InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I own a horse."

Josh Foley (fatedtouch) wrote in tensor,
@ 2011-06-01 01:33:00

Entry tags:

josh_foley, kevin_ford

Kevin
The beeping was what he noticed first. A slow, high pitched 'Boop, Boop, Boop' that was incredibly annoying. He was accustomed enough to the sounds of hospitals that he knew what it was and how to turn it off, but was also aware it only made that sound when attached to someone. He listened to it for a while, trying to read the patient's stats and not liking what he was concluding.

It wasn't until he tried to move that he realized he couldn't. Nothing would obey him. His eyes didn't open, his lips didn't part, his head didn't roll and his fingers didn't twitch. The only thing that did respond was the pitch of the machine that was suddenly blaring 'Beep, Beep, Beep' in an urgent, even more annoying tone.

It was about then Josh made the connection. The machine was attached to HIM. Which meant he was in the HOSPITAL. Something that was supposedly impossible.

The panic followed almost directly after the realization. Why was he in the hospital?! What'd happened?! Where was he?! And more importantly, where were Kevin and Julian?! Were they hurt too? Were they even still alive?! What was happening?! The questions swirled faster, lumped closer together until Josh's brain was only processing: Hospital. Kevin and Julian missing. HOSPITAL. The 'DEETDEETDEET' of the machine gave way to a screeching 'EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE'

Josh felt the pressure rising and braced himself as it exploded in all directions. And suddenly he could move. His whole body rocked with the start, eyes flying open at the same time as he gasped, back dropping into the bed. His free hand gripped the material beneath him like a vice as his left heel slid against the bed. His body weak and half of it weighed down so heavily he didn't even shift.

And then it hit him. A WAVE of pain that had his chest seizing, and his nerves on fire. His throat was dry and he swallowed to the feel of tubes. Suddenly surrounded by people, he tried to pull at his power and ended up feeling his head explode. He barely felt the blood slide down, but he tasted it as it dripped into his mouth.

Hands gently but firmly pushed him down. Voices, muffled and far away shouted at him. And then his body got tired and he felt heavy and slow, and the pain bled away.

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_touchless_
2011-06-02 10:53 pm UTC (link)

Kevin watched Josh's slow efforts at assessing his condition.

"You caved your head in," he told him quietly, steady enough that you wouldn't think he'd spent most of the last almost two weeks terrified that he'd die. "Pretty much shattered your right shoulderblade, broke your collar bone, did a number on your arm." All things Josh had already taken note of, all related in a remarkably steady, calm voice. "Your pelvis is broken too, on the right side, and pinned together."

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-02 10:56 pm UTC (link)
	"My head..." he mumbled, reaching for it again. He tried to compensate this time and ended up crashing his knuckles into his forehead. He didn't seem to notice though, as his arm flagged to the left, just missing Kevin's face by a hair. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_touchless_
2011-06-02 11:04 pm UTC (link)

He'd been watching Josh's face more than his hand, and when it swung out toward him he nearly didn't notice until it was right there. He threw himself back with a panicked cry, his chair going over backwards with the force of it, and grunted in shock and pain as his head hit the floor and agony lanced through his chest and gut and his mangled leg.

He couldn't breathe or move for it for a long moment, the fear as much as the pain, and he laid there, flat on his back and leg propped at a weird angle on the toppled chair as he tried to collect himself.

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-02 11:16 pm UTC (link)
	"Kevin!" he cried, when the blur disappeared, accompanying a thudding sound. And then there were people in the room, and someone was gently pushing him back down. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_touchless_
2011-06-02 11:27 pm UTC (link)

He was trying - and failing - to push himself up by the time the door opened, and he flinched violently, grunting in pain again as a nurse and one of the orderlies reached down for him.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled when he'd settled enough to let them get careful grips on his arms. He stopped speaking when they started to lever him up, though, the pain of the motion too much to get words past no matter how careful they were being as they talked him through getting up off the floor. By the time they righted the chair and let him fall back into it again he was breathing in shallow pants and sweat was running down his face.

"What happened?" the nurse asked, encouraging him to lean back as much as possible in the chair and lifting his shirt with gloved hands to press gently along the angry pink scar of his surgical incision.

