Chapter Two: Respect the Patient's Wishes
A few hours later, Mike was finally out of surgery and in the ICU. Megan was finally allowed up to see him. She had gone upstairs with Angus and they were now talking to Dr Campbell, Mike's surgeon.
"Why is he still intubated?" Megan asked, pausing at the window of his room to look inside.
"Your dad had a lot of internal bleeding. He became unstable in surgery so we were forced to make a temporary fix and close him up to let him stabilize in the ICU for 24 hours. If he's stable tomorrow after blood and rest we'll take him back into surgery to finish the job." Dr Campbell explained to the teen in the best way he could. Megan nodded but remained silent as she walked into her father's room. She sat down in one of the chairs by his bed and looked at him.
"He's going to be okay." Angus told his niece as he sat down in one of the other chairs.
"You don't know that..." Megan whispered, close to tears. Angus sighed.
"You're right, I don't. But I know how tough he is. He's been through this before a few years ago and he came out of it. He'll come out of this as well." Angus told the teen. Megan nodded but stayed quiet. Megan sat in silence with Angus, flicking between looking at her dad and at the monitors. She had no idea how long they had been sitting there as time seemed to fly by and it soon became dark outside.
"Come on kiddo, let's go get some sleep." Mario said coming back into Mike's room a little while later.
"Can't I stay here?" Megan asked, shifting in the chair she was slumped in.
"Not unless you don't want to be able to move in the morning." Mario said, knowing she was going to be sore considering she didn't want any pain medications.
"Go and get some proper rest, I'm staying here so I'll let you know if anything changes." Angus told his niece. Megan sighed, knowing she didn't really have a choice, before she stood up. Ignoring her achy body, she leant down and kissed her dad's forehead before she walked over to Mario who was standing by the door. Mario led the teen to the ward where they had managed to get her a room for the night so she could actually get some rest whilst they monitored her concussion. It was late so they quietly walked down the corridor and into the room. Megan would be lying if she said she wasn't exhausted so the comfy bed in front of her looked really good right now. Mario helped Megan climb into the bed and pulled the blanket over the teen as she snuggled up on her side. He then sat down in the chair next to her bed as the teen closed her eyes.
Megan had no idea how long she had been asleep when she woke up. She carefully shifted as she looked around the room. The clock on the wall read 5:30 am so she had been asleep for at least five hours. Megan smiled as she turned her head and saw Mario asleep in the recliner chair next to her bed. He had a blanket slumped over his top half so she had a feeling a nurse had checked on them in the night and put it there. Carefully reaching forward, Megan grabbed her phone from the table that was across the bottom half of the bed. She saw she had a load of missed calls and messages from Avery and the others. She was just about to message Avery when her phone started ringing.
"Avery." Megan answered the phone quietly.
"Megan?! Oh my god, are you alright?! Jesse called me and we've been so worried." Avery said, clearly panicked.
"I'm alright. Sore and bruised but alright. Mike's hurt though. He needed surgery and he needs another one..." Megan said, trying not to cry. Just then she heard Mario wake up and sit up.
"Are you alright?" He asked the teen.
"Yeah...it's Avery." Megan told Mario.
"Where are you? You sound like you're in a car." Megan asked Avery.
"We are. Me and TK are on our way to L.A. There were no flights for like two days so we decided to drive. We're about halfway there now, we stopped for a few hours to rest." Avery told her friend. Megan couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Okay, well I'll see you soon I guess." Megan said. They said their goodbyes before they ended the call. Mario looked at the teen.
"Megan and TK are driving up from Austin. They've been driving all night besides taking a rest break. They'll be here this afternoon."
"How are you feeling?" Mario asked the teen as he stood up, rubbing his eyes.
"Sore and hungry." Megan said, making Mario grin.
"I'll go grab us something to eat. I need to change anyway." He said.
"You didn't have to stay." Megan said appreciatively.
"I didn't want to leave you alone." Mario simply shrugged as he walked out.
Later that day, Megan was still sitting at her fathers bedside with Angus. Mike was still sedated and intubated but he was stable for now. Mario had gone down to the ER as he had a shift.
"I'm going to go grab something to eat but I'll be right back." Angus announced as he stood up.
