Chapter Forty-Seven

"I can't find my shoe!" Came Brian's voice from up above.

"So put on a different pair!" Sarah called up the stairs as she tried to keep from getting flustered.
After a juice incident in the kitchen with Rebecca needing to be bathed and changed they were running really late.

"It's fine Sarah." Eliot assured as he finished tying an elastic in Rebecca's hair.

"No it isn't! Your appointment's in thirty minutes; it'll take at least twenty-five to get there and we still got to drop them off." It was too quiet for her liking so she moved back to the stairs to shout, "Brian!"

"I can't find another pair!"

"Oh my…" She was soon running up the stairs and Eliot could easily tell she was frustrated.
It reminded him of Nate who was a stickler for punctuality.
Right now he'd be having a major meltdown.

"You ready to go princess?"

"Yup" She wanted to be lifted but for the first time he denied the request.
He was having too much trouble lifting himself from the couch.

"Alright…" Sarah sighed as she followed Brian down the stairs. "we've got shoes."

"Good, let's go." Eliot was already ushering Rebecca to the door.

"Wait" Eliot turned to see Sarah patting her pockets. "Where are the keys?"

As Sarah took off shouting at no one in particular, "Where are the keys?" Eliot realized two things.
They were going to be past late, and he had gotten his first good glimpse at how hectic raising two kids could be.

A tug on his shirt had him looking down to Becca.
"I've gotta go potty."

Yep they'd be late.
If they ever left the house.

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Why can't Sophie do this!" She'd had her share of awful dresses to wear but this one took the cake for uncomfortable.

"Sophie's a little too…" With her standing right there glaring Nate was having a hard time choosing a word. "Sophisticated to pass for an up and coming model."

"And you think I can pass as a model!" If that wasn't a laugh.

"All you need is confidence." Sophie assured.

"And a pretty face." Nate added.

"And a set of legs." Hardison threw in. It was true.

"And skill! Or does no one remember I have to do an actual photo shoot!" That was what had her really uneasy.
Taking pictures with Hardison was one thing but doing so for a photographer was a whole other story.

"You'll do fine." Sophie was quick to say as she grabbed her bag.

"I've got ya covered mama." Hardison nodded as he patted his laptop.

"Alright people, let's move." Nate ordered as he turned to look at the clock.
It was 11:43 and he was nowhere near the schedule he needed to be if he planned on keeping his word to Eliot.

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"Can I help you?"

"I've got an 11:30 with Torlyn." He was hoping the smile would get her to ignore the fact that it was now 11:53.

"Name please?" She seemed pretty bored for how early it still was.

"Elliott, Spencer Elliott."

"I've got you down for a 12:30 up in radiology."

That was obviously wrong and exactly why he hated going to the main desk. "No, you see I know I have an 11:30 with Torlyn."

"Well the only thing I have under the name you gave me is a 12:30 with Dr. Millen." She hated when people couldn't keep their appointments straight.

"Is there any way I could speak with Torlyn?" He did not feel good enough to be dealing with a receptionist that thought him stupid.

"Actually I don't even think he's here." He nearly rolled his eyes.
That would have been a good place to start.

"Millen did you say?" If he wanted anything figured out he'd have to find someone who actually had a clue.

"Dr. Millen in radiology." She confirmed.

"Thanks" He nearly made it to the elevator when she shouted, "Hey, you've got to sign in first!"

Since he apparently had no appointment he technically didn't need to but he did it to appease her none the less.
He almost made it to the elevator for a second time but was stopped by a shouted, "Eliot wait up!"

He didn't need to turn around to know it was Sarah and in no time she was at his side. "I thought you were going school shopping?"

"I was." Sarah stated as they stepped into the elevator.
"But then I was about to leave and realized you don't have a phone to call me when you're done."

"Sarah it's a hospital. There's a phone on every desk, in every office, and next to every patient's bed.
I think I would have been able to call ya." That didn't even count for the ones they had specifically laid out for public use.

"Well maybe I decided that I didn't want to leave you alone," She didn't care if he had blown a hole through her reasoning. "and I'm not leaving because you can't make me."

"Never said I would." Eliot shrugged as they stepped off the elevator and he started following the arrows that led the way.

"Well good because I'm not going."

"Good" He threw back.

