Best friends to the end chapter 15

By casper

Cast of characters

Matt Taylor - computer technician who lives alone

Jeremy White - Matt's best friend, Emergency Medicine resident

Ron Waters - works at the Academy and brother of Ben

Ben Waters - works for Dallas fire rescue, brother of Ron

Beth Waters - Matt's apartment manager, sister to Ron and Ben

Derek Anderson - visiting chief resident from Philadelphia

Previously:

I pushed the call button and told the nurse that Matt was now awake. Dr. Peters came in and asked for all of us to leave. As we were walking out Matt started becoming very wrestless again. I tuned around, and saw Ben walk back over to the bed. "Calm down Matt and let the doctor examine you. I am not going to leave as long as you remain calm." Ben nodded and the doctor began his examination of Matt. I waited outside the room with Beth. The doctor walked out after 10 minutes.

"Your friend does not like being on the ventilator, I told him that we would draw lab during the night, but would probably wait until morning rounds before I removed the tube."

Beth walked back into the room. I decided I wanted to go back in to see Matt, and then swing by to the ER and check on the new guy, Dr. Anderson. I walked in and Matt smiled as he saw me.

"There is something I like seeing. I am going to go home and get some sleep, it's after 12 and I have to work tomorrow. I will see you tomorrow. If I hear you are being bad I will start telling stories to the entire ICU team and then I'll order that you need sponge bathes every 3 hours." Ben and Beth started laughing.

"Jeremy, can you give Beth a ride back home?" asked Ben. "I am going to stay here and spend the night with Matt."

"Sure no, problem."

Beth and I walked out and Ben made himself cozy in the recliner next to Matt and fell asleep.

Matt's ICU room 6:30AM (Ben's POV)

I opened my eyes hearing the door open. I saw 3 people wearing lab coats and one of them was Dr. Anderson. I read the name tags of the others Dr. Peters and Dr. Williams. Dr. Peters went over to Matt and looked him over.

"Good morning Mr. Taylor. I don't know if you remember or not but you were in an accident and we had to operate on you late in the night. Looking over your chart, your vitals look really good this morning. They drew labs at 530 and if they look good I will take that tube out of your throat. Dr. Williams is my attending physician who supervises me.

"Dr. Williams I know that I am not on the case, but I would like to know what his prognosis is going to be?"

I saw Dr. Williams look at Matt then at Dr. Anderson. "Well Dr. Anderson, I commend you for your quick thinking. We are going to do a spiral CT on his lungs and also see if we can take that chest tube out. I am sure he would like that too. We are going to do a lot of labs over the next few days to make sure his body is doing alright with the splenectomy. I expect that he will leave the ICU tomorrow. I want his blood pressure about 110 over 60 for a 12 hour period of time before he goes to a room."

I really like this Dr. Williams guy, very thorough. A nurse walked in carrying some paperwork and handed it to Dr. Peters. Dr Peters looked over it for a few minutes.

"Will you prepare the patient for extubation please, nurse."

Matt got really excited upon hearing this and the alarms starting sounding. I walked over to Matt and grabbed his hands. " Calm down Matt, you need to relax or this will be a very painful procedure". Matt squeezed my hand and the 3 doctors approached Matt. The alarms stopped going off. Just then the door opened and Jeremy walked in. He was dressed in black scrubs that said ED service

"Hey Ben, I got some sleep and I am refreshed. I start my shift in 30 minutes but I wanted to come and check on Matt before I leave."

"Dr. Peters was going to extubate Mr. Taylor when you walked in. Could you assist him, Dr. Waters? The patient might feel more comfortable if you were close by."

Jeremy walked over to the bed and stood on the right side of Matt and took his hand.

"I know that tube is a pain, but you need to cooperate so that Dr. Peters can get that tube out of you quickly, okay? The faster we get you breathing on your own the faster we can get you to your own room." I noticed that Matt opened his eyes quite a bit.

"Matt I am going to go out into the hall and check in with the station. I am OK, but I want to call my captain and update him. I will be in the hall alright, and Jeremy is right here."

I walked out into hall and realized that you can't use your cell phone on in the ICU so I continued walking. I stepped into the waiting room and called the station. My captain told me they had 2 calls for medical assistance during the night but no major calls. I told him about my sister's condition and that my best friend Matt was slowly starting to recover from serious injuries. Captain Michaels told me I needed to return the car by 9 AM. I looked at the clock on my cell and it was 7:15. I was starting to get hungry but I knew I wanted to hear Matt's voice. I walked back into the ICU and saw the team walking out of Matt's room. Jeremy looked happy and he came over and hugged me.

"I am going to go heal some people now that Matt is breathing on his own. Once they get him to CAT scan and he has some consistent vitals I think he will be transferred to a room. I will be in the ER but I think you need to go home and freshen up. You are kind of rank, dude!"

"I am going to go see Matt for a while and then I will head out. I will tell my brother to please you for hours," I said wearing an evil grin. Jeremy blushed and got on the elevator." I walked over to Matt's room and saw the nurse drawing blood. I decided to make my presence known.

