Chapter 52: The Waiting Game

Rae gave everyone places that Jimmy liked to hang out and they all split up to look for him. Olivia called police stations and Rae called hospitals to check if Jimmy had been brought in to either one but they didn't have any luck. After an hour and a half, a lot of searching and a lot of phone calls, everyone gathered at Rae's apartment. Rae was pacing in front of the coffee table trying to think of anyone else she could call or anywhere else she could go to find Jimmy but she couldn't think of anything. Olivia was sitting on the couch watching her girlfriend drive herself crazy trying to think of where her brother could be.

"Araeyah, why don't you come sit down? You're gonna wear yourself out" she said trying to get her to sit down and relax for a minute. Rae ignored her and continued to pace around the living room. She stopped and picked up her phone and dialed another number. She talked to someone for a minute before hanging up. She resisted the urge to throw her phone in anger and instead chose to place it back down on the table. She stood still for a moment while everyone watched her, not knowing what to do next. When she started pacing again, Olivia got up from the couch and walked over to stand in front of Rae. Without any prompting from Olivia, Araeyah walked into her and wrapped her arms around her waist. She laid her head down on her chest and let the sound of her heartbeat calm her down. Olivia rubbed circles on her back, just the way she liked. They didn't care that everyone was staring at them. Right now, it was just the two of them; no one else existed. The sound of Rae's phone ringing interrupted the silence. She quickly pulled away from Olivia and grabbed her phone, looking at the caller id. She didn't recognize the number but quickly answered in case it was Jimmy.

"Hello" she said into the speaker. "Yes, this is she". Everyone listened to Rae silently for some clue as to whether the call was about her brother. "Yes, I did. He's my brother. Is he there?" Rae grabbed her coat and started to put it on while she was still on the phone. "Yes, of course. I'm on my way" she hung up the phone and grabbed her wallet. "That was Bellevue. Jimmy was just brought in". Everyone started to put their coats on to accompany Rae to the hospital. "Look, I really appreciate all of you helping me look for my brother, but it's really late. You all should go home and ge..."

"Don't worry about it. We're good" Fin said cutting Rae off. "Yeah, we're good to stick around for at least a couple more hours. Hell maybe more than that if the hospital has our kind of coffee" Munch said getting a laugh from everyone. Rae smiled, "Thanks". Everyone nodded and continued to gather their things, heading for the door. When they arrived at the hospital, Rae rushed inside and went to the front desk to ask about Jimmy. They gave her a hard time because she was young and clearly not his parent.

"I don't understand. I'm the one who called looking for him. You called me back and told me that he was brought in. Now, I'm here and you're telling me that you can't give me any information about him?" Rae asked angrily.

"I'm sorry, miss, but we can't give any information to minors. Now you can call his parents and get them..."

"If he had parents that cared about him they'd be here! I'm the only parent he knows!" Rae yelled stopping the nurse mid-sentence. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. "I'm sorry. I know you're just doing your job. Listen, I'm not a minor, ok. I'm eighteen and I take care of my brother. I've taken care of him since he was eight years old. Please, can you just tell me how he is?" she asked desperately. The nurse looked sympathetic to her and Rae hated it but if it would get the woman to tell her about Jimmy she'd hate it a little less.

"I'll go get the doctor for you" she said before turning and walking away. Rae took off her coat and started to pace around the waiting room. She was stopped by a hand on her arm. "Come on, sit down", Olivia said pulling down to the chair next to her. They all sat and waited together. Rae thought about calling her mom and Charles but decided not to. It's not like they'd care anyway. She waited for what felt like forever but in reality was only about ten minutes.

"Family for James Caston". Rae looked up and a tall man in blue scrubs standing there. She stood up and walked over to him. Olivia followed behind her with a little distance between them for privacy. Everyone else sat patiently waiting, silently supporting her.

"Yeah. I'm his sister, Araeyah" she said shaking the doctor's hand. "Dr. McMillian" he said returning Rae's handshake. "Is he ok?" she asked nervously.

