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monaboyd Jul. 20th, 2006 06:20 am)
hyacinth-sky747.livejournal.com posting in monaboyd Jul. 20th, 2006 06:20 am)The Long Night
Part Two
Disclaimer: All made up.
The hospital waiting room was cheerless and too bright. Billy paced until Dom told him to sit. He hung onto Dom’s hand, rubbed his back and then stood and paced again. Dom tried the bathroom again.
“Anything?” Billy asked.
Dom shook his head and laid himself out across the row of battered seats. Billy approached the desk.
“Listen, we’ve been waiting for an hour and he’s in a lot of pain. Can’t you at least get him a cot to lie on?” He smiled but it felt more like he was baring his teeth.
“We’re doing everything we can Mr….”
“No, you’re not doing anything that I can see.” He stopped, smiled again. “He’s in pain.”
The nurse stood up at the desk and looked around the corner at Dom in pity.
“Let me see what I can do.”
“Thank you,” Billy said and smiled genuinely.
Ten minutes later Dom was loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled behind a curtain. Billy stood next to it and prepared to wait some more. In the next hour Dom deteriorated. He talked like a little child, begging for water.
“We can’t give you any water, Dom. They might have to operate.”
“Can they give me some medicine?”
“No, love, if it’s your appendix they need to know if the pain stops.”
“Why?”
“Because that will mean it burst.”
“Can’t you just run home and get me some Tylenol? I won’t go anywhere.”
Tears smarted Billy’s eyes. It hurt him terribly to deny Dom this comfort, to just stand there while Dom’s pain mounted and mounted.
“I’d do it, Dom. If it were the right thing for you I’d do it in a minute.”
Dom ignored this. “I’m cold.”
He had been shivering since they arrived. Billy was cold too but for him it was a small discomfort. The air conditioning was cranked all the way up. Billy had asked for blankets and was told to wait until Dom was admitted. He squeezed Dom’s hand.
“I’ll be right back.”
Billy set his mouth in a firm line and accosted the first person in scrubs who crossed his path. “I need a blanket.”
“Oh, yeah, you’ll have to…”
“No, it can’t wait. I need it now. Otherwise I’m going to disrobe and place my own clothes over my friend who is shivering and in pain. Or perhaps these curtains are warm.”
“Um…just a minute.”
Billy was not accustomed to being nasty but he wasn’t accustomed to Dom writhing in pain either.
At seven a nurse poked her head around the curtain.
“Mr. Monaghan?”
Dom groaned in response.
“I’m Sarah.” She nodded at Billy. “I’ll be your nurse. You’ve been waiting for a while.” She turned to Billy. “You brought him in?”
“Yes. Billy Boyd.”
They shook hands.
“I’m sorry it’s taking so long. It’s Sunday and we’re short staffed but the doctor is on his way.”
She began to question them both while she took Dom’s temperature and drew his blood. Dom submitted to being poked and prodded without opening his eyes. The doctor arrived as she was finishing up. He introduced himself to Billy, asked Dom a few questions, and bent Dom’s knee up to his chest. Billy clutched at Dom’s hand and Dom let out a lazy, “Ow.”
“It looks like it’s his appendix. I’ll need to examine him.” The doctor pulled on his gloves and the nurse passed him a bottle. “Dom? Do you want Billy to stay?”
The light dawned slowly over Billy.
“Oh! You’re going to…Dom?” Billy leaned over and shook Dom gently. “Dom the doctor’s going to feel up your bum. You want me to leave?”
Dom cracked open one eye and emitted a chuckle that turned into a cough. “Don’t be daft,” he croaked. Billy gave the doctor a lopsided smile and concentrated on holding Dom’s hand while he did his work.
“That’s it, Dommie. You’re doing great. Almost done.”
Dom hid his face in his arm and squeezed Billy’s hand. The doctor peeled off his gloves.
“We’ll need to operate. I’ll call the surgeon. Are you his next of kin?”
“No,” Billy said.
“Can I,” Dom said faintly. “Can I give Bill power of attorney?”
