A/N: I'M BAAAAACK *Psycho theme* So, random note of the day, the argument about armadillos is one I've actually had with my boyfriend because he wants a pet armadillo and... yeah. We have a weird relationship. Also may or may not have included a totally blatant reference to the story I just published the other day. XD As usual, enjoy and I'll have the next chapter up soon! ^-^
Even though he knew she wasn't awake to hear the sound, Roy was quiet as he slipped into his daughter's hospital room and closed the door gently behind him. There was even more medical equipment surrounding her than there had been last time, cooling pads on top of and below her body to try and combat the fever coursing through her blood vessels. He let out a sigh that felt like it came all the way up from his boots and took a seat in one of the hospital recliners, shifting it over slightly so that he could reach Jenny's hand with his own.
His nightmare from just an hour earlier came rushing back to him and terror gripped his chest as he stared at the hospital monitors that were the only things stopping him from believing that she had died. He clasped her hand tighter, reassuring himself, and as he had expected he got no reaction. He leaned over and smoothed out her covers, frowning as his hand brushed against her skin. Even with the cooling pads, she was still hot to the touch and sweating. He hurried over to the door and called for Nurse Walters.
"I think her fever might have increased. She's burning up, even with the pads." He stood back as the nurse took Jenny's temperature and then frowned at the result, forcing himself to stay calm and out of her way. "What does it say?"
"You were right, Mr. DeSoto," Nurse Walters responded. "She's up to 104 degrees. I'm going to go page Dr. Early." She hurried out of the room as a fresh wave of fear put Roy in a stranglehold. He stood away from the action, totally numb, as Dr. Early swept in and gave orders to the nurse to start an IV. He jolted back to his senses as the doctor put a gentle hand on his arm.
"Roy, I think you should sit down." He guided the paramedic to the recliner and sat across from him, making sure to focus his attention. "The results from her blood tests came back in; she's developed some type of bacterial infection, which explains why her fever spiked even after we put her in the cooling pads. We've got her on an intravenous antibiotic now, so that should help, and we've given her more ibuprofen."
Roy just nodded as he finished, still mostly frozen on the inside. "What does this mean for her recovery, Doc?" Dr. Early frowned thoughtfully.
"Well, it's not the end of the world, but I'd be lying if I said this infection wasn't a very serious complication. At the very least it means we'll want to keep her in the ICU for longer than we were originally anticipating. As for the rest of her recovery, in the long run it shouldn't have too much effect unless the infections prove to be recurring- but I doubt that's the case," he reassured the paramedic when he caught sight of his stricken face.
"Roy, this is a setback, I'll admit, but I'm confident that with a full course of antibiotics she'll get over it just fine," he reassured the younger man. "Now why don't you call Joanne? I'm sure she'll want to know what's happened." Roy nodded numbly and stood up, making his way out to the phone in the lobby. He knew he had to call Joanne and tell her about the infection, but right now he wasn't entirely sure he knew how to work a telephone. He felt kind of like a zombie.
He shook himself out of the reverie and grabbed up the receiver. Joanne picked up before the first ring had even finished. "Roy? What is it? Has she woken up?"
"No, not yet," he replied. "Her fever spiked again and Dr. Early got the results from her blood test back; bacterial infection. He doesn't think it's going to be too serious in the long run but right now it's setting her back."
"But she'll be alright?"
"Yeah." Joanne sighed with a mixture of relief and sadness.
"That's all that matters right now. You should try and get some sleep before the morning comes. Johnny's taken Chris backyard camping at his house and he said he'd bring him by around lunchtime." Roy gave a small smile.
"I'd be interested in being a fly on the wall in that tent. Sometimes if I didn't know better I'd swear Chris is older than Johnny." They did their best to make small talk for the next few minutes until both mother and father had calmed down enough to actually get some sleep. By the time Roy hung up the phone it was nearly midnight and his eyelids were drooping again. He said goodnight to Joanne and hung up the phone, settling back in the foldout recliner after shifting it so that no matter what angle he lay at, he could see his daughter's face. Sleep snuck up on him around twelve thirty and then he was out like a light.
