom and Ryan wheeled the gurney to the center of the room and tried to gently move Vaughn over onto the x-ray table.
He yelped when the movement caused his ribs to erupt in pain, and Tom looked poignantly at Ryan as they lowered him gently to the table.
Sydney was by his side again in a few seconds, watching him struggle painfully on the gurney.
He finally squirmed enough that the constant groans stopped. The position looked awkward at best, and certainly not comfortable, but Vaughn seemed to be in less pain.
"Is that better?" she asked quietly, holding his hand and running her other through his hair.
He nodded and smiled weakly as Sydney took a mental note of the position. He was still on his back, but he was curled so that his body formed an almost half-moon shape, only less pronounced. Sydney realized that this put pressure on his right side, which must have been where it hurt the most.
Ryan worked around her and Tom who was standing on the other side of the gurney. He moved the craned arm so it was above Vaughn's chest and then looked at Tom.
"Ok, all I have to do is lower it and set the machine."
"Well do that," Tom said.
Ryan nodded and moved to the technician room, flipping switches and returning with a lead covering for Vaughn's waist. He positioned it and smiled at Vaughn. "Gotta make sure we cover the essentials," he said with a wink.
Vaughn smiled back at him and Sydney and Tom both chuckled.
"Ok," Ryan said, "I'm gonna need you two to step back over there behind the screen…"