“You’ll need to sign the forms. I’ll have them sent down,” the doctor said. He turned to Billy. “Can you contact his family?”
Billy nodded.
“Alright, we’re going to admit him now so he’ll be moved upstairs. It will be a little wait until the surgeon gets here.”
Billy bit his lip and blinked his eyes rapidly but Dom just smiled with relief. “Just get it out of me,” he said.
The doctor left Billy and the nurse to the business of getting Dom admitted. This required Billy to leave Dom’s side and fill out a series of forms. After, they wheeled him through a maze of corridors, into an elevator, and down another series of hallways until they arrived at Dom’s room. Dom seemed more peaceful now that he knew an end to his pain was in sight so when the nurse asked him if he could walk to the bed Dom tried unsuccessfully to sit up.
Billy gently pressed him down.
“No, I don’t think he can,” Billy said.
“Alright, let me go find someone to help me…”
“I can help,” Billy said. He felt glad of the chance to do Dom this small service.
They lifted Dom on his sheet to the bed and Billy tucked the covers in around him and rubbed his arms.
“All toasty, Dom.”
The nurse smiled. “Coffee?”
Billy wanted to kiss her.
“Please.”
She left and Billy’s exhaustion caught up to him all at once. He knew he wouldn’t sleep until Dom came out of surgery but he thought he could do with a little support. He called Elijah.
“’Lo?”
“Hey buddy, sorry to wake you.”
“It’s okay. What’s up, Bill?”
“Dom’s in the hospital, Lij.”
Elijah let out a squeak of fear and started babbling questions.
“It’s his appendix. They’re going to operate,” Billy interrupted. “You can compare battle scars.”
“Where are you?”
That was it. Billy’s tears spilled over his cheeks. He didn’t even need to ask. He just needed to pick up the phone and help would flock to him.
“Fuck, I’m sorry. I’ve been up all night and he…”
“Where are you, Bill?” Elijah asked gently.
Billy gave him the name of the hospital.
“I’ll be right there.”
“Wait. Can you do me a favor?”
“Of course.”
“Can you…Dom has a living will. It’s in his desk drawer and he wants me to…”
“He won’t need it, Bill. But I’ll get it. Anything else?”
“That’s it. Unless you want to call…people.”
“I’ll do it after I get there.” Billy could hear in his voice the frantic need to move, to be with them. “I’ll see you soon.”
Billy hung up and pushed his chair up to Dom’s bed to disentangle his hand from the covers.
“Lijah’s coming, Dom.”
“Good,” Dom said, “I’m glad you won’t be alone while I’m…”
“I won’t be alone.”
“You’ll call my parents?”
“Yes! I should have already. I just…”
Dom reached up to run his fingers softly down Billy’s face. “I know.”
They sat for a long while, Dom wincing in pain every so often but calm.
“Bill, I’m going to be okay.”
“I know.”
Billy would not permit himself to believe otherwise. I little voice in the corner of his mind told him to say goodbye, just in case, but Billy stamped it out firmly. He would not send Dom off with doubts, even if that meant he had to forgo his final farewell.
Dom slept a little then and Billy said a prayer of thanks for the respite from pain. He woke shortly though, with a little smile.
“I slept.”
“I know. I was hoping you’d go on.”
“It hurts.”
“They’ll be here soon.”
When? Billy thought. It had been hours and hours. Dom was weak with pain and exhaustion. How much longer did they expect him to fight?
“I’m so thirsty.”
Billy wet one of the little pink cotton swabs that had been left on the bedside table and ran it around the inside of Dom’s mouth.
“Is that better?”
“No. Can’t you sneak me something? Just a sip? Please, Billy.”
Dom was losing his control again. Billy felt his own wearing thin.
“Let me talk to the nurse.”
Billy stormed out into the hall and nearly collided with Elijah.
“Bill! I brought coffee. I thought you could…”
Billy’s lip trembled.
“I can’t drink it in front of him. He’s begging me, Lij.”
Elijah put the coffees down on a nearby chair and pulled Billy into his arms.
