wow 2 updates in one day this is shocking, I am slightly too obsessed with writting this now. Anyway thank you again for the such positive reviews :)
disclaimer I own nothing
p.s does anyone know any casualty episodes where Dixie acctually gets hurt, I wanted insperation but cant find any :/
Those few seconds were some Jeff wished to never remember for as long as he lived, walking into Dixie's room and seeing his wife lying on the crisp white hospital bed, covered in bandages, bruises and tubes keeping her alive was his worst nightmare came true.
He slowly moved forward ending up at the chair placed beside her head, he couldn't stop retching at the ventilator coming out of her mouth. It looked so uncomfortable, so foreign but he knew it was keeping her there with him.
He slowly stroked her remaining hair away from her now black eye 'Oh Dix what am I going to do with you?' he asked wiping away the tears that fell from his eyes.
He knew that Dixie needed him to be strong now, for the both of them. So taking a deep breath he moved to make himself more comfortable he was going to be there for the long haul, no matter how long it would take.
A couple of hours after Jeff had arrived at Dixie's room two police officers came up to talk to him, so reluctantly leaving her side with a quick tender kiss to her cheek and the promise to be back soon he went and gave the police his statement. After going over the events of the shout with them he was then asked to check that everything which belonged in the ambulance was there.
At first he was confused but then thought back to his training days and the amount of druggies that would break into the vans looking for their next fix.
After going through everything in the van and finding nothing missing he went back and informed the officers, this left them all believing the same thing Dixie had caught someone breaking into the van before they could take something, this left Jeff fuming some druggie had almost killed Dixie for a fix that probably wouldn't have even lasted a couple of hours.
Jeff knew he couldn't return to Dixie in such a state so he decided to get some air and walk back to their home, lil Abs would be needing feeding and letting out soon anyway.
As he walked back the anger in him seemed to fade and soon he was left feeling worried and angry at himself, why hadn't he gone and gotten the board and collar? Why didn't she go just a couple of minutes earlier or later? So many questions whirling around in his head he opened the front door and prepared himself for the the bundle of energy that was Lil Abs, However unlike any other day he didn't come running as soon as the door was opened.
Jeff called out but still nothing, then he heard the whining and whimpering. Walking towards Dixie's room he found the dog curled up on her bed whimpering away, he nearly chuckled to himself as he could imagine Dixie going mad at having dog hairs on her bed. He decided it was no use trying to get the dog to move he knew something was wrong and Jeff very much doubted the dog would do much moving until Dixie was home.
So he sat next to the dog just enjoying the warmth and in a way finding comfort from the familiar surroundings. After an hour of sitting there on her bed Jeff got up made the dog a bowl of kibble (placing it In Dixie's room as he didn't want lil Abs to starve) and managed to coax the dog out to do its business before grabbing some of Dixie's stuff including mini Jeffrey a stuffed ape she said reminded him of her and left following the usual route to work.
As the lift pinged at the ICU floor Jeff slowly walked out and into the room marked private with Dixie's name above the door, leaving the rucksack on the chair In the corner of the room he walked over to his previous spot and placing mini Jeffrey on the bedside table kissed Dixie's cheek again.
'Morning Princess, you know they say it is possible Coma patients can hear you so I think its only right I talk to you until it gets annoying and you have to wake up to tell me to shut it' He explained grinning at the concept of being told to shut it.
'Ya' know how you said it was my round I think after all the stress you've put me through, it's more likely your round first but if you promise to wake up soon then I will pick up the tab for an entire night. Deal?' He sighed he knew it was stupid to talk about stuff like this but he needed the normality.
He continued talking about random things, although he hadn't gotten quite to the weather by the time he fell asleep. A young nurse peeped in to find him lying sprawled out on the chair clutching Dixie's uninjured wrist and felt she didn't quite have the heart to move him. So wrapping a blanket over his shoulder's and moving a pillow beneath his head she left to go back to her duties.
That's how Jeff woke up a couple of hours later confused at the pillow and blanket, but all that disappeared when he looked up to find Dixie was still sleeping he had dreamt he had woken up to find her deep blue eyes looking down at him asking what he was doing. He supposed he was going to have many of these dreams for a while.
He needed coffee and something to eat he knew it was no good starving himself so he made his way towards the ED canteen. As soon as he walked through the doors the smell of different foods made his stomach growl he didn't realise just how hungry he really was, he remembered his last bite to eat was the pasty which made him think about Dixie he didn't want to worry any more than he was so pushing those thoughts out of his head he grabbed a tray and ordered a full English.
As he moved to sit down with his food Lenny and Zoe walked into the room obviously discussing their new case when they saw Jeff sitting alone in the corner. They decided to join him after all the whole ED kept asking if there was any news but no one knew.
'Hey mate, how is she?' Asked Lenny as he approached the other man with his newly acquired Coffee.
'She...She...She's in a coma, they aren't sure if she will wake up. She has a ventilator breathing for her' He explained feeling the all to familiar knot in his throat.
'God, Jeff I am so sorry. Maybe if I had gotten there sooner' Stammered Zoe obviously shaken up by seeing their friend that way. It was then that Jeff realised while he was sat beating himself up about it, everyone else was as well. He knew it was stupid what could Zoe have done or Nick or even himself he could hear her telling him 'Don't be so stupid you grumpy sod.' Finally, a sense of peace came across him if it only lasted for these few seconds he didn't mind, he knew she wasn't dead and he was determined to fight and help her through this.
Finishing off his last bit of egg he got up made his excuses and left returning to Dixie and his vigilante over he bedside.
'You know Lil Abs is currently occupying your bed I told him mammy wouldn't be very happy with him, but he's just like his mammy a stubborn sod and refused to move. You may have a fight on your hands getting your bed back when you get home' he chuckled, he couldn't think of much else really to say so took a magazine from the little cupboard and began flicking through occasionally making silly comments about some of the articles.
It was a week later and Jeff had hardly moved from his chair beside Dixie, she hadn't made much progress but Jeff simply told people who asked she was being her usual self 'a lazy sod.'
He had been warned by Nick that they were considering turning off the ventilator to see if she was breathing on her own and whether the damage to her lung had been repaired and so wasn't shocked when Nick and Zoe came into the room early that evening, Although, it wasn't their department they had managed to persuade the boss' to let them up and help out with Dixie's care.
As Nick turned off the switches on the machine Zoe stood by with an oxygen mask and pump in case anything went wrong Jeff just stood praying for the best. They all expected the machines to go haywire as soon as the ventilator ceased working it was part of their jobs they very rarely had the luxury of being optimistic, but this time their gamble paid off all the machines stayed steady and her breathing levelled out after a few minutes.
Although, she wasn't showing any signs of waking up this was a great achievement in her care and they all silently celebrated this small milestone.
Another couple of weeks later and there was still not much improvement Jeff had been granted compassionate leave for as long as he needed so spent majority of his time by Dixie's bed side or making sure Lil Abs wasn't to lonely. He was determined to be there when his wife woke up.
He was dozing off in the chair around midnight twenty two days after the attack when a weird weight on his hand woke him up he was used to having the pot there now but this was different. As he looked up he saw Dixie's deep blue eyes looking down at him.
'Jeffrey...Shut it' She muttered with a small grin.