NINE
After Vin was settled in his room, the nurses pushed more fluids to increase his blood pressure. He was still in a lot of pain, but they explained that they couldn't give him any morphine until his blood pressure was higher. Nathan, Josiah, and Ezra arrived an hour later to find JD sprawled in one of the chairs, asleep. Chris and Buck were still applying the towels to Vin's body to bring his temperature down. A nurse followed the threesome into the room. Josiah and Nathan cringed when they saw the chest tube. They had been around the last time he had one."Good Lord!" Ezra yelled when he saw him. "What the hell happened?"
Vin was awake, but Ezra could see he was in a lot of pain. The nurse was taking his blood pressure and checking the chest tubes. Vin gasped and started coughing. Buck was the closest to him, and Vin grabbed his arm. The pain from the chest tube rubbing when he coughed made him cry out.
"Can't you give him anything?" Josiah asked.
"Getting something now," answered the nurse.
She filled a syringe and came over to Vin. She swabbed some alcohol on his hip and gave him the injection. Buck had sat down on the side of the bed and was holding Vin against his chest. Vin had pulled off the oxygen mask and was coughing very hard. The nurse moved to Buck's side of the bed and hooked the NG tube to suction. She pushed the hair from Vin's face and looked in his eyes.
"Mr. Tanner, I just gave you a shot of morphine," she explained. "It will help with the pain, but it might make you feel nauseous. I hooked up the NG tube to suction to empty your stomach. Do you think you can lie back now?"
Vin had stopped coughing and was sagging against Buck. He shifted Vin so he could lay him back down. Chris helped from the other side. They tried to be gentle, but he gasped from the pain.
"Aw, hell, my ribs," he cried.
"Just relax, Vin," Nathan instructed. "Breathe easy."
"I know the tube hurts," Chris said and went to put the oxygen mask back on.
"No, it's something else," protested Vin and pushed the mask away.
"Vin, this helps your cough," he said. "Put the mask back on and let the nurse see what's wrong."
Vin reluctantly let Chris put the mask back on. The morphine had finally kicked in, and Vin started to relax. The nurse came over to his side and gently ran her fingers over his ribs. When she got to the fourth one, Vin gasped in pain.
"I was afraid of that," she said.
"What, pray tell?" asked Ezra.
"He broke a couple of ribs with that last coughing fit."
"He what?" asked JD in surprise. He had been awakened from all the commotion.
"It's not uncommon for a pneumonia patient to break some ribs from coughing so hard. I'm going to inform the doctor, and he'll order some chest x-rays. Let me just finish hooking up his pain medication."
She rolled a small machine close to the bed and hooked the tubes into his IV. When she was done, she placed a button close to Vin's hand.
"Mr. Tanner, when you hit this button it will give you more of the morphine for pain. Do you understand?"
Vin nodded, but she could see he really wasn't paying attention. She went to leave when the intimidating blonde stopped her.
"These coughing fits leave him a little disoriented from the pain," he said. "Can we decide if he should have the morphine?"
"Yeah, that's fine," she said. "You can't overdose him. It's set to give him one milligram an hour in divided doses. I'm going to let the doctor know about his ribs."
Chris walked back over to the bed. Ezra had taken his spot at Vin's side. Chris stood at the end of the bed and looked at his lover. The others had started the treatment with the towels again, and Vin was wrapped in white. The white towels emphasized the color, or lack of it, in his face. Chris could see dark circles already forming under his expressive blue eyes. He could see Vin was still awake and in pain. He walked over to JD and tapped him on the shoulder. JD moved out of his way, and Chris stepped to the side of the bed. He picked up the button for the morphine and hit it twice. Nathan saw and frowned. Chris saw his expression, but just glared at him. Chris leaned over and looked at Vin. He pushed his unruly hair off his face.
"How you feeling?"
"Tired," came the muffled reply through the mask.
"I bet, cowboy. Why don't you close your eyes and get some sleep."
