Saving the Doctor Pt. 11

Trigger warning: Contains manipulation, bondage, drugging, and non-consent.

Author's note: This is the finale. Finally. There will be a epilogue after, but this is the climax. I wrote this story, at least initially, entirely for myself, as a random exercise in self-indulgence, that I wasn't sure would ever see the light of day. I've edited it heavily since, but ultimately the goal wasn't to please any particular group, or fetish, or anyone really. So I'm expecting this last chapter is probably going to leave a lot people scoffing or rolling their eyes or what have you. I admit it gets ridiculous, but jumping sharks is just so damn fun (seriously you should try it sometime). I can't decide if I've taken all of this too seriously or not seriously enough. But at this point I think I'm done stressing over it. Thank you all for the ratings and followings and comments etc. It's all more than I ever expected. I do sincerely hope that most of you enjoy the story. And as always, thank you all for reading.

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Saving the Doctor

Part 11. The Final Fiasco.

3 days later,

Carly's washed-out face stared hypnotized at the heart monitor. Her eyes followed the green lines zigzagging across the screen meaninglessly, again and again. The robotic beeping long since losing any semblance of representing an actual human beating heart, the hiss and blow of the ventilator like a cushion losing air rather than a real breath. ...but he was there. Jon was still there. His hand was still warm in hers. She held it like a lifeline. Almost like she believed she could give him her life-force if she held it tight enough for long enough. She wished she could.

She didn't feel like much life was really coursing through her veins either though. Her eyes felt dry and irritated, either from a lack of sleep or from the countless tears she had shed over the past 3 days. She had a headache, her joints hurt, and her nausea had come back. She had half-fainted when she had finally gotten up to leave last night and almost had to get into an argument with the nurses that she didn't need to go down to the ER.

Suddenly there was a ding from the machine and Carly jolted up from her trance. She looked at Jon's pale face and back at the machine worriedly, and then back through the window, annoyed that the nurse hadn't come in yet. Finally the young woman walked in with a sympathetic smile and pressed a button. Carly wondered what the hell the point of an alarm was when 90 percent of the time it was a false one.

"You holdin' up okay?" the nurse asked.

"Yeah. Do you know if the doctor's going to make rounds again? Or when we'll know more about what his prognosis is?" Carly asked, with a dry croaky voice.

"Well, it's only the night float on now, so he might check in, but probably won't have more to add from what the attending said earlier today. They're still optimistic though don't worry, he just needs a little bit more time. It's mostly a matter of giving his lung some time to heal," she explained.

"Yeah okay," she said, having heard it before, but still finding no solace in it.

Jeff had said essentially the same thing, and had insisted on confident reassurances that the worst was over. He had survived the surgery, and so it was uphill from here. She wanted to believe it, but she couldn't help feeling like Jeff was trying to convince himself as much as everyone else. The attendings weren't as direct, but more or less agreed. It was so hard to judge their confidence though.

Their competence matters more than their confidence, she told herself, and smiled, remembering her conversation with Jon at the ski resort. Even the awkward and uncomfortable memories were precious to her now. Even the ones that hurt had been good in a way. She had never had a man make her feel so alive before. Now she needed to return the favour and didn't know how.

The nurse had finished checking the machine and jotting down numbers and turned back to her.

"The cafeteria closes at 8 if you wanted to run down and get something to eat," she suggested.

"I'm fine," Carly said dismissively.

"Well just make sure you don't go fainting on us again there girl, okay?" she said with a laugh.

Carly gave a bitter smirk, "Yeah don't worry."

The nurse backpedalled seeing her expression, "Hey, he's a lucky guy to have you lookin' after him."

Carly gave a more sincere smile as she turned away. The smile turned to a pained look as she rested her head against his leg on the bed and a tear fell down her cheek. She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand.

"You better wake the fuck up," she whispered, and shook in a silent sob.

She wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually she heard excited talking from the nursing desk and a few laughs. She eventually opened her eyes and looked over to see the nurses crowded around the central desk reaching into a box of donuts. She was almost about to turn away when she saw Beth walking towards the door of the room, and gave a sigh.

