Elise came to regret that feeling of resignation on the first day that Brodi was out of the ICU. For the next two weeks, it was much the same. Instead of waking up like expected, his sleep continued. Day in, day out, Elise kept a constant vigil, holding his hand, talking to him, at times even pleading with him to wake up. There was a constant parade of hospital staff; nurses checking his vital signs and administering IV medications every two hours, his doctor, nursing assistants, practically everyone but the gift shop staff. No, scratch that. Someone from the gift shop had been there too, to deliver flowers.
Countless tests had been done. Doctor Adams had administered what he said was a barbiturate antidote, but it had no effect. MRIs, CAT scans, and X-Rays had all been done, but none of them gave any kind of clues as to what might be going on inside that brain of his to keep him unconscious this long. And so the unending parade continued; nurses, doctors, nursing assistants, specialists, each with their own job to do, but none able to come up with a solution or even a reason for Brodi's state.
Still Elise stayed on, refusing to leave. She showered in the room's bathroom after Kaori had brought her some fresh clothes. Even then the girl had pleaded with her to leave for a while. She hadn't pressed too much, knowing Elise's temper. Looking back, however, Elise realized she should have realized Kaori wouldn't give up so easily.
It had all come to a head when Kaori came into the room just before lunch.
"Miss Elise?"
Elise had been busy massaging Brodi's arms and hands to help prevent muscle atrophy, and hadn't heard the door open. Nonetheless, she tried to hide the fact that she was startled when she looked up and found the small teenager standing across from her.
"Oh, hi, Kaori. How are you?"
"I am fine, Miss Elise. I am sorry to disturb you, but Rahzel and Atomika have called a meeting, and I was sent to tell you."
Elise sighed. "Kaori, they know I'm not going to leave the hospital."
Kaori nodded. "Yes. That is why it's been arranged in one of the waiting rooms. The rest of the team has already arrived."
Elise let another sigh escape. "Oh, all right. Brodi, I'm going with Kaori for a little while, sweetie. I'll be back soon."
When Elise saw the puzzled look on Kaori's face, she explained. "Nate says to talk to him. Actually, one of the nurses from the ICU told me this too."
Kaori wiped a tear from her left eye. "But is he not…unconscious?"
Elise walked around to the other side of the bed and took Brodi's hand and placed it in Kaori's. The girl stiffened in fright at first, then relaxed when she realized his hand felt normal.
"It's OK, Kaori. You can touch him. It won't hurt him. In fact, it might even help him. I think, on some level, he knows we're here with him."
"Truly?"
"Truly. Now come on, let's get this over with. Be back soon, Brodi."
The two women walked out the door and down the hall towards the waiting room, covering the entire way in silence. Elise was sure that Kaori, full of her own worries and concerns about their fallen teammate, was contemplating what they had talked about in Brodi's room. Elise herself was feeling anxiety about being away from Brodi, trying not to think about the LAST time someone had talked her into leaving him alone. She knew it was a useless fear; the past didn't predict the future, and there was no magical touch to her being in Brodi's room that would keep him from further harm.
Fortunately they reached the waiting room before Elise had too much time to contemplate being out of the room, and Elise walked in to a room full of boarders. Almost in unison the entire group grew silent and turned as the door opened and Elise and Kaori entered the room. Kaori quickly moved over near Mac and sat down, and Elise was left standing in the doorway. So, she did what she always did when she felt awkward. She put on her model's smile.
"Hey guys. What's up?"
Atomika walked over and hugged Elise. "Hey doll. How's our boy?"
"Still not awake, but holding his own. You know, his visitors are no longer restricted…as long as there aren't too many of us in the room, any of you can go down and see him. So far, Nate and Rahzel have been the only ones to come visit him."
Atomika nodded and squeezed her hand. Elise noticed that no one else would look at her, and for some reason that made her more sad than angry, although she was certainly angry enough. What kind of foolishness was this?
Rahzel spoke up. "That's kind of what we wanted to talk to you about, honey. Why don't you come over here and sit down so we can talk."
"Guys, I don't have TIME for this. What's going on?"
Another awkward silence ensued, and Elise looked around the room at her teammates, willing them to look at her. Kaori seemed to be studying something on the floor, while Mac was patting her back and mumbling something to her. Nate looked at her, but smiled grimly. Luther and JP just slumped in their chairs, apparently pissed off that Brodi had been so inconsiderate as to slip into a coma and require a team meeting. Zoe was leaning forward in her chair, elbows on her knees, one foot twitching wildly as she also found something fascinating to study on the floor. Moby was doing pretty much the same thing; apparently he had tried the comfort maneuver with Zoe and had been given the cold shoulder. Marisol was leaning against a wall, arms crossed in front of her and scowling at something, while Seeiah was leaning against one of the windows staring out into the parking lot. Eddie was typing away furiously on his laptop, and Psymon was, well, Psymon. He didn't deal with hospitals well as either a patient or a visitor, and was so far occupying himself by pacing back and forth in front of the windows. Elise wondered who had to promise him what just to get him to come to the waiting room.
"OK, if no one has anything to say, I'm heading back up the hall. You know where I'll be if…"
"We'll take shifts sitting with him for a couple of days if you'll just go home and get some rest."
