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

[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."

[thatsfascinating]

She smiled down at him, her eyes full of love and relief.

"How are you feeling? Did they tell you anything?"

[abrightboy]

"I...." He frowned. "I don't remember." He looked at her. "What's happening?"

[thatsfascinating]

She swallowed and nodded. They were still in the woods, then.

"We're in the hospital in Marseilles. You have a concussion."

She squeezed his hand gently.

"Do you remember what happened? How you got the concussion, I mean?"

[abrightboy]

He nodded and swallowed.

"And you brought me here for tests. But I don't remember anything after that until just now."

[thatsfascinating]

She sighed a little with relief. It was good he remembered what happened, even if part of her...and likely most of him...wished that he didn't. It meant that his memory loss wasn't too extensive.

"You don't have any intracranial bleeding, which is good. Really good. That's what I was the most worried about. You do have some swelling, though. They're keeping you here for observation, so if the swelling gets worse they can take care of it right away."

[abrightboy]

"Take care of it? What does that mean?" He laughed nervously. "Are they going to drill a hole in my head?"

[thatsfascinating]

"It's possible," she said with a nod, her expression brightening. "In really severe cases they actually remove a section of the skull!" She caught herself, realized she was being a little too excited. She cleared her throat, toned down her expression. "But those are really serious cases. If they haven't done that yet, it's unlikely they'll have to do it at all."

[abrightboy]

He highly doubted they could just go back to their villa and enjoy the rest of their trip together if he had a hole in his skull. Or that he would be able to go back to work in a week.

He usually met her enthusiasm with equal measure, but he went silent and stared past her.

"Can I do anything to stop it from getting worse?" he asked quietly.

[thatsfascinating]

That look on his face made her feel terrible. She swallowed.

"Um...well, yes. There are some...some medications that can help. There are also methods of hyperventilation that lowers the blood flow to the brain by lowering the amount of carbon dioxide in your system. And then there are experimental treatments that involve hypothermia, which is really fascinating..."

[abrightboy]

He nodded, a tear slipping down over his cheekbone.

"Those aren't going to happen tonight," he conceded. "So we can only wait."

[thatsfascinating]

She shook her head miserably, reaching out and gently brushing the tear from his cheek.

"It's going to be okay," she said, her voice thick. "Whatever happens, it's going to be okay."