The door slid open and Beth timidly peeked in. "Hey, um, is it okay if I come in for a bit?" she asked. "I can wait and give you more time if you want, no biggie."

"No that's fine," Carly said.

"I'm sorry if I was kinda cold yesterday, I think we were both really stressed out. Peace offering?" she asked offering her one of the two donuts she had brought in.

Carly hesitated.

"Come on we're all pigging out, no judgment here. You'll feel better." Beth said with a friendly smile.

Carly gave her a slightly annoyed look but took the donut anyway. It tasted divine.

"Fuck that's good." she muttered.

Beth giggled, "You're welcome."

Carly smirked back reluctantly. Beth seemed to be legit trying to make amends. Carly wasn't sure if she was in the mood.

They had more or less gotten into a silent, passive-aggressive fight, each trying to be the one most involved with Jon's care after the surgery. They hadn't said anything openly to each other, but their cold insulted stares back and forth had said enough. Finally Carly had left in frustration, to break into tears once she was alone in the hallway.

The one thing that had kept her sane in the insanity of his unstable trip through the ER and into the operating room had been that she could tell the medics and doctors the story and give them the info they needed. It helped her pretend she was doing something useful, and made her feel less helpless.

Beth had shown up during his recovery and 'fortunately' knew one of the nurses involved, who had known they had been dating. Beth had evidently decided to act as though they still were and had quickly taken the reigns. She had opened his phone using his thumbprint and taken the liberty of calling his parents, who were halfway across the country, to let them know what was going on. Carly knew that Grace, Jeff and everyone else around obviously assumed Beth had a stronger connection to him. Carly had no basis to argue without making everything awkward and shocking for everyone, so she had quietly stepped back in frustration. She had made damn sure to come back and spend every possible minute with him though, once everything had been sorted out in the ICU and everyone had slowly dispersed. It was Monday now, and she had taken a personal day off work. She hadn't decided whether she'd do the same tomorrow.

"I'm glad he's got you to be here with him," Beth said breaking the awkward silence that had drawn on as they chewed.

Carly simply nodded.

"Carly, I'm sorry if I got a bit over-aggressive and butted in too much. I didn't mean to push you away, I just... I was really scared and wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"It's fine," Carly whispered, still not meeting her eyes.

"I just... felt so guilty. I had hurt him really bad and even though he said he was fine, and acted like he was over it, I didn't really believe him and now..." Beth broke into tears.

Carly frowned and finally looked up at her, "Why did you break up with him then?"

Beth frowned back and sniffed, "What? I... he broke up with me. Did he say that I..."

"No, no um sorry, just the way you said it..."

"He didn't talk about it?" Beth asked in surprise.

"No, we um, hadn't been talking much actually," Carly admitted.

Beth gave her a long calculating stare. Carly looked back to Jon, feeling uncomfortable.

Beth finally spoke again, "He loves you Carly."

Carly didn't respond, and kept staring at Jon, but her face started to twist in sorrow.

"He's in love with you and if you feel the same way you should be together," Beth continued.

Carly finally broke down and sobbed into the bed sheets. Beth reached over and rubbed her shoulder.

"He's gonna get through this. He's gonna wake up," Beth said, her voice breaking as she cried along with Carly.

"I don't know..." Carly croaked.

"...How you feel about him?" Beth asked.

"No I..." she sighed, "Fuck I'm in love with him too, I just... I'm not as sure as you are about how he feels."

"Carly he loves you, he told me he tried to leave me for you. Why didn't you let him?"

Carly took another big calming breath, "Cause I'm a stubborn idiot and I was freaking out about being pregnant and didn't want him to feel pressured and... sorry that probably doesn't make any sense to you."

"No it does, I think I get it," Beth reassured her.

Carly squinted at her, feeling suddenly the opposite of reassured.

"Hey, Carly he was SUPER drunk when he told me, I don't think he meant to let it slip. I'll take the secret to my grave if you need me to, I swear."

Carly looked at her fearfully for a long moment and then back at Jon. She decided she was going to have to smack him upside the head when he woke up. Once she was done kissing him.

Carly finally looked back at Beth, "Was that why you and him broke up?"

"Oh, no we were already um... look it's a bit complicated, but he told me full stop that he's still in love with you."