"Awesome then." She'd admit that that one was kind of pushing things as he gave her a strange look before moving to the desk.

"Name?"

This woman was obviously straight to the point and he didn't waste time in giving her what she asked for. "Spencer Elliott."

"Double first name." She spoke it as if she was reminding herself of something which she probably was judging by the way she was searching her desk. "I've got a message for you." Now if only she could find it. "Here we go… One Sean Torlyn says he's moved your 11:30 to 10:15 tomorrow but to go on ahead with the spot he's booked you in radiology… which is where you are now." Surely he knew that but with some people you just couldn't tell.

"Can you tell me what the appointment's for?" Radiology automatically had him thinking x-rays.

"Is that Eliot with a double L?"

"Double L double T." He was patient as she pulled up the information.

"You are scheduled for the placement of a peripherally inserted central catheter." She couldn't quite tell if he was confused or disappointed so she simplified her meaning. "In other words you're getting a PICC line."

"That's great." He couldn't help but rub his left arm.
By the time he left there'd be something sticking out of it.

"You've still got yourself a bit of a wait but I do have a form for you to go over in the mean time.
It explains a bit about the procedure and what to expect afterward." Like any good nurse she soon had his form covered in x's.
"Once you've read all that I need you to sign the back so we know you understand exactly what the risks and benefits are."

"Alright" He took the offered pen and clipboard and went to sit next to Sarah.

"Aren't you supposed to read that?" Sarah questioned as he flipped the paper and signed it.

"I already know what it says." Sarah didn't look convinced.
"If you want you can read it yourself but I can tell you exactly what's on there."

"So do it hot shot." That was a typical guy thing to say.

"It says that the doc has got me getting this done because he thinks
it's my best option but like any foreign thing sitting under your skin it could get infected.
If that happens there's a chance I could die; especially since it's so up close and personal with my heart
but that's alright because I signed this so they can't be blamed for the death when I fall over and croak."

"That's jacked up Eliot." She couldn't believe he just said that like that.

"It's true." Like any good business the legal came first.

"When's the last time you talked to Aaron?" The magazines looked like they'd been there since the hospitals opening so she tried for conversation instead.

"I don't even know.
I'd say… like a week or so." Aaron usually showed on weekends but he knew he hadn't this last.

"I know he knows about you being back in the hospital but does he know about the seizure?"

"God I hope not." He hated that his privacy was now nearly nonexistent.

"We should call him."

"For what?" She didn't answer him, pulling her phone out instead.

"We're calling him."

"Why?" Still she said nothing but soon he could hear a gruff, "Hello?" from Aaron.

"Hey Aaron!
What are you doing?"

"Eating," Eliot huffed at that.
What else did she think he'd be doing at noon? "and you?"

"Sitting in radiology with Eliot." She poked him to say something but he had nothing to say.

"What are you doing in radiology?"

"They're going to stick a tube in Eliot's arm."

"What!"

"That's what I said!"

He ignored the way Sarah sounded as if she was spreading gossip as he decided to test the chair.
Hopefully it would be comfortable enough for a cat nap.

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"I've got to get going." Nate spoke from his seat next to Hardison in the back of the newest "Lucille" though he'd already heard the whole rant about this one not being Lucille because his baby was perfectly safe in Boston.

"We're in the middle of something!" Nate had been tapping his fingers in what Hardison had assumed was impatience but now seemed to have been a countdown.

"You've got it covered." Nate assured as he grabbed his hat.
It was 12:43 and he couldn't bare to just sit there anymore.

"And where are you going?" He had been tempted to check where Nate had been last night but he hadn't wanted the
disappointment of some bar pinging his GPS tracker.

"I've got my com if you need anything." Hardison's huff had him stopping at the door.
"You want to run your own team right?" He didn't need to wait for an answer, he already knew.
"This is me giving you one to test drive. If you need anything…"

"I know how to contact you." Hardison finished what Nate hadn't.
As the door closed he added, "There's got to be a team to run it."

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"Have you ever had an ultra sound done?"

"Yep" Eliot answered as he watched the man do such to his arm.
He'd already been moved to a room, had changed, and had enough sterilization done to his arm to cover seventeen people.

"Well right now we're searching for a good…" The pause the doctor made as the nurse marked his arm with three different x's told him they'd found it. "We've got the vein and it's a pretty deep one."