"Well, well you look a lot different with out the tube, but now I have to hear you and that may be a bad thing!"

"I really liked seeing you here all during the night, Ben. It really made me relax even though I had that damn tube in my throat. I just wish I could get out of here and go home."

"That will come in time. I'm just happy to see you doing so well. Right now I want you to concentrate on getting better. You have been in a bad accident and your body needs time to heal. If I hear that you are being a bad patient I will tell Jeremy to get that tube again." The look on Matt's face told me I had made my point.

"I need to return the truck I borrowed to get here yesterday, and since I am told that I am kind of rank I am going to shower and get some food."

"Now that you mention it, you do need a shower," he said wrinkling his nose comically. Even though he was teasing me, he looked so cute doing it that it made my heart jump... yeah, yeah, and something else, too! Becoming more serious, he added, "I want you to eat something outside of this hospital and bring me back some real food. Gosh knows that I won't get anything here that tastes decent." I reached over and kissed Matt tenderly and walked out. I looked back and he waved at me.

I got in the truck and drove to the station. I parked the truck on the side of the building and noticed that both engines were out on a call. I walked in and put the keys back on the desk. I really wanted to look at the computer and see where the guys were, but decided to leave. I went over to the memo pad and wrote a memo to the captain:

Thanks for the use of the utility truck. I am going home to get a shower and some food. I have nothing major planned tomorrow so if you need me, call me in.

 

I walked out of the fire station and got into my car. I decided to stop by a Shipley's and get me some doughnuts. I drove up to the window and thought for a second. The lady opened the window and asked me what I wanted.

I would like 2 sausage and cheese kolaches and 2 chocolate covered doughnuts

"Would you like something to drink?"

I would like a large milk

"Your total will be 5.85." I pulled out my visa and handed it to her. She handed me 2 bags and my milk. I thanked her and drove toward my house. My phone rang and it was my brother Ron.

"Hey Ben, how is Matt doing? I got a voicemail from Jeremy."

"Well Ron, he was very sick when he came into Baylor, but after they operated his vitals are looking a little better. They pulled out the breathing tube a while ago, and he is in good spirits. He wants to come home, but I told him to be patient and give his body a chance to heal."

"Well I have an early shift, but I will come over and check on you later on. I want you to get some sleep because I bet you will want to go back to Baylor."

"Take care Ron and don't work too hard; Oh, and I told Jeremy that you would please him for taking care of Matt so well."

"Did you, now?" he said laughingly. "I probably should be pissed at you for propositioning me out before I know about it but since it is Jeremy I will let this one slide."

I hung up the phone and drove to my apartment. I parked my car in the carport and walked in. I put my keys on the TV and sat down on the couch. I ate my breakfast quickly. I finished up and went to the kitchen. I put my milk in the fridge and threw the trash away. I stripped off my outer clothes and went to the bathroom. I removed my boxers and got into the tub. It felt like I stayed in the tub for 30 minutes. I got out and dried off. I walked into my room and put a clean pair of boxers on. I decided I wanted to take a nap.

Ben's dream

I found myself sitting on my bed with Matt plowing me really hard. I was screaming not for pain, but for joy. Matt was making passionate love to me. I felt his penis hit my spot and it sent shivers through my back. I felt him push into me really hard and I knew he had just given me a good fucking.

I woke up and looked at the clock and it said 11:00. I felt so good as I got up out of bed. I walked over to my dresser drawer and put on a pair of shorts. I walked over to my closet and put on a t-shirt. I grabbed my cell phone and there were no calls, so called Baylor Medical and found out that Matt was still in the ICU. I went into the kitchen and started looking at my pantry... almost completely bare. As much as I wanted to be back with Matt again, there was no more delaying the inevitable. It was time to go shopping.

Back at Baylor Medical Center ICU (Matt`s POV)

After Ben left I started trying to piece together what happened that caused me to be sitting in a very large ICU room. I remember that Ben said that I was in an accident, but I was drawing a blank. Hey I've got to get that damn tube out of my dick. What was it that the nurse called it? Oh yeah, a catheter. I'll bet Jeremy was behind that. He will pay dearly for that. Okay it hurts to laugh, too. I felt my stomach and felt a lot of bandages around my abdomen. One of the nurses came in and checked me over.

"So what is the verdict?"

"Well Mr. Taylor you are breathing on your own. If you would leave that oxygen in your nose it would make my job a lot easier." I just smiled at her. She listened to my lungs and heart. She removed my gown and I thought for a moment she was staring at my penis. She looked at the dressing. She did something with the monitor. I looked over at her.

"Since I am basically stuck here can I get a remote for the TV, and how soon can I eat something?"

She walked over to the TV and pulled out the remote. She handed it to me. "I will talk to Dr. Peters, but I would think you will gradually be given food starting off with liquids. My name is Linzy and I will be here until 8 PM tonight. Push your call button on the side rail if you need anything." Nurse Linzy walked out and I started flipping through the channels. I found Regis and Kelly and decided that I would watch it for a while. About 45 minutes later an orderly with a stretcher came in with Linzy.