Carly looked at her and gave a regretful smirk, "I'm sorry Beth."

Beth shrugged and sniffed, "Don't worry, I'd fucked everything up already at that point. You were only part of the reason, if anything."

Carly wanted to ask what she meant but decided not to, "I don't know if it'll make you feel any better or just hate me but a few days after I turned him down, I tried to take it back, and he wouldn't do it. He had decided he wanted to stay with you."

Beth only frowned. "Idiot," she muttered, to Carly's surprise.

"I just wish I knew if he was just trying to stay loyal to you or if he still has doubts," she said despondently. "I want to trust him, but I can't bear the thought of him settling for me."

Beth gave her a long quizzical look, then suddenly got up and started to leave, to Carly's surprise.

"I'm sorry, did I say somth-"

"I'm coming right back don't worry, just a sec," Beth reassured her.

Beth grabbed her purse from a chair near the nursing desk and then came back in with a phone.

"I want to show you something."

"Is that his phone?" Carly asked.

"Yeah. I changed the lock after I opened it with his thumb. ...I had to find his parents' number. Don't look at me like that, " she said, but then looked guilty, "But... I also kind of snooped around."

"Beth! That's really-"

"I know! I know, but what's done is done, and... here, just look at these texts."

Carly started reading the conversation, "Who is this from?"

"Vienna," Beth said bitterly. "Take your time."

Carly's brow furrowed as she started to read.

5 minutes later Carly wiped the tears from her face again and handed Beth back the phone as she finally finished reading.

She looked up to see Beth sitting cross-legged on the chair across from her, her hand over her mouth, welled up with tears watching her.

"Do you believe me now?" Beth asked.

Carly hugged herself with her arms and bit her lip, looking back at Jon. Nodding, and venturing a brave smile.

"He turned down a fucking model for you Carly! Believe him! He loves you. I was so fucking jealous of you, especially after reading it, and I admit that's part of why I was acting the way I was, but honestly, now I just want to make sure he ends up with the right girl, who's gonna make him happy, and it's YOU, I know it is."

Carly gave another pained smile through her tears and nodded. "Thank you," she whispered.

They sat in silence for a minute longer. Carly finally sniffed and straightened up, handing the phone back to Beth with an awkward reach as she readjusted herself. Carly caught her cast on the wheel of the IV stand and swore as she saw it start to tip. Beth caught it and stopped it from falling and Carly reached down to lift her cast out of the way.

"I gotcha girl," Beth said with a giggle as she moved the IV stand and made sure it was steady.

"Thanks," Carly said, returning a grateful smirk.

"How soon till you get that thing off anyway?"

Carly brightened up, "Tomorrow! Actually that had almost slipped my mind, thanks," she chuckled.

"That'll be nice,"

"Yeah. God I can't wait to itch the fuck out of every possible surface under there you have no idea," Carly said.

Beth laughed, "Yeah I broke my wrist a few years ago and I can remember. Not as bad as your leg obviously, but I can only imagine."

They relaxed and had a surprisingly friendly conversation. Beth mentioned how she was nervous about her interviews and Carly found out one of the universities she was applying to was the same one that she had got her pharmacy degree from. Carly talked about the university and the city and Beth was genuinely grateful and excited. Carly was careful not to act too surprised when she said she HAD in fact got an interview at the local college and that it had gone well, but she seemed more excited about the other schools.

Carly realized she once again was a decent girl beneath the eye-catching exterior. Beth admitted she had flunked out of college in less than one year without even knowing what she was going to major in, back when she was first out of highschool. Carly reassured her that she herself had waited two years before deciding to go into pharmacy, and laughed at the idea that Beth could be considered 'old' to be going back to school at age 22.

She talked about finding an apartment and the good and bad parts of that city. Carly was looking for a new place herself, locally, deciding there were too many memories in her old house, but wasn't sure what type of place. Beth joked that she and Jon should look together and Carly gave her a friendly kick with her cast while fighting off a blush.

Beth doubled down and joked that she would get to meet his parents when they arrived in a day or two. Beth hadn't met them but Jon had talked about them with her before, and she had spoken with them on the phone yesterday. They were both busy teachers and not well-off, but they had wasted no time in trying to make it down there. They had trouble booking a last minute flight though, so one had decided to drive and would get there tomorrow night and the other would arrive by plane the day after. Carly admittedly was nervous about meeting them, hoping she would make a good first impression.

