Water Ch. 74 - Bullet

 

"You don't remember what happened?" He mumbles, with his lips on the top of her head. He can't believe she's awake. In his head, he's thanking God.

She looks around the hospital room and said, "What happened, why am I here?" Lifting her arm, looking at her IV. Beth really has no recollection of what happened. "Last thing I recall is laying in the sun on the yacht."

Jon sits on the bed next to her and says, "You had a blood clot and went unconscious on the yacht. I couldn't wake you up. We had the Coast Guard pick you up and bring you here. How are you feeling?" He will make sure that she is as comfortable as she can be and he'll do whatever it takes to get her well.

"My leg hurts and I have a headache. How long have I been in here?" She asks, looking at her rock star in his shorts, Nike T-shirt and his ball cap.

Jon tells Beth that she's only been there for a few hours.

She leans forward and pulls on her pillows. Jon stands up and helps her get settled. Pulling her blankets straight, he takes her hand and says, "I'm going to get the doctor. I'll be right back." He turns to leave and adds, "If you do anything like this to me again, there won't be another until next time." She smiles, she knows he's just messing with her.

Jon returns a few minutes later with what appeared to be a doctor, to Beth. Both men walked up to the side of her bed. The man in the white coat says, "Hello" as he extends his hand, "I'm Dr. Halloran. You gave everyone a bit of a scare. How are you feeling?" They shake hands.

"Nice to meet you." Beth says with a little hesitation in her voice. "My leg is killing me and I have a headache. Can I get something?" She doesn't like to take medicine, but her pain is bad enough to make her request medication. She looks to Jon for comfort. He sees that and sits down next to her again, with his arm around her.

Dr. Halloran looked at Beth and said, "Let me check a few things on you first and I'll see what I can do about pain meds. Okay?"

Taking his stethoscope off his neck and putting the buds in his ears, he asks Beth, as he places the pad on her chest, "Deep breaths." Beth inhales and exhales. Dr. Halloran moved the pad to various spots and listened to her heart and her lungs.

Finished with his physical exam he asks Beth the date. Beth thinks for a minute and tells him the date. He then asks her her own name, and she gives that to him as we'll, knowing what he's doing. He follows that up with, "Where are you?"

Beth has no idea where she is. And she tells the Dr. that. "I have no idea where I am now. I was on a yacht sunbathing on my way to L.A. from the Bahama's. Where I am now, I don't think Jon told me."

Smiling at her, Dr. Halloran says, "You're in San Diego. The Coast Guard brought you in several hours ago. Do you remember any of that?" He's still checking for memory loss and signs of another, or a continuous cranial bleed.

Beth leans her head on Jon and sighs, and he squeezes her tight. He is so thankful that she's okay now, and he knows that she will be okay.

"The last thing I remember is Jon and I deciding what we wanted to have to eat. I was laying on the deck and Jon went to tell the chef what we wanted. And then I woke up here." She feels herself getting a little anxious, thinking that if she failed these tests the doctor wouldn't give her anything for her pain. And her pain was getting worse. "Can I have pain medication now?" with her head still on Jon's shoulder.

Dr. Halloran nodded yes and told her, "Since we gave you blood thinners, we are limited on what we can give you. Are you allergic to anything? Or are you sick to your stomach at all ?"

Beth shakes her head no and says, "I'm not allergic to anything and I'm starving. Can I eat something?" She asks, as she can hear her stomach growling.

Jon jumps in and says, "We could have eaten, had you not fallen into a coma and about killed me." Again, squeezing her tight. Beth gives him the look like 'really?'

Dr. Halloran stood at Beth's bedside and made notes in her chart, keeping an eye on Beth's movements. He's satisfied that the treatment worked and he's thrilled she has an appetite, but denies her food. With a frown on his face he looks at Beth and says, "I am thrilled that you want to eat, but for the next 24 hours, I'm keeping you at nothing by mouth; which means no food or drink."

 

The doctor can see the anger in the little woman's eyes, and he tells her, "With the condition you just had, I want to keep your stomach empty in case we need to operate. Don't let that alarm you, it's just a precaution." He's using his hands in a way that demonstrates calmness, talking about a pretty serious situation. That causes a tad bit of concern for Beth and Jon and he sees that and continues, "Typically with clots like this, if you're going to have complications after one, we would see it in the first 24 hours - meaning that if you were to have another one break loose, it'd be in the 24 hours after we have thinned your blood."

He continues with his hand gestures and the jotting down of his notes while he's explaining this and Jon gets a little bit irritated with him. "Can you look at us while you're talking to us please." snaps Jon in his best New Jersey accent. This catches the doctor off guard and he looks up at Jon.

With his training and his years of experience in the field of medicine, Dr. Halloran replies to Jon with his best bed side manner, "I'm sorry Mr. Bon Jovi, I don't mean to do that. I get so wrapped up in what I'm writing." Placing his clipboard, Beth's chart, at his side he looks at Beth and tells her that he's sorry as well.