Chris stroked his hair, and Vin tried to fight his eyes from closing. He finally lost the battle and fell asleep. Chris wanted to kiss him, but he knew Vin would never forgive him if did anything in front of the others. He settled for a caress on the cheek. When he looked up, Ezra's knowing green eyes snared him. He locked eyes with the undercover agent and realized that Ezra knew. It was hard to hide anything from his inquisitive mind. Ezra gave him a slight nod and went back to placing a cold towels on Vin's chest. A short time later, the nurse came back in followed by some technicians with an x-ray machine. She ordered them all out of the room, including Chris.
"How did this happen?" Nathan asked.
"He was caught out in the storm the other day," Chris explained. "The doctor said his immune system was weakened because of the time he'd spent here a few weeks ago. So it didn't take much for that small cough to turn into pneumonia."
"Damn," Josiah cursed. "You can't let yourself get run down, Chris. You're still recovering also."
"Josiah's right," Buck agreed. "Why don't you go get some sleep. We'll watch the kid."
"Afraid we can't stay, Buck," Josiah contradicted. "We're in the middle of a case, remember?"
"Aw shit," he cursed.
"Gentleman, it would appear our incapacitated sharpshooter will be sleeping for awhile," Ezra said. "Why don't we adjourn to the office and try to get some work done so we can come back later."
"Jeez, Ezra, it's too early in the morning," JD complained.
"It's never too early to further one's vocabulary," Ezra admonished.
Chris smiled. He knew Ezra was worried about Vin because of the larger-than-normal words he was using. They argued a bit more, and Josiah finally put his foot down. With Chris on leave, he was in charge. He said they would go to the office and be back later. Chris watched them head for the door.
"Ezra, why the hell were you being so pushy about us leaving?" Buck asked.
"I believe our fearless leader wished to be alone with his new paramour," Ezra answered. "He wants to comfort Vin, but won't do it in front of us."
"Vin would never forgive him if he did," Nathan said. "He's probably so embarrassed about the whole thing."
"Not embarrassed, Brother Nate," Josiah corrected. "Just very private."
"I still can't believe it," JD said. "Don't get me wrong. I don't have a problem with it. I just never expected it."
"I'm kind of glad," Buck said. "Chris seems more alive."
"Amen, Brother," Josiah agreed.
When they were done taking the x-rays, Chris went back into the room. He lay on the bed next to Vin and got comfortable. The nurse had turned the suction off from the NG tube and had unhooked it. Vin was still asleep, and Chris gently put his arm behind his head. He leaned down and kissed the top of his head, then lay his head down. In no time, he was asleep. The nurse came back a few minutes later to change the Albuterol on the oxygen mask. When she came in and found Chris, she took the extra blanket off the other bed and spread it over both of them. She did what she came for and left the two of them sleeping. An hour and a half later, she came back to wake Chris up.
"Mr. Larabee," she called shaking him lightly.
"Hhmm, yes," he said coming fully awake.
"Just wanted to let you know the intern assigned to Vin's case was coming to check on him."
"Intern! Why isn't a doctor checking him?"
"Dr. Allen is on vacation. She'll be back in a few days. This is the intern assigned to her."
"I see."
Chris wasn't happy when a kid no older than JD walked in carrying Vin's x-rays. He watched as he went over and put them on the light machine. He flipped the switch and looked at them. The nurse stood by him, clipboard in hand.
"Yup, he broke three of them with that last coughing fit. What's his pulseox?'
"Still at 92 percent."
"Hhmm, still low," he said as he walked over to Vin. "I see he still has a temperature."
"Yes sir, 104."
"Not good. Keep icing him down to bring down his temperature. Keep up the antibiotic dosage and the Albuterol to relieve the coughing. Has he still been nauseous?"
"He was put on the morphine when his blood pressure increased."
"Alright then, leave the NG tube in for now. I'm going to give him an intercostal nerve block for the broken ribs and the chest tubes. I know how much they hurt. Take a urine sample and some blood. You know what tests need to be run."
The nurse gathered what he needed for the nerve block and walked back over to the bed. Vin was awake and watching the intern. He picked up the cotton and alcohol and swabbed the area below and above the chest tube. He picked up the syringe and the two percent lidocaine and filled the syringe to 10 milliliters.