"Just...he...he-" Kevin looked past him to Josh, still having trouble speaking past the pain. "His hand...near my face and...I fell," he explained brokenly.

"You should lay down," the nurse suggested, and he shook his head violently, then stopped when he felt vaguely dizzy.

"No," he protested, pushing back to a more upright position with a sharp hiss of pain and reaching for Josh again, even to just get a hand on his leg or something. "It's...I'm fine."

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-02 11:33 pm UTC (link)
	"Josh, keep still!" Josh recognized the voice - he spent enough time around the man. It didn't stop him though, and there was a muted curse, before he took Josh's free arm and pressed his hand to warm material. "There. That's him. Now calm down." Josh's hand clutched the material and gave a little tug. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_touchless_ 2011-06-02 11:37 pm UTC (link)
	"I'm sorry," he mumbled again, letting his head drop to the edge of the bed - well out of range of Josh's hand this time - as he turned his arm and slid his hand until it closed around Josh's again. "I should...shouldn't have been...so close." Talking still hurt like hell around the renewed pulsing in his gut. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fatedtouch
2011-06-02 11:43 pm UTC (link)

The man heaved a sigh. "What are we going to do with you two?" he mumbled.

Josh's eyes squeezed shut as he was suddenly blinded. "Oh good, you can see." He turned his head to no avail as a moment later his eyelids were pried open on one side and the light flashed again. "Light sensitivity, huh?" The light shut off. Josh relaxed, only to tense again when his other eye was forced open and peered into. Tears welled, and slipped down his cheeks.

"Healers make the worst patients," his assailant chirped good naturedly.

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	_touchless_ 2011-06-03 01:40 am UTC (link)
	"I'm sorry," Kevin repeated at the admonishment. He was shaking slightly in reaction to the fear as much as the pain of the fall. He didn't move, though, just laid there slumped over the edge of Josh's bed and holding tight to his hand, watching as the doctor pried at Josh's watering eyes. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	fatedtouch 2011-06-03 02:11 am UTC (link)
	"Your boyfriend's an impossible patient," the doctor said to Josh, as he looked over his chart. "Kevin, can we borrow that arm for a minute?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_touchless_
2011-06-03 02:20 am UTC (link)

Kevin squeezed Josh's hand again and lifted his head enough to give him what he hoped was a reassuring smile before letting go. He was more than a little terrified, though, that mention of his 'boyfriend' would make Josh realize that Julian wasn't there. He didn't have any real illusions that his presence would cut it once he realized that Julian wasn't just absent, but injured as well.

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fatedtouch
2011-06-03 02:26 am UTC (link)

"Thank you. Okay, Josh. You know the drill. Finger to nose, try not to poke an eye."

Josh's arm bent at the elbow, and on the first try, missed his face completely. "Again." He tried to move his right arm. "Only the left, Josh. Use the left one only, please." His second try had him skimming his cheek. "Again." His third had his arm going right over his head. "Again." His fourth landed an ear.

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	_touchless_ 2011-06-03 02:35 am UTC (link)
	Kevin watched, torn between relieved and terrified that Josh didn't even seem to have registered Julian's absence. Combined with his obvious inability to do something as simple as touch his nose it was making his gut go tight with renewed fear. He shifted his grip to Josh's leg and held tight, afraid to distract him by talking. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fatedtouch
2011-06-03 02:53 am UTC (link)

"Thank you, Josh." He walked around Kevin to the other side of the bed and took a stack of cards from his newly arrived assistant.

"Hey man, you're awake!"

"Harrison, we're conducting an exam."

The teen shuffled but didn't say anything more.

"Josh, can you tell me what letter is on this card?"

Josh squinted, but all he saw was a white blur with some black swirls. He shook his head. "How about this one?" He tried to push himself up, and ended up not moving anywhere - fatigue, lack of exercise and the weight of a cast more than he could combat. He shook his head.

"Okay. What color is this?"

Josh bit his lip. "...Blue?"

"And this?"

"Green."

"And this?"

"...Red?"

"Count to ten please."

"One. Two. Three. Four...F-five. Six. S-seven. Eight...Nine. T-en."

"Now backwards."

"Nine-T-ten. Nine. Seven...Eight. Seven...Six?" His brow furrowed in distress.

