VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 11:35:16 02/28/06 Tue
Author: Sylvia Mohr Bartlett
Subject: FWWATT Chapter 6 Section Six
In reply to: Sylvia Bartlett Mohr 's message, "FOR WHICH WE ARE TRULY THANKFUL CH 6" on 11:03:34 02/28/06 Tue

FOR WHICH WE ARE TRULY THANKFUL

By Sylvia Mohr Bartlett


Chapter 6: Section 6 ~ Running Against the Wind



Dr. Louis Studevant came in the room, followed by Reyes. His eyes immediately went to the indicators on the ventilator. "Reduce that to 70% and hand me your stethoscope, Tim."

The doctor listened to Harm's lungs for a couple of moments. "Damn. Harm, I know your chest hurts. I'm going to get you started on a med to help your breathing. This isn't pneumonia, Rabb. It's a reaction to the meds you've been given interacting with you being on this machine. You'll be okay. We caught it early. Can you squeeze my hand at all yet?" He placed his hand in a grip with Harm's free hand. No movement was visible, but a smile tugged at his lips. "That's a start. We're watching you close.

"Here's the plan. As soon as we see eye movement, we'll take the tape off your eyes. When you start taking over breathing from the ventilator, we'll take the tubes out of your throat. Don't push on that though. Give your diaphragm a chance to be working right first. I need you to be able to take deep breaths on command before I take you off that machine. Understand? Squeeze my hand if you understand." He nodded. "Good man. We are right here, so keep calm, okay?"

It was the first moment the newly arrived doctor acknowledged the others in the room. "Admiral Boone, it's been a while. How are you?"

"Concerned about my godson."

"I understand that, sir. AJ, Colonel, Chaplain Turner, isn't it? Well, quite a team here for the Commander. You've got good people backing you up, Harm."

"Don't forget me." Sturgis voice came from the doorway to his room as he came in. "Hello, Doctor Studevant. What's going on with my roomie here?"

"He is suffering from some fluid in his lungs and some inflammation as well. It's a reaction I feared might set in at about this point." The doctor opened his medical bag and handed Doctor Reyes a 500 cc plastic IV bag. "Hook that up and connect to the other IV – the one without the antibiotic on board, will you, Tim? It's something to combat this reaction your body is having, Harm. It will start helping your breathing within about 30 minutes, okay? I know it probably feels like you have a weight on your chest and like you are breathing air through a collapsing straw. That's what this will combat, but it takes a while for the magic to kick in, so ride it out."

Mac sucked in air as she noticed movement in his eyes beneath the tape. The eyes roved from side to side beneath the lids, but there was no fluttering of the lashes yet to indicate he had regained the ability to move the lids. Stu watched him closely, waiting for that movement to begin before he would take the tape off. It was almost five minutes before Rabb had that much control. At the first slight flutter of the eyelids, he removed the tape. At that point, Doctor Reyes turned down the room lights to a lower setting.

It was still several more moments before Rabb opened his eyes. The doctors stepped back and allowed the first thing Harm saw to be Sarah MacKenzie's lovely face.

The fear that was in his eyes at first, calmed when he locked eyes with her. She smiled at him. "Hey there, fly boy. Take it nice and slow. Don't fight the tube until you get things working right again. You'll only make your throat sore." She put one hand on the side of his face and the other on his shoulder. The calming move had the desired effect because although he clearly didn't like the ventilator; the pilot resisted the temptation to fight it.

The doctors watched him carefully and gradually weaned the amount of work the ventilator did for the legal eagle down.

It was almost forty minutes before the ventilator tubes were removed. Doctor Reyes raised the head of Harm's bed as Doctor Studevant put an oxygen mask on and adjusted the flow watching Harm's lips until the bluish tinge to them disappeared.

The Commander was trying not to panic, but he had to concentrate on breathing. It shouldn't be so hard. This used to be natural. Now it just felt like work.

Stu frowned. "Harm, look at me." When the younger man finally looked up; the panic and his efforts to control that fear were both obvious in his eyes. "It's normal to feel a little panicky. I know you are finding it an effort to breathe still. Just try and relax as much as possible, but keep breathing nice and steady."

Swallowing was an even greater effort than breathing and actually hurt more. "That hurts." Harm's voice was a raw whisper.

"We can't give you anything to numb that throat pain, Harm."

"I know." He said. "It's okay."

Admiral Chegwidden patted his shoulder. "Nice to have you back with us, Commander."

"Sir, I'm sorry about all this. I..."

AJ shook his head, squeezing his shoulder. "Stand down, Harm. There is nothing to be..." He stopped himself in mid-sentence. "Look. I know it is exhausting work just breathing right now. Don't waste any energy being sorry. I want you to concentrate on getting stronger. We'll take turns in here, so you aren't overwhelmed, but you won't be alone either." He hoped he wasn't going to have to resort to ordering the younger man's cooperation.

"Thank you, sir." Harm sounded accepting, relieved even. His eyes closed as he concentrated all his efforts on breathing. He sensed Mac moving closer to his side even before she gently stroked his forehead. "Sarah..." The whispered word was barely a sigh; the next word a plea, "stay?"

The two star nodded, decision made. "The Colonel has first watch, along with..."

"ME." Tom Boone was not about to be exiled from Harm's room just yet.

"Okay. I'll be back later. Matthew, why don't you get your son back to his room for a while?"

"Sturg," It was an effort, but Harm managed to force out. "What happened to your head?"

