"Godzilla and The Smog Monster"
Chapter Thirty-Four
Later that same explosive day…
John Gage groaned and gradually regained consciousness.
His backside was unbelievably sore, from having to lie in that damn bed for so long, and the rest of his muscles ached with fatigue. In short, the fireman felt like he'd just finished pulling a double-shift. Yup! The patient awoke feeling mighty miserable.
That is, until his blinking, bleary eyes focused upon his room's doorway—his room's empty doorway.
His armed guard was gone!
That meant that the 'rat' must also be gone. Right?
The 'hunk a cheese' slowly turned his heavily bandaged head and aimed his hope-filled gaze in his reading roommate's direction.
His buddy glanced up from his book, saw the look and nodded. "He's dead."
Johnny exhaled an audible sigh of relief.
His partner went on to explain how Brice had positively identified Iverson and then alerted their captain to both Iverson's presence and the bomb's. Roy then further related how their captain had neutralized the bomb threat and how Craig had helped hospital security neutralize the killer.
Dr. Paul Kurtz exited Room 600-A and pushed his way into the ICU Ward.
Following his morning 'wrestling match', John Gage had suffered another seizure, and his physician was becoming quite concerned.
The doctor strolled down the deserted hallway, into Room 604 and right up to the foot of his traumatic-brain-injury patient's hospital bed. "Hi, Roy."
"Hi, Doc."
"Hello, John. How are you feeling?"
"Hi, Doc. Much better. Now that I know they got the guy that's been doin' his damnedest to kill me."
"That's understandable."
"Say, Doc, how 'bout movin' me to a regular room?"
"What's wrong with this one?"
The patient pointed to the closed-circuit TV camera that was mounted on the ceiling directly above his bed. "There's no privacy in 'I See You'. A person can't even burp, or fart—or pick their nose—without somebody watching…or listening."
Dr. Kurtz was amused to no end. "You do a lot of 'burping', 'farting' and 'nose-picking', do you?"
"No!" his patient adamantly stated. "At least, no more than the average person. But, what little I do do, I'd like to be able to do it in private."
There was a metal clipboard hanging from a hook on the bed's footboard. Paul picked it up and began perusing its contents. "I'm afraid you're going to have to remain here for awhile. You are not completely out of danger…yet. This latest seizure proves that."
The look of extreme disappointment on the young fireman's face was quickly replaced by one of confusion. "This latest seizure?" John nervously repeated and shot his roommate a questioning glance.
Roy nodded. "You've suffered seizures two mornings in a row, now."
'Sheesh! No wonder my muscles are so sore,' John silently realized, and then asked aloud, "What does that mean—exactly?"
"For one thing, it means that your badly bruised brain needs more time to heal. It also means that, if your lungs can handle it, I'm going to be placing you back under heavy sedation…for the next four to five days—at least."
"Why?"
"Because this whole 'light sedation' approach is obviously not working." The doctor's eyes narrowed into two stern slits. "And because you can't fight your sedative—or your caregivers—when you're in a chemically-induced coma."
His patient looked guilty as charged.
Kurtz's stern gaze softened—some, and he continued. "Fact is, if you hadn't developed a moderate case of aspiration pneumonia, and gone into full respiratory arrest on us, you would be under heavy sedation right now. It was only on account of your acute respiratory distress, that the barbiturates were discontinued."
His patient contemplated that latest bit of news over, and continued to refrain from commenting.
"I've ordered another EEG and a respiratory consult. As soon as I have the results, I'll be back," Paul promised.
Gage managed a glum nod. "Thanks, Doc."
Kurtz flashed the young fireman a sympathetic smile—and then quickly took his leave.
John's surgeon stepped off the elevator and into Emergency Receiving.
Paul was pleasantly surprised to spot a pretty, familiar face. "Dixie!"
"Hi!" Miss McCall returned the handsome young doctor's greeting with a grin. "What brings you down here?"