“I know. I know. When I think of what I put my poor mother through when I had mine out. It’s okay. I’m here.” He pulled away and wiped Billy’s cheeks with his fingers. “Here, you sit here, in this chair, and drink your coffee. I’ll go in and say hi and then I’ll find the nurse, yeah?”
Billy crushed Elijah to him and nodded against his shoulder.
“Did you call his parents?”
“Christ!”
“Don’t worry. Settle yourself. Drink your coffee. Do want me to do it?”
“No, no you deal with the nurse. I’ll…I’ll be okay.”
“Okay.” Elijah gave Billy a firm pat on the shoulder and went into Dom.
~*~
Dom’s parents had been mobilized and Elijah had started the phone chain among their friends. “No, no, stay where you are. We’ll call and let you know. You can’t do anything here.”
The ones who were in town showed up anyway. Perhaps they hoped that Dom would feel their love close by, routing for him, but mostly they showed up for Billy, who would see it.
Around eleven the doctors came to wheel Dom away. Billy walked with the stretcher as far they would let him. He kissed Dom’s cheek.
“You’ve been so brave. Do a good job in there. Give ‘em hell.”
Dom was smiling with relief.
“I will, Bill. You’ve been brave too. I wouldn’t have been able to do half as well if it had been you.”
Billy kissed him again and let the doctors wheel him away. The doors swung quietly behind the stretcher. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder.
“It won’t be long, Bill. Then you’ll have to wait on him hand and foot for a week.”
“I’ll be glad to,” Billy said. His voice broke a little at the end and Elijah wheeled him around and let him cling for a while.
“Go wash your face. I’ll get you something to eat. What do you want? Breakfast? Lunch?”
“I can’t…”
“Yes, you can. Dom will need you sane when he wakes up.”
Billy wiped his nose on his sleeve. “Right. Breakfast then. How many millions are here?”
Elijah laughed. “A fair few. Don’t worry about them. You’ll see them when you’re ready.”
“No, I want to see them. Dom would want me to.”
Elijah ran his hand through Billy’s disheveled hair. “Alright, but not until after you’ve eaten.”
Part Two
Disclaimer: All made up.
The hospital waiting room was cheerless and too bright. Billy paced until Dom told him to sit. He hung onto Dom’s hand, rubbed his back and then stood and paced again. Dom tried the bathroom again.
“Anything?” Billy asked.
Dom shook his head and laid himself out across the row of battered seats. Billy approached the desk.
“Listen, we’ve been waiting for an hour and he’s in a lot of pain. Can’t you at least get him a cot to lie on?” He smiled but it felt more like he was baring his teeth.
“We’re doing everything we can Mr….”
“No, you’re not doing anything that I can see.” He stopped, smiled again. “He’s in pain.”
The nurse stood up at the desk and looked around the corner at Dom in pity.
“Let me see what I can do.”
“Thank you,” Billy said and smiled genuinely.
Ten minutes later Dom was loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled behind a curtain. Billy stood next to it and prepared to wait some more. In the next hour Dom deteriorated. He talked like a little child, begging for water.
“We can’t give you any water, Dom. They might have to operate.”
“Can they give me some medicine?”
“No, love, if it’s your appendix they need to know if the pain stops.”
“Why?”
“Because that will mean it burst.”
“Can’t you just run home and get me some Tylenol? I won’t go anywhere.”
Tears smarted Billy’s eyes. It hurt him terribly to deny Dom this comfort, to just stand there while Dom’s pain mounted and mounted.
“I’d do it, Dom. If it were the right thing for you I’d do it in a minute.”
Dom ignored this. “I’m cold.”
He had been shivering since they arrived. Billy was cold too but for him it was a small discomfort. The air conditioning was cranked all the way up. Billy had asked for blankets and was told to wait until Dom was admitted. He squeezed Dom’s hand.
“I’ll be right back.”
Billy set his mouth in a firm line and accosted the first person in scrubs who crossed his path. “I need a blanket.”