Eventually the conversation died off comfortably and Beth said she had to get going. Carly stood up and gave her a hug and a heartfelt thank you, and they promised to keep each other up to date.

Carly sat down again and relaxed against Jon's bed with a more reassured sigh. The beeps and hissing of the machines had her feeling alone and afraid again in not too long though. She decided she should try to leave and moved up to his face, nuzzling into his shoulder in a half hug.

"Goodnight Jon," she said, knowing he couldn't hear her, but wanting to pretend. She started to tear up again. "You need to wake up, because I need to tell you I love you. Okay? I love you and... I need you," she sobbed close to his ear.

Jon suddenly moved.

His body twitched. Then his head lifted slightly. Carly gasped and flinched away, looking back at the window to the desk, but the nurse wasn't looking. Jon moved again, his neck extending back slightly and his mouth making a sick gagging sound. Carly reached over and pulled the call-bell, and shouted back at the window.

The nurse rushed in and paged the night-float doctor. Carly sat with the nurse and waited, cringing at watching him gag every minute or so on the tube in his throat.

The doctor walked in and saw him arching his neck again, and gave a slightly-bored swear.

"What's his drip set to?" he asked.

The nurse recited some numbers to him and he inspected the IV pump and listened to Jon's chest. He gave some orders to change the dosing and the nurse started making adjustments.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Carly asked when he seemed to be done.

"Yeah, don't worry, it happens occasionally, he's starting to get more responsive so we need to give him some more sedative to keep him from waking up before it's time."

"Wh... why can't he wake up now?" Carly asked.

The doctor smiled, "It's tempting but we'll give him the night and I'll talk it over with Dr. Garson in the morning, and if thinks he's ready there's a good chance they'll extubate him tomorrow. That was the general plan anyway, this just basically confirms he's ready. Safer to do it tomorrow though with more support around, in case he has any issues."

"Oh, okay." Carly said, feeling relieved.

"Yeah. We're just keeping him sedated and on the vent to give his lung and the rest of his body some time. He should wake up no problem once we take the meds away. Did they not explain that to you?"

Carly felt embarrassed, "Yeah, they did, but I guess it didn't quite hit home. I get it now though, thanks."

He chuckled, "Glad to hear it. Don't worry we'll get you your husband back soon. Maybe he heard your voice and thought supper was ready."

Carly rolled her eyes and blushed, deciding not to correct him.

"Any other questions?"

"Um, no, I'm good. Thanks," she replied.

"K. Well these meds don't work instantly and, it's not gonna hurt him to be moving like that for a little bit, but it might be hard to watch, so you might want to step out and the nurse can let you know when he's settled. Should only be a minute or two."

"Okay. I think I was gonna head out anyway. Thanks again."

"No worries," he said, walking away and looking down at his pager.

Carly looked back at Jon and took a deep satisfied breath, then turned to finally leave the room. She hobbled down the hall with her crutches, feeling excited and happy for the first time since the park.

...

Carly winced at the cast cutter as it started to break through. It was so LOUD. She knew it wouldn't cut her skin but it was still nerve-wracking and she couldn't help wish Jon was there to hold her hand through it. Finally they finished and used an odd-looking set of pliers to crack it open and her leg was suddenly free. Even though it was what she had wanted for so long it felt weird. It was better, and still felt satisfying, but it didn't feel the way it used to. She wondered with a frown if it ever would.

She still used her crutches to get to the x-ray and back to the clinic room. She listened intently to the surgeons explanations, relieved that the healing looked good enough to stay out of the cast and start to rehab her leg. She was briefly introduced to the physiotherapist and made an appointment a few days from now.

Finally, just before lunch she was out of the clinic. She was starving and decided to head to the cafeteria. She had sat down and eaten half her tray fairly quickly when she finally got out her phone again, surprised to see a missed call. She must have missed the buzzing while the cast was being cut off, she figured.

She listened to the message and suddenly felt like throwing up everything she had just eaten. It was Beth.