Luckily, the youngest Maverick slept for the rest of the night without trouble, and woke on his fifth day in the hospital vowing to himself that he was going to get out of bed that day no matter what anyone said.
Bret saw something in his brother's face that hadn't been there the day before. "Are you all right?" he asked.
Bart nodded. "I'm getting up today."
Bret said nothing at first. It was the strongest that Bart had sounded all week, and he knew how much Bart hated lying in bed for so long. "I'm not sure about that," he said, picking up Bart's wrist to feel his pulse.
"I am," Bart replied.
Bart's pulse wasn't bad, giving only one extra beat after ten seconds. Bret couldn't help but smile.
Bart smiled back.
"Not until we ask the doctor," said Bret, putting his arm back down. "We're talking about your heart, for goodness sake."
Bart nodded. He understood, even though he was itching to get up.
Bret studied him for a minute. Bart seemed to be breathing normally, finally, and he suddenly got eager to see what would happen when Bart did get up. Was it possible that he was fine? An extra heartbeat every once in a while didn't seem like enough to cause harm.
Beau came in a few minutes later with breakfast and they all ate. Both Bret and Beau stared at Bart the whole time, glad to see that he no longer seemed exhausted. In actuality, he looked nearly normal.
Less than an hour later, the doctor came in and was pleased to see the state of his patient.
"I wanna get up," Bart said, after the doctor finished listening to his heart and lungs.
The doctor was hesitant. "After five days, I would assume that most—if not all—of the chloroform is out of your blood, but I think you still need to rest. The effect it had on your heart and lungs was severe."
Bart sighed before catching himself. It made him slightly dizzy, but he didn't show it. "Please?" he said, resorting to begging. "I can rest in a chair."
The doctor noticed that he spoke a whole sentence without losing his breath, so he reconsidered. "Fine...we'll try getting you to a chair."
Bart's eyebrows shot up, having expected him to refuse.
Bret and Beau both stood as the doctor went to fetch a robe and slippers from the closet.
Bart was already reclined sitting up, and he pushed the covers back when the doctor returned.
Bret helped his brother with the robe and slippers, and he and Beau both held onto him as Bart stood up. They had to tighten their grip when dizziness struck him, and though it was expected, it made both of them nervous.
Bart blinked his eyes against his swirling vision. His heartbeat and breathing sped up, and he failed in trying not to show it. Whatever strength he'd been regaining seemed to instantly desert him and he swayed.
The doctor was suddenly in front of him, placing his fingers to the pulse in his neck. "Keep him standing," he said to the other two Mavericks when they moved to sit him back down.
They nervously obeyed.
Bart closed his eyes, fighting to control his breathing. He could feel his heart beating faster.
"Put him in the chair," the doctor said.
Bret and Beau quickly obeyed, practically dragging him over and gently lowering him into it. Bret made sure that Beau didn't let go of Bart before he grabbed the bucket of oxygen.
Feeling faint, Bart slumped there bonelessly, catching his breath while his cousin held onto him and the doctor took his wrist to feel his pulse.
"Doc?" said Bret, sounding scared as he waved the oxygen at his brother.
"He'll be all right in a minute," the doctor said.
Everyone watched Bart as his breathing slowed down. The doctor eventually let go of his patient's wrist. "That wasn't as bad as it could've been."
Bret and Beau looked at the doctor as if he was insane. "What?" they both said.
"This is the first time he's been up in five days, after suffering what was essentially an injury to his heart," said the doctor. "This was bound to happen. His heartbeat was fast and doing extra beats, but the rhythm didn't revert back to that spastic pattern."
No one was more relieved than Bart to hear that.
"That's why I didn't let you sit him back down," said the doctor. "I needed to know if remaining upright would make it worse."
Bret nodded, still waving the oxygen.
"Can you do without that?" the doctor asked Bart, pointing at it.
Bart's breathing was still fast, but he sensed that the doctor wanted him to say 'yes', so he nodded.
Bret reluctantly put it away, remembering the doctor's words that Bart needed to get used to breathing without it.
"How do you feel?" the doctor asked Bart.
Bart slowly took a deep breath. It didn't quite go all the way down. "Shaky," he admitted.
The doctor nodded. "No doubt." He grabbed the other chair and brought it over, placing it in front of Bart and lifting his legs up on it before grabbing the blanket off the bed and covering him with it.