“Oh, yeah, you’ll have to…”
“No, it can’t wait. I need it now. Otherwise I’m going to disrobe and place my own clothes over my friend who is shivering and in pain. Or perhaps these curtains are warm.”
“Um…just a minute.”
Billy was not accustomed to being nasty but he wasn’t accustomed to Dom writhing in pain either.
At seven a nurse poked her head around the curtain.
“Mr. Monaghan?”
Dom groaned in response.
“I’m Sarah.” She nodded at Billy. “I’ll be your nurse. You’ve been waiting for a while.” She turned to Billy. “You brought him in?”
“Yes. Billy Boyd.”
They shook hands.
“I’m sorry it’s taking so long. It’s Sunday and we’re short staffed but the doctor is on his way.”
She began to question them both while she took Dom’s temperature and drew his blood. Dom submitted to being poked and prodded without opening his eyes. The doctor arrived as she was finishing up. He introduced himself to Billy, asked Dom a few questions, and bent Dom’s knee up to his chest. Billy clutched at Dom’s hand and Dom let out a lazy, “Ow.”
“It looks like it’s his appendix. I’ll need to examine him.” The doctor pulled on his gloves and the nurse passed him a bottle. “Dom? Do you want Billy to stay?”
The light dawned slowly over Billy.
“Oh! You’re going to…Dom?” Billy leaned over and shook Dom gently. “Dom the doctor’s going to feel up your bum. You want me to leave?”
Dom cracked open one eye and emitted a chuckle that turned into a cough. “Don’t be daft,” he croaked. Billy gave the doctor a lopsided smile and concentrated on holding Dom’s hand while he did his work.
“That’s it, Dommie. You’re doing great. Almost done.”
Dom hid his face in his arm and squeezed Billy’s hand. The doctor peeled off his gloves.
“We’ll need to operate. I’ll call the surgeon. Are you his next of kin?”
“No,” Billy said.
“Can I,” Dom said faintly. “Can I give Bill power of attorney?”
“You’ll need to sign the forms. I’ll have them sent down,” the doctor said. He turned to Billy. “Can you contact his family?”
Billy nodded.
“Alright, we’re going to admit him now so he’ll be moved upstairs. It will be a little wait until the surgeon gets here.”
Billy bit his lip and blinked his eyes rapidly but Dom just smiled with relief. “Just get it out of me,” he said.
The doctor left Billy and the nurse to the business of getting Dom admitted. This required Billy to leave Dom’s side and fill out a series of forms. After, they wheeled him through a maze of corridors, into an elevator, and down another series of hallways until they arrived at Dom’s room. Dom seemed more peaceful now that he knew an end to his pain was in sight so when the nurse asked him if he could walk to the bed Dom tried unsuccessfully to sit up.
Billy gently pressed him down.
“No, I don’t think he can,” Billy said.
“Alright, let me go find someone to help me…”
“I can help,” Billy said. He felt glad of the chance to do Dom this small service.
They lifted Dom on his sheet to the bed and Billy tucked the covers in around him and rubbed his arms.
“All toasty, Dom.”
The nurse smiled. “Coffee?”
Billy wanted to kiss her.
“Please.”
She left and Billy’s exhaustion caught up to him all at once. He knew he wouldn’t sleep until Dom came out of surgery but he thought he could do with a little support. He called Elijah.
“’Lo?”
“Hey buddy, sorry to wake you.”
“It’s okay. What’s up, Bill?”
“Dom’s in the hospital, Lij.”
Elijah let out a squeak of fear and started babbling questions.
“It’s his appendix. They’re going to operate,” Billy interrupted. “You can compare battle scars.”
“Where are you?”
That was it. Billy’s tears spilled over his cheeks. He didn’t even need to ask. He just needed to pick up the phone and help would flock to him.
“Fuck, I’m sorry. I’ve been up all night and he…”
“Where are you, Bill?” Elijah asked gently.
Billy gave him the name of the hospital.
“I’ll be right there.”
“Wait. Can you do me a favor?”
“Of course.”
