Vengeance of the Freeway Phantom
Chapter 15
The following morning, while on his rounds Doctor Bracket stopped in to the ICU where he told Ponchj, after checking over his paperwork listing his vitals signs and all, that he was very pleased with his progress, and then told him the good news that he felt he could be moved to a regular room quite possibly that very day. Then after leaving his patient he felt there was one more very important thing he needed to do before heading back down to the ER, actually two. First of all, Brackett made arrangements to have Ponch taken from ICU to a regular room.
Then the second and, well, most important thing he had to do was go to his office to make a phone call. The kind of call a doctor loves to make. Brackett's call was transferred to Getraer's office. "Sergeant Getraer," Joe answered.
"Sergeant, this is Doctor Brackett."
"Doctor," he acknowledged, sounding a little apprehensive as to what he may learn.
Brackett quickly picked up on it, "No, Sergeant, I have good news to tell you. Frank Poncherello is doing just fine and actually will be moved to a regular room today. We removed the respirator yesterday and he's continuing to do okay on his own. He's still not strong enough yet to totally manage the pain by himself, but the important thing is he's off the critical list."
"Thanks, Doctor," the Sergeant told him, "This news is going to make a lot of people happy around here. Thanks again!"
"You're welcome!!" the physician assured him.
Joe exhaled a sigh of relief and hung up. Since it was well past briefing and all officers had been out on their beats for some time now, Getraer got on the radio, "7 Mary 3, S4."
"Go ahead, S4..." Jon quickly came back.
"Baker...I just got a call from the doctor at Rampart. Frank is going to be moved out of ICU and into a regular room sometime today."
Jon's heart began to pound, he had been hoping for some good news for over a week now. "Thanks, Sarge, that's terrific news. I'm gonna run by there as soon as I can!"
"Okay, Baker, I figured you'd want to do that," Getraer couldn't help but smile as he hung up the phone.
As it turned out, Officer Baker was kept busy for the next few hours, handling a couple of tricky traffic situations. Actually it was kind of a good thing he thought because it kept his mind busy. He really wanted to race to the hospital right away but he also felt that he might arrive too early and only to find out that Ponch hadn't been placed in a regular room yet, and still couldn't have visitors. Because of the situations he was involved in, he didn't make it to the hospital until sometime after 11 o'clock or so
When Jon finally arrived at the hospital, he didn't waste any time finding out if Ponch had been released from ICU and in his own room and then also what his room number was. He was so anxious to see how his friend was doing. Baker especially wondered how Ponch was dealing with his injuries and yes, of course, the pain that went along with them. Jon reached the room and stepped just inside the doorway. He stopped right there when he saw that Ponch's eyes were closed and even though he was aware that his medical condition had been up-graded, he still looked mighty pale.
Ponch opened his eyes just in time to see his friend turn to leave and stopped him, "Hey…where you…you going?" he croaked softly, then cleared his raspy throat.
Baker swung back around. "Thought you were asleep...I didn't want to wake you," he informed Ponch, as he stepped up to his hospital bed.
"That's all…I've been …doing…is sleeping," Ponch rasped again.
"You know, partner, you gave us a real scare this time," he stated matter-of-factly.
"I think…I even scared…myself…this time," Ponch admitted softly. Then he changed the subject, "Where's Stephanie?" he wondered, sounding quite concerned.
"Oh, she's got court this morning. She doesn't even know you're in a regular room yet."
Ponch looked very relieved, "How's she…been doing?"
"Okay. Well, she's been a little rough around the edges since your 'accident', but she's doing okay."
"Speaking…of my…accident," Ponch paused to clear his throat, "I…don't think…it was…an accident…l think... it was…the Phantom."
Jon arched a brow on that little revelation. He didn't think Ponch could be even aware of that fact. "Yeah, from what witnesses told Bear and Bonnie that's the conclusion we've reached too. It's quite out of character for the Freeway Phantom to go after an off-duty cop, but the end result…" he stopped, as he couldn't finish his thought.
"Doesn't …make…sense," Ponch gasped, trying to remember to breathe rather carefully. "Out of uniform…not on...my motor…in my…own car." He stopped momentarily as he tried to move a little to find a comfortable position, but ended up groaning as the pain he inflicted on himself was almost too much for him to bear.
"Easy, Ponch. Take it easy," Jon warned as he saw his friend wincing in pain. "I'll go get the nurse."
"No…" Ponch gasped, "Not...not yet." He tried to get his wits about him, and then reluctantly pondered, "Jon…my car?"