"Do you want anything?" Angus asked his niece who was sitting in the chair next to her dad's bed. She shook her head.
"No thanks." She said quietly. Megan sighed as she looked at her dad. She knew he had seen her like this but she never thought she'd be seeing him like this. Her eyes kept flickering between her dad and the monitors above him. Angus had barely been gone a few minutes when the monitors started going off. Megan's eyes darted up to the machines.
"Err, help! Somethings wrong! Help!" Megan shouted, running to the door. A team of doctors and nurses came running. Megan was pushed out of the room and made to watch through the window outside.
"What's happening?" She asked as she saw Dr Campbell wheeling Mike away.
"He needs the OR." Campbell said, stopping to talk to Megan.
"I thought he wasn't stable enough?" Megan asked, confused.
"He wasn't but we don't have a choice now, he's actively bleeding again." Campbell explained before he left quickly and followed after the team of nurses that had wheeled Mike away.
"Oh my god." Megan ran her hands over her face.
Down in the ER...
"Angus was alerted, Mike's just been rushed to the OR with active bleeding." Jesse told Leanne and Willis at the nurses station. Mario, who was passing overhead.
"Where's Megan? I left her with Mike." Mario asked.
"I don't know." Jesse responded. Mario put down the chart in his hand and ran off.
"Let him find her." Leanne nodded to Jesse, knowing the teen shouldn't be alone right now. Mario ran all the way upstairs to the ICU floor.
"Where's Megan? The girl that was with Mike Leighton?" He asked the nurses.
"Err, I'm sorry I don't know. He was rushed away pretty hectically." The nurse said unsure. Mario decided to go check the room to see if Megan had left her stuff there. As he popped his head in, he saw Megan curled up in the corner with her knees to her chest, head on her knees and her arms covering her head to block everything out.
"Megan..." Mario said gently, kneeling down in front of her.
"He's only been in my life a few months and now I might lose him." Megan cried as she looked up at him with her tear stricken face.
"Hey, Mike's been through a lot worse before. Trust me, he's going to pull through this...plus he has you in his corner this time." Mario told her seriously. Mario spun round and sat down on the floor next to the teen. He placed his hand over hers on her knee and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Where's Angus?" Megan asked Mario.
"They paged him so he's probably gone to the OR." Mario told the teen. Just then his pager went off.
"I think Avery and TK are here, that's Jesse." Mario said after checking his pager.
"Yeah my phone's dead so I wouldn't know." Megan shrugged.
"Do you want to come with me to get them or do you want to stay here?" Mario asked, looking at Megan.
"I'll stay here...it's quiet here." Megan told him.
"Okay then, I'll be back in a few minutes then." Mario stated as he stood up. Megan nodded and watched him leave. Mario found Avery and TK talking to Jesse by the front desk.
"Mario! How is she?" Avery asked him, recognising him from her time in L.A with Megan.
"She's okay." Mario said first, instantly relaxing the other teen.
"She's got some badly bruised ribs and a sprained wrist. She was monitored last night for a concussion but will be discharged today." He went on to explain.
"And Mike? How is he?" TK asked before Avery could.
"He's been rushed back into the OR ahead of when they originally planned but Dr Campbell is one of the best." Mario told them sadly.
"Where is she?" Avery asked, desperate to see her best friend.
"Follow me, she's upstairs in Mike's ICU room." Mario told them, leading them towards the elevators. By the time they got upstairs, they found Angus sitting with Megan in the room.
"Megan." Hearing her best friend's voice, Megan quickly stood up and embraced her friend in a tight hug. Once she had hugged Avery, she hugged TK.
"You okay?" He asked her. Megan nodded.
"Any updates?" Avery asked hopefully. Megan shook her head sadly.
"Nurses know we're here and said they'll update us as soon as they can.
Just under 10 hours later, Mike was awake and talking. He had made it through surgery surprisingly well and was stable. They were all up in Mike's room talking.
"I'm fine, stop looking at me like that. Mario's been keeping an eye on me. You're the one who had two surgeries." Megan moaned as Mike kept worrying about her and asking her if she was okay.
"Okay, okay, no need to bite my head off." Mike laughed, raising his hands in mock surrender.