“Can you…Dom has a living will. It’s in his desk drawer and he wants me to…”
“He won’t need it, Bill. But I’ll get it. Anything else?”
“That’s it. Unless you want to call…people.”
“I’ll do it after I get there.” Billy could hear in his voice the frantic need to move, to be with them. “I’ll see you soon.”
Billy hung up and pushed his chair up to Dom’s bed to disentangle his hand from the covers.
“Lijah’s coming, Dom.”
“Good,” Dom said, “I’m glad you won’t be alone while I’m…”
“I won’t be alone.”
“You’ll call my parents?”
“Yes! I should have already. I just…”
Dom reached up to run his fingers softly down Billy’s face. “I know.”
They sat for a long while, Dom wincing in pain every so often but calm.
“Bill, I’m going to be okay.”
“I know.”
Billy would not permit himself to believe otherwise. I little voice in the corner of his mind told him to say goodbye, just in case, but Billy stamped it out firmly. He would not send Dom off with doubts, even if that meant he had to forgo his final farewell.
Dom slept a little then and Billy said a prayer of thanks for the respite from pain. He woke shortly though, with a little smile.
“I slept.”
“I know. I was hoping you’d go on.”
“It hurts.”
“They’ll be here soon.”
When? Billy thought. It had been hours and hours. Dom was weak with pain and exhaustion. How much longer did they expect him to fight?
“I’m so thirsty.”
Billy wet one of the little pink cotton swabs that had been left on the bedside table and ran it around the inside of Dom’s mouth.
“Is that better?”
“No. Can’t you sneak me something? Just a sip? Please, Billy.”
Dom was losing his control again. Billy felt his own wearing thin.
“Let me talk to the nurse.”
Billy stormed out into the hall and nearly collided with Elijah.
“Bill! I brought coffee. I thought you could…”
Billy’s lip trembled.
“I can’t drink it in front of him. He’s begging me, Lij.”
Elijah put the coffees down on a nearby chair and pulled Billy into his arms.
“I know. I know. When I think of what I put my poor mother through when I had mine out. It’s okay. I’m here.” He pulled away and wiped Billy’s cheeks with his fingers. “Here, you sit here, in this chair, and drink your coffee. I’ll go in and say hi and then I’ll find the nurse, yeah?”
Billy crushed Elijah to him and nodded against his shoulder.
“Did you call his parents?”
“Christ!”
“Don’t worry. Settle yourself. Drink your coffee. Do want me to do it?”
“No, no you deal with the nurse. I’ll…I’ll be okay.”
“Okay.” Elijah gave Billy a firm pat on the shoulder and went into Dom.
~*~
Dom’s parents had been mobilized and Elijah had started the phone chain among their friends. “No, no, stay where you are. We’ll call and let you know. You can’t do anything here.”
The ones who were in town showed up anyway. Perhaps they hoped that Dom would feel their love close by, routing for him, but mostly they showed up for Billy, who would see it.
Around eleven the doctors came to wheel Dom away. Billy walked with the stretcher as far they would let him. He kissed Dom’s cheek.
“You’ve been so brave. Do a good job in there. Give ‘em hell.”
Dom was smiling with relief.
“I will, Bill. You’ve been brave too. I wouldn’t have been able to do half as well if it had been you.”
Billy kissed him again and let the doctors wheel him away. The doors swung quietly behind the stretcher. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder.
“It won’t be long, Bill. Then you’ll have to wait on him hand and foot for a week.”
“I’ll be glad to,” Billy said. His voice broke a little at the end and Elijah wheeled him around and let him cling for a while.
“Go wash your face. I’ll get you something to eat. What do you want? Breakfast? Lunch?”
“I can’t…”
“Yes, you can. Dom will need you sane when he wakes up.”
Billy wiped his nose on his sleeve. “Right. Breakfast then. How many millions are here?”
Elijah laughed. “A fair few. Don’t worry about them. You’ll see them when you’re ready.”
“No, I want to see them. Dom would want me to.”
Elijah ran his hand through Billy’s disheveled hair. “Alright, but not until after you’ve eaten.”
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