Popped Four
As he sat down to eat, TK's cell phone started to ring. Judd laughed.
"How many times is that today?" He asked.
"Too many. First Bailey's case agent, then the hospital to confirm her next appointment, the pharmacy saying that they lost her script, Carlos for the grocery list and this time the winner is..." TK pulled out his phone and his face blanched. "The High School."
The 126 all stopped immediately.
"Oh dear god what did that girl get into now." Judd muttered.
TK quickly accepted the call and held it up to his ear.
"Hello?" TK asked tightly.
"Hello, is this Mr. Strand?" A male voice came through the receiver.
"It is." TK said.
"Hello Mr. Strand, this is Mr. Cole from Bailey's high school. I'm so sorry to bother you but she wouldn't let me call anybody else." He said.
TK's brow furrowed.
"What are you talking about?" He asked.
"Bailey came into the office about five minutes ago having torn a couple stitches in her side, she's not bleeding too badly, we would still normally call an ambulance. However Bailey would only let me call you, she insisted that you could help and that emergency services weren't needed." Mr. Cole said.
"She did what?" TK all but shouted and the 126 again looked ready to jump up if they needed to.
"Should we call an ambulance then?" Mr. Cole asked.
"No, no I'm a paramedic my team and I will be there in ten minutes. Do not let her go anywhere, she should have a water bottle in her backpack, make her drink it." TK said getting up from his chair.
"Will do sir, we'll see you soon." Mr. Cole said.
TK hung up and hit the table.
"Dad, call dispatch, take the ambulance off the route." He said running for his bag.
"What's going on?" Owen asked.
"Bailey tore her stitches but wouldn't let the school call 9-1-1. Can you call Carlos and have him meet us at the hospital please?" He asked.
Tommy and Nanci were right behind him. TK sat in the passenger seat of the ambulance and pushed the heels of his palms into his eyes.
"Didn't Bailey do that exact same thing when this whole thing started?" Nanci asked, looking over at her partner briefly before turning back to the road.
"You mean when Bailey pulled her port? That start of things?" TK asked.
"Yeah." Nanci agreed.
"Yeah, it's one of the things we have in common. Nervous tick." TK said.
TK was jumping out of the ambulance before Nanci even put it in park. He ran through the front doors of the school and straight into the office.
"Dad!" He heard Bailey's voice. He spun and saw her sitting in a chair, a hand pressed tightly to her side.
Noah sat with her, TK could see that he was trying to stay calm but he was scared, worried for Bailey.
"Bailey," He breathed and kneeled in front of his daughter. "What the hell happened?"
"I was in class and I turned around to talk to somebody and I guess I twisted too far. I felt it pop and then Noah told me that I was bleeding. It's not bad Dad I promise, but I know I busted a couple stitches." Bailey rambled.
Noah adjusted in his seat. He wanted to help but really didn't know how to. Tommy and Nanci walked into the office carrying the gear and he stood quickly.
"Hey, I'm sorry guys I should have helped." TK said.
"I'm a parent too TK, you were running slow in my opinion." Tommy laughed.
TK nodded and kneeled next to Bailey again.
"Okay Bails, let's see how many stitches you popped," He said, taking the gloves that Tommy offered to him. "Noah, I'm gonna have you move to Bailey's other side."
TK could see that Noah wanted to help so he gave him a job before focusing on Bailey's surgery sight. TK gently lifted his daughter's shirt and peeled back the bandage that was covering her incision. It wasn't bleeding profusely but it certainly was seeping a bit. The surgeon had closed the incision with twenty neat stitches before placing a new port. She'd popped at least four of them.
"Definitely four maybe more," TK said. "Let's get you to the hospital and figure out how much damage ya did."
Bailey leaned her head against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut. TK looked up at his daughter and his concern jumped when he saw tears shining on her cheeks.
"Hey kiddo." He said soothingly.
TK got up and Nanci took his place to put fresh gauze over Bailey's incision. TK ditched his gloves and sat next to his daughter, brushing his thumb over her cheeks to wipe away her tears.
"Bails, what's going on? Are you in pain?" He asked.
Bailey shook her head and drew in a shuttered breath.
"Then what's going on? Talk to me." TK said.
"I'm so sorry daddy." She said, leaning her head on TK's shoulder.
TK furrowed his brow, he looked to Noah but he shook his head, not knowing what Bailey meant either. He stepped away, giving his girlfriend and her father some privacy. Tommy stepped away to speak with Noah who was pacing the far end of the office nervously. Once Noah was away TK tried to get Bailey to elaborate.
