Baby Steps

(Directly continued from the end of Hell on Wheels, part 4)

By Beej

Part 1:

The ER was on stand-by and sprang into action as the double doors burst open. The ambos rushed through with the trolley, wheeling straight into the nearest empty cubicle.

"Gunshot wound to the right lower back, no exit wound. Bleeding seems to have stopped, doc," the senior paramedic informed Dr. Meredith, head of ER.

"You’ll have to stay outside, Miss," the doctor told Angie.

"That’s the victim’s wife, doc."

"I’m also a qualified trauma nurse."

"All the more reason for you to stay outside. You know what it’s going to get like in there. I’ll come get you as soon as I can," Dr. Meredith said gently. He closed the curtain around Jake and left Angie standing alone.

When the ambos came back out they saw her standing, staring at the cubicle. They gave her a hug and led her to the relative’s room, getting her to sit down and offering to get her a cuppa.

"Thanks, lads," she muttered, taking the warming mug from them. "I should be out there close to Jake."

"No worries, Mrs. Mitchell. I’ll tell them you’re here and they’ll come and get you as soon as they can."

Angie was left alone with her thoughts, then realised she should make some calls. She looked around and saw a phone on a low table. Knowing she shouldn’t use her cell, she decided to make use of the hospital phone. First call was to Jenny, then to Sam and Emily.

Jenny assured her that she would make all the arrangements to get them down from the farm, and as soon as she hung up she called Jim and told him to get up to Coffs airport as soon as he could. Angie told Sam to get himself and Emily to Coffs right away and wait for the company jet to pick them up.

As she put the phone down the door opened and Dr. Meredith walked in. "We’re about to take him to x-ray, Mrs. Mitchell. Would you like to come and seem him quickly before he goes through?"

"Yes, please, doctor."

They walked back into ER and the doctor led her to the closed-off cubicle. Angie stared at Jake, so still and pale on the gurney. She told herself that he didn’t look as bad as the last time, and forced herself to believe that he would be fine.

"How bad is he, doctor?"

"We need to check the x-ray to see where the bullet is. He’s stable right now and the bleeding has stopped. That, of course, might not be a good thing, as you well know. He could have internal bleeding."

Angie went over to Jake and took his hand. Kissing him on the forehead, she whispered that she loved him and that everything was going to be okay. Then Dr. Meredith put his hand on her shoulder. "It’s time," he said quietly.

Angie nodded and stepped back to allow the porters to push Jake away for his x-rays. She walked back towards the relatives room just as Shannon wheeled himself through the doors.

"How is he?"

"They’ve taken him down for x-rays. Oh, Shannon, who could do that to him?"

Shannon just shook his head as he allowed her to push his chair into the room. He knew that she needed to feel useful so didn’t react as he might have normally.

"Can I do anything, Angie?"

"Just stay with me, please. I don’t think I can do this on my own."

"Hey, they’ll have to push me out kicking and screaming. Can I call anyone for you?"

"I’ve called Jenny and the family. Jen is getting the jet up to Coffs to get them down from the farm."

"I hope to see that one day."

"You’ll be very welcome, Shannon. We’ll sort that out when Jake’s up and running again."

"Mrs. Mitchell…oh, hello," Dr. Meredith stopped when he saw Shannon sitting with Angie.

"Doctor, this is Shannon, a friend of Jake's."

"Hello, Shannon. May I sit, Mrs. Mitchell?"

"Of course, doctor, and please call me Angie."

"Thank you…Angie. Jake is back, but we’ll be moving him again shortly. I called Dr. Khan. He’s a spinal injury specialist up at the Royal North Shore. He’s coming over to assess Jake’s condition. He’s asked us to get an MRI done while we wait for him to get here."

Angie asked if Shannon could go and see Jake before he went for the scan. She knew that he needed to see first hand that Jake was okay. They stood in the cubicle for a few minutes, then watched as he was taken to the MRI suite. This time Angie couldn’t go and sit, she needed to keep moving, and began to pace up and down with Shannon wheeling slowly beside her.

Fifteen minutes later Dr. Meredith came to find her. There were two men following in his wake.

"Angie, this is Dr. Khan. He’s brought a colleague with him, Dr….."

"DAD!" Angie cried, rushing into welcoming open arms.

"Hello, Luv." Ben Mitchell replied, hugging his daughter-in-law close to his chest.