The needle was long to reach the intercostal space. He leaned over Vin and inserted the needle just above the chest tube. He gasped and arched his back.
"Easy, Vin," Chris said and gave the intern a deadly stare.
Once the intern was in the space, he injected the nerve block and Vin relaxed. He repeated the procedure below the chest tube as well. When he was done, he handed the nurse the syringe and pulled off his surgical gloves.
"That should help the pain. I'll be back to check on him later."
With that, he walked out the door leaving the nurse and Chris alone in the room with Vin.
"Nice bedside manner," Chris growled. "How you doing Vin?"
"That's some good stuff," Vin smiled.
"Well, Mr. Tanner, I don't expect you to do anything foolish," the nurse said. "It does block the pain, and you can do some damage and not even know it."
"Don't worry, he's not going to do anything stupid," Chris answered. "We're going to be here a few days, so you might want to drop the Mister. It's just Chris and Vin."
"Alright, Chris, I'm Nancy," she said. "I'm going to go get the stuff for the tests he wanted."
Chris watched as she went out. He walked back over to the bed and had a seat. Vin's fever was still high, and Chris wiped the sweat from his face. Nancy returned a few minutes later with two needles and another tube. She walked over to his left arm and tied a rubber band above his elbow. She held his arm out straight and tapped on the vein that Chris could see on his pale arm. She injected the needle into the vein. She placed a test tube on the needle and untied the rubber band. As soon as she did, it started to fill with blood. When it was full, she pulled out the needle and placed a cotton ball over the spot and bent his arm up. Vin knew to hold it like that for a few minutes. She moved to a vein on his leg and did the same thing. She placed the two test tubes on the table and walked back over to Vin.
"Now I need you to relax. I need to get a urine sample," she explained.
"But I don't have to go," Vin replied through the mask.
"I know," she said "I'll use a catheter."
"What!" Vin said in alarm pulling off the mask.
"It's alright, Mr. Tanner. I've done this hundreds of times."
"Chris?!?" Vin pleaded with his blue eyes.
"Sorry, cowboy, it's got to be done."
She pulled back the covers and took his penis in her hands. Vin groaned and covered his eyes with his left arm. Nancy smiled when she saw the flush suffuse his whole body. She was fast and efficient, but Vin was even more embarrassed when he got an erection from the catheterization.
"Aw hell!" he cried and turned a brighter red.
"It's alright, Mr. Tanner," she said when she was finished. "It happens sometimes. I'll get you an ice pack."
She covered him back up, but it didn't hide the reaction. She came back with the ice pack and was about to place it on the erection when Chris took it from her.
"I think I'd better do it," Chris said. She smiled and left the room.
"It's OK, Vin. She's gone."
"Oh God!!! I've never been so embarrassed."
"I certainly liked the show," Chris said and smiled when Vin blushed.
"Damn, Chris, put the ice on it already!"
"I can think of a better way to relieve it."
He reached over for the hand lotion on the nightstand. He poured some in his hand and flipped back the covers. He took Vin's stiffened member in his hand and began to stroke it. Vin gasped and cringed. Chris reached over and hit the button for the morphine. He continued to stroke Vin's engorged cock and could feel his getting hard as well. He ignored his and continued rubbing Vin's.
"Aw hell, Chris," Vin cried.
"If this is hurting, I can stop."
"Oh God, no," Vin moaned.
Chris continued to stroke his cock when Vin gave that tell tale shudder and Chris knew he was almost ready. He gave a few more practiced strokes and Vin released his seed. Vin moaned and relaxed back against the pillows. Chris reached over and grabbed a towel and wiped him down. When he was done, he covered him back up and stretched out alongside him. Chris gently pulled Vin into his arms and got comfortable. Vin sighed and closed his eyes. He coughed a few times, and Chris noticed he still had the mask off.
"Put this back on," Chris ordered and went to put the mask back, but Vin stopped him.
"Thanks, Chris," Vin said and let him put the mask on.
"Anytime," Chris said and kissed him on the forehead.
Nancy came back a few minutes later to find them both asleep again. She covered them and left them to sleep.