Colby wasn't thinking as he jumped off the balcony onto the flat bed of the truck below. It never crossed his mind that this was a moving truck and that he could hurt himself. His mind had barely registered landing on the truck when he fell off the back onto the ground. That's where his mind caught up with him, as he heard and felt a sickening pop on his left side. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it hurt.
Colby's face was scrunched up in pain as David helped him up. It was only when he went to take a deep breath, hoping to get some more oxygen into his blood, that the ache became a sharp, sudden pain. Colby doubled over and fell to his knees, gasping at the shock of the intense pain. He could hear David asking him something, but couldn't respond. Then it hit Colby all at once, he couldn't breathe. Each breath was getting harder and harder, and his mind took him back to the ship. This reminded him of how it felt when he was drugged up, drowning because his lungs refused to work. Panic set in as with each breath the pain increased and the struggle became harder.
"Can't…….breathe." He managed to gasp out, as the edges of his world became fuzzy and grayed. He lay on his right side, hoping to relieve the pressure. He could feel David's hand on his shoulder and could hear him calling for an ambulance. That's when the world went black.
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When Colby woke up, he was lying in a hospital bed. He remembered the pain, but now was only filled with a sense that he was floating and not quite there.
Ah, morphine. He thought. He tried to lift a hand to move the annoying plastic mask over his face, but his body seemed too heavy to respond. Even just the attempt at moving his arm made him tired, and he closed his eyes, floating back into oblivion.
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The next time he woke, he could tell his meds had been cut back. He was less groggy and the floaty feeling was gone. He opened his eyes and blinked them a couple of times against the bright lights of the hospital room.
"Granger, you with us?" Said a voice somewhere to Colby's left. He turned his head towards it. Don.
"Hi." Colby managed to whisper, his throat dry and sore. Hmm, must have been intubated again. He thought.
"Hi yourself. You ever pull a stunt like that again and I'll kill you myself." Said a female voice to his right. Megan. The voice was upset, but he could tell it was not a real threat. Colby turned his head towards her. She held a white, Styrofoam cup in her hands and held it out to him. Noticing he no longer wore the annoying mask, he took a few sips of the cool water, letting it moisten his mouth and throat.
"Wha…..What happened?" He asked.
"You broke a rib when you landed on the pavement." Said David, who had somehow appeared at Megan's side, but Colby couldn't figure out how or when. "And when you tried to stand up, it moved and punctured your lung."
Colby winced just remembering the events. No wonder it hurt so much. Colby had had broken ribs before, but they had never punctured his lungs.
"No more jumping off buildings." Megan said. "Stop trying to be Mr. Macho, and be smart. You're just lucky that David was there with you. If you'd been alone, you would have suffocated before anyone knew there was something wrong."
Colby's eyes widened with every second that Megan spoke, or rather lectured, to him. He was getting a little scared, now. He glanced between Don and David, his eyes pleading with them to not let her hurt him. David simply smirked at him, but Don did step in.
"I think he gets it Megan." He said. Megan finally noticed how scared Colby's eyes were and how he had shrunk away from her a little bit.
"Oh God. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to….I was just worried." Megan apologized, watching as Colby relaxed back to the position he was in before.
"It's ok." Colby said. "Sorry I make you guys worry so much."
"And you should be." Megan added. Just then the doctor walked in, saving Colby from another lecture from his friend.
"Ah, Mr. Granger, glad to see you're awake." The doctor said, looking at the machine next to his bed. It was then that Colby realized that the strange feeling spots on his chest were an EKG and a pulse ox monitor was attached to his finger. "I take it your friends here have filled you in on what happened?"
Colby nodded. "I broke a rib, it punctured a lung, and I passed out."
"Well, yes, that's the basics. You were barely breathing then you were brought in, we had to insert a chest tube to drain the fluid and air around your lung." The doctor added.
Wow, I guess those pain meds are better than I thought. Colby thought as he looked at the tube leading out from under the covers and looping down below the bed where he couldn't see. He couldn't even feel it.
"You needed surgery to place the rib back where it belongs and to repair the hole in your lung." The doctor continued.
"How long have I been out?" Colby asked.
"About a day or so. You didn't seem to want to wake up from sedation."
"Yeah." Colby groaned, trying to move and be more comfortable. "That's what they told me last time I was in the hospital."
"Are you in any pain?" The doctor asked.
"Only when I try to move." Colby said, grimacing. Colby understood there would be pain, he jumped a story and a half onto a moving truck and then fell off the back of it. Even without the broken rib and punctured lung, that would hurt. When he moved, every muscle in his body seemed to protest, even ones he wasn't trying to use.
"I'll get the nurse to give you more pain meds." The doctor said, marking something in his chart.
"How long will I be here?" Colby asked.
"I'd say a few more days, then I would recommend at least a week resting at home before retuning to work." The doctor replied.
"Yeah, I'll make sure he rests, Doc. Nothing but desk work for a week once you come back." Don said, making sure Colby knew he meant it. Colby nodded in assent, there was no use fighting with Don over this.
"Good. Well, I'll go and send in the nurse to give you more pain meds." The doctors said, writing one last note in the chart and placing it back on the table before leaving. Megan, Don and David all told him to rest and that they would be back to se him later and as the nurse came in. She asked him to scale his pain from 1-10, he told her a 7, and she left to get the appropriate med. She returned a few minutes later with a syringe, injecting it directly into his IV. It wasn't long until Colby felt that happy, floaty feeling wash over him again and then he was asleep.
Please R&R thanks.