"Sorry, just everyone keeps asking me that." Megan apologised.
"Why don't we go grab something to eat and some fresh air?" Avery suggested, sensing that Megan was becoming overwhelmed.
"Good idea." Megan nodded.
"I'll stay here." TK said, seeing the way Avery glanced at him. Both teens nodded.
"We'll be back in a bit." Megan said as she pulled on her hoodie. As she stood up, her head started to spin.
"Megs, you alright?" Avery asked her friend, using the nickname Carlos had given the teen.
"Megan?" Avery asked as Megan put her hand on her head. Just then the teens vision went black as she tumbled to the floor, shaking.
"Megan!" Avery shouted, diving down next to her friend as TK leapt up from his chair.
"We need some help here!" TK shouted as he supported the teen who was seizing on the floor. Avery supported Megan's head.
"Don't try to get up!" Avery said sternly to Mike as she glanced at him and saw him trying to sit up. A team of nurses along with a doctor came in. They lifted Megan onto a gurney and wheeled her away.
"You've got your phone right?" Avery asked Mike. He nodded.
"I'll let you know what's happening." Avery told him before she followed the others away to go with Megan. The nurses were taking her down to the ER.
"What happened?" Jesse asked, seeing them wheeling Megan into the ER. She had stopped seizing now but was still unconscious.
"She collapsed and had a seizure. Lasted around three minutes. We had just gotten a line in when she stopped seizing. She's still unconscious but we've got her on O2." One of the nurses explained as Avery and TK followed closely behind.
"Dr Willis!" Jesse called out to the ER doc as they came to a halt in one of the cubicles. As Ethan came over, Jesse explained what happened.
A few hours later, Megan was still down in the ER, being looked over. She was now conscious and alert after the seizure she had had earlier.
"So your scans are clear. I'm happy to say this was just a delayed reaction to the head injury. I'd like to admit you into the hospital for a day or two just for observation but then you'll be free to go." Dr Willis explained as he showed them all the scan results.
"Good, that's good." Angus said, relieved. He was sitting one side of Megan's bed whilst TK and Avery were sitting at the other side.
"Thank god." Megan sighed relieved. She wasn't sure she could take much more if the scans had shown something bad.
"I'll go give your dad a ring and let him know. I promised to keep him updated so he doesn't threaten to climb out of bed and come down here himself." Avery joked before excusing herself. She went to call Mike as Megan stayed in the cubicle with her uncle and TK.
"So rest and observation, no arguments." Angus told his niece sternly.
"I know." She nodded, finally giving in that her body needed rest.
"We'll move you upstairs once a room's available. Until then, you're stuck down here with us." Willis told the teen as he pulled the side rail up on the bed.
"Thanks Ethan." Megan smiled as the doctor excused himself.
"You should go see your brother, reassure him I'm okay." Megan told her uncle.
"Are you sure?" He asked, not wanting to leave her.
"I've got TK and Ave, I'll be fine." Megan smiled.
"Okay then." Angus nodded before he left to go upstairs to see Mike.
A few days later, now that Megan had been cleared and discharged into the care of her uncle (Angus) and Mario, Avery and TK were heading back to L.A.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay? I can just fly out in a few days." Avery asked her best friend as they stood outside of the hospital.
"Go, I'll be fine, I promise. I'll be back in a couple of weeks." Megan reassured her bestie.
"Okay, but call me anytime if you need me." Avery told Megan as she pulled her in for like their hundredth hug that day.
"I will." Megan reassured her. They pulled apart and it was TK's turn to say goodbye to the teen.
"Take care of yourself kiddo." He whispered in her ear.
"You too. Tell that fiance of yours I'll be back to annoying him ASAP." Megan said back, making him laugh slightly. About a week before Megan had fled to L.A, TK and Carlos had announced their engagement to their friends and family.
"Look after her Jesse." Avery told her friend.
"Of course." He smiled, hugging Avery goodbye as well. Jesse and Megan watched as Avery and TK got in their car and drove off.
"How are you doing kiddo?" Jesse asked the teen as they turned back and started walking inside.
"Believe it or not I'm doing okay. All of this has been messed up, but I've been able to do a lot of thinking." Megan answered honestly.
"Good." Jesse smiled happily.
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