Over at Johnny's house, the two resident boys were having an argument over the merits of having pet armadillos. "I'm telling ya, Chris, it'd be the coolest thing to have as a pet. Nobody else in your class is gonna have an armadillo," Johnny argued. He was flipped on his stomach and had his legs crossed in the air behind him. Chris was on his back but he'd stuck his feet up on the tent pole.
"No way, Uncle Johnny. Armadillos are stupid. They see a car coming at them and jump."
"Okay, so maybe they're not too bright, but they are unique. Besides, if it dies you can just get a new one." Chris snorted.
"Yeah, off the side of the road. I'd rather have a pet snake, but I asked dad and he said that would happen when hell froze over; then mom got mad at him for swearing in front of Jenny." Johnny laughed; he was very, very well acquainted with Roy's snake phobia.
"Yeah, Roy's not a fan of snakes. I remember one time this little tiny garden snake got into the station while we were out on a run and planted itself right inside your dad's turnout boots. Didn't notice 'til we had a run in the middle of the night- he'd just woken up, went to put 'em on, and the little guy pops out head first." Chris was giggling almost uncontrollably.
"What did he do?"
"Threw his boot halfway across the station and it landed on Cap's bunk. Luckily the run was a false alarm, but we just about had to call an ambulance for Roy."
"Why, 'cause of the snake?" Johnny laughed out loud.
"No, 'cause I though the Cap was gonna jump over the dividers and strangle him. Once we knew it wasn't venomous everyone else was laughing so hard we just about started crying, even Mike, and he's usually the only one of us that acts like a grown-up. To this day Roy still tries to deny that he screamed like a little girl." By this point both of them were nearly in hysterics themselves, Johnny from the memory and Chris from the thought of his dad throwing a turnout boot at his captain, even accidentally.
"He's never told us that story," he remarked once he'd gotten his breathing back under control. Johnny giggled again.
"Yeah, he's not especially proud of that moment. Chet still puts rubber snakes in his locker sometimes." Both of them kept laughing for a while before they finally settled down. In the distance a coyote howl broke through the otherwise still air and soon five or six more had joined it. Chris tilted his head, curious.
"Why do they all start that at the same time, Uncle Johnny?"
"Well, they're nocturnal, which means they're out looking for breakfast while we're eating dinner, and when one of them finds something that looks like it tastes good it howls and calls the others. Then they all start howling to let the other know and then they're all making noise." Chris nodded slowly.
"I love animals. I wish I could be a vet one day, but I don't like blood."
"Well," Johnny replied, flipping onto his back and resting his head on his hands, "you don't have to be a vet to work with animals. You could work at a wildlife reserve, or a zoo, or a university. There's all kinds of stuff you could do."
"Yeah, I guess so. Jenny's always wanted to work with cats. She likes tigers." Johnny whistled.
"I got to see a tiger once, but that wasn't really the best set of circumstances. It was trying to eat me."
"You should tell her about that when she wakes up. She really loves tigers." Chris hesitated, but Johnny didn't fill the gap like he usually would because he sensed that Chris wasn't so much being silent as processing his thoughts. "She… she is going to wake up, isn't she Uncle Johnny? Mom and dad keep saying she will but I heard the doctor say that she may not. What if she doesn't? What if she dies?" Johnny sagged into a sigh and turned on his side, facing Chris head on.
"I can't tell you that, Chris. She'll wake up when she's ready. And if she doesn't then I promise we'll get through it together. That's about all I can really say." The mood in the tent grew somber until finally Johnny decided it was time for things to look up- literally. "Hey Chris, you wanna hear a story? My grandmother told it to me a long time ago." Chris looked over curiously.