"What are you sorry about Bails? I've popped a number of stitches in my time, it's nothing to apologize for." He said.
"I've caused so much trouble the past few weeks and now I've gone and done something stupid and-"
"Hey," TK said, cutting off Bailey's anxious rambling. Bailey looked up at him, tears still pooling in her eyes. "None of that. In no way have you caused trouble. You scared us, yes, I won't say you didn't but that's just a part of being in a family. Scary things happen and you roll with it," He said brushing her tears away again. "Now, let's get you loaded onto the ambulance and to the hospital so that we can get these stitches fixed up, okay?"
"Okay." Bailey mumbled.
TK stood, turning towards Mr. Cole who had come out of one of the offices.
"Mr. Cole, TK Strand." He said, extending a hand.
"Good to officially meet you Mr. Strand." Mr. Cole said, shaking TK's hand.
"We're going to take Bailey to the hospital to get stitched up. Thank you again for calling me." TK said.
Mr. Cole nodded.
"We've already alerted her teachers for the remainder of the day and let them know that her attendance will be excused," Mr. Cole said. "Best of luck to you."
"Thank you, sir." TK replied.
TK smiled and turned back to Bailey.
"Okay Bails, let's get goin'." He said.
Bailey was able to walk out to the ambulance with little help. Noah had followed them out, carrying her backpack. Once TK had climbed up into the ambulance Noah handed the backpack to him. TK nodded.
"Thank you for staying with her Noah." TK said.
"Yeah, of course," He said. "I know that she's probably not going to be up for anything tonight but could you let me know how she's doing?"
TK smiled at him.
"Of course," He said. "And I'll remind her to text you when she's feeling up to it."
"Thank you Mr. Strand." Noah said.
"You're welcome, Noah." TK said.
Bailey laid down on the gurney, listening to Noah and
"Bye Noah," She said. "Thank you."
Noah smiled up at her.
"I'll see you later, okay?" He said.
"Okay." She smiled.
He waved before TK pulled the ambulance doors shut. Tommy had climbed in the back with them so Nanci took the driver's seat.
"Do we need sirens?" She asked, poking her head through the connecting window.
Tommy looked at Bailey and shook her head.
"I think we're okay without them." She said.
"You got it, should be about 10 or 15 minutes." Nanci said.
"Sounds good." Tommy said, placing the cardio leads on Bailey's chest.
As they pulled out of the school parking lot TK looked to his right and saw one of the things that he'd been avoiding. The IV. He knew he had to get it in place so he swallowed hard and nodded.
"Bails, I gotta start an IV." TK said, looking at the teen.
He knew that she hated needles but there was no way around it. Bailey closed her eyes and nodded though her heart rate jumped pretty high as her anxiety grew. TK looked at Tommy and she got the message.
"So Bailey, your dad was telling me that your art is being featured in the high school exhibit at the museum Saturday night." She said, drawing Bailey's attention to her.
Bailey nodded but her heart rate was still higher than he would have liked it.
"What does your piece look like?" Tommy asked.
"It's um, it's a uh, a s-silhouette piece." She stuttered as TK cleaned off the inside of her elbow.
"Oh yeah? What of?" Tommy pushed.
"The 126." Bailey smiled.
With her attention drawn away TK pushed the IV into Bailey's arm. Bailey's eyes clenched shut as a tear pearled in the corner of her eye.
"Atta girl." TK soothed, wrapping her arm gently and then brushing his finger over her cheek.
"I'll get Charles to come to the exhibit opening this weekend. I want to see this piece of yours." Tommy smiled.
Bailey smiled through her tears.
✵✵✵
"I'm starting to think you like riding in the ambulance, Bails." Nanci said as they wheeled her through the ambulance bay of Austin General.
"You guys do make for good conversationalists." Bailey smiled.
"You can just come down to the house if you want to talk." Nanci laughed.
"Yeah, but it doesn't carry the same weight." Bailey shrugged.
TK laughed and shook his head. The nurses helped transfer Bailey onto one of the beds in the ER and Nanci and Tommy said their goodbyes, promising to stop by the house when they got off shift that evening.
"Is Papá coming?" Bailey asked, looking up at TK.
TK smiled and nodded.
"He's on his way sweetheart." He promised.
