As she went through her medical books in the other room, she only feared more that her diagnosis was correct, she had seen other cases. Seeing that her patient was still asleep, she pulled up another chair from the hall and set facing Hannibal, as BA and Murdock pulled their chairs to face her as well.
"We need to do a lumbar puncture, gentlemen. I am sure you are all aware that this is a painful procedure, but as you know, I pulled blood earlier and it has only strengthened my suspicions of what we are dealing with. A lumbar puncture will confirm my findings and then we may begin the treatment process. I believe Face has Meningococcal disease, a form of meningitis. This is a very serious disease that we will need to began fighting right away. I have no reason to believe that Face will not beat this, he is young and otherwise healthy. The recovery period will be long and the disease brings with it serious lifelong complications." Maggie could not yet bring herself to say what she needed to.
Hannibal looked at her for a moment, she could see him trying to form the question he was afraid to speak. Finally, he cleared his throat and spoke, quietly looking at the young man lying in the bed, making sure he was still asleep.
"Maggie, what does this mean? Are you saying Face may not get his sight back?"...Hannibal's voice had taken on a pleading tone,
something not often heard out of the Colonel.
"If it is Meningococcal disease, then Face will most likely be permanently blind, I am sorry."..Maggie stumbled through her words, watching as Murdock got up and went to the bed, and began to rub the foot under the covers. BA turned and began to walk out of the room, but Hannibal grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back, then looked Maggie in the eye.
"You said complications, what else could we be dealing with here, Maggie?"
"Hannibal, we do not have a certain diagnosis until we do the lumbar puncture, so let's stop getting ahead of ourselves."
He just looked at her with the tortured eyes of a worried father, and said "Please, Maggie".
She nodded in understanding and stated the other possible complications.
"Meningococcal disease causes neurological damage, such as the blindness, also deafness and brain damage. It can cause Paralysis and limb amputation. Kidney damage." Seeing panic about to set into the three men, she quickly reminded them that the lieutenant was moving his limbs when they brought him inside and that he was obviously able to hear.
"He may have some hearing loss, guys, but we do know that he could hear us talking to him. He was understandably frightened and confused, but he knew who we were and seemed to understand what was said to him, as of this point I have not seen any signs of brain damage, this may change in the form of memory loss or some other symptom as he wakes up and becomes more coherent. We can only wait and see, but I am optimistic that if any brain damage has occurred that it will be minimal. I have not yet gotten blood tests results to test kidney fuction, so there is still a possibility that he will have problems there. But, right now, we need to think of the present, and move from there. I am sure that you are all willing to love and keep Face with you if he is permanently blind or has any other kind of disability, as long as he is alive. That needs to be our first priority and we can deal with the rest later. Okay?"
She watched as all three men nodded. Murdock, still standing and rubbing the foot, looked tenderly at his fallen friend a moment and then spoke up.
"So, let's do the Spinal Tap."
Maggie gave him a gentle smile and walked towards the bed.
She decided it best to wake Face before beginning, as the procedure was rather painful and she didn't want the pain to be what caused him to awaken.
She put her hands on his shoulder and spoke to him softly, finally rousing him enough to explain what she was going to do. She was pleased to see him nod his head in understanding, noting that this was more reason to believe he sustained little or no brain damage. Now that he was here for treatment, she could stop any forthcoming complications.
"Okay, ready Face?" Again, he nodded.
"The guys are going to roll you onto your side and hold you there, they've got you and you won't fall. Then I am going to bend your legs and hips, and we're going to bend your neck a little forward.". She explained everything as they were doing it, trying to put her patient as at ease as possible.
Once they had him in the proper position, with Hannibal and BA holding him still, and Maggie had injected the numbing medication, she warned Face of the upcoming pain and let him get a good grip on Murdock's hand. She then inserted the needed which would collect the fluid she needed to get a verification of her diagnosis. She felt Face's body tense immensely, felt him give a slight jerk.
It was over in less than 10 minutes, but it seemed longer to everyone involved.
Maggie applied a bandage to the small wound.
"All done Face"
"You guys can help him roll back over, and we'll get him comfortable."
Face promptly fell back asleep, which Maggie explained was expected due to his condition and the medication he was taking.
One, two, or all three of the guys stayed in the room with the lieutenant at all times, never leaving him to wake up alone.
He was groggy from medication and often confused when he awoke, but he always seemed aware. This relieved the guys and gave them hope that brain damage was not going to be an issue.
At one point, Face awoke when Hannibal was setting with him. It never failed that he would immediately begin reaching for human contact when he first awoke, and someone was always there to provide that contact. Like all other times, Face found Hannibal's hand.
"Am I going to get my sight back, Hannibal?". The Colonel had to bend his head down to hear the strained, quiet words.
He saw no sense in lying, so he told the truth as he knew it.
"I don't know Face, that's what the lumbar puncture was done for. I think Maggie will be able to give us an answer to that question when she gets the results back, which should be anytime she said."
He squeezed the hand in his own as he spoke, trying to transfer his strength into that of his lieutenant.
"What if it's permanent, Hannibal? I can't stay with you guys and drag you down."
Hannibal's voice rose at this.
"You listen to me, Kid. We're not going to leave you, you will always be part of us and will be with us. I don't care if we have to carry you from mission to mission. There is no way that any of us would ever dream of leaving you behind. We'll work it out kid, no matter what. I know we never talk about it, but we are family, we love you and you don't leave a family member behind when they fall, you pick them back up and keep them closer to you."
Hannibal watched as a lone tear escaped from an eye that looked bright and full of life. There was no sign that it was now useless.
Face's voice was below a whisper now, the drugs taking full effect as he was losing his battle to stay awake.
"Thank You, Hannibal."
"Go to sleep, kid. Someone will always be here when you wake up."
He watched as the eyes slowly closed.
Maggie had given them all the vaccine earlier, to protect anyone else from picking up the disease. They were just waiting for the final results. As he was setting here thinking of this, keeping his hand on the leg of his lieutenant, worry present in his every thought, Maggie walked through the door and confirmed that her previous diagnosis was correct. The results were back.
This surprised noone, so Hannibal simply asked "What now?".
"We've already got him on heavy antibiotics, the fever is constantly getting lower. He is waking up and is becoming more coherent when he does wake up. There is no evidence of brain swelling and only one seizure. He's going to pull through, Hannibal.
I have some bad news in regards to the kidney test. There is some damage there. We will just have to wait and see how severe it is. He may be okay without any further treatment, we'll just have to watch it."
Hannibal could accept this and nodded his head in agreement.
"We will do a hearing test in a day or two. I know he has some hearing, but it is possible that he developed some hearing loss. I also am confident that if any brain damage occurred that it is minor. He may have persistent headaches, he may have seizures, and so on. This is not a case in which I can give you a list of complications that may arise. We will just have to wait and see, and deal with each problem as it arises.
"His sight will not return? There is no chance?". This was said as more of a statement than a question, but Maggie felt the need to respond anyhow.
"No Hannibal, the damage done is non repairable."
The Colonel looked at Face and then at the floor. Then he looked up and thanked Maggie, got up and walked to Face's head, running his hand through his hair,
then proceeded to walk outside to find his other two men. He would have to tell them the news. They would have to began to figure out a way in which to stay on the run, doing missions while keeping Face safe and still involved. It would be hard, they would do it though, of that he had no doubt. Face was still with them, that was more important than any other struggle that lay ahead of them.