Baker hadn't quite planned on dropping that little bomb shell just yet. He knew how much Ponch loved his car. But Jon being Jon he just couldn't lie. "Sorry, Ponch...scrap metal." Baker winced when he saw his friend's look of sadness. His heart really went out to him, in more ways than one. "You're mighty lucky to be alive, partner," Baker reminded him. Jon could see that the pain was really getting intolerable for him now. "Ponch, call the nurse, you can't keep fighting the pain by yourself." Baker began to wonder how long his hurting friend had been battling it. He sure had one stubborn partner for a friend.
"No, uh ah...the quicker I can…handle it by myself…the quicker I can…" he stopped abruptly as Jon raised his hand to stop him.
"Ponch, if you don't call her, I will!" he threatened, er, promised.
Ponch saw the determined look on his friend's face and knew instantly he'd lost the battle. Under different circumstances he felt he would try to push the envelope just a little bit more, but instead he found the call button and pressed it. He frowned when he saw Jon's grin of satisfaction. When the nurse came in, Ponch explained what he needed, er, what Jon thought he needed. She left only to return moments later.
"I'll see you later, Ponch," Baker promised, "Oh...and sweet dreams." Jon couldn't help but grin when he heard Ponch's raspy growl, as the nurse turned her attention--and her needle--back to him.
As Baker left the room, he breathed a sigh of relief. His friend and partner was finally out of danger. He saw another nurse walking towards Ponch's room with a very nice--and rather large flower arrangement. He was really curious to find out who sent it, but he felt there would be other opportunites for him to find out who all sent him the flowers.
Stephanie's morning in court would definitely be over by now he thought, and she would be back at Central waiting for him. So when Jon got back there, he met up with her. He found her in the break room, having coffee. "Hey, Stephanie. How'd court go?"
"Huh! That guy's lawyer tried everything in the book to get his client off! But fortunately for our side the jury saw right through him," Stephanie told him with a grin. "Oh, did you see Ponch?" she asked, trying hard to remain nonchalant. Getraer had already told her when she came in about Ponch being moved to a regular room.
"Getraer already mentioned it, huh. Yeah," Baker glumly acknowledged. "Poor guy. He's doing okay, but he's in an awful lot of pain."
She shook her head in disgust, "I sure hope he's the last one to have to suffer the consequences of that creep!"
"Well, the Phantom has been pretty quiet since he took out Ponch. But even so I think all of us will second the motion on that one. Have lunch yet?"
"Uh uh. Just this coffee," she scrunched up her pretty face as she crumpled up her paper cup and threw it in the trash.
Jon smiled, "C'mon," he invited, "let's go get something. I'm starved!" It was strange, this is the first time that he really even felt like he had an appetite since Ponch's accident.
Later that afternoon, Getraer went to the hospital to see for himself how Ponch was doing. For fear of waking him, should he be asleep, he quietly stepped up to the doorway and peeked in. The TV was on, but the room's occupant was showing no interest in it. Not only was the patient not interested in his television, but he looked--for all the world--like he was about to jump right out of his skin.
Ponch had fallen into a deep, painless drugged sleep shortly after Jon had left. He had slept over two hours and after waking up felt ready to do battle with the pain once more. But with his leg immobilized with the heavy cast, his very sore shoulder, chest and ribs, there just wasn't any comfortable position he could find to lie in, which was just as well, because he knew he'd have paid a painfully high price trying to find such a position. So he had decided to try watching TV for a while, thinking that would help keep his mind busy. It worked for a while, but then he had started to wish that he was anywhere but where he was now.
Getraer was still standing in the doorway watching him--closely. Joe also took in the many flower arrangements scattered about the room. 'The kid could start his own flower shop by the looks of it,' he thought with a smile. The sergeant sighed and finally stepped into the room.
That's when Ponch finally spotted him. "Sarge!" he croaked out his happy greeting.
"Hey, Frank. How're you doing?" Getraer wanted to sound upbeat for the young man, as he could see the pain in his dark eyes.
Ponch tried to pull himself up a little with his good arm, but ended up clenching his teeth and closing his watering eyes.
"Easy, Frank, easy!" his superior warned him as he stepped up to the bed.
"I'd be doin'…a whole lot…better…if I…just wouldn't keep doin' that…" Frank confessed, with a grimace and clenched teeth.
Joe watched him a moment and wondered if he shouldn't find a nurse. "You gonna be okay? Or you want me to get a nurse?"
Ponch's eyes changed from pained-filled to panicked, "No…no…," he squeaked, "every time...I see...a nurse…she's carrying a needle…with my name…on it!" The patient paid for that remark. As Getraer began to chuckle, Ponch couldn't help himself either, "Oooo-oooh...that smarts."