"That's a good thing?" He was being poked right above the elbow and not getting much explanation.

"The deeper and larger it is the smoother the process."

"So you're really sliding a catheter up his vein and into…"

"The SVC." Eliot offered since she seemed too disturbed to finish. "It's one of the largest veins in the body."

"Why do you know that?" Sarah asked suspiciously.

"I read!" He offered since the other reasons he really couldn't mention.

"I'm going to break the skin and get this started."
He hoped he was hearing things because if you asked him this doctor sounded kind of eager. "You ready?"

"Go 'head." He wouldn't say it hurted but he did feel it a lot more than he would've if he hadn't known it was coming.

"That is a ton of blood!" Sarah's eyes were huge as she watched the blood stream down his arm and stain the pad under it.

"The initial amount does tend to freak the patients out but there won't be much more after this."
Eliot was a bit offended by that, he hadn't said a word.

"Ehh, I've seen more from an accident with a kitchen knife." Nate tossed in as he closed the door he'd just slipped through.
Eliot smiled and he wasn't sure if it was because of his presence or the mention of that "accident".

No one had been cooking and they hadn't been anywhere near a kitchen; hell the blood hadn't even been Eliot's.

"Alright, now you'll probably feel a bit of pressure but…"

"Doc" Eliot interrupted. "Can we not do the step by step.
I'd prefer to just get it done with."

"Alright. If you watch the screen you'll see about what's going on and if you have any questions just ask."
From then on he did feel a pressure but he ignored it as he watched Nate and Sarah watching what was being done to him.

"How many of these procedures have you done?" Nate asked as he continued to keep a careful watch.
It looked like it was going by the book which had him worried.
Hopefully this guy hadn't just finished reading the book yesterday.

"This will be the fifth today." His words were reassuring.

"Have they all been successful?" She didn't know about them but this seemed complicated to her.

"Well… we'll find out soon enough." The joke was amusing but it was Nate and Sarah's faces that had Eliot laughing.

"Now I'm going to make another cut but I promise it won't be any worse than getting a paper cut."
Only thing was he hated paper cuts, he'd rather be punched.

"What's the needle for?" Eliot rolled his eyes at Nate's question.
It was bad enough he had to lie there and get cut.
Had he not just said he didn't want a play by play?

"To numb the skin. This right here," He showed a hook like syringe that you'd imagine had come from a few decades ago. "pulls our guiding wire out and will get our catheter where it needs to be but it won't go in if it meets any resistance."

"Now it'll burn." The nurse warned as she laid a pre-cut paper cover over his arm.
With that news all eyes were on Eliot until the doctor asked, "Did it burn?"

He let out a half laugh that was gasp and gurgled giggle all in one. "Hell Yeah!"
It felt like flames were crawling under his skin… and yeah he had been through worse but… damn.

"That's pretty tame. My patients usually swear worse than sailors."

"I can add to it if you'd like."

Eliot's offer had the doctor laughing softly. "That's quite alright.
Now do me the favor and put your chin over your shoulder just like you would if you were sleeping."

"And why's he doing that?" Nate didn't know of anyone who actually slept like that.

"It cuts off access so the catheter doesn't actually go into the neck which… it didn't."

"Now I'm going to suture this in place so we can get an x-ray of your chest to check for placement." He assumed the nurse smiled as she traded places with Millen.

"So it might not be in there right?" Now that got Eliot's attention.

"I might have to pull it down a bit but that's alright because that's better than having it too short.
Once it's been placed I can't feed any more up." They would not be happy if they had to start from scratch.

"Then let's get it done."

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"Where's Nate?" Sophie asked as she started Lucille.
He had taken her car.

"I don't know!" Hardison grumbled through a fat lip as Parker passed him an ice pack.

"Well there's no reason to get snippy!" It had been an accident.

"You busted my lip!"

Despite Parker's best efforts, not really, she started laughing.

"I was only doing what I was told!" Sophie was trying not to laugh herself.

"You were supposed to throw a fit not a shoe!"

Parker couldn't help but laugh all the more.
She was so sharing this with Eliot.

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So you're sure you understand?" Eliot nodded once again. "And you don't have any questions?"

"Nope, you covered it." He'd just spent another hour learning how to use, care for, and clean his line.