"It's not a big deal, buddy." The young Turner could have saved himself the effort to cover up.

"He fainted and hit his head on the way to the floor." Chaplain Turner had a wicked twinkle in his eye as he tattled on his son.

Harm's eyes flew open. "Tell me this didn't have anything to do with me."

The Colonel smiled, placing a calming hand on Harm's shoulder. "They could tell you that, but it would be a lie."

"Sorry." Harm looked at his friend, his eyes expressing concern he didn't have enough strength to put into words, before he dropped them as if ashamed or responsible.

Sturgis went to Harm's other side and gently pulled his friend's chin up until their eyes met. "Don't be. It wasn't your fault, not at all. I'm fine. My head can handle a few knocks." He grinned. "I had to line my ball cap with foam my first few months on a boat." It was a reference to his first tour on subs. "Took a while to master ducking."

It had the desired effect, drawing a smile to Harm's lips. The smile vanished too quickly, as his eyes closed; his shoulders hunched slightly and his whole upper body shuddered with effort. He looked like a cat trying to hawk up a fur ball.


Stu frowned and grabbed a syringe. He slid the needle into the connection in the tubing and pressed the plunger. Harm's breathing rate accelerated and his eyes opened. "I gave you some epinephrine, Harm. That should open up those breathing passages some."

Reyes adjusted the flow of oxygen higher.

Harm spoke again, wearily. "It's like running against the wind, Sturg."

"Huh?" His Academy roomie laid a worried hand on Harm's forehead, fearing delirium was returning, but both Mac and Boone grinned at the reference.

"So, Turner, never served much time on a carrier, did ya?" Boone asked.

Sturgis just looked bewildered.

It was their CO who elaborated. "Harm's not referring to the Bob Seger song, though that sort of fits. Joggers on a carrier get a treat when a carrier has turned into the wind for take-offs. Between cycles, you can run into the wind and get a hell of a workout. With 30 knots coming across the deck and a forward motion of about 33 knots, you are effectively running into a 63 knot head wind. You can run in place and still get a hell of a work out because you are literally running against the wind." He suddenly realized how much it fit. "The hardest thing is breathing into that, you have to sort of turn your head sideways to get air because the force of the wind can make it hard to inhale and exhale…"

Harm nodded his agreement. "Against the wind. It's like running against the wind." Suddenly he turned his head sideways, trying to hide an expression of pain which came over his face.


Chegwidden was the first to notice Harm's fist closing in an involuntary contraction. "Stu?" He drew the doctor's attention to the muscle contraction.

The man frowned and nodded to Reyes. The other doctor opened the drip of Versed in the subclavian IV.

Harm forced his eyes open again as he felt the drugs beginning to hit. "No. I ...don't; it's too hard to breath." The panic was worse.

"Relax, Commander." Stu spoke soothingly. "The versed won't interfere with your
breathing."

The spasms were still building.

Sturgis frowned as he felt Harm arching helplessly from the spasming muscles. Suddenly, the stiffening vanished. His friend lay limp, his breathing improved somewhat, but clearly exhausted. "Try and get some rest, my friend." He said softly and finally went back into his own room.

AJ frowned and watched over Rabb a few more moments before he left the room.


Sarah sat on the bed next to Harm and watched the rise and fall of his chest. His godfather took up station where Turner had been. Doctor Reyes left to check on the rest of Sick Bay. Doctor Studevant remained, but pulled back to the wall, keeping watch from a bit of distance.

Harm opened his eyes again. He looked, well, 'hammered'; as drunk as a non-drinking handling his first real liquor. "What is that stuff?'

Tom Boone grinned a little at the somewhat consternated look on his godson's face. "Why? Is the world going around a bit?"

"Yeah. This is … weird."

"Relax and enjoy it, sailor." Mac couldn't help grinning a little. He looked kind of cute so befuddled.

"Am I going to have a hangover when the world stops going all wonky?" Harm asked.

"Let's not worry about that right now, Commander. Just relax and go with it. I don't want to have to give you anti-nausea meds and that might happen if you fight this." Stu advised.

"I think I'll just close my eyes." Harm said. "That way things that shouldn't be wavy, won't be."

"Okay, then. Take a nap, kiddo." Boone advised.

"I'll try." The words came out slurred. "How can I be dizzy with my eyes closed?" He muttered, finally subsiding into something more restful than he had experienced since waking up in the midst of the nightmare earlier. With his father's wingman near by and Sarah standing guard, he could relax and go with the weird new feeling this drug was giving him. It did seem a little easier to breathe and, God, he was tired. He sailed away into the first restful sleep since he had been wounded. As he did, the song AJ had mentioned seemed to play itself out in his mind. It really fit his life in some ways…

Against The Wind Words and music by Bob Seger

It seems like yesterday
But it was long ago
Janey was lovely, she was the queen of my nights
There in the darkness with the radio playing low
And the secrets that we shared
The mountains that we moved
Caught like a wildfire out of control
Till there was nothing left to burn and nothing left to prove

And I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me oh so tight
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then

Against the wind
We were runnin' against the wind
We were young and strong, we were runnin'
Against the wind

And the years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
I found myself further and further from my home
And I guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was living to run and running to live
Never worried about paying or even how much I owed
Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time
Breaking all of the rules that would bend
I began to find myself searchin'
Searching for shelter again and again
Against the wind
A little something against the wind
I found myself seeking shelter against the wind

Well those drifters days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out

Against the wind
I'm still runnin' against the wind
Well I'm older now and still
Against the wind

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.