Elise swung around and glared at Atomika.
"WHAT did you say?"
"You need to rest, lady. If you're worried about him waking up with no one with him, we'll take turns sitting with him. But if you keep this up, you're going to wind up a patient here yourself. You don't have to take care of him all by yourself."
"*I* don't have to do anything. What I am doing is sitting with a friend who has been seriously injured. In case you all have forgotten, I have durable power of attorney for Brodi, and that means that his medical care is MY responsibility if he's incapacitated. Well, if any of you were wondering about the definition of incapacitated, I'd say being unconscious for two and a half weeks qualifies, wouldn't you? Now, you're all welcome to come visit him as much as you'd like. But he's trusted me with his life, and I need to honor that."
Elise spun on her heels and headed for the door. Rahzel was standing by the door and put out a hand to her.
"Elise…"
"Get out of my way, Rahzel. This meeting is over."
Rahzel was about to say something else when suddenly Psymon came out of his walking trance and stalked over to stand between Elise and Rahzel.
"The lady asked you to move, 'Zel. Let her go."
"Psymon, stay out of this. Go talk to your tattoo or something."
Elise reached her boiling point at this.
"CHILDREN, please. Rahzel, go screw yourself. Psymon, I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank you. Now, if you'll ALL excuse me, I'm leaving."
Elise shoved her way past Rahzel and stormed out the door. As she headed back down to Brodi's room, she forced herself to stop just outside his door and take a few deep breaths before going in. No need to subject him to her anger; Brodi was so sensitive to energy that Elise didn't doubt for one moment that he could pick up on something as strong as what she was feeling right now.
None of her teammates had been dumb enough to follow her, so after a couple of deep breaths she stepped inside Brodi's room and shut the door.
"Hey honey." She said brightly as she walked over to the bed. She was getting frighteningly used to having these one-sided conversations. "See, I told you I wouldn't be gone long. Now, where were we? I think I had just finished with your right arm. Why don't I start on the left? I'll have to be a bit more careful with this one, since that's the one your IV is attached to. Maybe I'll just work on your hand on this side, OK?"
And on and on the conversation went. She'd talk to him, tell him what she was doing while she was massaging his hands. She was about to pick up a book and start reading to him when there was a knock at the door.
"Unless you're medical staff, I suggest you leave." Elise stated simply as the door opened. She didn't even bother to look around from where she was seated.
"It's just me, sugar."
Elise flopped her head back on the chair and let out a frustrated sigh. "Seeiah, I thought I made it clear that…"
"I'm not here to make you leave, honey."
Seeiah walked around into Elise's line of sight and set down a duffel bag and a small paper bag. Then, before she said anything else to Elise, she walked over to Brodi's bed and leaned in to kiss his forehead.
"Hi baby, how you doin'?" She asked as she rested her fingertips on his cheek. "You've given us all a scare, honey. How 'bout you come on back to us, OK? You are loved, babydoll. We want you back."
Seeiah then turned to Elise. "So how are YOU doing, girl?"
"I'm fine."
Seeiah tilted her head and studied her for a moment. "Mmm-hmmm, I can see that." She picked up the paper bag and handed it to Elise. "A couple of apples, a banana, and a club sandwich from the café across the street. Oh, and, hang on a sec…" she knelt down and opened the duffle bag and pulled out a water bottle. "This has got a built-in water filter in the top, so you can fill it with tap water without having to worry about what kind of swill is in the city water. I've already washed it for you so it's ready to use."
Elise took the bag and the water bottle and looked up at Seeiah, stunned. "Thank you, Seeiah. I…I don't know what else to say."
"You don't have to say anything, girl. Thank you is enough. I know you're not going to leave the hospital for a while, so I thought I'd bring you some stuff to make you more comfortable. I hope you don't mind, but Kaori let me into your room to grab some of your clothes for you, as well as your body wash, shampoo and conditioner, makeup bag, toothbrush. I also went into Brodi's room and grabbed his mala and a couple of his books. Kaori said that Nate told you to talk to him, so I figured maybe if you read him some of his own books…maybe it's silly…and I'm sorry if I'm being intrusive."
Elise stood and hugged Seeiah so suddenly that it took Seeiah a moment to register what was happening and to react by putting her arms around the other woman.
"No, it's not intrusive. And it's not silly. Thank you for being so understanding of why I need to stay here. And for being so thoughtful."
Seeiah pulled back and gripped Elise by the shoulders. "Sugar, you know that family means the world to me. And when a family member is in need, you do what you need to do regardless of what anyone else thinks. Just don't be too hard on the other guys, honey. They're worried about Brodi, but they're worried about you too. When you're traveling together as much as we do, you have to become one another's family. You do what you need to do. And you let me or Nate or Eddie know if you need anything, and we'll take care of that. OK, baby?"
Elise hugged Seeiah again, just relieved that someone understood.
"Now, why don't you let me sit with Brodi here while you take that duffle bag and go take a long hot shower. You'll feel like a new woman."
Elise gratefully picked up the duffle bag and headed off to the shower, confident that she could take a few minutes to herself knowing that Brodi was with someone who cared deeply about him.
