Terri woke some hours later with a distinct sense of dread. It had to be quite late now. She stifled the groan that nearly gave her away, not wanting to alert any nurses that may be right outside her room. Shifting in the bed, she winced, feeling her ribs protesting the slightest of movements. Dr. Fox had been right, Mike had done a number on her and she was going to regret moving, but if she didn't get home, he would come find her. She really liked this job and these people. There was no way she was jeopardizing the good thing she'd found here by making him come find her.
Forcing herself to move slowly, she worked her way through the pain that made her want to scream. Silent tears fell down her cheeks as she finally made it to the edge of the bed. It had taken her fifteen long minutes just to move so that her feet were no longer in the bed and she was sitting on the edge and every single moment was pain-filled. Now the chest-tube was spitting out more blood-filled fluid into the little container sitting on the floor beside her and Terri ignored its tell-tale sign that she was injuring herself further with what she was doing.
Grabbing the bars of the bed, she pushed herself to an almost standing position. That was the mistake. The pain was too much for her to bear. This time she did cry out. Her voice was able to be heard outside of her room and down the hallway as she nearly screamed in pain. It was enough for her to faint and fall to the floor.
Nurses from the station came running to the room at the noise. Sarah shook her head when she saw Terri, tsking softly. Motioning to one of the orderlies, she got the now unconscious woman back into her bed.
"Call Dr. Fox. She will want to know that Terri tried to get out of bed. She said to call her if anything like this happened." Sarah began to take Terri's vital signs to ensure no major damage had been done. She did note that the drainage in the chest tube container had increased and wrote this in the chart. "Hmm, hope she didn't tear some of her stitches out."
With that, she resolved to stay by the woman's side and pulled up a chair. She motioned to one of the nurses and directed them to bring some of her charts to her. Once this was done, she settled down to do some charting while she waited for Dr. Fox to come in to see the patient. She was determined she wouldn't leave Terri's side until Samantha came in.
**********
Jonathan's phone went off around three am. He answered it readily, not being able to sleep well tonight. His dreams had been plagued all night by some nameless dread. He couldn't quite see it, just that something had kept pulling Terri away from him and it kept him frustrated and mad all through his dream.
Once Samantha's voice came across the phone, he was alert. Sleep was placed no longer a priority. He rolled over in bed, getting up as the doctor spoke.
"You say she tried to get out of bed? Wouldn't that hurt her worse? I'm coming with you. I don't care. I'll be more careful this time and I won't mention him. But I'm coming."
He hung up the phone and hurried into the bathroom. He wore nothing but his boxers to bed and it was easy to see that his large physique was all muscle. Stepping into the shower, he quickly got himself clean and shaved. Grabbing a towel he headed back into his room and threw on some clothes, a pair of jeans and a clean polo before grabbing his keys from his bedside stand to meet Samantha at the hospital.
Jonathan pulled into the parking lot of the hospital about twenty minutes later. He hoped that Terri hadn't seriously hurt herself. What had she been thinking trying to get out of bed so soon? Honestly, he would have a word or two with that girl!
Shaking his head as he stepped out of his car and shut the door, he met Dr. Fox as she walked up to the doors of the emergency department. They had arrived nearly at the same time and since these doors were always open, it was easier to just go in this way rather than getting buzzed in through the front. Nodding to Samantha, they headed through the automatic doors and took an almost immediate right down the hallway intent on the acute care wing.
"Sarah is with her now. She wouldn't leave her side once she pulled that little stunt, so Terri hasn't been out of bed since she passed out."
"She passed out?" Jonathan was more worried now and his voice showed it.
Samantha smiled in spite of herself. Yeah, the wolf had it bad. Ah to be young again.
"I'll check her out and see what kind of damage has been done. Sarah said that the drainage to the chest tube increased for a time, but has already slowed down, so that's a good sign. Her lungs remain clear which is also a good sign. I don't think she did any permanent damage."
Turning to Jonathan, Samantha stopped him before they got too far down the hallway. She looked up at him. Tilting her head she paused as if studying him, obviously thinking about something.
"Look, did you read through that stuff about her last city? Did you get what she went through before?"
"Some of it. She has an abusive husband. He did this to her. I gathered that, yeah." His voice held a low growl.
"Yeah, but did you see what he did to her at that hospital and how he nearly killed the other woman there? Did you see why she left? Why she came here scared that I'd check references? Why she came here with only the clothes on her back?"
Samantha's voice held a hint of desperation. She had to make Jonathan understand why Terri was terrified of Mike and why she had tried to crawl out of her bed even as painful as it had been. It was something that Jonathan needed to know and needed to see before he pushed things to a point where he wounded her further without meaning to. She could tell that he was thinking; that he was really working to understand what she said.
"I think I'm beginning to see. That other nurse at the last hospital had nearly convinced Terri to leave him, huh? She was going to finally get out from under his thumb and in exchange for it; he just about killed the both of them. So she left. She left so that other girl would live."
His voice got louder and angrier as he spoke. Samantha shushed him, subtly reminding him that they stood in the middle of a hospital hallway. Nodding, she began the walk to Terri's room again. Now that he understood, he would be able to help Terri with what she was sure was going to come. Samantha had no doubts that Mike would come to the hospital to get Terri. It wasn't a matter of if; it was a matter of when.
The two of them walked into Terri's room just then to find Sarah still seated near the bed. She was calmly writing her nursing notes into the various charts that were scattered around her on the bedside stand that she used for her table. Looking up at hearing the footsteps, she paused in her writing and nodded to Dr. Fox and Jonathan. The pen was placed into the chart she was working on to save her place and she moved toward the two of them.
"Terri seems to have stabilized. She hasn't woken since her attempt to get out of bed. Her vital signs have been stable. The chest tube drainage is less bloody now and has decreased in quantity. The one thing I can't be sure of is whether or not she has pulled any stitches internally. Externally everything seems fine. Her lungs continue to sound clear and there are no muffled or missing sounds to the side with the chest tube. I haven't needed to give her any pain or sleeping medications."
