Chapter 92—Part 5

AN: There is a super long END NOTE at the end of this chapter with lots and lots of explanations of medical stuff.

Tony and Brad walked down the hall together. Tony had not even bothered to change into his scrubs, yet. He needed to find out how the night had gone for his friends.

They stopped just outside the ICU doors. Brad took Tony into the doctor's lounge on that floor, and they both sat down.

Tony looked at his friend. "You're making me nervous."

"Dr. Mallard aspirated again. No heart problems with it. But, I have decided to push antibiotics. His lungs sounded a little junky. I don't want them to get worse."

Tony nodded. That sounded okay, no surprises there. "There is either a BUT or an AND coming up here."

"And," Brad started. "Tim has developed pneumonia. But, Kate is doing really well. Both her and Tim's burns are healing well. They will be in for more debrieding and wound changes. And, our ID doc was up, Kelly Mullens. She said the wounds looked clean. They were all healing well and there was no infection."

Tony nodded. That was marvelous news. But, Tim having pneumonia worried him. Tim was young. But, to be dealing with burns and pneumonia at once …it was just a lot of stress on the body.

Tony stood and started to leave.

"Gibbs is trying to get out of bed now. The nurses want to use chemical restraint. I won't write the order. But, they may ask you."

"Gibbs doesn't like to take pills." Tony told him.

Brad looked at him and nodded. "He's refusing his meds, telling the nurses that they want to keep him knocked out." He sighed. "I tried to explain to him that he needs the stronger pain relievers given what he's been through."

"He has a very high pain threshold. And, his probably pissed off." Tony replied.

Brad chuckled. "When is Leroy Jethro Gibbs NOT pissed off?"

"He's worried about Tim and Kate and Ducky. And, he's mad he can't get out of the bed and go see them." Tony explained.

Brad nodded. He knew that Gibbs cared a great deal for the members of his team. He could not fault the man for that.

"Okay, I'll give him that." Brad said. "But, we can't move his room. He's already across from the nurses' station." He shook his head. "I don't know what else to do."

"I'll talk to him."

Brad looked extremely skeptical, remembering when Tony was in the blue isolation room, and Gibbs would not take 'no' for an answer.

"I'll make him understand, Brad." Tony reassured him.

Brad just sighed and walked away.

Tony heard him as soon as he got off the elevator. He had not even changed into his scrubs for work yet. But, apparently he was beginning his shift, right now, whether he liked it or not.

"Gibbs!" Tony said as he entered his bosses' room. Caren Mosley, RN and Rachel Minor, PTA was trying to haul Gibbs stubborn ass out of the bed. He was having none of it.

Caren and Rachel had positioned themselves on either side of Gibbs to help him up and to make sure he was steady, his first time up.

Gibbs was growling and scowling and just, in general, not cooperating.

The PTA was flustered. "Mr. Gibbs you need to get out of bed and walk. We don't want you getting pneumonia."

Gibbs huffed out. "Germs are afraid of me."

Caren sighed. "Mr. Gibbs…we've been…."

"Gibbs!" Tony said a little louder this time. "Are you disobeying an order, Marine?"

Gibbs head snapped up at that. Tony had his full attention.

Tony repeated himself. "Are you disobeying an order from a fellow Marine?" He knew that that would get Gibbs. He respected his fellow Marines a great deal. Gibbs looked at both women.

Caren nodded. "Marine."

He then looked at Rachel.

"Air Force."

Gibbs knew what DiNozzo was trying to do. And, he gave Tony the 'hairy-eyeball' for pulling it, knowing it would work.

Gibbs swung his legs out over the edge of the bed and tucked his gown around him. Rachel went around, to the other side of the bed, and tied the gown together in the back.

Gibbs stood up slowly with little trouble. Rachel and Caren allowed him to get his balance. They then made sure that he was not dizzy, and that his head did not hurt, before they allowed him to take a step.

Tony stood and watched, grinning, as he witnessed his boss' progress. And, he did not miss the scowl Gibbs shot at him as he, his nurse, and his therapist walked, slowly, out the door.

Gibbs only made it a few steps. But, it was progress. And, it served two purposes. It got Gibbs up and moving. And, it told him that he could not get out of bed alone, so he had better stop trying. Unless he wanted to end up in the floor.

TBC

END NOTES: ID, in this instance, means Infectious Disease. Debrieding is done to get the dead tissue out of the wound in incidents of burns and the like. Dead skin impedes healthy skin growth, and it can cause infection and more skin to die, if not removed. There are a few methods. Two of the most common are just cutting away the dead skin. For massive, deep wounds the most common method is to submerge the patient in water. That allows the skin to soft, and sometimes, if the skin is loose enough, it will just come off on its own. This is usually done as a component of a patient's Physical Therapy. And it is, by far, the least painful of all the options available. (I have been told.) Also, I have a disclaimer on the antibiotics. I know if you are taking antibiotics that it can help if you have infections elsewhere in the body. So, having said that, I don't know if antibiotics taken for wounds would help in the prevention of pneumonia. There are many antibiotics meant to be used to treat a variety of things. But, I don't know how that works in the human body. So, if you do, please enlighten me and my readers. I won't change the story. I'll just slap an AU label on it and try to be more realistic with it next time. Chemical restraints are drugs. It is just the PC way to say it. And there MUST be a medically-identifiable reason for the use of the drug. Meaning if say, Aunt Mable is in the hospital for uncontrolled diabetes, and she likes to get out of bed and roam the halls. She cannot be chemically restrained. Her admission diagnosis of uncontrolled diabetes does not warrant the use of those drugs. The nursing staff just needs to keep a better eye on her. Maybe give her a room closer to the nurses' station so that they can catch her when she tries to make her Great Escape. Hospitals used to use physical restraints, and they were overused. The restraints were just kept on, not changed, etc. And patients developed added complications from that abuse, as a result. Plus, it did not make a good impression for friends and family to visit a healthcare institution and see their loved one literally tied to a bed. The 'hairy-eyeball' is just another name for 'Gibbs' patent glare.' I just get tired of using that terminology all the time. I hope this was, at least, somewhat enlightening and that you learned a little something. JL