Chapter 16

Back at the hospital

Matt stayed right with Brian's temp was still dangerously high; he was shaking very badly with the chills.

"I'm soooo cold" Brian moaned.

"I know Brian it's because you temp is so high; we are doing everything we can to get it to come down."

Some blood had been drawn a little while ago to check to see about infection.

Dr Fitzpatrick came in the room with Brian's chart and the results. "Matt your assumption was right. Your brother has developed a very bad infection."

He checked the drain and the fluid was no longer clear. It was quite evident by the look of the drainage that an infection was present. He then got his equipment ready to do a dressing change on the surgical wound. He took the bandage and gauze off there was an infection there too. There seemed to be more swelling in the area now. He cleaned the area and put topical antibiotic on it and recovered with a new dressing

Dr Fitzpatrick put his hand on Brian's shoulder "we are doing everything we can to treat this ok."

He then pulled Matt aside, so Brian couldn't hear them, "I am sure you know this isn't good, between the original trauma and subsequent surgery now the high temp and infection this could cause brain damage, if we can't get it under control within the next few hours I am quite concerned about his prognosis. I want any visitors limited to just you and one more family member at any given time. His condition is serious enough that we are going to be moving him to the other end of the unit it's the Neuro ICU for more intense monitoring he will be in 601NEICU let your family know."

They moved Brian to the other end of the unit. Matt called his mom's cell to let her know the situation and that he was moved.

Annie told him, "We are just pulling in we will let Bridget go see him 1st and we will take turns"

Matt replied in a shaky voice. "His condition is much worse; he has deteriorated so much since earlier this afternoon so just be prepared."

A nurse retook his vitals his temp was still climbing it was now 105.4. The cooling blanket had to be set to a colder setting. Brian now was at a point that he was now incoherent again before he slipped into unconsciousness. Annie, Eric and Nicole went to the ICU Lounge which was close to Brian

Bridget was brought in to Brian's cubical Matt was sitting beside him. She wasn't sure who looked worse, Brian or Matt. Poor Matt was exhausted.

She put her hand on Matt's shoulder it startled him, "Why don't you let me sit with him go take a break next door in the ICU Lounge, Your parents and Nicole are in there. Take a nap you look exhausted and send your mom in."

Reluctantly he did as she suggested. She sat next to Brian, she saw he was unconscious, she stroked his head, she wasn't sure is he could hear her or not. "Oh Brian you have to fight this, you just have to be ok."

Annie walked in and pulled up a chair and sat beside her. "Matt went and lay on the couch in the lounge to try and get a little sleep; he sure looks like he needs it." Annie told Bridget.

Over the next few hours there was a flurry of activity in the cubicle, of hospital staff to take care of Brian. and Annie, Eric, Bridget and Nicole took turns staying with Brian; they let Matt continue to sleep, finally by about Midnight his fever broke and he was more stabile he still had a temp but it was down to 100.2 and he was no longer in danger, at least for the moment. Around 2 am he regained consciousness He saw that Eric and Bridget, they were both sitting with their eyes closed.

He then looked around and saw he was in a different room Bridget was closest to him he reached for her hand and squeezed it "Bridget" He said in a groggy raspy voice"

She opened her eyes, "Oh Brian, Thank God."

With her saying that Eric opened his eyes. "Hey son how are you feeling?"

"My Head hurts and I am cold." He said.

Bridget pushed the call button and then told the nurse he needed something for pain; The Nurse came over to inject some more pain medication into his IV Port and then she turned off the cooling blanket for the time being. Brian and got relief fairly quickly.

Brian then asked, "Where am I now? Bridget, I don't remember being brought here I have no idea what is happening to me."

This was too much for him, he felt so out of control, he started to panic his respirations pulse and B/P shot up very high and alarms started to go off.

Bridget knew that Matt had been able to calm him down before when no one else could she told, Eric "Go get Matt quick he is having a panic attack."

