Disclaimer: The Night Shift is property of NBC and all respective cast, crew , and employees. I am not making a profit off this. This is simply for fancition enjoyment.
Summary: What if Topher's surgery had turned out differently? How one moment in time changes everything.
Rating: PG-13
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"You've got to stop these daredevil stunts."
"I wasn't doing any stunts. I was just climbing a tree."
Topher pulled back the curtain of Area 4. Immediately, his eyes were drawn to the young patient: a fourteen-year-old paraplegic boy. The boy and his parents stared back at Topher.
"H-Hi," Topher stammered, breaking the silence, "I'm Dr. Zia."
He faced the boy, "But you could call me Topher. What seems to be the problem?"
The boy's mother gestured with her head, "Brian here, was trying to climb a tree, even though I told him not to. He fell and hit his head."
Topher nodded and began examining Brian. For the first time, Topher did not have to use his ramp. He could easily reach his patient without assistance from devices.
"I can still move my arms like before," Brian said, "I'm fine."
"You should've have been out there," Brian's mother countered.
"I was just playing with Jack," Brian replied, looking at Topher, "my younger brother. He climbed up the tree and bet I couldn't follow him. I couldn't let him get away, could I?"
"Of course not," Topher grinned, "and I'd say you won that bet."
"I'm not so sure about that," Brian's father spoke, "Jack stayed in the tree but you didn't. Why do you think that is?"
Brian let out an exasperated breath.
"Because I'm paralyzed," Brian said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Topher looked from Brian to his parents and sighed. He moved away from his patient and towards the parents.
"Can I speak to you outside for a minute?"
As soon as they were down the hall, Topher spoke again.
"You need to stop telling Brian what he can and can't do."
"What?" Brian's mother was taken aback.
"Within reason," Topher continued, "as long as he's not doing anything dangerous, let Brian be who he is,"
"But he was doing something dangerous, he was..."
"climbing a tree," Topher finished for him.
Brian's father opened his mouth, but Topher continued on.
"Jack isn't paralyzed, is he?"
Brian's father shook his head.
"And did you tell Jack that he couldn't climb the tree?"
Brian's parents exchanged glances.
"May I ask how Brian was paralyzed?"
"He's always been fearless," Brian's mother said, "when he was eleven, he and his friend were playing Frisbee in the backyard, Well, his friend threw it too far and it landed on the roof. Instead of telling one of us, Brian got a ladder out of the garage himself and went onto the roof. As he was getting the Frisbee, he slipped and landed on his back on the concrete below."
"Our lives haven't been the same since." Brian's father said.
Topher silently absorbed this.
"I understand that you want to protect him from any further harm," he explained, "but you should be glad that he's not moping around, feeling sorry for himself."
Topher met both parents in the eyes.
"Look, what he can do has been severely restricted, and he is going to hold onto any ounce of freedom that he can... Don't take that away from him."
With that, Topher returned to the examining room, while Brian's parents looked at one another.
"We just want to be completely sure everything's okay," Topher said to Brian. He followed Brian as they made their way to the CT room. An orderly led the way. She was supposed to push Brian in his wheelchair, but Brian insisted that he could maneuver on his own.
"What if there is something wrong?" Brian asked as he wheeled into the CT room.
Topher hung back. His mind flashed back to the last time he was in this room. The fear from being held hostage. The horror of seeing Dwayne being shot in cold blood. The searing pain in his stomach as the bullet tore through his body. The taste of his own blood as he struggled to breathe, collapsing to the floor. How surreal it was, hearing his colleagues assure him that they'd take care of him while he was unable to respond.
"Topher?" Brian said, "Yo, Topher?" he waved his hand in front of Topher's face as the doctor stared straight ahead.
Topher shook out of his revere.
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"I'm, fine...uh... .like I said, we just want to make sure things are okay."
"What if things are not okay?"
"We'll deal with it," Topher explained, "but let's just get the scans first."
As the orderly lifted Brian into the bed that would slide into the CT scanner, Brian spoke with a shaky voice, "S-so... uh how did you end up in a wheelchair? You tick off a drug dealer?"
Topher laughed, "Nope, but I did get shot."
"We're you scared?"
"Yeah... but it's okay to be scared."
Topher noticed that Brian's hands began to shake.
"Hey," Topher said gently, putting his hands onto Brian's, "it's okay. You're going to be fine. If there is something wrong, and that's a big if, we'll tackle it, okay?"
Brian nodded, swallowing hard.
Topher looked away, at the exact spot where he was shot.
"Y-you're gonna be here, right?" Brian asked shakily.