"Take your time."

"Six...Seven."

"No, Josh. Backwards."

"Sssix...Five. Four...Three. Two. One."

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	_touchless_ 2011-06-03 03:05 am UTC (link)
	Kevin continued to watch, confused and silent and increasingly frightened. Josh was awake, he was supposed to be better. His grip on Josh's leg went tighter with each wrong answer, and by the time Josh was failing miserably at counting backwards he was holding his breath. Going slightly lightheaded with the effort to somehow will him to get it right. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	fatedtouch 2011-06-03 03:44 am UTC (link)
	"Kevin?" The doctor waited until he was looking at him. "Will you please hold onto something else while we finish? It is very important that we know what Josh's reactions to stimuli are, and your actions could influence his answers." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_touchless_ 2011-06-03 04:26 am UTC (link)
	He sucked in a shuddering breath as he shifted his attention to the doctor, and it took him a moment to realize what he was being asked. It took even longer to make himself comply, and he squeezed Josh's leg once more, then patted it gently as he inched his hand away and curled it into a fist in his lap. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fatedtouch
2011-06-03 04:44 am UTC (link)

"Thank you," the doctor replied, before turning to Josh again.

Josh struggled through his alphabet with several interruptions of "English, Josh. English." He could not manage it backward. He managed to identify objects with his eyes closed, could tell hot from cold and was able to recite - with limited pauses - the days of the week and all twelve months. He struggled with correctly holding up the right number of fingers when asked. He was completely frustrated by basic math. And got lost several times when asked to define or describe certain simple words.

However, there was one thing that came so blissfully easily it seemed to slide from his brain to his lips with nary a stutter or pause.

"A pulmonary thromboendarterectomy is an operation that removes thrombus from the pulmonary arteries and involves a full cardiopulmonary bypass, deep hypothermia and full cardiac arrest, with the critical procedure carried out in a standstill operation."

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	_touchless_ 2011-06-03 05:17 am UTC (link)
	Kevin...didn't know what to make of the fact Josh couldn't manage some of the most basic skills or information, but could rattle of complex medical facts without hesitation, and he looked at the doctor in concern and confusion. Maybe that was a good sign. He hoped. But he had no clue. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	fatedtouch 2011-06-03 05:26 am UTC (link)
	The doctor just smiled at Josh, finished his notes and returned his chart to the foot of his bed. Shooing out the rest of the staff, he turned to face Josh and Kevin. "Well, I have some reports to finish. You boys get some rest." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_touchless_
2011-06-03 05:30 am UTC (link)

Kevin wanted to follow him, to ask him what the hell it meant that Josh had gotten so much wrong. If it was normal or expected or going to get better. But he wasn't willing to leave Josh, not to mention he didn't think he could walk that far anyway, and he watched the man leave in silence before turning back to Josh and reaching for his hand again.

"How...how do you feel?" he asked, quiet and concerned.

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-03 05:45 am UTC (link)
	Josh was silent for a long moment before sighing. "I might have brain damage." His head rolled to the side so he could blink at the blur that was Kevin. "What happened?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_touchless_
2011-06-03 05:57 am UTC (link)

Kevin's jaw clenched against the pained sound that wanted to escape at Josh's statement.

"You'll fix it," he told him instead, quiet and steady and as certain as he could make himself sound. Even if the question made him anxious again. He'd already told Josh, but apparently he'd forgotten....

"There was an explosion. At the Smithsonian. You...you were trapped when the admin building, that castle thing, got flattened."

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-03 06:03 am UTC (link)
	"Why was I there?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_touchless_
2011-06-03 06:08 am UTC (link)

Kevin swallowed and squeezed his hand a bit tighter, and took a moment before answering. He didn't want to open his mouth until he could do it without sounding like he was about to cry. There wasn't anything could do about how broken his voice was over the ache in his chest and the need to breathe shallowly.

"We were there on...on a field trip...remember?" he asked.

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fatedtouch, 2011-06-03 06:20 am UTC

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_touchless_, 2011-06-03 06:27 am UTC

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fatedtouch, 2011-06-03 06:31 am UTC

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_touchless_, 2011-06-03 06:33 am UTC

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fatedtouch, 2011-06-03 06:35 am UTC

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