Authors Note: I'm not a doctor. I really prefer the soft sciences (psychology, sociology, etc.), so let's just assume for the purpose of this story that I am correct on anything medical that I may mention. Keep in mind that most of my information comes from watching ER, House and other such shows and movies. Thanks to every one who read and responded, it's always apreciated, and also to Ebony 10 for being my beta.
Disclaimer: If they were mine, I would not be spending spring break at home in the desert.
It had been a week since that horrible day that the two police officers had showed up at her office and told her Jane had been in a car accident. The team had been back at work for the past few days, trying to solve cases. It was so much harder without him.
They all went to visit him in the hospital after work. Cho went during his lunch break. He was still reading to him from his niece's book. Rigsby and Van Pelt always seemed to go together, in the morning before work. They were riding in together more and more and, although they said they were just friends, Lisbon was starting to think there was something more to it. Tragedy did tend to bring people closer together.
Lisbon for her part was always the last one to leave at night or, rather, in the morning. After that first night she had stayed there every night. She had asked the nurses not to say anything to the team. Not that she would care if they knew she had been keeping a night time vigil next to his bed, but she didn't want them to know how worried she was about him.
According to Dr. Pike, he was out of the danger zone now. His lungs were healing nicely from the puncture and they were going to try removing the breathing tube today. If he was able to breathe on his own, he would be moved out of the ICU. She was concerned that he hadn't woken up yet. His brain signals were strong so he wasn't brain dead, but she still wanted to know why he wasn't awake.
She had managed to convince the doctors to wait until she got there to take the tube out. She wanted to see in person if it worked. If it did he would be moved to the neurology ward. A neurologist was supposed to be meeting with her tonight as well. She hated that she was the one who had to make all of the decisions about this.
Why hadn't he asked her before making her his next of kin? He probably didn't think they would have to worry about it until they caught up with Red John. She had always thought that he would lose his life in his endless pursuit of Red John, but now she didn't know.
She stood outside Jane's room now. She had left work a little early so that they could remove the tube before the rest of the team got here. She was looking in the window at his prone form on the bed when she heard someone come up beside her.
"Well, Teresa," Dr. Pike said, "This is the day. Are you ready for this?"
She turned and looked at him. Of course she was ready. One less machine hooked up to Jane. "Any time you are, Dr. Pike." She was nervous really. She had no doubt that Jane would be able to do this, but it still made her nervous.
The doctor called over some of the nurses and began gathering the things they would need. Lisbon stood quietly in the corner of his room. She didn't want to be in the way, but she wanted to see what they were doing.
"Alright, Teresa," Dr, Pike narrated for her, "We're going to remove the ventilator, but keep the tube in. We're going to see if he's able to breathe on his own. If he can, we'll probably still keep the breathing tube in for a few more days anyway. We'll keep him off the ventilator more and more each day. We want his lungs to get used to breathing on their own again without putting too much stress on them at first."
"I thought you were actually going to remove the breathing tube today." Maybe she had just misunderstood what he had said.
"We're just doing the necessary test to see if he can be weaned off the ventilator. If this works, he will be moved out of the ICU and, after the next couple of days, he'll be off the ventilator completely."
Lisbon just nodded. She was anxious to see if he would be able breathe. The doctor went to remove the ventilator and she unconsciously held her breath, waiting to see if his lungs would rise and fall on their own. She almost cried when, after a few seconds, she heard him take a raspy breath.
"That's good," Dr. Pike said. "Let's keep him off for a few more minutes just to see how he does. We don't want to cause any unnecessary stress on the rest of his body." He looked over his shoulder at Lisbon standing in the corner and came over to her.
"He seems to be doing ok. We'll keep him in the ICU for the rest of the night. I'll see if we can wait until after your friends come to see him in the morning to move him. When we know what room he's going to be in, I'll call you and let you know. With any luck, he might get a room with a more comfortable chair." He chuckled and Lisbon smiled weakly at him.
"Thank you Dr. Pike, for everything you've done for him. When is the neurologist supposed to be here?"
"He should be here any minute now." As Dr. Pike was saying this, another nurse popped her head into the room and told them that the neurologist was indeed here, waiting to talk with Lisbon.
She walked out of the room, still very nervous. He could breath on his own, but still hadn't woken up. What could that mean? They made quick introductions—the neurologist's name was Dr. Harmer—and went into the private waiting room where they could sit and talk with out everyone around them.
"Tell me the truth, Dr. Harmer. How is he doing?" Lisbon was never one to beat around the bush and she felt that, especially now, she needed to know exactly what his chances were.
"It is a little concerning that he hasn't shown any signs of waking up yet. The tests all show that the swelling in his brain has gone down. His brain function is testing as normal. The only concern we have at this point is that the longer he stays asleep, the greater the risk of brain damage."
This news shocked her. She had never considered that he might have brain damage. She always figured he would just wake up one day and be back to normal—the usual Jane doing mind tricks and being annoying. "He will wake up though, right, doctor?"
"At this point, Miss Lisbon, we don't know." Dr. Harmer reached out and took her hand in his. He was trying to be as comforting as possible.
"Please, call me Teresa." She paused for a minute, trying to come to grips with the information she had just been told. "When will you know?"
"We'll do some more tests in the morning when we move him. Until then, try not to worry. Go home get some sleep. Let us worry about him for the night."
"Thank you for the suggestion doctor." She made no move to get up so Dr. Harmer did instead.
"We'll see you in the morning if you can make it in. If not, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon." He shook her hand and left.
Lisbon sat in the same spot for what seemed like hours, but was in reality just a few minutes. Her eyes felt raw from trying not to cry and she had a lump in her throat the size of a golf ball. She didn't want to go out and face the rest of the team like this. There was no doubt that they had gotten here by now. They knew that today was the day they were going to try to remove the breathing tube. She had told them all this morning. So she just sat there. They would all go home eventually and she would see them all at work the next day. She could give them the news then.
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Rigsby, Cho and Van Pelt were all riding up in the elevator together. They knew Lisbon had left early to come to the hospital to be with Jane when they tried to take the breathing tube out. They chatted quietly about work. Rigsby teased Cho for reading Jane a "chick" book. They were all just trying to not think about what was going on in his room right now.
When they got to the right floor, they slowly made their way to Jane's room. They had made this trek so many times in the last week and, for the first time, they were all apprehensive about it. They got to his room and noticed the nurses still inside.
"Hey, look at that," said Rigsby with a slight chuckle.
Van Pelt stared into the room and said with a note of awe "He's breathing."