Topher forced himself to look back towards Brian. He couldn't afford to be distracted. Not now.
"I'll be right in the next room," Topher assured Brian, "I'm not going anywhere."
"CT scans are clear," Topher announced to Brian's parents back in the examining room, "he's perfectly fine, other than a small bump on his head. He's free to go home."
"Thank you doctor," Brian's mother said.
"Can we still go still camping next week?" Brian asked, "I heard they have horseback riding next to the campsite."
For a moment, Brian's father cringed, but he glanced at Topher and winked, "As long as I get to ride first."
"Yes!"
"Hey Brian," Topher said, "betcha can't beat me in a race down the hallway."
"You're on!"
Moments later, Toper and Brian were pushing their wheelchairs as fast as they could go.
"Hey!" Ragosa jumped back, nearly stepping into the path of the racing Brian. The papers he was carrying were sent flying with Brian laughing in his wake. Brian beat Topher by just a hair.
Moments later, Topher was signing Brian's discharge papers.
"Thank you again," Brian's father shook Topher's hand.
"My pleasure."
As Topher watched Brian and his family leave, he passed in front of the darkened physical therapy room. A silhouette caught his eye. He slowly approached the shadow in the dark.
"Gabe?" he said as he recognized the person sitting in front.
"Hey," Gabe said, barely acknowledging his friend.
"What're you doing here? You okay?"
"What's the use?" Gabe said to no one in particular, "I've been doing physical therapy for months on end and I haven't made any progress."
Topher hung his head, thinking about what Gabe wasn't saying; what he just said applied to both of them.
"I'm sorry," he said softly not knowing what else to say.
"I've been thinking about it too," Topher said quietly, "how much I want to walk again. I want to be able to run. I want to be able play tag with my kids. There's so many things I want to do again, but can't.
"Then after a while, I realize how much time I've wasted focusing on things I can't do and what I can't have. If I'm just thankful for what I do have, maybe life would be a little easier."
Gabe raised his eyes at Topher.
"You know how ridiculously corny that is, right?"
Topher finally laughed, "I'm serious. You should try it sometime. Hey, no more searching forever for a parking space. We can just take an empty handicapped spot."
"Oh geez," Gabe muttered to himself. He grabbed a soft physical therapy ball and threw it at Topher.
Topher threw it right back at him. Gabe, not expecting the return, fumbled the ball in his hands and it dropped to his feet. Where, ever so slightly, his right foot moved.
Topher and Gabe stared at one another. Quickly, Topher wheeled to the front of the room and turned the light switch on.
"Do it again."
Concentrating hard, Gabe looked down at his feet... and they moved. Ever so slightly, both feet moved about two inches.
"Ha ha!" Gabe raised his fists in the air.
"You know what this means, right?" Topher said excitedly.
"I'm gonna walk again!" Gabe shouted in victory.
Topher and Gabe high-fived and patted each other strongly on the back.
Two months later, Topher was arriving home from another night shift. His car had finally been fitted with hand accelerators and breaks so he could drive again.
As he entered his house, his cellphone rang.
"Hey Toph."
"Gabe! What's up?"
"I'm, ah, having a barbeque next Saturday and was wondering if you and your family would like to come."
Topher relayed the information to Janet, who had just given the twins their bottles.
"Sure, we'd love to go," Topher said after hearing Janet's affirmative response, "what's the occasion?"
"It's ah, to celebrate the return of my full mobility... I hope you don't mind."
"Why would I mind?"
A moment's hesitation passed before Gabe spoke again, "I didn't want to rub it in your face seeing as how I can wal-"
"Seeing as how you're bigger, stronger, and more handsome than me?"
Gabe chuckled.
"No, really, I'm so happy for you," Topher's sincerity could be heard through the phone.
After a few minutes of catching up, Topher ended the conversation with, "I have to go now, I'm going to play tag with my daughter."
After hanging up the phone, he headed straight for the backyard where Lynn was reading a book. Just a few moments later, the two were chasing each other on the pavement. Topher would tag Lynn with a giant foam hand, enabling him to reach her without running her over with his wheelchair. Lynn would then take the foam hand and try to tag her father after giving him a few second's head start.
"Lynn?" Topher spoke after the two had worn each other out, "Do me a favor... if life puts roadblocks in your way..."
"Go around them and find your way back home." Lynn finished the sentence happily, having heard what her father said before.
"That's my girl."
"While the two embraced, from inside the house, Janet placed the twins on the couch facing the sliding door to the backyard.
"You see your Daddy?" she whispered, "You don't have anything to worry about. He's going to be just fine."
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