"Your coffee is better than ours. Can I buy you a cup?"
The nurse nodded, and the two old friends started heading for the Doctors' Lounge.
"I hear you had a bad case of the flu. Welcome back to the land of the living."
"Thanks. And I hear that a very dear friend of mine is a patient of yours."
"Let me guess. The paramedic."
The nurse gave him another nod and her pretty face filled with concern. "How's he doing, Paul?"
Kurtz couldn't help but smile. He knew that Dixie knew such information could only be shared with next of kin, or medical personnel directly involved with the patient's case. "Don't tell me," he teased. "He's your 'brother'. Right?"
The nurse's grin returned and she managed another nod.
"Your fireman friend comes from an exceedingly large family," the doctor deduced and returned the woman's grin. "He survived that psychopath's latest attempt to 'do him in'. But he became pretty agitated," Paul winced, as he recalled the surveillance video he'd just reviewed, showing his traumatic-brain-injury patient embroiled in a battle with his caregivers. "The nurse finally managed to get him sedated. But I'm afraid all that exertion brought about another seizure. I've ordered an EEG and a complete respiratory work-up. If his lungs can handle it, I intend to keep him completely 'zonked out' for the next four to five days, to give 'things' a better chance to heal."
They reached the lounge.
Dixie poured them both some coffee and the pair picked out a table.
"Would it be okay for me to go up and sit with him for a few minutes?" John's worried 'sister' suddenly wondered.
John's doctor smiled and nodded. "He's awake right now, for his lung-function tests. Just try to keep him as calm and as quiet as possible."
"Don't worry. I will," the RN promised.
Fifteen minutes later, up in ICU...
"John Roderick Gage, what am I going to do with you?" Miss McCall insincerely scolded, as she came stepping up to her dear friend's hospital bed.
The paramedic exchanged a mischievous glance with his partner. "I don't know, Dix. What are you going to do with me?"
Dixie was relieved to find that her young fireman friend was on the mend. She could always tell when John Gage was feeling better, because he would begin to flirt with her—again. "Not much, I'm afraid," she flirted right back. "I'm under strict orders to keep you as calm and as quiet as possible."
Johnny waggled his bushy eyebrows a couple of times and his wry grin broadened.
"Sorry I haven't been up to see you sooner. I've been out, almost an entire week, with the flu."
"See-ee," John insincerely scolded back. "I told you you looked sick!…Goo-ood, but sick," the paramedic wisely clarified.
And it was Dixie's turn to grin. The RN's smile quickly faded, however. "My first shift back sure started off with a 'bang'."
Gage suddenly looked equally glum. "Yeah. Well…My whole year started off with a 'bang'."
Dr. David Bentley entered the room just then, closely followed by Samantha Greyling, and saved Dixie from having to comment.
Dr. Bentley was a pulmonologist and Sammi was the respiratory therapist who had loaned Johnny her Sign Language books.
"Hi, Doc. Hi, Sammi," Gage solemnly greeted his latest guests.
"John," Bentley cooly acknowledged, "Dr. Kurtz has asked me to examine your lungs."
Miss Greyling pulled her equipment-filled cart right up beside the patient's hospital bed and warmly returned his greeting. "Hi, Johnny! I spent the Holidays in Acapulco. Just got back last night. I show up for work this morning, only to find out that you are in ICU. Well, I'm gonna do my very best to help get you out of here."
"Thanks. I appreciate that," John assured her. "By the way, I had my first conversation with a deaf person."
"Oh yeah? How'd it go?"
"Not too good, actually. Not too good. In fact, the guy tried to blow my brains out."
"You're kidding!"
"Nope."
His respiratory therapist was enthralled. "What happened?"
"When I signed 'fire'…" the gunshot victim paused for effect, "he did!"
Sammi's eyes about doubled in size and her pert little bottom jaw dropped open.
Roy and Dixie glanced at one another and rolled their eyes.
TBC