No More Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
Another sleepless night threatened to plague House. It was nearing one in the morning, and he felt wide awake. His leg ached, and not in a good way. It seemed like a good time to bug Wilson. He was lonely and longed for a familiar voice to talk to. Maybe he had let Wilson stew long enough.
He was reaching for the phone when the nurse from the other night popped in.
"I thought you were up again."
"The monitors?"
"Yep. You okay?"
"A little discomfort. Nothing major."
"It's a little late to be ordering pizza."
"Just thought I'd call a friend to chat."
"It's kind of late. Won't he be sleeping?"
"Probably."
"Then you should probably let him sleep. Might be a good idea if you get back to sleep, too."
Greg sighed heavily. "I'm up for the night."
"Do you want met to check to see if we can give you something to help?"
"Nah." He tried not to let his face express the spasm that was threatening to take hold of his thigh.
"If you're in pain-"
Obviously he wasn't doing a very good job. "Not yet, but I can feel it coming."
"Your thigh or your lower leg?"
"My thigh," he grimaced as the first wave of tension crawled down from his hip.
She checked the tension on his traction pulley. "Let me get some backup and we'll get you a bit of relief."
House just nodded in understanding. Greg was sure she was going to return with a pill or syringe.
Instead she brought another nurse. They tinkered at the end of the bed for a second or two, then both peered at their patient from behind his elevated leg.
"We're going to change the weight. It'll be uncomfortable while we switch over, but it should help."
It only took a few seconds before he felt the change in pressure. His thigh muscles were being pulled just enough to counteract the pressure of the spasms. He exhaled evenly as the traction did what it was meant to.
"Wow," he whispered.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. What'd you do, add five pounds?"
The nurses laughed.
"Three ounces. With skin traction you can't go much higher than five pounds or it will pull your skin off.
We've still got room to add more in you go into spasm again."
"This is amazing." Greg relished his near pain-free leg. "Now if only the fractures were healed.
"It's only been four days. Be patient," she chastised. "Try to get some rest."
The other nurse turned off the lights and together, they left.
Greg lay in the darkness sensing his body. He wasn't exactly comfortable, but he wasn't uncomfortable either. If he had to choose the tension he felt in his leg now over the pain of the muscle and nerve damage, he'd take this any day. The only problem was mobility.
There was no way in hell he could stay in traction indefinitely. If he had to lay in bed all day versus getting around with crutches or a wheelchair, that was a no brainer. He just wished there was a way he could have the best of both worlds.