"You're brother had high levels of cocaine in his system. He was beaten and then left out in the cold in shorts and a t shirt. Unfortunately the drugs, along with the beating and the cold did a number on his heart". Rae let out a loud sigh and ran her hands through her hair. "Let me explain better, the dr..."

"Yeah, I know. Cocaine is a stimulate, increases heart rate, as does the fight or flight response from being attacked and the heart rate naturally rises to combat cold temperatures" she said quickly. The doctor looked both surprised and impressed by Rae's knowledge. "I'm starting pre-med next week" she explained receiving an understanding nod from the man. "It also doesn't help that he's an addict" he said continuing his explanation of Jimmy's condition. "There was already some damage to his heart from chronic drug use so all the stress at once, it was overwhelming for him. As I'm sure you know, the drugs also cause a rise in body temperature, however, we're helping the process along with warm saline and heating blankets. We'll be monitoring him closely to ensure he doesn't overheat. He had a seizure when he first came in and we lost him for a couple of minutes but we were able to stabilize him. He's on a ventilator for now. We're working to keep his heart at a consistent and acceptable rate. All of his scans were clear of any internal injuries so that's a plus but he has a couple fractured ribs and he'll need surgery to set his wrist. We'll be taking him to the OR shortly". He finished explaining everything to Rae and then waited silently in case she wanted to say anything or ask questions.

"When..." Rae paused as tears threatened to escape her eyes. She took and deep breath and let it go slowly. "When will I be able to see him?" she asked.

"As soon as he's out of surgery and moved to a recovery room. You can go on up to the third floor and wait. I'll have a nurse come and get you when he's settled into a room" the doctor said. Rae gave a small smile, "Thank you" she said softly. Dr. McMillian turned and disappeared around the corner. Rae stood there frozen, thinking about everything the doctor had said. "Rae...honey let's go sit down" Olivia said from behind her. Rae was stuck in a trance and just stood there as if Olivia hadn't said anything. Olivia touched her lightly on the shoulder, getting her attention, "Let's sit down" she said again. She took Rae's hand and tried to lead her over to the chairs where everyone else was waiting. "No, he said to go up to the third floor" she said softly. So they all gathered their things and took the elevator up to the OR waiting room.

They all sat silently for awhile, each one having the occasional glance at Rae. She was shifting in her seat every thirty seconds and she couldn't stop her leg from shaking. She wouldn't be able to relax until she was able to see for herself that Jimmy was ok.

"Uh, Rae", Ashley said breaking the silence, "do you think maybe you should...call your parents?" she asked hesitantly. She didn't want to upset Rae but it just made sense that her parents should be there.

"Why, Ashley? You heard what Charles said. He doesn't care about Jimmy. He never has and he never will" she said leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. "But he's his father. I mean, shouldn't he at least know what's going on?" Rae looked up at Ashley, "You want him to know so badly then you call him" she snapped. She grabbed her coat and walked towards the stairs, taking them down to a side exit of the hospital to get some fresh air. Olivia gave Ashley a sympathetic look before grabbing her coat and running after Rae. Nobody knew what to say so they continued to sit in silence and wait for Rae and Olivia to come back. After about fifteen minutes, Rae and Olivia walked back into the waiting room. Rae went over to Ashley and apologized for losing her cool and of course Ashley accepted.

An hour had gone by and no one had come out to get Rae so she could go see her brother. It was five thirty in the morning and they were still just waiting. They'd managed to start a light conversation with a little bit of laughter, just trying to keep spirits up. They'd had all the coffee they could handle and were now just holding onto the hot cups to keep their hands warm. Rae looked at the time and decided that she couldn't let them stay with her any longer.

"I really appreciate all of you staying with me this whole time but you should really go home now. No matter what you say I know that you're all tired. You all should go home and get some rest" she said sounding exhausted herself. Everyone looked around at each other and nobody made a move to get up and leave. "Come on guys, really." Rae said, "Go home, sleep, eat, shower, do whatever you need to do. Go to work or don't go to work, I don't care, but don't come back here. I can call if I need any one of you" she finished. Fin was the first to stand up and start putting his coat on. Sometimes when a person asks you to leave, you just have to suck it up and go. Everyone else followed his lead, throwing away their coffee cups, putting on their coats, saying their last goodbyes, and heading for the elevator. Olivia was the only one who stayed put. Rae looked over and saw that she hadn't moved.