"Ah, I take it you know each other," Dr. Meredith said.

"This is Jake’s father," Angie supplied.

"So," Dr. Khan spoke. "Where is the patient?"

"He’s in the scanner. Shouldn’t be too long now."

"We’ll go down there to assess his condition. No point in moving him around too much, is there."

Ben looked at Angie and explained that they were going to transfer Jake to the RNS as soon as they’d checked the scan results. "Don’t worry, Angie, Ash is the best there is. He’ll sort Jake out in no time."

Jenny, Emily and Sam arrived as Jake was in surgery. They found Angie and Shannon, and after the introductions, Shannon told Angie that he needed to slip away for a bit now that she wasn’t on her own. She smiled and kissed his cheek, telling him to be careful. Waving goodbye, he wheeled away, leaving Angie with her friend and family.

"Dad’s here."

"I didn’t know he was in the country," Sam answered. "One day he’s gonna say G’Day to the family when he flies in."

"I think he’s only just arrived. He’s due to host some lectures they’re doing here at the North Shore. I was so happy when I saw him, and he says Dr. Khan is the best of the best in his field."

"How long has it been now?" Emily asked.

"Three hours so far. I didn’t think it would take this long."

"Don’t worry, darling. Benjamin will make sure Aaron gets through this," Emily stated firmly.

"What say I rustle up a cuppa?" Sam said after sitting his mum and Jenny down next to Angie. He bounded out of the waiting room in search of a kettle. Emily smiled at the back of her son.

"He’s putting on a front, Angeline. He’s really worried."

"I know, Emily; we all are."

"Hey, I found some food," Sam announced, walking back through the door. "I think the nurses felt sorry for me."

He offered the plate of pastries round along with the cups of tea, reminding them all that they might be there several more hours and they needed to eat.

Jake’s surgery lasted almost five hours. They were so relieved when Ben came in to let them know he’d made it through and was in recovery.

"Ash wants to talk to you all. I’ll take you to his office."

They all filed into a very comfortable-looking office and sat down on the sofas. Ash Khan came through the door and smiled at everyone before sitting on his desk.

"Jake came through the procedure really well. He shouldn’t be in recovery too long. While you’re waiting to see him, I thought I could bring you up to speed. First of all, I’m sorry it took longer than anticipated. Seeing as we knew the surgery would be pretty invasive, I decided to take the original bullet out while I was rooting about in there."

"But, doctor…"

"It’s okay, Angie…is it okay to call you Angie? I know what’s going on in your mind. Ben told me that the specialist they had at the RPA decided it was too dangerous to take the bullet out. I understand that he didn’t bother with an MRI, but just went by the x-rays.

Yes, it did look like it would do more harm than good, but I have to say that I think it’s actually gone the other way."

"You mean?" Emily began to ask.

"Yes, Dr. Mitchell. I believe that if the bullet had been removed immediately then Jake would most likely have not been in a wheelchair in the first place. The bullet seemed to have moved from its original position. Angie, has Jake complained of any unusual pain?"

Angie laughed before replying. "I’m sorry, Dr. Khan. If you knew Jake you would know why I’m laughing. He joined the army when he was about 19, and a year later was invited to try out for the NZ SAS. He ended up a major in the unit. One of the things they are taught is to never show any feelings at all. It helps confound the enemy if you get caught. He wouldn’t tell me if he was in pain…although, a few weeks ago he was uncomfortable after soaking in the tub."

"Any idea why?"

"He’d been training with the wheelchair footy boys and I think he ended up at the bottom of a pile following a tackle. When I moved his leg and helped him to sit up in the tub so I could wash his back, he tensed up, but he said he was fine when I asked him."

"Right, that could have been when it happened. Looking at the spinal cord and nerves, I would say that given time, after the bullet moved away from where it was restricting the nerves, movement would have slowly been regained."

"So, doctor, why did the surgery take so long?"

"That would have been the new bullet. It managed to lodge itself between two vertebrae and just didn’t want to come out. There was some disc damage, but I’m hoping that with the enforced rest, that will sort itself out."

"Are you saying my grandson will walk again?"

"Yes, mum," Ben supplied. "We believe that with rest, therapy and a lot of good luck and patience, we can get him back on his feet. He may not be as agile as he used to be, but he’ll be upright again."

There were smiles all round as they stood to go and see Jake.