See first chapter for information!
Margaret and Hawkeye were spooned next to each other in bed and Hawkeye had his arm around her waist. She snuggled back into him and he buried his nose in her hair, inhaling her scent.
"I'm worried about Sidney," he mumbled into the back of her head.
"I know, but he claims he's ok."
"Yeah, but…"
"I tell you what," she said as she turned to face him. "If he doesn't look any better in the morning we'll make him see a doctor in Spruce Harbor. I'll hold his keys until he agrees."
He smiled. "I love you," he whispered as he placed a kiss on her nose.
"I love you, too," she replied as she returned the favor. He pulled her closer and they drifted off to sleep.
Margaret awoke sometime later from an unidentified noise. She gently extracted herself from Hawkeye's embrace and put her robe on. She exited her room into the dark hallway and looked for signs of life. Not seeing any, she went to Bella's room to see if she had woken up. Bella had her eyes open but didn't appear to have been crying.
"Did it wake you, too, baby?" she questioned softly as she approached the crib. She placed her hand on her daughter's chest and the baby drifted back to sleep just about the time that Margaret heard the noise again. She left the nursery and walked down to the guest room. She poked her head around the door and noticed the covers were all wadded up in the middle of the bed and Sidney was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh God," came a strained voice from the bathroom. Margaret quickly crossed the hallway and knocked on the bathroom door.
"Sidney?" she called softly. It was silent for a moment and then she heard a groan followed by retching. "Sidney? I'm coming in there." She opened the door and went to his side. She placed one hand on his forehead and quickly withdrew it from the heat. "You're burning up Sidney." He leaned over the toilet again and she went to the door.
"Hawkeye!" she called down the hall in an effort to wake him. She listened for a moment and when she heard no noise she called louder. She finally heard the sheets rustle as he got out of bed and she turned her attention back to Sidney. She grabbed a washcloth and wet it thoroughly, returning to his side. He was sat back on his heels breathing heavily and she held the washcloth to his forehead. "Are you in pain?" He nodded weakly and swallowed hard. "Where?"
He swallowed again and managed to answer just above a whisper, "My stomach." By this time Hawkeye had entered the bathroom and joined them on the floor. He felt Sidney's cheeks and looked in his eyes.
"Where does your stomach hurt?"
"Side," he gasped. Hawkeye reached one hand down and gently pressed Sidney's right side. He cried out in pain and threw himself towards the toilet again. As he heaved Hawkeye turned his attention to Margaret.
"It's his appendix. We need to get him to Spruce Harbor. Call an ambulance and get Bella to the neighbors', alright?"
"Right," replied Margaret as she hurried out of the bathroom. Hawkeye turned to Sidney and helped him sit back on his heels, flushing the toilet. He grabbed the washcloth and ran it over the other man's face, trying to cool him off.
"How long has it been this bad?" he questioned.
"Don't know," came the breathy reply.
"We'll have you at the hospital soon, and don't worry, I wrote the book on the appendix," he joked, trying to cover his own anxiety. He knew that with as much pain as Sidney was in, and as high as his fever was, that Sidney was in danger of a ruptured appendix. He was brought out of his thoughts when Sidney started to slump over. "Stay with me, Sid," he ordered as he righted the man.
"Hurts," Sidney gasped as he looked at Hawkeye. His eyes were fever bright and he was white as a sheet.
"I know, it won't be much longer," he reassured. Just then he heard the siren of the ambulance in the distance and Margaret opening the front door as she took Bella out. "Come on, your ride's coming. Let's get you out front." He wrapped one of Sidney's arms around his neck and pulled him to his feet. Once they were both standing he gathered the other man completely into his arms and went out to the living room. Just as he made it he saw the ambulance pull up in front of the house and so he continued outside. The medics met him on the walkway.
"How bad is he?" asked one of the two men whom Hawkeye recognized as Jimmy or Johnny or something like that.
"High fever, severe vomiting…" he paused as the weight in his arms became greater, "…and he just lost consciousness." The medics helped him transfer Sidney to the gurney just as Margaret came running up.
"He's unconscious?" she asked frantically.
Hawkeye nodded. "It probably ruptured. He'll never make it to Spruce Harbor. We'll just have to go over to the clinic."
"That's no place to do an operation!"
"Well neither were the dirty aid stations in Korea, but we managed somehow!" They climbed into the back of the ambulance with Sidney and made the five minute journey to the clinic. When they arrived Hawkeye jumped out and opened the clinic doors allowing the others to wheel in the gurney. They took him into the back room where simple procedures were performed.
"Can we do something to help?" asked Jimmy/Johnny.
"Yeah, scrub up," ordered Hawkeye as he and Margaret prepped Sidney. When everything was set up Hawkeye took off his jacket and went to scrub his hands. "Give him some gas, Margaret, we don't want him waking up in the middle of this."
"All we have is nitrous oxide."
"Well, it's better than nothing." Margaret nodded and placed the mask over Sidney's face.
Hawkeye finished washing his hands and returned to the table. "Ok, one of you guys get me some gloves." The younger of the two helped him on with a pair of gloves and then stood by his side. Hawkeye took a deep breath, "Ok, hand me a scalpel."
When Sidney awoke he felt very disoriented. He opened his eyes but his vision wasn't clear enough yet to offer him any clues as to his whereabouts. It wasn't long, though, until the smell of antiseptic hit him and it all came back. He reached one hand down and felt his abdomen and flinched. He opened his eyes again and this time made out a figure sitting across the room. The dark hair suggested that it was Hawkeye so he called out to him—well as loud as he could.
"Hawkeye?" The doctor's head popped up and relief washed across his face.
"Sidney, it's good to see you." He smiled at his patient and walked to the bedside. He placed a hand on Sidney's cheek and smiled. "Your fever is going down."
Sidney gave a weak smile. "How bad was it?"
"You were really sick. Your appendix ruptured at the house so we took you to the clinic and I took it out there. I washed your organs as best as I could and then we packed you up and brought you here. We had to go in again and try to get rid of the infection. It was touch and go with you for a while but we pumped enough antibiotics in, and you're stubborn enough, that you're going to be just fine." He finished his examination of Sidney and scribbled something on the chart.
"Thanks, Hawkeye."
Hawkeye smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "My pleasure, Sidney. Just don't ever do it again, ok?" Sidney laughed and instantly regretted it.
"Don't make me laugh."
"Ok," Hawkeye agreed and then turned his head towards the door as Margaret walked in the room followed by Daniel, who was carrying Bella.
"Sidney, you're awake!" she exclaimed and went to his other side.
"Margaret," he smiled at her, "thanks for saving my life."
"Oh, well Hawkeye did the hard part, I just kept you asleep."
"I still appreciate it." He looked back over at Hawkeye and noticed how ragged he looked. "How long have I been out?"
"About 19 hours."
"Have you been here the whole time?"
Hawkeye shrugged and Margaret shook her head. "Yes he has. He hasn't even left to eat, according to the nurses at the desk. Daniel and I were coming to drag him out of here and make him take a break."
Sidney sighed. "You guys are amazing. How can I ever repay…" he was cut off by a yawn.
"You can repay us by getting some more rest and getting better," said Hawkeye as he patted Sidney's shoulder again.
"Alright."
"We'll be back in the morning, ok?" continued Margaret.
"Ok," he replied and yawned again. He watched as they all left the room and then slid back to sleep.
A/N: I was so excited about the response from the last chapter that I had to continue. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Remember I'm not a medical professional…so don't hold me to the information!
