Mike Fourtner paced the floors outside the ICU in Anchorage. He was waiting for Natalie to get out of surgery. This was the third and hopefully final one. Sig was in his room under heavy sedation after a successful surgery on his leg. He'd woken in the recovery room and been combative, demanding to see Natalie. Mike had actually heard the noise from his spot in the waiting room. He was waiting for news from the doctor about Natalie's prognosis so he could tell Sig when he woke up. The door to the waiting room opened and one of Natalie's surgeons emerged.
"Mr. Fourtner?" he asked.
"Yes, how is she?" replied Mike.
"She did great during the surgery" said the doctor. "We've managed to repair the damage done to her left lung, she should make a full recovery."
"When do you think she'll be able to have visitors?" asked Mike.
"You can go see her when she gets out of the ICU, we don't allow visits this soon after surgery" explained the doctor. "She has the best nurses taking care of her."
"Thank you doctor" said Mike.
Mike walked into Sig's room and sat down heavily in one of the bedside chairs. Sig's private room was well appointed with a small table, two chairs and one recliner. Mike had already spent what seemed like forever sleeping in the recliner. Closing his eyes he thought about all that had taken place since they were on the Time Bandit.
The Coast Guard had medivac'd Sig and Natalie off the boat, taking them to their field hospital and then off to Anchorage. Natalie had coded once on the transport but had been revived in record time. The Coasties insisted on treating Natalie as one of their own, refusing to hand her over to anyone but the best doctors in Anchorage. The investigation on the boat started as soon as the patients were gone. It was clear to the local police that she'd been attacked and that her shooting the victim had been a last desperate effort to save her own life. The investigators collected the evidence left in the wheelhouse, including the weapons used, spent shell casings and everyone's clothing. They would have done a gunpowder test on Natalie, but she'd already been taken by the Coast Guard. Once everything was collected the Time Bandit was released and could return to fishing. Mike Fourtner was dispatched to follow the injured pair to the hospital in Anchorage. He'd ridden on the Sea Star back to Dutch, with a camera man in tow. They'd hopped the first plane out and arrived in Anchorage less than 24 hours after the incident. Using his charm and knowledge as an EMT he was able to talk one of the nurses into letting him see Sig and Natalie's charts. The nurse was a huge fan of the show and remembered both Phil and Natalie on her last visit, she happily turned the computer so Mike could read the doctor's notes. Natalie's injuries were incredibly serious, a portion of her lung had been damaged and they believed that the knife may have nicked a lower portion of her heart. The shoulder was damaged and there was a question of how much mobility she'd have in it even after surgery. She'd suffered a broken wrist and various other bruises. But the most pressing was the amount of blood she'd lost. They'd had to give her a significant amount just to get her stable enough for surgery.
Mike got up and stretched. He looked at Sig's sleeping visage and tried to gage whether he was going to wake up anytime soon. He hedged his bets and went to the cafeteria for quick cup of coffee and a sandwich. Bringing both up to the room he started eating. He'd gotten halfway through the sandwich before he heard Sig's raspy voice.
"What the fuck is that disgusting smell?"
"Sig!" said Mike, tossing his sandwich on the table. "You're alive."
"I could be dead and this is someone's sick idea of hell" replied Sig.
Mike helped Sig take a swig of water from a cup with a straw. Sig cleared his throat and them tried to move his leg.
"You don't want to do that" said Mike. "It's all plastered up and you aren't going to be getting out of bed anytime soon."
"Where's Natalie?" asked Sig, trying to pull the blankets off his prone body.
"She just got out of surgery" said Mike, trying to tuck him back in.
"Is she ok?" asked Sig.
"If you sit back I can tell you all about it" said Mike.
Sig stopped moving and settled back into the bed.
Mike breathed a small sigh of relief before starting to relay the information to Sig.
"Natalie is doing ok. She just finished her third surgery. She's in the ICU. The doctors are optimistic that she'll make a full recovery. She was pretty bad on the transport down here, the nurse said the Coasties said she coded once" explained Mike.
At this news Sig went pale and his eyes filled with tears. Mike not knowing what to do continued his tale.