✵✵✵
The second Carlos was able to leave the station, he did. He knew that Bailey wasn't in any immediate danger but the dad in him needed to be there for his little girl. He parked in the hospital parking lot and alternated between walking and jogging through the ER doors. He walked up to the desk and smiled.
"What can I do for you officer?" The nurse asked politely.
"Hi, I'm looking for my daughter, she was brought in via ambulance. Her name is Bailey Williams." Carlos said.
The nurse nodded and typed a few things out on her computer before looking back at Carlos.
"Yup, I've got her in one of the bay six. Would you like me to take you back?" She asked.
"Please." Carlos said, nodding.
The nurse led Carlos through the bustling ER and finally pulled back one of the curtains.
"Papá." Bailey smiled as Carlos was led into a trauma bay.
"Mija," Carlos breathed, moving to his daughter's side. TK was perched on the other side of the bed his hand running through Bailey's hair to calm her. "Your grandpa said you popped your stitches."
Bailey nodded.
"She popped four at school. Doctor's gonna put in six just to make sure and she's going to be on strict rest orders until they come out." TK said.
Carlos nodded and leaned over Bailey, giving her a light kiss on her forehead.
"We're gonna get you fixed up and home mija." He said.
Dr. Evans came in a couple minutes later, a nurse not far behind with a surgical tray.
"Well hello there. I didn't think I'd be seeing you again for at least another week." He said.
Bailey gave a small smile pushing her head farther into TK's hand. TK gave Carlos a knowing look. Bailey only sought out physical attention when she was well and truly encapsulated with anxiety and one glance at the heart monitor confirmed it.
"So, what we're going to do is give you some medication to calm you down and then we're gonna numb your incision and get you stitched closed. Sound good?" Dr. Evans asked.
Bailey's eyes were glossy but she nodded.
"She's pretty gone at this point," TK said. "I think that sedative would be a good idea right about now."
Dr. Evans nodded motioning for a nurse to push the sedative into Bailey's IV.
"She's probably gonna doze a bit." The nurse said.
"Kinda countin' on it," Carlos said. "Even with meds she can be shaky."
True to the nurse's words Bailey's eyes started to droop a bit. Dr. Evans nodded and he rolled up Bailey's shirt just far enough to lay a lap pad around the incision so that he had a sterile area to work.
"This should only take a minute." He said.
"Papá?" Bailey mumbled.
"Yeah mija?" Carlos asked.
"Do I have to go to school tomorrow?" Bailey asked, flinching as Dr. Evans injected the numbing agent around Bailey's incision.
"No, I think we're gonna take a couple days off." Carlos laughed.
"Dad?" Bailey asked. "Can I come to work with you tomorrow?" She asked.
"I'll ask but I don't think there will be much argument." TK said.
Bailey smiled
"Yay." She said, her head falling to the side as she fell asleep.
"And she's out." Carlos said.
"Didn't know she'd fall asleep." Dr. Evans said.
"She hasn't been sleeping well lately so with some of the anxiety gone I think her body just gave out." TK said.
Dr. Evans looked up at the men for a moment, seeing the worry and love in their eyes.
"How long has she been in the foster care system if you don't mind me asking." He said.
"Since she was three." Carlos replied.
Dr. Evans nodded, tying off the last stitch.
"That's a hard life for a kid to grow up in. Bouncing from home to home, never really knowing where their next meal will be coming from." He said.
TK arched a brow.
"You sound like you speak from experience." He said.
Dr. Evans smiled and nodded re-bandaging
"I was in foster care from seven until I aged out at eighteen," He said. "It's hard, but I can tell that Bailey has a good support system."
TK nodded.
"We'd do anything for her." He said, looking down at Bailey with a loving smile.
"I know you would," Dr. Evans said. "So, tell her to keep the incision dry and clean and I want to see her back in ten days, okay?"
"Sounds good, I'll call to make the appointment." Carlos said.
"Have a good day." Dr. Evans said, sliding the curtain shut behind him
TK and Carlos looked down at their girl.
"I'll carry her out if you want to pull the car around, I didn't park far." Carlos said.
TK nodded taking the keys that his boyfriend held out for him. For a moment before picking her up Carlos just sat with Bailey, thinking about Dr. Evans words. Bailey's life had been so hard, and before now he hadn't had any power to fix it. TK had approached the subject more than once but now Carlos knew that Bailey needed it just as much as he and TK wanted it.
"You're done hopping around mija, you're home now." He promised.