When Mitch arrived in the recovery room he was taken over to Hobie's bed where he saw his son somewhat awake. Hobie was covered with a warm sheet as the operating room had been fairly cool; he also had a cap covering his hair and an oxygen mask on. The nurse explained to Mitch about that and the monitors not realizing that he was trained as a paramedic.
As Hobie was waking up he heard his Dad's voice saying "hey pal, just take it easy ok, you just came out of surgery ok."
Hobie could tell he had a mask on over his mouth and nose rather than having a breathing tube .He liked that as it meant that he could talk once he was more awake then he was now. He could feel his Dad's hand on his just like when he had his tonsils out when he was 13; he knew his dad wouldn't leave him until he was awake. He could also hear the sounds of the heart monitor he was connected to, as well as the nurses reassuring his dad that he would be awake soon.
Mitch replied to them "I know he'll wake up on his own time, when he had his tonsils out it took a little while for the anesthetic to wear off on him."
Just then Hobie started opening his eyes, he groaned a bit, and Mitch looked over at him and with his other hand stroked his hair back as Hobie had pushed the cap he had on off. Mitch said "hey pal, how do you feel?"
Hobie reached up to take of the mask the nurse did it for him and said "you can have this off for a bit so you can talk to your dad. Ok."
Hobie nodded and said "a little better but my belly still hurts."
The nurse then came over and said "you can just push this button right here if you want something for it, don't worry it won't give you a lot."
Just after Hobie pushed it he could feel the pain easing up a bit, his surgeon also approached and said "well since your awake will be getting you to a room where you'll be for the next couple of days."
As he was wheeled into the room the doctor explained to him that he wasn't able to do the surgery Laparoscopic but had to open him up as his appendix had burst when he took a look with the Laparoscope at the start of the surgery. Hobie nodded and said "was it bad?"
The Doctor said "no it wasn't too bad and everything went well during the surgery."
Once they got to the room he was assigned to a nurse hooked up a nasal cannula to help give Hobie some oxygen well he was still waking up. Hobie then said to Mitch "dad I feel a little sleepy still"
Mitch then said "don't worry pal get as much rest as you need." The nurse took the cap of his hair and said "he'll probably be in and out of sleep for a little bit well he wakes up from the Anastasia."
A few minutes later Hobie woke up a little bit and asked his dad of he could get him some underwear when he goes home. Mitch said he would ask the doctor before he left about what he could bring him as Hobie drifted back to sleep again.
Mitch left Hobie's room with the bag of stuff that Hobie had been wearing when he was brought in, his wetsuit and board shorts. Mitch stopped by the nurse's desk and said "I'm just going to take this stuff home for my son Hobie and I was just wondering what I can bring him from home to help him be more comfortable."
Hobie's surgeon came by the desk to talk with Mitch before he did an assessment on Hobie. He said it was ok to bring in a pair of underwear and some pajamas so that Hobie could be more comfortable.
The two of them went in to the room. Mitch told Hobie he was going to take his surfing stuff home and get him something more comfortable then the gown he now had on. Hobie nodded and said "thanks Dad, can you put my board away too."
The Doctor asked what he meant by that and Hobie told him that he had been surfing earlier that day. He then asked him if he was any good. Hobie told him that he'd been doing it most of his life. Well the Doctor was examining him he asked Hobie if he was a professional surfer. Hobie told him "nah I'm a Los Angeles county Lifeguard."
He then said "that's a pretty noble profession what made you chose that?"
Hobie said "mostly because of my dad he's retired now and also I like the beach. So as they say do what you love."
The Doctor was finishing up and making some notes in Hobie's chart and said "so your Dad was one too?"
Hobie nodded as he yawned, the Doctor then said "you can go back to sleep for a bit if you need too. If you need anything you can just push the call button for the nurse ok."
Hobie nodded as he drifted back to sleep. As the Doctor left the room he turned off the light and made sure that Hobie could turn it on when he woke up if he needed to.
About an hour later Hobie woke up from his nap, turned on the light in his room and looked around it. He picked up the TV remote and flipped through the channels to see what was on. Well he was doing that he heard someone knock on the door to his room. He looked over and saw two nurses come in, the first one came over and introduced herself, she said "my names Jenifer and I'm going to be taking over for Sarah for a little while. We just need to do a quick exam on you ok," she then looked at the chart and said "hobby?"
Hobie then said "it's Hobie like the surf board"
Jenifer then said "I'm sorry I don't surf so I'm not really up on those names."
Hobie then said "don't worry I'm used to correcting people about my name."
She then said "do you have any nicknames you like to be called?"
He nodded and said "yeah most people just call me Hob."
She then said as in the first three letters of your name."
"Yup", he replied, as she made a quick note on his chart bout that.
Well they were examining him she asked him what he did for a living/ Hobie told them that he was a Life guard for Los Angeles County. Jenifer then asked him "do you ever work with Paramedics?"
Hobie nodded and said "yeah every now and then to keep up my paramedic certification I do ride alongs with them."
She then said "I sometimes do shifts in the ER, and I've seen you come in with them before."
Hobie said "cool."
Well she was listening to his heart Mitch knocked on the door and said "I can wait outside if I'll be in the way."
Sarah said to him "were just fishing up a quick exam on him as we change shifts you can stay if he's comfortable with it."
Hobie then said "my Dad can stay. I'm fine with it."
Mitch can over and ruffled his hair and said "feeling better pal?"
Hobie replied "a little and the morphine's helping with the pain too,"
Jennifer then said "are you in a lot of pain?"
Hobie said "nah I'm fine. It's not too bad."
The nurse then said "I'll be back to check on you again, in the mean time will keep you in your gown well you have your Iv's in, will see if you can change tomorrow ok. Do you have any questions?"
Hobie then said "yeah when can I get the catheter out?"
Nurse Jenifer then said "that's up to your doctor I'm afraid but I'll let him know that you want it out as soon as possible. I know when my son was in for his appendix he wanted it out more than anything and beg me to take it out without the doctor's consent."
Hobie nodded and said ok.
Jennifer then showed Mitch where he could put the stuff he had brought for Hobie.
Mitch stayed to comfort Hobie for a bit and told him that he got in touch with Nummie and he said not to worry about work until he's better Hobie nodded and said "sounds good to me," he then yawned and said "I'm feeling kind of sleepy still, if you leave or someone comes in can you wake me up?"
Mitch said "sure thing pal." A he turned the light off above Hobie's bed and pulled the sheet and blanket up to his shoulders.
About 20 minutes later when Hobie's Doctor came in with a couple of Interns Mitch woke him up. Hobie said it was ok for the doctor to examine him with the interns too. Mitch excuse himself as he said he should give them some privacy plus there wasn't much space for him.
Well the Doctor was examining him Hobie asked about having his catheter out, the Doctor looked at his chart and checked his urine output and said "sure everything looks good. If you want you can put on a pair of underwear under your gown too."
Hobie said "thanks"
The Doctor then asked the interns to, leave and that if Hobie's dad was outside to ask him to come in. In the mean time he pulled the screen around Hobie's bed and said "this I just to give you a little privacy."
Nurse Jenifer also came in with Mitch who waited looking out the window well Hobie had the catheter removed. Once that was done Mitch handed him a pair of boxers that Hobie put on before settling back in his bed, the Doctor then said "a little more comfortable?"
Hobie nodded and said "yeah."