Eric ran to the lounge and woke up Matt as the nurses went to Brian to see why Brian's alarm's for his vitals were going off. "Matt wake up Eric said." Brian's having another panic attack"

He bolted up and ran to Brian. Brian was in a full blown panic attack and was hyperventilating. "Everyone out!" he ordered "Ok Brian, I will get you through this like before it's better to do this without medication that would end up sedating you."

Brian was barely listening to Matt. Matt gently took hold of Brian's face. "Look at me and focus on my voice its ok I will get you through this."

Matt led him through the breathing technique like before within about 5 minutes he helped Brian get under control again. So except for the little bit of a temp that he still had, his vitals were normal again.

"Thanks Matt, I don't think I could get through this without you. I don't know why I keep losing it like this."

"Brian before this hospitalization had you ever had anything like a panic attack before?" Matt asked him.

"No never." Brian answered him

"Let me ask you this Brian, have you ever been in a situation where you felt helpless and out of control whether it be medical or anything else?"

Brian thought about it for a moment and then answered him, "Yeah lots of times. With the parents that raised me most definitely. Plus the situation with the Realty company fiasco yeah I have felt helpless and I never had, what did you call it, a Panic Attack before. Do you think it has anything to do with my head injury?"

"Actually that's just what I was thinking because the part of your head that had the trauma is the part of your brain controls thinking, speech and emotional thought processes."

"Matt, do you think me getting these Panic Attacks is going to be permanent?"

"I really don't know. That's not my field of expertise I am an OB/GYN not a Neurologist. I think we should talk to Dr Fitzpatrick."

As if on cue Dr. Fitzpatrick walked over to the cubicle. "Did I hear my name?" He asked. Matt filled him in on what they were talking about.

"To answer your question, "He responded."There is really no way to tell if this will be permanent depends on how your brain heals. At this point it is wait and see. Now let me examine you ok." He proceeded to do a complete exam. Drainage from the tube in his head was again clear which was a good sign.

The rest of the night they checked in Brian constantly but he seemed to be doing better He was able to sleep. By the following morning his temp was back to normal and his vitals were good. Since he was doing better Eric, Annie and Nicole went home, not just to get rest themselves but to give everyone an update. Also Annie wanted to make sure Sam and David made it to school today.

Annie was going to send Simon and Carlos to Brian' apartment building to make sure whatever Brian was supposed to be doing as superintendent was getting done so Brian wouldn't have to worry about that.

Only Bridget and Matt still stayed at the Hospital although Bridget tried her best to persuade Matt to go home.

"Matt I know you are concerned about Brian but you have a family to go home to you really should go back to the house and see them and get some sleep"

"No I am good." Matt replied. "I called Sarah and she completely understands. Plus you guys let me sleep for a while so I am really ok."

Bridget shook her head, "Boy you two are so much alike. You are so stubborn just like Brian in this regard. When it comes to helping the people you care about I mean, Oh by the way there is you bag in the corner, your wife packed it and had your mom bring it in.

" Just then a nurse came over with supplies to get Brian washed up Matt stopped her before she bothered Brian

"No you don't have to do that he will freak out if you tell him you are going to give him a bath."

Bridget agreed and told her "Matt and I will take care of all of his care when it comes to his personal hygiene."

The nurse left the supplies with them. They let Brian sleep he really needed it. Bridget and Matt talked for a while.

"I am really glad Brian found you guys you are such a close family and I think it is wonderful how you have just accepted him right away into your family. His friends are really great and everything but they can be well…. Maybe I shouldn't say anything I mean I know Brian and I have discussed this a lot but…."

Go ahead Matt said" I won't say anything to them"

"Why don't we go into the lounge to talk" Bridget said They asked the nurses to keep a close eye on Brian and to get them if he wakes up and needs anything Then Matt and Bridget went into the lounge.

