Title: Home Sick, Chapter 3, Taken In 'verse
Author: Piratelf
Rating: PG
Fandom: Gilmore Girls
Genre: Gen AU
Disclaimer: I have no claim upon Gilmore Girls or any GG characters. I have no medical training and very little medical knowledge. Still, it's fun to pretend, eh?
Beta: Nadnewraid
Xposted to:
deanfest_2007,
gg_fic,
narcoleptics Author's Notes: This fic is complete but will be posted in chapters.
Also, thank you all for your feedback! Even just one word is appreciated! Many thanks to charmed-gilmoregirls-treehill on FanFiction.net, for the diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for Dean.
Summary: Dean deals with pain and anxiety. Luke deals with hospital staff and Gilmores.
Shout Out: to the amazing
keepaofthecheez who went to EyeCon, and
in her own words - ...Jared recognizing me in the autograph line. And, um, breaking my brain.
...and signing my Gilmore Girls DVDs and dishing about how Dean Forester is totally way better than ANYONE ELSE EVER. In Jared's own words "his magnificence lives on in THIS BOX, FOREVER." So true. And then he gave me a hard time because I handed him the first season and he's actually ON the second season box...which I COULDN'T REMEMBER. Or maybe he's just WRONG. HAHA.
Emphasis mine. And, um, actually he is on the second season box. On the back, it's a pic of Dean and Rory next to the car from "Richard In Stars Hollow".
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
The admitting nurse called for a gurney and three orderlies appeared next to Luke, put Dean on the gurney and whisked him away behind swinging doors. When Luke tried to follow, the admitting nurse stopped him.
“Sir, I really need some information from you, believe me it’s the best way you can help your son right now.”
“Uh, he’s not my son.”
“Do you have his parents’ permission to obtain medical treatment?”
“No, I mean, I’m his legal guardian.”
“Oh, good. Alright, what are his symptoms?”
“His fever is 104, um, uh, stomach pains, and he’s thrown up twice, no three times! Three times but the third time was just the nausea medicine. Um, and a headache. And I think he was delirious for a while. My friend thinks he has appendicitis.”
“Okay, excellent,” the nurse finished noting down the symptoms.
“Excellent?!”
“Not the possible appendicitis, of course. How old is your, um -”
“Seventeen.”
“And his name?”
“Dean.”
“Dean?” The nurse looked at him.
“Forester, Dean Forester. One R. Don’t you need to tell them in there that he might have appendicitis?” Luke tried to see through the doors.
“I will Mr. Forester, but right now-”
“Danes.”
“Excuse me?”
“Danes, not Forester. I’m Luke Danes.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Height?”
“What?”
“Dean’s height? And weight, please?”
“Ummmm, I think he’s like 6’ 2 or 3 maybe. Uh, I’m not sure about his weight, he’s kind of a skinny kid. Good muscle tone though. 135, I guess?”
“Are his immunizations up to date?”
“I guess so. I mean, I think so.”
“Blood type?”
“Uh, red?”
“Does he have any allergies?”
“None that I’ve noticed.”
“Has he had any major surgeries?”
“You know, I’ve only had him for about 8 months, I haven’t exactly checked his body for scars or anything. Could you just fix him, please?”
The nurse smiled reassuringly at him. “I promise we’ll do our best, sir. Do you have your insurance information?”
Luke dug out his wallet and pulled out the proper cards.
She smiled as she took them. “Okay sir, just have a seat. I’ll make a copy of these and someone will call you when you can go back.”
Rory rushed into the emergency room. “Luke! Where’s Dean? Is he okay?”
“Hey, Rory,” Luke was turning toward the door as Lorelai ran in.
“Luke, hey. What’s going on?” She put her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it soothingly. Luke thought what an odd circumstance it was when Lorelai was the calmest one in the room.
“I’m not quite sure, he passed out as soon as I got him in here-”
“He passed out?!” Rory exclaimed in horror.
Someone in scrubs came through the swinging doors. “Dean Forester?”
“That’s us!” Lorelai raised her hand.
The man walked toward her quickly. “Are you the mother?”
“No, I’m the, uh, it’s me,” Luke said.
