Vengeance of the Freeway Phantom
Chapter 12
Forty-five minutes or so later after the paramedics had left on a call, Doctor Brackett finally walked into the room. "Well, he made it through surgery. He's up in ICU now."
"He's gonna be all right then?" Jon asked hopefully.
"Well, the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours will be critical. We took care of the internal bleeding and repaired his lung. The Orthopedic doctor worked on his leg, which should be fine. Although, he'll definitely have to have therapy on it for a while once he gets the cast off. He is on a respirator and will be for at least the next few days. We're just hoping we don't meet up with any complications."
"Complications?" Jon thought to himself, 'O that does not sound good.'
"We have to watch out for pneumonia. Also, I don't think he can afford another cardiac arrest, either. He's just too weak to fight either one of those right now. We're just going to have to watch his condition and hope it doesn't deteriorate. Look, I've gotta go back up and check on him right now."
"Thanks, Doc, umm, I know he's in ICU, but can I see him?"
Brackett hesitated momentarily. The young man standing before him had paled considerably as he told him the medical condition of his friend. "He won't even know you're there."
Jon wasn't about to let that deter him, "Maybe not, but I'll know I was there," he spoke softly.
"Okay, c'mon, you can see him, but only for a moment." Both men left the room and started to head for the elevator and the floor which had the ICU ward.
As they rode the elevator up, Brackett warned him, "I need you to be aware that he's hooked up to a lot of medical equipment, along with the respirator, a heart monitor, and well things such as that. I just don't want you to be surprised when you walk in the room and see all he's connected to."
Even with the warning, Jon still wasn't prepared for what he saw as he walked up to Ponch's bedside. It wasn't just the equipment Ponch was connected to; it was the bandage around his head, around his chest, which also included his shoulder and then the cast on his leg. Of course, Ponch's very pale complexion didn't go unnoticed either, as Jon was too used to seeing his normally darker skin tone.
The nurse who was standing on the other side of the bed stepped away momentarily so Doctor Brackett could personally check over his patient. After the physician finished the task, he placed specific instructions with the nurse and then left the room.
"C'mon Ponch!" Baker quietly urged his heavily bandaged buddy, "you can beat this. Don't you dare let the Phantom claim you as another victim. Fight it, Ponch. Fight it with all the strength you've got. We're too good a team to be split up like this. Don't let yourself become another statistic, Ponch. We need cops like you out there..." he softly told his partner. Then he silently thought of something else, 'What am I saying? I need you out there, Ponch!'
Just then the nurse spoke up interrupting his thoughts, "Officer, I'm sorry but you'll have to leave now."
"Yeah, sure." Jon acknowledged. Then he turned and reluctantly left the room.
As he exited the elevator on the ground level, Baker checked the time. He realized he had just enough time to get back to Central to catch Getraer to fill him in on Ponch's condition--and maybe a few other officers that may be still there. Then he'd go home from there. He especially wanted to talk to Getraer first, that way anyone that didn't hear about Ponch this time around would hear about it at each shift change briefing through their sergeant.
When Baker got to Central, he immediately went to Getraer's office where he found him at his desk. He gave him the news he had learned from Doctor Brackett and also that he had the chance to actually see Ponch in ICU. Then he met up with a few other officers and also filled them in.
On his way home, he simply hoped that Ponch would win the battle he had before him. He prayed that Ponch had the strength left to do just that.