"Ok so tell me "Matt said "What should I know

"Well" Bridget started, "Nicole is great she looks out for her little brother, but with that said the rest of them Kind of walk all over Brian and I hate it, I know Dave and Adam are good friends They have this little Clique it used to be Nicole and Angelo before Angelo died, Dave and Deena and Adam and Marjorie everyone else they treat like an outsider they are getting to be just ok with me because Brian and I are a couple, Before I came along Brian was always like the 5th wheel.

"Wait who is Marjorie? I thought Adam was getting a divorce from Heather?" Matt asked "That's what Adam said at Brian's birthday?"

"Oh I will get to that." Bridget continued" "Where was I oh yeah since Brian didn't have a relationship before me at least never anything serious, everyone expected him to be the good guy and always be there for them and he is never the type to say no, and as I said before he tends to get walked on a bit. He even saw Marjorie 1st and wanted to date her but because good ole Adam wanted her Brian backed off Brian and Marjorie were good friends and he thought he wanted more than after she got engaged to Adam, Brian finally told her about his feelings but it was too late, too close to the wedding and Marjorie told him no basically, But the night before the wedding she went to see Brian and wanted to be with him if you know what I mean. Brian being the good guy that he is put a stop to it .Then on what was supposed to be Adam and Marjorie's wedding day she left him at the altar and she took off for another state. Adam of course blamed Brian And Now Marjorie is back now just to cause problems. Adam ended up with Heather a stripper he met the night of his bachelor party and after a few dates married her but when Marjorie showed up at Big Bear Lake while we were all up there last weekend well that ended Adam's marriage."

"Then there is Dave and Deena Dave used to be in a business Zap Monkey with Brian, I know Brian told you about it, well they had been working on this Game and almost had it contract for distribution by a company called Leviathan But it ends up Dave was sleeping with a the liaison at Leviathan and when he tried to cool things off she had her company basically shelve the game that Brian and Dave created, Throttle Autobon they had to buy back the game per the contract to the tune of $75,000 if they wanted it to be able to be sold out to other companies. It was Brian, not Dave who came up with the money and bought back the game from Leviathan. Then when Dave dumped this woman to try to go back to Deena. the liaison had gotten Dave's password so she had access to all Dave's files she took the game from Dave's data base and uploaded to a free gaming site so basically it screwed Brian over. Then Dave made sure he only got a job at KC gaming not Brian, I was actually kind of shocked to hear that Dave had told Brian that he was trying to get him a job there I wonder what his agenda really is."

Then there is the issue with his Dad well his adoptive Dad who did hire him to work at the Davis Realty but made sure to TREAT HIM like everyone else Brian was really good I was their top agent and in the 4 months he was there he was real competition for me he earned every penny he made or would have made, if the government didn't take everything during the company seizure."

"I feel bad for telling you all this but I thought you should know" said Bridget "I do like or try to like Brian's friends don't get me wrong, but they do try to take advantage of him and I try to fit in with them but I rub them the wrong way they definitely are not routing for us. I make Brian stand up to them and they don't like it. I don't let them walk over him. Even Ivy and Jimmy have done it, sort of following Adam's lead. I think that is why Brian was so amazed when your family, I guess I will say his family accepted him right away and didn't expect anything from him. I am only telling you this because even though you technically the younger brother, you seem to act like the older brother and you are already looking out for him."

" Thank you for telling me all this Bridget it explains a lot" Matt said in response. "Matt I hate to ask" Bridget said with a lot of concern in her voice. "Please don't tell him about this conversation or at least not all of it that I went into such detail, I don't know how he would feel about it. I just knew I could trust you."

"You can trust me Bridget I won't say anything, well I may let mom and dad know to just watch out for him because his friends tend to walk all over him without going into detail but if I ask them not to say anything to Brian or anyone else they won't."

"Thanks Matt, it's just that I love him so much he will need us more than ever."

Just then the nurse walked in, "Brian's asking for you."

With that they walked back to Brian. It was about 9:30am he looked much better." Bridget walked over and kissed him,

"Hi honey how are you feeling? You look a lot better."

"Yes you do." Matt agreed

"I do feel better I still have a little headache and the shoulder hurts, but I am good, when do I get to go home?"