"The Coast Guard brought her all the way down here, they insisted on taking care of her until they could pass her to the best surgeons in Anchorage. They gave her a bunch of blood and me and Chris were able to see her before she went in for her second surgery" said Mike.
"How did she look?" asked Sig.
Mike considered his answer and decided honestly is always the best policy.
"Awful" said Mike blandly. "But to be fair she'd just been stabbed by a psycho, flown over 1100 miles to the nearest hospital and she'd lost a lot of blood."
Sig looked away, he didn't want to hear any more he just wanted to see her.
"Where is she?" asked Sig.
"The ICU" explained Mike. "She just got out of surgery a few hours ago, she'll be in there for at least a couple more days. No visitors allowed, only family."
"How did you see her then?" asked Sig.
"I didn't, I saw her wheeled by on the gurney on the way to surgery. I haven't seen her since she got out" said Mike. "The doctor came to talk to me about the surgery and then I came here to wait until you woke up to tell you."
"I want to see her" said Sig. "Get the nurse."
Mike shook his head but pushed the call button anyway. He knew this wasn't going to end well but didn't know what else to do.
The nurse wheeled Sig's gurney towards the ICU, Mike trailed slowly behind. The nurse had been less than enthusiastic about learning that aparently Sig was Natalie's husband. She'd turned to Mike and given him an earful about not telling her. Mike had the decency to look contrite until the nurse looked away and then turned a confused glare Sig's way. Sig just shrugged and happily answered the nurse's question about Natalie. He was able to answer everything, like where she lived and her insurance questions by simply giving his own information.
"Ok, Mr. Hansen, we can only give you a few minutes with your wife" explained the Nurse. "I don't think you'll be able to touch her, she's hooked up to a lot of machines right now."
"I understand" said Sig. "I just want to see her, even if it's only for a moment."
The nurse smiled down at Sig and then pushed him through the ICU doors. Mike moved to follow only to be stopped.
"Is it ok if he comes?" asked Sig. "I might need him for emotional support."
The nurse looked Mike up and down before nodding.
"You'll have to gown up" she said to Mike, pointing to a changing room.
Mike was in and out in his new duds in a minute. Sig snickered slightly at the yellow gown.
The room was lit up like a Christmas tree, there were monitors and machines everywhere. The beeps and hisses of the machines were deafening. Sig had the urge to plug his ears. His eyes scanned the room and in the middle of the machine was a hospital bed. Covered with tubes in the bed was Natalie. She hardly looked like herself. Her eyes were badly bruised and her lips were dry and cracked. Both arms had IV's in them and she had a cardiac monitor on her chest and pulse oximeter on her finger. The nurse wheeled Sig as close as she could get. There was still dried blood in Natalie's hair and under her nails. Her skin looked thing and devoid of color. Sig thought she'd need another vacation in Costa Rica to get her tan back. He reached out to take her hand only to realize there was no way to touch her through all the medical equipment. He wanted to say something to her, to tell her he was there, to say he was sorry, to say he loved her but in that moment he couldn't find the words. One of the monitors started to beep and the nurse quickly checked it. Then another started and the nurse pushed the call button above Natalie's bed.
"CODE BLUE! CODE BLUE!"
Mike took Sig's gurney and pushed it to the far side of the room. A clutch of doctors and nurses came into the room and immediately began working on Natalie. Before Sig or Mike could tell if she was going to be ok, they were unceremoniously removed from the room.
"I love you Natalie" yelled Sig as they were being pushed out the door.
Once they were further down the hallway Sig looked over at Mike, his eyes red from crying.
"Do you think she heard me?" asked Sig.
"The whole hospital heard you" replied Mike.
"As long as she heard me" said Sig, more to himself than Mike.
They moved back into Sig's room and Mike returned to his now cold coffee. Every doctor or nurse that passed the door made both men jump. Hours later a doctor entered the room to tell them about Natalie's condition.
"Well, she sure gave us a scare today" began the doctor. "But we managed to pull her back from the edge just in time."
"Why did it happen?" asked Mike.