"Your grandmother told stories?" Johnny nodded.
"Oh yeah, that was about all she did once she got older. One time when I was little she told this one about how the moon and the stars were made."
"Can I hear it?" Johnny grinned.
"You sure can, buddy. So it all started a long, long time ago, before there were people or anything like that…"
Roy woke up slowly when the sunlight broke through the curtains and hit him right in the eyes; it felt like someone was poking him with their fingernails. He forced himself into a more or less upright position and looked down at his watch, astonished to find that it was almost nine in the morning. He wouldn't even begin to guess that he'd slept that long. He stood up and stretched his back out as far as he could get it to go before his gaze immediately turned to his daughter.
Dr. Early chose that exact moment to come into the room, followed by Nurse Walters. "Shoo, shoo," she told Roy, slowly but surely waving him towards the door. "Time to get things cleaned up in here." Roy, helpless to swim against the tide of Nurse Walters, let himself be shuffled towards the hallway.
"Don't worry Roy, we'll be done in a minute," Dr. Early interjected, smiling at the bemused paramedic. "Why don't you go over to the break room and get yourself some coffee? After I'm done in here we'll talk about what we want to do next." Roy was still half asleep and three fourths confused, so he simply nodded and hurried down to the break room that seemed like it had become the DeSotos' home. It was a very well-known fact among LA County's paramedics that if there was one thing that was universally true, it was that hospital coffee sucked a major root. But right now, after nine-plus hours spent on what was essentially a glorified recliner, it was lifeblood to Roy.
He shook the sleep from his head as he finished off his second cup in as many minutes when Dr. Early stepped into the break room. "Good morning, Roy. How did you sleep?" Roy gave a small grin.
"Like a log, and now that I've woken up I feel about as stiff as one too."
"Well, there's not a lot I can do about that, but I can give you some news- good news," he added quickly, catching the mixed look on Roy's face. "Jenny's fever has remained stable since we put her on the antibiotic and if it stays that way, I think we can move her to the Pediatric ICU tonight, up on floor seven." Roy laughed out of both relief and amusement.
"Seven, eh? They really want us to stay in shape." Dr. Early laughed as well and Dr. Brackett pushed his way through the door, evidently having heard the paramedic's remark.
"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I want you hose jockeys to be in good shape. Hello Roy, Joe; just came up to say good morning before I go on call. How's everything going?" Roy gave a bemused laugh.
"Well, it's going, but right now I couldn't tell you which direction. Joanne spent the night at home, I spent the night here, and Chris spent the night in a tent in Johnny's backyard. Now we're all going to meet back up around lunchtime." Dr. Brackett laughed.
"So, it's every direction at once, then? Well, I have to get downstairs. I barely had the time to come up here as it is. You take care of yourself, Roy. That's still important, you know?" Roy smiled.
"In theory, yes, but practice is becoming another matter." Brackett gave him a chastising look.
"Now Roy, you know as well as anybody that you're no use if you're exhausted yourself. I know it's the last thing on your mind, especially with your family, but you have to keep yourself up as well. Don't make me recruit Johnny to watch over you; you know he'll never let you hear the end of that." The doctor's lips quirked upward and Roy couldn't hold down a small laugh.
"Oh Doc, you wouldn't really sic Johnny on me, would you?" As luck would have it, that was the exact moment his partner bounded through the door, grinning like a madman.
"Too late too bad, pally. I've already been sicced. Have you had anything but coffee this morning?" Roy snorted.
"I've been awake for exactly five minutes, junior, and now you're here being chipper," he grumbled playfully. "I'm gonna need more coffee than I've had already just to make it to lunch." As if to emphasize his point, a jaw-cracking yawn worked its way across his face. "Where are Chris and Joanne?"
"I dropped Chris at home to get a change of clothes," his partner answered him. "They're headed over in a few minutes." Roy looked askance at his friend.
