Page 39 of Compelling Urges

“I was so starved, I scarfed it down while I drove over here.”

“My guess is I shouldn’t eat it in here. I’ll just pop down to the lounge at the end of the hall. Want to come with me?”

“Visiting hours end in less than an hour, babe. I’m not about to leave him alone any longer than we have to. Is that okay?” He sat down and handed her a bag and a drink.

“I understand, and I’ll just be a minute.” She took off with her food and fairly wolfed it down so she could get right back, but she also had an important call to make.

As soon as Ivy returned, she mentioned, “I phoned my assistant, and she assured me she’ll have things under control. She said her mom could come in and help with sales too. Apparently, she’s been itching to do something useful and has hinted that she’d love to work in the gallery part-time.” Ivy gave a tired smile. “It’s a huge relief.”

Cooper had arranged himself close to Bodhi. He needed contact so badly until he got some reassurance that Bodhi was going to be fine. Ivy mirrored Cooper’s position on Bodhi’s other side.

At 10:45, a young doctor came in, gave them a grim smile, and took a look at Bodhi’s leg. He checked the computer screen that had all of Bodhi’s vital signs on it and wordlessly made some entries into the file.

“How’s he doing?” Cooper finally asked. He didn’t like the silent treatment or the suspense.

“I’m sorry to say, the infection has invaded the tibia. We’ll monitor his condition throughout the night, but we may have to make a serious call in the next few hours. He’s not responding as well to the antibiotics as I’d have hoped, frankly.”

“Doesn’t he have to sign something for you to…?” Cooper looked pointedly at Bodhi’s infected leg and shuddered. He couldn’t voice his thought.

“We will do everything to save his life, and if it comes to needing further, more extreme surgery, we’ll do our best to get Mr. Monaghan’s permission.”

Cooper sat up straighter and announced, “I’m his lawyer, and his best friend. Also, his emergency contact.”

“Yes, well, that’s good to know, but it still doesn’t give you permission to make decisions for him. That is, unless he has an Advance Directive that gives the decision-making power to you. Does he?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“It’s understandable.” The doctor gave a small sigh. “Men his age don’t usually think of things like that until they have a family. You may want to discuss it with him sometime. In any case, I’m going to add another antibiotic to his medications and see if we have more luck with the combination. Amputation is always a terribly difficult call to make, but our first and foremost goal is always to save the patient’s life.”

Cooper looked at Ivy who once again had tears in her eyes, a quivering lip, and a face as pale as the sheets on Bodhi’s bed. He addressed the doctor shakily, “His parents will be here in a few hours. They’re flying in from Hawaii. Surely you can wait on such a serious surgery until they get here.”

“All I can say is, we’ll see. If his fever doesn’t decrease soon, we worry about brain damage… and worse. The most important thing right now is to keep him from going into septic shock.”

Cooper quickly regretted the food he’d just eaten.

Looking at Bodhi’s face, he saw his buddy’s eyes squeeze together. Then Bodhi’s mouth moved.

“Did you just say something, Bodhi? Look, I think he’s coming around a little.”

The doctor leaned over and spoke clearly, “Mr. Monaghan, can you hear me?”

With a protracted moan, Bodhi croaked, “Don’t you dare.” Then his face went slack, and he seemed to be sleeping once more.

Raising his eyebrows, Cooper pointed out, “I guess you have his opinion on the subject then. But I agree, saving his life is the most important thing.” He reached up and lovingly stroked Bodhi’s forehead and told him, “My parents send their love too, man, and they said they’re praying for you.”

There was no indication from Bodhi that he’d registered a thing.

“We’ll do our best for your friend,” the doctor said. “Visiting hours are ending in a few minutes and they start up again at 8:00 am, so you should both probably go get some rest.” He turned to leave and then stopped, turning back toward them. “If you’re worried about him during the night, the nurses can keep you updated. Just be sure to get the 4-digit access code to his information before you leave. That way you won’t have to keep explaining who you are.”

∞∞∞

Cooper and Ivy decided that they would be back to the hospital at the very moment visiting hours began the next morning. Nothing was going to keep them from Bodhi’s side. They fell into bed beside each other, exhausted and worried.

As expected, Cooper couldn’t sleep well. He called the hospital twice during the night, though they couldn’t give him any concrete information. He also called before they left the hotel. “He’s not any worse,” he reported to Ivy. “That’s a good thing.” He’d tried to sound upbeat, but she saw through his charade. He was worried sick.

They rushed to Bodhi’s bed and took up their stations on either side. Both of them had to touch him before they lost it. “Bodhi?” Ivy asked softly. “Are you awake? Can you hear me?”

Outside of an eye twitch, they didn’t get much response. But then they simultaneously realized that Bodhi’s hands were sweaty, and his brow looked damp. The shaking had ceased. “I think his fever’s finally breaking!” Cooper whispered triumphantly. It was almost too good to believe. He punched the button to call the nurse. And sure enough, as soon as the nurse shooed them out of her way and scanned Bodhi’s forehead, she announced happily, “His fever’s down to 100.8. That’s a huge improvement. I’ll let Dr. Burton know right away.”

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