"We think it was a reaction to all the anesthesia, she's had so many surgeries in the past few days that it was making her heart work too hard. She's on the ventilator which will breathe for her, but she will need closer cardiac monitoring until she can breathe on her own. But I'm confident she'll recover" said the doctor with a small smile. "If that's all, I'm going to go back and check on her."
"Thanks doc" said Mike.
"Do you think she's going to make it?" asked Sig.
"Well, the doctor just said" began Mike.
"No, I'm asking what you think?" interrupted Sig.
"Yes, I think she's going to be just fine" said Mike.
Sig looked at Mike trying to gage his sincerity. He found nothing to doubt his words.
"I'm going to take a nap, let me know if we get anymore news" said Sig.
"Roger" said Mike. "While you're resting I'm going to call and update the guys."
Mike turned for a response but Sig was already asleep.
The phone on the Northwestern rang and Andy glanced at Nicole in the port side chair. He was hauling the last of Sig's gear through an ice field and couldn't drive the boat, watch the guys and answer the phone at the same time. Nicole looked over after the phone rang for a third time and realized that Andy wasn't going to pick it up. With a sigh she got up and walked over to answer it.
"Hello?" she said.
"Um, Nicole?" said Mike Fourtner.
"Yes, what other girl did you think was on the boat?" said Nicole saucily.
"Right" said Mike. "I have an update on your sister."
"Is she ok? Still alive? Is she going to be ok?" said Nicole in a flurry.
"She's in the ICU, it's been pretty touch and go but the doctors believe that she's going to make a full recovery" said Mike, his voice crackling over the phone.
Nicole dropped to the floor sobbing in a heap. Andy threw the boat into neutral and turned around to see what happened. He picked up the phone from the floor and put it to his ear.
"Fourtner?" he said.
"Andy, what happened to Nicole?" asked Mike.
"She can't talk" said Andy. "Is Natalie dead?"
"What?! NO!" said Mike. "She just got out of surgery, the doctors think she's going to make a full recovery. Also, Sig is fine too, out of surgery and as grumpy as ever."
"But Natalie's ok?" repeated Andy.
"She's recovering from her injuries and isn't out of the woods yet, but the doctors think she's going to make it" said Mike.
"Mike, I've got to go, we're pulling the last of the pots in the ice" said Andy. "Thanks for the update, I'll let everyone up here know."
"Roger" said Mike. "Take care of yourself."
Andy hung up the phone and then picked up Nicole. He placed her in the captains chair and then picked up the hailer.
"Guys, I've got some news" he began. "Natalie is out of surgery and the doctors think she's going to be just fine."
The cheers erupted from the deck and almost deafened Andy in the wheelhouse.
"Lets get these pots on the boat and get the hell out of here" said Andy over the hailer.
A chorus of Roger was heard from the deck and Andy pressed the throttle causing the boat to lurch forward. Next he called Jonathon to tell him the good news. The whoop from the Time Bandit was almost as loud as the one on the Northwestern.
Once he finished giving everyone the good news he turned back to Nicole who was still crying softly in the chair behind him. He picked her up and settled her into his lap. This wasn't the ideal way to traverse a major ice field but he was pretty confident he could do it. He gently stroked her hair for a moment before he leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"She's going to be ok" he said.
"I know" blubbered Nicole. "I'm just so relieved."
"I know you've been worried" said Andy.
Nicole just nodded her head wobbling back and forth against Andy's chest. Andy inhaled her scent and then kissed the crown of her head.
"We're almost done here and then you'll be able to go see her" said Andy gently.
"I knew she wasn't going to die" said Nicole into Andy's shirt. "She couldn't because I still need her."
Andy had been under the impression that the girls weren't all that close but from the mess Nicole was making of his shirt he guessed he was wrong.
"I mean, we love each other" sniffed Nicole. "We might not be best friends but we share a bond that no one could break. I'd be broken knowing she wasn't just a phone call away or something."
Nicole broke off and stood up.
"Are you ok?" asked Andy, glancing over his shoulder.
"I'm going to go outside and sing for a little bit" said Nicole.
Leaving a confused Andy in the wheelhouse Nicole walked down the wheelhouse stairs and out onto the deck. A moment later Andy was being treated to the entire score of La Traviata. Nicole sang until the last pot of the string was over the rail.