The Adventure Continues

[abrightboy]

For thatsfascinating.



The villa Malcolm rented was in the Languedoc, not far from Marseilles, south of Avignon. It was a very historic region, though Malcolm was particularly not interested in visiting Marseilles again. There was a charming village nearby the villa and if they were going to go to an historic city for a day, he'd rather make the trip over to Montpellier, where he'd never been at all, much less with Dr Whitly.

The villa had six bedrooms. As the driver brought their luggage inside the bright and spacious main room, Malcolm handed him some folded Euros and thanked him and shut the door behind him.

"First choice of a room is yours," he told Edrisa with a smile. "But you might want to explore first."

Comments

[abrightboy]

"Could I die if they don't check it?"

He promised her he wouldn't be that careless.

[thatsfascinating]

That's really what it came down to. She swallowed and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him.

"Yes," she answered softly. "If you have intracranial bleeding, you could die."

[abrightboy]

He put a hand to his head for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut. He needed his brain to function for a moment. He needed to think.

"Can you get me a bag?" he asked. "With my medication and my restraints. And pyjamas. I can't deal with hospital gowns. They don't cover anything if you start kicking and screaming."

[thatsfascinating]

"Yes," she said, pulling back. "I can do that."

She gave him a quick kiss, then hurried to his bedroom. She had to move quickly, because the car would be there any minute, but she also needed to make sure she got everything.

She was just tugging the restraints free of the bed when she heard a car horn. "Be right there," she yelled as she stuffed the restraints into the bag, then grabbed a tshirt and sweatpants, cramming them into the bag as she ran out to the living room.

[abrightboy]

He stood up, a little unsteadily, when he heard her returning, reaching for her hand. His eyes fell to her torn dress again and lingered there.

"We didn't take care of you at all," he noted quietly.

He swallowed hard; the headache was getting worse.

"We have to do that too. Next. Please."

He knew if his life was in danger, she'd never pause because of a dress, but he wanted her to remember how important she was.

[thatsfascinating]

She took his hand and nodded. She knew that he loved her, was concerned about her, would have taken care of her had he been able.

"We will," she assured him. "Once we know you're not in danger, we'll come back here, and I promise I will let you take care of me as much as possible."

The car honked again, and she wrapped her arm around his waist. "Let's get you to the hospital."

[abrightboy]

He let her take him and when they got to the hospital, they were able to explain the situation enough that they immediately took him in for tests, leaving Edrisa in the waiting room with his bag.

[thatsfascinating]

She had wanted to protest, to tell them she should be with him, that she would be happy to change into scrubs if it meant she could be there to hold his hand, or his foot, while he was in the CT scan or the MRI.

But instead she told him she'd be right there, waiting for him. That she loved him. And she held his hand for as long as she could, until his fingers slipped from hers.

Then she sat down with his bag, feeling helpless.

[abrightboy]

A doctor came out to the waiting room.

"Mrs Bright?" she called, her accent fairly heavy, into the room where Edrisa and a few other people were waiting.

[thatsfascinating]

She stood. "Oh, I'm..."

Not Mrs. Bright yet, she was going to say, but caught herself. It would only cause more problems.

"...Edrisa. Edrisa Bright. You can call me Edrisa."

Smooth.

"Is he okay?"

[abrightboy]

"There is no intercranial bleeding, in the good news," she told Edrisa in her heavily accented English. "But the brain, it is..." she made a fluffing gesture with her hands. "It is swelling," she said, finding the word. "We must keep him overnight for observation. We believe it will go down by itself but he needs to be here if we need to do an emergency procedure to relieve the swelling. He asks us to let in his wife to the room. It is this way," she told Edrisa, gesturing down the hall.

[thatsfascinating]

Edrisa nodded. That he didn't have a brain bleed was good, and that they got him here in case the brain swelling became life threatening was also good. She picked up the bag and pulled the strap over her shoulder, then followed the doctor.

"Has he talked to you at all about his medications and sensitivity to sedatives yet?"

[abrightboy]

She looked over. "No, not at all. He said he was very sleepy, which is normal with this sort of injury. Someone will be in to wake him throughout the night to check on his progress and to ensure the situation has not gotten worse to require an intervention. Does he have any other sensitivities?"

[thatsfascinating]

Oh crap.

"He has severe night terrors," she said. "Since he can't be sedated, he has to be restrained when he sleeps. I have his restraints here. We...might want to hurry.

[abrightboy]

The nurse looked over at her curiously. "I have heard of this illness but have not seen it personally. If he requires restraints, we can restrain him."

[thatsfascinating]

"The problem is that he gets anxious if he can't release himself while he's awake." She patted the bag. "These restraints let him do that. He's been using them pretty much every day for about twenty years. He's really good at managing his condition."

[abrightboy]

"If you think this is safe and you will be in the room, this is acceptable," the doctor told her. She opened the door to a room. There were two beds in the room, but the other was vacant. "If you need to eat, there is a.... cafeteria?" she said, trying out the word. "On the second floor. They will bring a meal for your husband at 6 o'clock."

[thatsfascinating]

She stepped into the room, listening to the doctor's words and looking at the two beds, and found herself tearing up a little. They were being so good to them here. After all the problems they'd been through with the hospitals in New York, this was a surprise and a relief.

"It is," she said with a nod. She turned toward the doctor. "And I will be here, I promise." She beamed at the woman, her smile overflowing with gratitude, and had to suppress the urge to hug the other woman.

"Thank you. So much. You have no idea how much this means to us."

[abrightboy]

The doctor looked a little confused by that.

"Um. Certainly. If he displays any symptoms you find... troubling, press the button by the bed so someone will come at once," she said, then left the room.

Malcolm had fallen asleep. She wouldn't be able to tell how long ago. For the moment, he was still.

[thatsfascinating]

She didn't waste any time. She went to his bed, set down the bag, opened it and pulled out the restraints, then went about threading them through the hospital bed like they had in New York. It was a little complicated with one person, but she was able to wrangle it. Once that was done she quickly cuffed the wrist with the cast, then went to the other side of the bed and cuffed his other wrist.

Sighing with relief, she went and sat on the other bed to keep watch.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm walks cautiously into the old stone storage building. There's grain on the floor. Then he sees her. A woman slumped in the corner. She looks like a doll, except the bodice of her blue dress is torn. He screams.

Malcolm thrashed suddenly, screaming.

It's Edrisa. But nobody is coming to help. Nobody is coming. He tries to rush to her side, but the killer grabs him from behind, a rope around his neck, strangling him.

He started thrashing more violently, kicking, struggling.

[thatsfascinating]

She jumped at that sudden thrash, that sudden scream, and went quickly to his side.

"Bright, it's okay," she said, careful to stay far enough back so he couldn't reach her as he thrashed. "I'm here. Everything's okay."

He started thrashing more violently and she took a half-step back, her heart pounding. She knew the best thing...the only thing...was to try to call him out of it until the dream passed.

It would never be easy to have to stand back and watch him trapped in so much fear and pain.

"You're safe," she told him. "We're safe. It's just a dream, Bright. Wake up, okay? Everything's okay."

[abrightboy]

He gasped suddenly awake, looking around frantically. He tried to lift his head and winced, letting it fall back on the pillow.

"Edrisa?"

[thatsfascinating]

Oh thank god.

"I'm here," she said, quickly going to his side and taking his hand. "I'm right here."

[abrightboy]

"Oh good," he sighed. He looked up at her. At her perfect face, full of life. "Good."