"We need to take you to Cat Scan." I looked at her very weird as I had about 10 wires/tubes attached to and/or coming out of my body. Linzy walked over and rather than unhook me, she took the monitor off and put it underneath the stretcher. "We are going to move you slowly as you still have chest tubes in you. " The orderly moved the gurney beside my bed and Linzy pushed a button and I started going up. The next thing I knew 2 more people came in and I was picked up like a rag doll and put on the gurney. I looked down and there were 1 big bottle and 1 bag hanging on my bed. Linzy put those on the gurney and she switched the oxygen. The orderly pushed me out of the room and we stopped at the desk.

"I am taking Taylor to CT for a spiral. Linzy went over and grabbed a blue notebook that had my name on it. She put it at my feet. The orderly started pushing me down many hallways. Linzy stayed at the desk. We got onto an elevator. The orderly did not say anything. We left the elevator and went through a double door that said CT. We went into a room and the orderly took the notebook. He went into a small room and did something. A lady came out.

"I am going to take some pictures of your lungs." I looked over and saw the huge machine and realized that they would have to put me in it. She moved the stretcher beside the table and then she pulled out something. I felt like something underneath me was moving. The orderly came back. "On the count of 3 we are going to slide you over. There is a support between the gurney and the table." I actually helped them and got on the table pretty easy. The lady and the orderly went back to the room and I was moved inside the machine. "Now I want you to try and stay as still as you can and this will be over within 10 minutes okay." I gave thumbs up. Over the next 10 minutes I saw something move around me like 15 times and I did my best to stay still. The tech came out and removed me from the machine. She and the orderly put me back on the stretcher. She put the notebook back on my bed. The orderly took me back to the ICU but he moved me back to my bed. She put everything back and I was comfortably back in my bed again. "Mr. Taylor I spoke with Dr. Peters and he said you can start with clear liquids for the rest of the day. I have ordered your tray, and it will be delivered." I thanked Linzy. Just then her beeper sounded and she went flying out the room. I heard a lot of commotion a couple of rooms over. I put the TV on and decided to watch some cable. I started looking for a phone so I could call Ben. Even though he'd only been gone for a few hours, I was starting to miss him terribly. I could not find one so I pushed my button.

"Can we help you?"

"I would like to make a call to my friend?"

"I will send someone in shortly but most of the staff are tied up."

I found VH1 and decided to listen to some music. Just then this really cute doctor walked in.

"Hello, Matt. I am Dr. Derek Anderson. I got switched to the ICU for the day from the Emergency Room. I am a visiting chief resident from Philadelphia, and I took care of you when you were flown here. I have to tell you, you made me work hard." I looked at him unsure of what to say.

"So do you know what happened to me? I am having trouble remembering." He looked at me and decided that I need to be poked and prodded some more. He grabbed something off the wall.

"First I want to give you a good check up if that is all right." I nodded. He grabbed a flashlight and the next thing I knew I had lights shining in my eyes. "Look straight ahead and don't move when I look into your eyes.

"I see the light doctor. I see the light."

"Are you having any dizziness or head aches?''

"I have a little dizziness and some pain on my forehead."

He made me lift my hands and touch my nose. I then felt a needle touch my feet which I yelled at. He turned the lights back on and told me he would be back in 10 minutes. I wondered what that is about.

True to his word, Dr. Anderson returned after a short absence. "Dr. Peters is tied up but I did speak with him. Since you banged your head really hard, I think you might have a mild concussion, which might explain why the amnesia as well as the dizziness and the pain."

"Well now that is one question answered. So how do you fix it and when will you get this damned tube out of me?"

"I have written orders for some pain medication. We are going to start it off slowly until your vitals get stronger."

"Pain medicine! I want all of it I can get," I said eagerly. "So tell me what happened to me, doctor."

"I actually think that would be better coming from your female friend who was in the same car as you were. I only got what the flight crew told me, and it has been a few days already."

"I am going to go take care of some other patients, but there will be an intern at the desk if you need anything. I will stop in later this afternoon and check on things. By then your cat scan will be read. If your vitals continue to look good during the day I may go ahead and transfer you to the floor this evening," he said smiling at me. Dr. Anderson walked out and I was very excited about the thought of leaving the ICU. An employee walked in carrying a cordless phone. She handed it to me and told me to buzz the desk when I was finished. Finally! Now I could call Ben. I longed so much to just hear his voice again. Just thinking about him was starting to make me get hard. Ouch! That really spoiled the moment. I forgot about that damned catheter. I'd have to keep my feelings reigned in until it came out. I punched in his number from memory -- at least that much had survived the concussion. "Hey, Ben..."

I want to thank all of the readers for being patient as I had gone through a long ordeal of assisting my mom into a long term nursing facility. It was very hard. Please help me as I need ideas about the direction of this story. You can email me at casper717@sbcglobal.net