"Sorry, Frank," Joe commented, and tried hard to keep from grinning, but ultimately failed. He decided it was time to change the subject. "Got some pretty flowers there, Frank. Who sent that one?" he asked, pointing to the largest, most spectacular, most colorful arrangement---the one Jon when he visited earlier that day.
"Don't know. It was here…when I woke up. I've been dying here…wanting to find out."
"You mind?" Getraer asked, as he pointed to the card. He figured Frank could have had one of the nurses come in and hand him the card, but then he remembered his dislike for what they usually carried in with them and couldn't help but smile to himself.
"No, please...go ahead."
Joe stepped forward, plucked the card from the flowers and handed it over to Frank--who anxiously took it and opened it. "They're from Stephanie," Frank told him as he read the name before the little note, and thought, 'Hmm, maybe our little talk worked a little more than I thought?' he couldn't help but smile to himself.
Getraer smiled, too, as he couldn't help but think, 'Another notch for Frank. Hmm, maybe he really is what the woman needs to help her through her problem.' The sergeant noticed that Frank was rubbing his shoulder and looking very uncomfortable. "Hey, when was the last time you took some pain medication?"
"Some time before Jon left, maybe before noon. Why?" Frank had a feeling he knew the direction this was heading. Sergeant or no sergeant he was not getting another shot.
Joe looked at his watch. Around noon meant almost four hours ago. "Frank, it's not worth fighting the pain. You just got out of ICU. Give yourself time to heal and give your throat some time off for good behavior."
"Ahhhh, Sarge, I'm okay, really. Don't need another shot." Frank assured him, but he never was any good at telling untruths.
"Frank, don't make me make it an order," his sergeant threatened and looked at the young man before him with a raised brow.
Oh how Ponch wanted to argue the point. But then again that look as usual served its purpose. He'd been on the receiving end of it many other times. He also knew Getraer would make it an order. So he surrendered to the inevitable, "Something tells me…you and Jon are…in cahoots. All you guys…want me…to do...is sleep," he grumbled, but obediently pressed his call button.
"Whatever do you mean by that, Frank?" Getraer asked, trying to sound as serious as he could, while inside he was smiling all the while. The look Frank gave him almost made him laugh right out loud.
All Frank committed to was, "Nothing." The nurse came in so he reluctantly asked for some pain medication. He rather bluntly told her that he didn't think he needed it, but the man there in the uniform with the sergeant stripes on his shirt sleeves thought he did.
Once the nurse left and Getraer was sure his young friend would be getting some much needed sleep he told him, "Okay, Frank. Take it easy. I've gotta head back to Central. I'll stop by again to check on you."
"Sure, Sarge. Thanks."
As Getraer left the room, he smiled. Knowing the young man as well as he did, he figured to keep Frank from telling the nurse that he had changed his mind about wanting something for the pain, the sergeant came up with a plan. He would stand there just outside his room and wait for the nurse to return. As the woman came down the hall towards the room, Joe went to talk to her. "Hi, I'm Sergeant Getraer. Frank Poncherello is one of my officers. If he tells you he doesn't need or want that," he pointed to the syringe in her hand and smiled, "simply tell him it's an order from Getraer. Okay?"
She smiled at him in return, "Sure Sergeant, no problem."
Joe couldn't help but smile. He sure wished that he could see the look on Poncherello's face when the nurse told him that should he try to refuse it. 'Cahoots with Jon?' That remark made the sergeant's smile broaden. He left the hospital and returned to Central.
Back in his hospital room, Ponch was watching the nurse as she prepared to give him his hypo. He flashed her his most disarming smile and cleared his throat, "I…I changed my mind," he told her, "I don't really need that…I'm okay…really."
"Well, Mr. Poncherello, Sergeant Getraer told me to tell you that 'It's an order'." The nurse couldn't help but smile as her patient's smile suddenly faded--in pure utter defeat.
"An order?" he croaked. He quickly thought of something else in his own defense, "Could we…simply not do it, but say we…did?"
The nurse silently chuckled to herself at her patient's temperament. She knew he was harmless, handsome as all get out, but harmless. She also knew he'd be in a much better mood in a few minutes--out cold--and pain free. So she simply shook her head no and proceeded to do her job. And, sure enough, in a few minutes, the patient drifted off into a deep, peaceful, pain-free sleep.
Stephanie finished her shift and headed home. She couldn't help but smile as she rode along, because she was thinking of how she was off duty for the next two days. She knew where she'd be going once she got home tonight, changed into her street clothes and gotten a few essential things done at home. The woman wanted to see for herself how Ponch was doing. Jon had described Ponch's condition, but she simply wanted to see how he was managing for herself. She needed that reassurance that he really was going to be all right.