"I am not sure if that is an attempt at humor." Matt asked "but it is a bad attempt."

"No I am being serious there are things I need to do," Brian said with a lot of anxiety in his voice. "Brian don't worry about it anything you were supposed to be doing at the apartment mom sent Simon and Carlos to do it. So it is covered."

"They shouldn't have to do that" Brian said,

Bridget said softly and caressed his cheek " All you need to concentrate on is getting better; ok let us worry about everything else now I am going to change the subject, how about we get you cleaned up and changed."

"I will go put some water in the basin," Matt said.

Then Bridget teased "The scruffy face is a cute look for you but I brought your electric razor from home if you want. Bridget had plugged it in earlier and took it off the charger and handed it to him she moved the bedside tray table over to him and opened the mirror to let him do it, which was a big mistake he wasn't ready to see his reflection again. He took one look and cringed.

She saw that he was upset, he closed it and said "I can't" and pushed the bedside tray table away.

"Ok honey I will do it for you" she said and proceeded to do so. Matt brought the basin filled with nice warm water over and pulled the curtain.

"I will do all the washing Matt, you just help me with moving him" she said

Brian sort of blushed and Bridget noticed "Brian now I know Matt has helped you with some things since you have been in here and I know you are not getting embarrassed because of me, it's not the first time I have seen you naked nor is it the first time I have washed your body" she winked at him. "The last shower we took at the apartment we took together remember?"

They cleaned him up and changed everything. By lunch time Brian was allowed to eat but still only clear liquids a tray was brought in.

"Think you can hold this in your stomach?" Matt asked

"Yeah I will try." Brian replied. By later that afternoon, Brian was moved out of the Neuro ICU area back to his previous room. Dr Fitzpatrick came back in to check in him

"if you are doing this well tomorrow we will be able to give you a local anesthetic and surgically remove the drainage tube from your brain, how does that sound?"

"God you mean I would be awake?" Brian sounded panicked.

"You won't feel anything and if you want you can have Matt in the OR with you OK" Dr Fitzpatrick told him

"Yeah is suppose I can deal with it if Matt is in there, and then do I get to go home?"

"Sorry buddy he replied "You are here with us for a few more days at least week maybe a little less but you still need to be monitored, You're not even on solid food yet maybe after the tube is taken out you can get real food but you have a ways to go before we discharge you. I will even allow more visitors in since you seem to be doing better," He then said to Matt, "So you can let your family know they can come, but with the crowd I saw the other day you might want to space them out just a bit" he laughed. "Ok I will see you tomorrow. Now I am going to go home and get some sleep and looked at Matt and Bridget you might want to do the same at least the sleeping part."

After he left Brian was kind of quiet." Matt noticed" Is it really bothering you that much to be in here as long as the doctor told you?"

"Well I guess that too but that's not what is bothering me at the moment." Brian said "What's wrong then honey?" Bridget asked,

"Dr Fitzpatrick mentioned the crowd he saw the OTHER DAY? How long have I been in here? What day is this? ""Brian you came in here Wednesday afternoon that was the 21st it's now Friday afternoon the 23rd"Matt told him. It's normal to lose time with an injury to the head. Don't worry about it."

"Have you been here all this time?" Brian asked "

"Yes he has" Bridget told him. Matt added "and except for Bridget running home to get an overnight bag she has been here too. Mom, Dad and Nicole would have been here still if we hadn't made them go home plus Mom and dad had to check on Sam and David and Nicole had to check on Bella."

"I don't know what to say" I didn't expect…. I mean….. "

Bridget cut him off" I LOVE YOU Brian where else would I be." then she kissed him. "I don't think I realized just how much I really Love you until I almost lost you."

Matt added Brian you're my brother I am not going anywhere I love you too I will always be here for you, as I told you before we are family and we Camden's stick together, and you are a Camden by birth."

"Brian just relax and let someone take care of you for change." Bridget told him.