And Then They Were In Love And Lost

Chapter 8

The team paced along the waiting room, unable to settle while waiting for any news. Blackburn, Davis and Mandy barged in through the doors and went straight towards the team, looking for answers, but the silent pacing was all the answers they needed. No tears, cursing or yelling or fists through any walls means they are both still in surgery, and they will not be bringing anyone home in a casket, but it also means there are no answers to settle them down.

Blackburn disappeared down the hall towards the nursing station to hopefully get some answers, but as he was waiting along the counter, a doctor came towards him as he was about to get someone's attention.

"Are you here for Petty Officers Spenser and Fox?" He questioned, guessing the uniform.

"Yes, I am, but the rest of the team is in the waiting room and would like to hear any updates," Blackburn confirmed as he led the doctor down the hall.

Each member turned to the sound of footsteps and froze as they waited for the news.

"What's the news, doc?" Sonny was the first to break the silence.

"First, ill start with the fact they both pulled through surgery and are in recovery. Petty Officer Spenser will be in room 403 once he wakes up, but Petty Officer Fox will remain in the ICU in room 587. Spenser sustained three gunshot wounds. We cleaned them all out and got the bullets from his torso; unfortunately, the wound to his lower back had nicked his kidney; we did repair it but will have to keep a close eye on its function for a few days. Otherwise, he was very fortunate as nothing vital was hit, and his leg will be painful to heal as a lot of muscle was torn up, but he will regain full function and muscle mass within his thigh. His head wound was a bit more concerning as we were afraid of a skill fracture or bleeding, but that has all been cleared, and he has a grade 2 concussion. He will be fine with rehab and time. Unfortunately, Fox is not as lucky. Her left ribs were badly injured; she has two bruised ribs and one is fractured, which ended up puncturing her lung. Her left shoulder was dislocated and set properly, and from what we can see through an MRI, there is no tendon damage. Still, a few muscles in her rotator cuff were partially torn and will heal on their own with time and immobility as they are not too thick of tears while she remains in the sling and rehab. She does not have a concussion, and we have left the temple wound in the steri strips. The two stab wounds she got on her right side did not hit anything vital, but the flesh was torn up pretty jaggedly as it must have occurred during movement, so we had to restitch them, and she will be left with a thick scar that may have some nerve damage along the surface. She may regain full feeling along the wound. Her throat was severely bruised and swollen from the excessive force used while she was choked. As you were not around to confirm if she lost consciousness at the time of the incident, and she was still unconscious when she came in, we do not fully know if she underwent any significant time without oxygen and if there are any other lasting damages until she wakes up. We will have her in the ICU on a ventilator and under sedation for a few days to help her lung heal from the puncture and let her throat bruising and swelling come down. We are worried there can be more swelling and do not want to risk windpipe closures. A nurse will be here shortly to let you know when they are in their rooms for you to see them, but please have only one at a time in Petty Officer Fox's room for now. The ICU has strict rules, but we will set up cots and chairs in Petty Officer Spenser's room for everyone." The doctor informed the team and hurried off as fast as he showed up.

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Everyone made their rounds into Liz's room to see her and sit with her for a little while as they waited for Clay to wake up. Jason was the last in to see Liz as he was still torn up inside about what happened; if he had only waited and forced them to come down with them and leave the last charge, they would not be in this mess and would all be home at The Bulkhead enjoying a beer after a successful mission. Ray came up after Jason was gone for over 2 hrs to check in and make sure Jason was not in his head running into self-destruction.