“Okay, Mr. Forester, your son needs to be taken into surgery immediately, his appendix is unstable and may burst. Has he had anything to eat in the last 24 hours?”
“Nothing that’s stayed down,” Luke replied.
“Good. We need you to sign some forms, and then you can see him for one minute, while he’s being prepped. All right? Follow me please.” The man in scrubs went back through the swinging doors.
“Oh God, surgery!” Luke felt himself being pushed.
“You need to follow that man right now, Luke. Wait ‘til after Dean’s been sedated to freak out, cause then the anesthesia machine will be free,” Lorelai shoved Luke through the swinging doors. Then grabbed Rory as she tried to follow.
“Mom, I want to see Dean!”
“Sweetie, I know, but not right now.” Lorelai stroked her hair.
“But Mom, he’s going to SURGERY, what if something happens?!” She sat down in the nearest chair. “Oh, God, Mom, what if something happens!”
“Rory, honey, the best thing is for them to get him into surgery as soon as possible, okay?”
“They’re letting Luke see him!”
“For one minute,” Lorelai reminded her. “So if you go back that only leaves you thirty seconds.”
“That’s long enough for a kiss.”
“Luke says he’s been throwing up, babe, you do not want to kiss him right now.”
“But what if . . . you know?”
Lorelai hugged her daughter. “People have their appendixes out everyday. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Appendixes?”
“Appendii?”
Rory frowned. “Maybe it is appendixes.”
Meanwhile Luke had been given at least three papers to sign, all of which said in one way or another, that he wouldn’t sue the hospital should something go catastrophically wrong. Then he was given a paper gown to put over his clothes and a mask to wear and shown to a little cubicle partitioned off with curtains. Dean was in there, on the same gurney, already out of his clothes and in one of those hospital gown things. There were people in scrubs and masks buzzing around him, asking him questions, taking his blood pressure, checking his temperature, taping things to him, drawing lines on his belly, etc.
“Luke!” Dean recognized him, even behind the mask.
“Hey, Dean,” Luke looked for an opening he could slip into, and grabbed Dean’s hand.
“They said I have to have surgery,” Dean sounded frightened, but coherent.
“Yeah, I know. But you’re gonna be fine.”
A nurse took Dean by the shoulders, “we need you to lie back now.” But as she pushed him back he cried out in pain.
“Hey!” Luke protested.
“We don’t have time to wait for the painkillers to kick in, he needs to lie flat so we can start the anesthesia,” she told Luke, briskly. She turned back to Dean. “Just take a deep breath and lie back, I’m gonna buckle you in here, so you don’t roll off.” As she was speaking another nurse, kind of a big guy, began pulling Dean down from behind. Dean gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes closed. The guy held him while the lady fastened the strap. Another nurse had opened Dean’s gown and was sticking the heart monitor wires to his chest.
He looked up at Luke, hurting and scared. Luke had never felt so helpless in his life.
“Will you - OW!” Dean looked to his right, where a nurse had inserted the needle for his IV line while he was speaking. “Will you be here when I get out?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right in the waiting room, okay?”
Dean nodded. He wasn’t able to speak because someone had just put an anesthesia mask over his mouth and nose.
“Sir, you need to go to the emergency surgery waiting room,” one of the nurses told Luke, pressing him back gently. Dean’s grip on his hand tightened.
“Just one second,” Luke shrugged off the nurse’s touch, but someone else separated Dean’s hand from his and the gurney was being pushed away. Luke tried to think of something encouraging to say, but they were already far enough that he’d have to yell, and he wasn’t sure Dean would hear him anyway. He pulled off the gown and mask and returned to the waiting room, looking shaken. Lorelai took his arm.
“What’s going on? How’s he doing?”
“We have to move to the emergency surgery waiting room. He’s in a lot of pain.” Luke sounded shell-shocked.
“My poor Dean,” Rory wailed.
“Where’s the emergency surgery waiting room?” Lorelai asked the admitting nurse. She showed her which color arrows to follow and Lorelai herded the other two along. Once she had them seated in the proper waiting room, one on either side of her, she asked Luke for the whole story.
“Well, he came home sick from school, and I got him some medicine, but he threw it up. I took his temperature, and it was 102, but he wasn’t sweating, so I made him get under the covers -”
“You’re not supposed to do that anymore,” Lorelai broke in.