"And why, exactly, did he need a change of clothes, junior? He had his spare set in his bag." Johnny reddened around the ears and did his best- which was poor- not to look guilty of anything.
"Uh, well, you see…"
"Spit it out, junior."
"We got into a mudball fight. It was only a little one, but neither of us has great ducking skills." Roy snorted at the understatement. He often wondered how either of them moved through a room without a minor concussion along the way. "So, any news?" By this time both of the doctors had left to do their daily business.
Roy nodded and relayed the early morning's events to the younger paramedic. "But the good news is Dr. Early said we should be able to move her up to floor seven this evening if her fever stays under control," he finished. Johnny's face broke into a wide, happy grin.
"That's great, pally! She's gonna be one step closer to home soon." Roy smiled too, infected by his partner's unbridled optimism. He knew that until Jenny was home safe there was no way he was going to be able to pay the slightest bit of attention to himself and it made him glad to realize that Brackett was right: his partner would be there to back him up, while he was busy backing up his family. Apparently he had a really bad poker face because Johnny seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. "Don't you worry about a thing, Roy. We've all got your back. I'm pretty sure Cap's wife is gonna cook you guys dinner for a year." Roy laughed.
"As long as Mike doesn't send us any spaghetti." Both men snorted and then Johnny went to get himself a cup of coffee when Joanne and Chris arrived. Roy gave his son the same look he'd given his partner earlier. "So, mudballs?" Unlike Johnny, Chris didn't even try to look innocent. He nodded gleefully.
"It was a lot of fun, dad. We got to hear the coyotes and he told me about that time when you threw a snake at Captain Stanley." Roy turned on his partner and gave him a very unfriendly smile.
"Oh did he?" he asked. Johnny grinned back shamelessly and then hid his face behind the plastic coffee cup.
"In my defense," Johnny replied, stifling a grin, "he did bring up the subject first. I just told him the story that went along with it." He put down his coffee and decided to avoid his partner's ire by hiding behind his wife. "So hey Joanne, how did you sleep?" She gave him a look.
"You're not getting out of this one through me, Johnny. If you want to escape I suggest going and getting some breakfast." Johnny saw Roy, still staring at him flatly, and decided that a tactical retreat was indeed the best idea right now.
"Yeah, sound great, I'll be back in a minute, see you guys," he spouted out, hightailing it out of the break room. "I'll bring doughnuts!" he yelled behind him before the door shut. He bounded down to his car, in an oddly good mood. He just felt like this day was going to go well, he felt it in his gut. And his gut was never wrong. At the doughnut shop, to his surprise, he ran into Chief McConnike. "Oh, hey chief!" The chief looked around.
"Ah, Mr. Gage, good morning. Where are you headed to?"
"Just back to the hospital, chief; I was dispatched to bring breakfast for everybody or Roy was gonna kill me. I may have told his son about that time with the snake," he elaborated at the chief's questioning look. McConnike nodded knowingly.
"Yes, I've been told about that. It must have been interesting." Johnny snickered.
"That it was." He knew that, for reasons relating to a burned hat and some at the very least questionable motivations, their chief scared the absolute hell out of Captain Stanley, but Johnny had always quite liked the man.
"So, how is Mr. DeSoto's daughter doing? I heard about her accident."
"She's doing as well as she can right now," Johnny replied. "She hasn't woken up yet but they said that's not too unusual. They should be able to move her up to the pediatric unit tonight."
"Ah, that's great," Chief McConnike replied. "Give him my best, will you? I can't even imagine how worried he must be right now. I'm not sure I could handle my child being in the hospital." The chief had two young daughters of his own and the simple thought of one of them being in Jenny's situation sent a chill down his spine. He got his order and left after the paramedic promised to pass on his thoughts. Johnny gathered up his doughnuts (so what if he bought fourteen and only twelve made it there? Things happened) and left a few minutes later. Yep, today would be a good day. He could feel it in his bones.