Chapter 11 #3
She walked in and smiled at him. “So, how’s our patient?”
“Apparently she woke up, smiled at Leland, and then crashed again.”
“That is very good news,” she said in surprise, “but he was supposed to tell us.”
“Well, I’m telling you now,” he stated, as he sat here, staring at Talia, hoping she would wake up again. “I was really hoping that, when Anderson showed up, she would wake up for him.”
“And she might just be saving it for him,” Sammy stated cheerfully, “but the fact that she actually surfaced is really good news, so we’ll take it. Now I do need to check her over. So move it, buddy.”
She said it in such a teasing way that he immediately stepped away, a goofy grin on his face. “You can order me around anytime,” he told her, with a laugh.
She rolled her eyes. “Like I haven’t heard that a time or two,” she grumbled. “Do you have any idea how many bad jokes men use on us? It’s ridiculous. You want to play doctor? You can be my nurse anytime. Blah, blah, blah. It’s ridiculous.”
He burst out laughing. “And I can see why, and you can’t blame a guy for trying.” When she shot him a look, he grimaced. “Okay, so apparently you can.”
She gave him a second look but didn’t say any more, then quickly went through the check of her patient, updated the file, then turned to him. “If she wakes up again, you let me know—and right away, please.”
“Will do.” As she left, he called out, “What’s the cafeteria food like?” She turned and winced, and he nodded. “Right, so maybe I should ask Anderson to pick me up a breakfast sandwich or two.”
“You should have eaten before you left.”
He laughed. “Oh, and who are you to tell me?”
She chuckled. “Considering you’ve been telling me to eat for the last few days, and then you don’t eat yourself, you don’t have much to stand on,” she pointed out. “So, why would I listen to you?”
He rolled his eyes at that.
Sammy added, “When I get a chance, I’ll get down there and grab you something.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said immediately. “I can pick up something or get Anderson to grab me something. No worries.”
“Well, you also know that he’s probably flat-out racing to get here now that he knows she’s woken up. So getting you a breakfast sandwich will not be on his list of priorities.”
“You might be surprised,” he countered, a goofy smile on his face. “We share a sacred brotherhood.”
“Oh, please. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later.” With a hand raised, she turned, walked out of the room, almost to be mowed over by Anderson as he raced inside.
He asked her, “Is she awake?”
“No, not at the moment, though apparently she was very briefly earlier. I haven’t seen her awake myself yet,” she added, watching him closely.
“Right.” The disappointment was evident in his facial expression, as his shoulders slumped now too.
“Remember how that alone was a really good sign.”
He shrugged. “I was really hoping she would be awake now, so I could talk to her.”
“Talk to her or hound her?” she asked.
A smile lit up his face.
Sammy continued. “I suspect that your version of talk is more like everybody else’s version of hound.”
“She’s my sister,” he pointed out, “and I love her. I just hope she remembers me.”
“And yet I’m pretty sure the first thing out of her mouth will be about her babies.”
Burton watched the two of them go at it back-and-forth, and he agreed with Anderson, but he could also see the softening in Sammy’s gaze as she nodded.
Anderson shrugged. “I’m not saying she won’t.”
“And I’m not saying that she won’t be happy to see you too,” Sammy added, with a smile.
“Of course she will. We just have to remember that there’s more to her healing than just waking up and talking.
I don’t want her moving around very much, and she’ll need a full assessment when she’s awake.
We also must adjust her pain meds, and that’s just for a start.
There could also be updated imaging and any number of other things that she’ll need.
We’ll need to watch her so she isn’t suffering,” she added.
“So, as soon as she’s awake, let us know, and we’ll worry about all that.
Try not to talk about anything that can cause her stress.
As much as you need to have an investigative talk, we must ensure that she’s taken care of and stabilized. So, no stress.”
“Agreed,” he said, with a grin on his face.
Burton watched as Sammy walked away. Anderson stepped in, looked at him, and asked, “Wow, are you ready to deal with that dragon?”
“Yep, absolutely,” he declared, nodding in agreement, still watching her walk away. “Because that dragon is abso-freaking-lutely right.”
“I know she’s right,” Anderson muttered crossly. “I just … It’s just … I’ve been waiting this entire time, hoping she would open her eyes and would let me know that she’s okay, that she’s in there. So far she hasn’t decided to do that yet, and it’s pretty … disappointing.”
“Oh, man, you are slipping. The fact that she has woken up once is huge. So now we just have to wait and give her a chance to wake up on her own again. Regardless of when that happens, it’s already a major step forward.”
He sat down and added, “I heard something about you haven’t eaten as I was walking in, so if you want, go grab something down at the cafeteria or take the car and get something. I’ll stay here with Talia in the meantime.”
Burton thought about it, looked down at the sleeping woman, and nodded.
“Maybe that would be best. Leland thinks you should be here when she wakes up. So I’ll just grab a bit of food and pick up another sandwich for later this afternoon.
” And, with that, he looked at Anderson, then back at Talia. “And if she wakes up—”
“I know. I know. Tell Sammy ASAP,” he repeated, with a wave of his hand. “Go, and then maybe, if we’re lucky, she’ll grace me with her presence, and not just Leland. Oh my God, he was laughing like an oaf.”
And, with that, Burton quickly disappeared down the hallway, heading for food.
As he turned a corner, right at the stairwell to go down, he caught something out of the corner of his eye.
He stopped, thought about it, backed up, and took a closer look at what was going on down the stairway.
Whatever he had thought he’d seen was now gone, but, unable to leave it alone, he quickly took the stairs too.
Somebody … slightly familiar, but too far away to actually confirm.
So he raced down the stairwell, hoping that he hadn’t gotten too far ahead, just as he heard the next level’s door slam shut.
As he bolted through it, multiple people were ahead of him, filling the hallway.
He thought that maybe at the far end he saw the man he was looking for.
Even as he watched, the man disappeared into the crowd.
By the time he got there, there was absolutely no sign of him.
Frowning, and not very happy with himself, he turned and made his way to the cafeteria to get that long-awaited food.