"Alright then. If you have any other questions call your physician and if any complications arise return to the ER immediately."
She directed as she turned to leave. "I'll be back with your release forms and wheelchair."

"Leave it alone." A doubled order had Eliot looking properly reprimanded as he pulled his fingers away from fresh bandaging.

"This is going to drive me insane." The tubing had been in place for less than four hours and he was already itching to pull it out.

"It's only for a little while." Sarah assured as she tapped her foot against the leg of her chair.

"Thirty some days is not a little while Sarah." Once again he felt useless since he couldn't lift any real weight with the arm.

"Well it could be sixty some." The point she tossed back was solid.

"Why did Torlyn say you needed this done again?"
Nate had only missed one of the man's visits but felt extremely out of the loop for it.

"Because my stomach doesn't sit.
I can swallow as much antibiotic as I want but it ain't doing me any good if in two minutes it's all comin' back up.
Plus, this shit's s'posed to be stronger than any of the other bull I've been taking; it'd probably eat my stomach lining."
On top of that they'd told him that excessive vomiting could jerk his tubing out of place which pretty much left him in a lose lose situation.

"We've got to stop to get your probiotics too." Sarah reminded as she flipped through his prescriptions.

"I know." He was trying not to complain, he didn't think he deserved to, but on a day like this it was hard.

"What time do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?" Nate asked with a glance to his watch.
His timing had been all kinds of off today.

"I thought I was going with you?" Suddenly he felt stupid for thinking it.
That was what happened when you relied on others.

"I've got a business dinner tonight and I don't want to leave you on your own."
With Sarah sitting there he couldn't exactly speak freely but he was sure Eliot had caught on to what wasn't said.

"I don't need a nanny." Even if they still had work to do they'd be back eventually.

"Oh come on Eliot, it's movie night!" She'd admit that having him mere steps away had eased her mind greatly.

"Yeah Eliot." He hadn't meant to make it sound like he didn't want Eliot around though he was sure that's how it must've come off. "It's movie night!"

"I'm ecstatic." Nate smirked at that.
He was pretty sure Eliot would've said, 'I'm dying' with more enthusiasm.

"So what time?"

"The appointment's at 10:15." Which he would gladly drive himself to if they'd stop acting like he was an invalid and let him use a car.
Nate had even hid his own truck keys from him.

"Alright then," Nate pushed off the wall knowing Sophie was waiting for him. "I'll see you at 9:30."

"Good luck with your business dinner." Sarah offered politely.
They'd have to work on "them" but for now she'd just try to stay civil.

"Thank you" Nate nodded to her as he moved over to an annoyed looking Eliot.
It was nearly too soft to hear as he whispered, "Don't be mad."

"I'm not." Eliot offered as Nate moved back.
Nate didn't really believe it but still he left knowing he had little time to waste.

"Is that how you always act or was that because I'm here?"

"How do I act?" Eliot asked suspiciously as she slithered closer.

"You're just like whatever about the whole situation." He didn't even seem to consider the day an actual situation.

"It is what it is. There's no reason to make a big deal out of it."
That's what he was going with because that's what he wanted to make himself believe.

"But then Nate came over here just to be supportive for you and you were whatever about him too."

"No I wasn't." He had acted the same way he had when they'd drained his hematoma and Nate hadn't mentioned anything then.

"Yes you were! Right now he was just trying to get some sort of good-bye out of you and you didn't even see it!"
If that was how he treated his Ex's it was no wonder why they were labeled as such.

"Well excuse me for not asking him to hold my hand for the day." Eliot snipped.
"I don't do the whole hugs and kisses at every turn and people that do annoy me.
If you want to be like that than why bother going out?
Stay in your house, stay in your room, and do what ya wanna do."

"Well aren't you romantic." She had never heard it put like that.
Only Eliot could make affection sound sleazy.

"That's why he loves me." Eliot snarked.
His ways were set and Nate knew that.
It wasn't something he'd change so they shouldn't expect him to.

"Hopefully" In a sense she did the same but hers was reluctance.
He was just trying to push people away and from what she'd heard it was working.

"Wheelchair" Came a knock on the door but it only barely broke through his thoughts.

Did Nate really feel unwanted when he passed on such meaningless things?
Were they really meaningless to Nate?

Dang Sarah.
He had been fine but now?
His thoughts were once again negatively questioning.