Life is Fluid Part II

Chapter 13: Pain and Agony

Will makes his way back into the hospital and heads down the familiar walkway he had done daily. It was second practice to him, except today was not like an ordinary day. Instead, there was something of extra concern as he stopped at the fourth door.

He catches the eyes of the man lying in the bed, eyes squinting a little as you could see him withholding a couple words underneath his breath. Will takes a deep breath in watching the scene. Jay was the pillar of strength. He never let anything bother him. But yet right there before him, he could see the pain and agony written all over his brother's face.

Knowing he could not stand there all day long, he makes his way inside the small room with the bag in hand that contained all of the items he was supposed to grab. He was not about to worry in handing any of them over to his brother, knowing the scene before him was more concerning at the moment.

"Jay?" Will says as he sets the bag down at the end of the bed, eyes still focused on those before him. He hadn't let his gaze leave them since entering, except for a split second to look up his vitals. He could not help but let out a sigh in still seeing his blood pressure a little low. He thought that would have been dealt with by now. 

"So much pain," was all Jay let out, as he tried to focus on keeping his breathing calm. Anytime it got to be a little too much, it only made the pain worse with it ripping up his sides from his damaged ribs. He could not move to get anymore comfortable, with any movement aggravating the burns on either side of his body. He wished he could possibly have a chance to lay on his side, wanting to get off of his back in knowing the bruising and marks that lied there. But yet he knew lying on his side would be impossible due to the wounds there. 

"Has Ethan been back to see you? Have you been taking the pain killers?" Jay nods his head in response to both of those, as Will notices the chart hanging at the bottom of the bed. He then picks it up, glancing at the latest batch of notes written by Ethan, including the dosage of ibuprofin that was given to him. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is the pain Jay? Where does it hurt you the worst?" 

"My left sid-"

"Let me see..." Will sets the chart down and makes his way up the side of his brother's bed, lifting the hospital gown to get a good look at his brother's left side. He saw the same discoloration that he had noticed earlier, without much improvement. "Have you gone to the bathroom at all while I was gone?" Jay nods his head as Will glances towards the bathroom. He remembered the rule - Jay was supposed to use the bottle if he would not agree to a catheter. 

"We almost had to get assistance to get him back to the bed," Mouse speaks up for the first time since Will had entered, having remained quiet in watching the scene before him with the brothers the entire time. He had shown up shortly after Will had left earlier, and had not left his best friend's side since. He had actually told him he was not planning on leaving, no matter what happened, in wanting to be there for him once again. 

Will heard the words, attributing it to the weakness from what Jay had been through over the past 24 hours. He noticed the bottle on the counter, looking to see if there was any red coloring to the liquid. Although it was darker than Will would have hoped, he did not see any traces of blood which gave him a calming feeling. Maybe he was over-panicking about the location of the pain and low blood pressure. Besides, dark yellow urine and low blood pressure also resonated with dehydration.

"You are still dehydrated so I think Ethan should increase your fluids," Will comments as he looks back over the chart once again as he debates paging Ethan right away to make it happen. He almost wanted to reach over and change the settings, but knew treating a family member would be a violation. He had already gotten in enough trouble lately with Goodwin. "That's probably contributing to everything else you are feeling, including the added pain to the kidneys with the damage there. I also think you do need a dosage of Daridorexeant so you can get some sleep as that will probably help you. Fatigue does not help healing, or any of your symptoms for that matter. The only other suggestion? A small dosage of morphine." 

"I suggested the morphine when I was here 20 minutes ago," Ethan says as he makes his way into the room, having promised to come back and check on Jay once he was done his rounds. He had promised to do that for the rest of the night in wanting to ensure he was as comfortable as he could be with everything going on. It was all about being the best friend possible given the situation. "He immediately shot me dow-"

"I can't, please I can't," Jay lets out with a bit of panic laced in his voice. His eyes immediately lock with Mouse, who nodded his head in agreement with the pleading detective. If anybody knew the reason why, it was Mouse that knew better than any history on a file could write. Mouse had lived through it with him. "I can't go through what it does to me on top of the pain I am dealing with..." 

"Could we try daridorexeant and an increase of the fluids?" Will suggests as it took everything in him to focus on Ethan and not his brother right now. He did not want the image of Jay full of panic locked in his mind alongside the look of pain and agony. This was nothing like the strong brother he knew right now. 

"Nightmares, hallucinations - he barely got through it all the last time he took opioids," Mouse adds as he takes a deep breath of his own. It was not a memory that he enjoyed reliving in his mind either. "He overdosed on them a couple times. Since the second overdosage, it brings all those negative affects 10 fold plus PTSD. You do not want to force him down that road..."