“What?” Luke asked.
“The bundling under the covers to sweat out a fever? No longer recommended.”
“Since when?”
“Oh, 1980 or so, somewhere around there. These new kids coming out these days, they can’t handle the rough stuff.”
“Will you finish telling about Dean, please!” Rory was not in any mood for her mother’s banter. She’d been awakened from a sound sleep, during which she was doing more than just trailing her hand down Dean’s naked chest, thank you very much, to be told that her boyfriend, love of her life and star of her dirtiest dream to date, was being rushed to the hospital because his appendix was in danger of bursting, which she knew lead to peritonitis and death! So excuse her if she was not in the mood for bantering!
“Sorry, babe,” Lorelai put her arm around her daughter.
“Uh, okay, where was I?” Luke asked.
“You made him get under the covers!” Rory answered impatiently.
“Oh, right, right. And he went to sleep. I went down and finished the night. After closing I checked on him and he was still asleep. He’d kicked all the blankets off though,” he said to Lorelai. “Then I woke up and-” Luke lowered his voice. “He was calling for his mom.”
“His mom?” Rory repeated.
“Yeah. He must’ve been delirious. He was asking where his family was.” Luke decided to skip over the crying part. “So I took his temperature again and it was 104. That’s when I called your mom. God, I hate hospitals!” Luke burst out.
“Okay, okay, just calm down.” Lorelai rubbed Luke’s back comfortingly. “Next time Dean has appendicitis we’ll take him to the circus.”
“God, he was calling for his mom, that’s so sad. Cause she’s not gonna be there.” Rory laid her head on Lorelai’s shoulder. “She’s never gonna be there, ever again. And she was so sweet. She was such a sweet mom. She used to always kiss Dean every time he left the house. Clara too. And she used to make them these cookies, chocolate chip-peanut butter-oatmeal, which I thought would be really gross, but they turned out to be really good. And she was so nice to me.” Rory raised her head and turned to Lorelai with a smile, but tears in her eyes. “She used to call me ‘pretty Rory’.”
“Aw, you never told me that,” Lorelai tucked a strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear.
“I feel so bad, you know Dean and I hardly ever talk about this, about his family. I know he really misses them, but it just doesn’t really come up,” Rory said.
“It’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Luke told them.
“Like what Vietnam vets get?” Lorelai asked.
“Yeah. I mean, I guess. But that’s why he doesn’t talk about them. Well, except for when he’s delirious with fever apparently. Why do hospitals always smell like this?” Luke got up and began to pace.
“Well, antiseptic and sick people, in combination, smell the same everywhere, I guess,” Lorelai answered him.
“You know, they were so callous to him! I mean here’s this kid, and he’s sick, right? He’s suffering and he’s petrified, and they’re just treating him like a piece of meat! I mean, they’ve already stripped him, and strapped him down and I’m trying to be there for him and give him some reassurance, and they just keep sticking needles into him and they put this big plastic . . .” Luke searched for a term, “thing, over his face, and then somebody literally just ripped his hand out of mine and they push him down the hall like it’s the Indy 500! This is a hospital! Aren’t these people supposed to have some sort of compassion? Some kind of humanity? He’s seventeen for God’s sake! He’s a kid, a child, a baby!”
“Well, Dean would be awful big to be somebody’s baby,” Lorelai commented.
“Yeah, well,” Luke sat back down beside her. “You didn’t see his face.”
“He had baby face?” Lorelai asked sympathetically.
“Exactly,” Luke affirmed.
“But, Dean has always had kind of a baby face.” Rory wrinkled her brow in confusion.
“No sweetie, not a baby face, baby face,” Lorelai said.
“Baby face?” Rory asked.
“Yes,” her mother answered.
“As in, a face like a baby?”
“Yes,” Lorelai nodded.
“Yet somehow different from a baby face,” Rory clarified.
“Right,” Lorelai nodded again.
She turned to Luke, “is this a parent thing?”
“Yeah,” he looked at her, then he flicked his eyes up to meet Lorelai’s and smiled. “It’s a parent thing.”
Dirtiest Dream to Date a side story to Home Sick Chapter 3.
Chapter 4