"You mean to tell me that there is a good chance that this will happen again?" Beth is still hung up on the word 'operate', that's all she really heard. Her concerns are growing fast as well as her anxiety level. She's freaking out inside and she could feel Jon tense up when he heard the words that she did.

 

"The lady that did her tests said that she will recover 100% and there was no permanant damage.  How can she say one thing and you tell us another?" Jon gets up off the bed and faces the doctor.  He is now pissed and getting worried. He needs a better answer and he wants it now.  "Get us a specialist or refer her to one."  He's standing there ringing his hands and about ready to explode.  His day has  been a very long one and he hasn't the patience for the run around.

 

Dr. Halloran can see Jon's frustration and he can also understand it, and he also knows that at this time of day they aren't going to get into see one, so he does the next best thing.  "Since it's late in the day and I know that I won't be able to reach the specialist, how about I call in a favor and have one here for you first thing in the morning?"  It sounded logical to the doctor, but he would soon see that it wasn't logical for Beth.  And as soon as he seen her displeasure, he knew the rock star was soon to interject his thoughts and feelings. 

 

Beth sits up in her bed and firmly says, "Can I have some pain medicine please?"  Looking the doctor dead in the eye so that he could see that she's serious.  "Jon, the specialist is fine in the morning.  I'm already here, I'll just stay and see what the specialist has to say."  She spoke in a way that both men would know that there was no further need to discuss it, the subject was dead where she left it.

 

"But babe, I can have you to the best doctor's in the country in a matter of hours.  There has to be good ones in L.A."  Jon says, seeing Beth shake her head no, he knows he's not going to win this one.  He stops, knowing deep inside that he has met his match.

 

The doctor asks her if she is able to tolerate vicodin and Beth simply tells him that yes she can.  He turns to go get her pain medicine and asks Jon, "Can I get you anything, Mr. Bon Jovi?"

 

"No, I'm fine.  Thank you though.  I'd really like for her to egt some relief though, can you make that happen?" The rockstar asks, with a tone that shows authority.

 

"I'm going to get it now, but Beth, until you see the specialist tomorrow, please nothing to eat or drink." The doctor reminds her and leaves the room.  While he is at the nurses station writing up his orders for pain medication, he calls in his favor like he had offered, and his friend will be in to see Beth before he makes rounds at a nearby hospital in the morning. 

 

While he is standing there taking care of Beth's medical needs the nurse in charge asks him a question, "Dr., what should I tell the reporters that are calling?  They are telling me that she isn't his wife." 

 

Trying to remain professional and not belittling his nurse, Dr. Halloran turns to his charge nurse and says, "We tell them nothing and who she is, isn't our business.  Take this to Miss Adams, and she is NPO until discharge."  He rudely hands her the vicodin and walks away.  The nurse is left there to feel like an idiot, however, she gets up and takes Beth her medicine.

 

Both Beth and Jon thank the nurse, not knowing the drama that she just tried to create with the doctor. The nurse half assed reminded Beth to not eat or drink anything and to press the call button if she needed anything further.  She leaves them alone.

 

Jon still standing at her bedside, taking his ball cap off and running his fingers through his hair, Beth can see he's pretty stressed.  She throws the covers back, and tells her rockstar, "Get in here with me." She pats the space that's available next to her.  "Come on."  She smiles and winks at him.

 

The wink and the smile from her was all he needed.  He walked over and closed the door.  Walking back towards the bed he asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you babe?"  Reaching the bed, he sits on the edge and kicks off his shoes.  Spins back and lays down next to his broken girlfriend, confident he is going to  fix her.  Beth takes full advantage of him being next to her, gently lays her aching head on his chest.  He wraps his arms around her and they lay there and talk.

 

"When's your next show?" she asks, not sure she can remember.

 

He chuckles and replies, "Hell, I have no clue.  It might be in a day or two.  I'll call Dawn or Obie tomorrow and see.  I really don't care at this point." Squeezing her tight and kissing her head, ignoring the times that her hair is tickling his nose. 

 

Beth is concerned because it was his job.  She wasn't letting him cancel shows, wasn't going to happen.  "Well, you need to  find out because you can't miss a show Jon."  She tilts her head to look at him.  He says nothing, he just softly kisses her on the lips and she melts. 

 

Beth has an independant soul and hates very much when people do things for her.  She didn't HAVE a hand growing up, and she definately didn't NEED one now.  All she can think about is how much of a bother she has been and she feels a little embarrased.  First the whirl wind romance, the accident and now this?  So much emotion for a relationship that has only just started.  She can't help but feel like she may be too much trouble?

 

"Jon?"

 

"Mm hmm?" he mumbes.

 

"Thank you." she tells him, with all the love in her voice she could possibly convey. 

 

Looking down at her, he asks, "For what?"  And he asks in a way that she thinks he may not see what he has in fact done for her.

 

She sits up on her elbow, tucking her pillow under her side, looks at him and says the one thing that will haunt him forever, "You could have left me in St. Bart's, you could have left me here.  But you didn't.  You're the first person that hasn't let me down."  She starts to cry.