Bret grabbed a pillow and put it behind Bart's back and head.
"Now I don't want you to get up," the doctor told him. "Unless I'm here." He looked at Bret and Beau. "If he wants to go back to bed, have someone fetch me first. I need to see what happens when he gets up again."
They both nodded.
The doctor patted Bart's shoulder. "I'll be back," he said, before leaving.
Bret and Beau stared at Bart, silently. Bart knew that they were looking for any sign that he needed the oxygen again. He fought the urge to say 'boo!
At the same time, as if they planned it, Bret and Beau both reached out and grabbed one of Bart's wrists to feel his pulse for themselves.
Bart nearly sighed, but caught himself. "I'm all right."
Both of the other Mavericks were relieved to see that his pulse was normal but for a couple of extra beats, and they let him have his arms back.
"I thought..." Bret said, before stopping, as if he hadn't meant to speak.
Bart knew what the rest of the words were going to be. "I'm not gonna die," he said. He thought to how scared Bret and Beau must've been, probably thinking that he was going to drop dead right there. "Sorry," he said.
They both made a face at him, since they didn't know what he was thinking. All they knew was that 'sorry' shouldn't come after 'I'm not gonna die'.
It took Bart a second to understand the reason for their expressions, and he rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Sorry for scaring you. I want out."
"I'm sure," said Bret. "Five days in here is a long time."
"But if you go too fast, cousin, you'll only lengthen your stay," Beau told him.
Bart nodded. He sure didn't want to do that.
"So was it worth getting up?" Bret asked.
That was debatable. Bart wasn't sure how to answer that, but he nodded anyway.
"Comfortable?" Beau asked.
Bart hesitated. "Um," he said.
Like a shot, both Bret and Beau stood and helped him shift his position.
"Better?" Bret asked, tucking the blanket around him.
"Much," Bart said. "Just one thing?"
"Yes?" they both said.
"Carry everything to the window?" he said, indicating himself and the chairs.
Bret and Beau both laughed.
Bart stayed in the chair for as long as he could, enjoying the chance to be out of bed for the first time in five days. When the doctor came back and found him still in it, he was relieved that the other two Mavericks hadn't disobeyed him and put him back to bed themselves. "How are you feeling?" the doctor asked, taking his wrist to check his pulse.
"Fine," Bart said.
"No problems?" the doctor asked the other two.
They both shook their heads. "At least, none that he told us about," said Bret.
The doctor felt nothing amiss with Bart's pulse but the same stubborn extra beats. "Ready to get back in bed?" he asked.
Bart enjoyed being out of it, but the hard chair wasn't as comfortable as the mattress, so he nodded.
The doctor removed the blanket and lifted Bart's legs off the other chair, and Bret and Beau got on either side of him, gently helping him stand.
Bart's breathing increased when his heartbeat did, but it wasn't as overwhelming as it had been the first time. He felt their grips on his arms tighten as they held him up.
The doctor felt the pulse in his wrist again, feeling no issues other than a couple of extra beats. "Walk him to the bed, slowly."
They obeyed, moving forward with Bart as he took each shaky step. He did all right with their help, and a moment later was back in bed, his breathing fast, but controlled.
Bret and Beau couldn't conceal their relief.
The doctor kept his fingers on Bart's pulse, before nodding and letting go. "Much better," he said. "Aside from the expected extra beats, your pulse was fine."
"Are those extra beats dangerous?" said Bret. "Will his heart stop doing that?"
"Hard to say," said the doctor. "There are plenty of people whose hearts have done that all their lives and they're fine, but since his is doing it because of exposure to a harmful drug, it's not something that we can just ignore."
Bart didn't want to hear that.
"It could go away," said the doctor. "Especially since most of it already has. You both felt how his pulse was the first day…it's nothing like that now. For all we know, the extra beats could disappear in the next few days."
All three Mavericks certainly hoped so.
Bart suddenly gave a little cough, still catching his breath.
Bret poured him a glass of water and handed it to him, taking the glass back when he was finished. "You all right?" he asked.
Bart succeeded in taking a deeper breath, and nodded with a smile. Considering the seriousness of his situation, he was satisfied with the progress that he'd made that day. If he was lucky, maybe he'd be out of the hospital by the weekend…
TBC