"Hey, you too" she said nudging Olivia's knee with her own. "Go home, sleep for awhile. There's nothing you can do here".

"I can be with you" she said softly. "I'm not leaving you here alone". Rae decided not to argue with her. She leaned over and rested her head on Olivia's shoulder. Ten minutes later, a nurse called out for Jimmy's family and told her that she could come and see her brother now. She tried to get her to allow Liv to come with her but she was adamant that only family was allowed. "Hospital policy" she said. Olivia told her to go and that she'd stay and wait for her, no matter how long she took. The nurse escorted Rae back to Jimmy's room and ushered her inside, telling her the doctor would be in shortly to talk to her, then left and closed the door behind her. Rae walked over to the bed and looked at her brother's condition. She looked at the tube going down his throat, saw the probs on his chest and the clamp on his finger, the IV in his right arm. The sound of monitors beeping and the slow hiss of the ventilator filled the otherwise silent room. His left wrist was surrounded by a metal frame with rods going into his skin, holding the bones together. His face was bruised and his lips were still slightly blue, a hint of purple. Despite all of it, he looked to be peacefully sleeping, void of any worry or pain. For that, she was thankful.

There was a light knock on the door before it opened and a doctor walked in. She quietly came over and stood on the other side of the bed. She watched silently as Rae just stood there staring at her brother. After a minute of silence and no acknowledgement of her presence on Rae's part, she spoke up.

"Hello" she said quietly as if she was going to disturb Jimmy's rest. "I'm Dr. Page. I operated on your brother and I'll be overseeing him while he's in post-op recovery". Araeyah finally took her eyes off of Jimmy and looked at the doctor. "Do you have a sister?" she asked. The question seemed random to the doctor and a look of confusion came over her face. "Yes, I do" she answered. Rae smiled and looked down at Jimmy again. "You look a lot like her. She was my calculus teacher. Araeyah Caston" she said looking back at the doctor and reaching across the bed to shake her hand. "My sister told me about you, how bright you are and how excited she is that she'll be working with you next semester" Dr. Page said back, taking Rae's hand and shaking it. "Yeah, well she's a great teacher".

"Yes, she is. And from what I hear you are going to be quite the doctor" she said. Rae shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe" she said sadly looking down at her brother. "How's he doing?" she asked.

"He's stable. The drugs are completely out his system, his heart is beating normally, his temperature looks great, and his wrist should heal very nicely" she said. "He had a little hiccup during surgery. His temperature spiked but we were able to reverse it with cooling blankets. He's doing very well now". Rae nodded and reached her hand up to smooth Jimmy's hair. "If I may ask, where are your parents?"

"They're...home" she said simply. "They're not very involved" she said giving a bit more information. "I see" Dr. Page said. "Well, it's good he has you. He'll need all the support he can get. Your brother's heart is damaged from chronic drug use and if I can be frank..." she paused waiting for Rae to tell her to continue. Rae looked over at her and nodded, "I don't think he'll be able to survive another episode like this. His life depends on him getting clean and staying that way". Rae nodded again, "I understand" she said. Dr. Page smiled and let out a sigh, "You can stay for as long as you need. Depending on his vitals, he may be off the ventilator by tonight, definitely by tomorrow morning if he continues to do this well. Then he'll be moved upstairs for more monitoring. If he remains in this stable condition, you should be able to take him home by Thursday evening, Friday morning at the latest".

"Thank you" Rae said giving Dr. Page a small smile. "If you need anything you can push the button for a nurse or if you have any questions ask a nurse to page me. I'll be here all day". She walked out of the room, leaving Rae alone with Jimmy. She pulled up a chair, sat down and continued to watch him as he slept peacefully in bed.