St. Eubrie - Fluorescents Light the Way part 2 (369 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 6 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by stardamage (View user info) at 2006-08-27 09:19:47 EDT
Finn watched his brother's back retreat through the doorway and leaned back against his pillow. He still had the pen in his hand and he reached for the notebook he always kept nearby - he liked to have a separate one for himself from the one that he used to talk to Michael, and Michael always took Finn's part of their conversations with him anyway.
He doodled a while, glancing up periodically at the clock whose tick-tick-tick was barely audible in the otherwise silent room. Dr. Hendrix was supposed to be stopping in in about an hour to talk a little more about speech therapy.
Finn pressed his lips together behind the bandages and felt the pain in his lip answer the pressure - not nearly as bad as it had been a month ago. He sucked his cheeks in next and caught the insides gently between his teeth. It was his routine to remind himself that his mouth was still mostly there, mangled though it was.
He hummed a little bit to himself and made a few nonspecific sounds and then went back to his notebook.
It could be worse, really, he reflected. I could have lost my teeth. I could have lost my tongue entirely.
It could be better, too. I could be walking around outside instead of having to use a wheelchair. I could be talking instead of having to write on this notebook all the time. Michael could be in Boston where he belongs instead of here looking after me.
Just as Finn was really starting to feel sorry for himself, Dr. Hendrix's silhouette pushed the door open and then the light went on and she was standing there, clipboard in hand.
"Hi, Finn," she said, coming over to sit on the chair next to his bed - Dr. Hendrix never seemed to sit in chairs but rather just rest on their surface.
- hi doc.
"I saw Michael this morning. Is he coming by again before he goes to work?"
Nod.
"That's good. And your mother's visiting also, next week, right?"
Nod again.
"Are you excited to be seeing her?"
- I am. M isn't.
"I see. That's too bad. They don't get along?"
- it's complicated. he'll tell you.
Dr. Hendrix nodded and glanced down at her clipboard, blowing a stray piece of blond hair out of her face. Finn knew she wouldn't ask.
"How are you feeling otherwise? Your face still feeling okay? Any pressure?"
- itches.
"It will. When the bandages come off it will probably get worse. Don't itch at it if you can help it. I can get some ointment for you to put on it that might help, or Michael can bring some by."
- feet ache.
"That's also normal. It's just part of the healing process." She smiled and Finn crinkled his eyes at her. "How about your dreams? Did they come back? Have you been sleeping through the night?"
- dunno. pretty drugged up. hard to tell.
"Well, I think it might be a good idea to keep you on the medication for a little while longer and then if you think you're feeling a little better about it we can decrease the dosage and see how you do without it. I know it's pretty annoying being woozy all day but you need your rest, Finn."
Finn nodded and didn't look at her.
- fair enough.
Dr. Hendrix read the paper and smiled again; a different, sadder smile. Her blue eyes didn't crinkle at the edges. Finn wondered, not for the first time, what someone like her was doing as a doctor. She didn't have the clinical indifference in her yet, might never get it. She had too much empathy with her patients - Finn had seen her wiping her own eyes a few times on her way out of his room.
At the same time, she didn't pry, never tried to get Finn to talk about things that he didn't want to, which he appreciated. In fact, she often actively steered the conversation away from uncomfortable topics that were outside her sphere of influence - she never mentioned the night that had landed Finn here except in the most roundabout ways, like his dreams.
"Soon, though," she said in a brighter tone.
Finn shrugged to make her feel better, and she looked at the clipboard again.
"So. I guess you're a bit curious about this speech prosthesis, huh?" she asked.
Finn shook his head sarcastically and made his eyes smile again. She laughed and took a stapled set of paper from her clipboard and set it down on the table.
"That will just tell you a bit more about the process and answer any other questions you might have, but let me give you an overview. As you know about half of your tongue is either removed or severely damaged, enough so it's pretty much unusable as is. What we're able to do is make you a tongue prosthesis. Two, actually. One for speech, one for eating. A lot of the time they're made for glossectomy patients. People who have had their tongues removed surgically, mostly because of mouth cancer," she explained, seeing the confusion on Finn's face.
He started writing and she paused.
- will I talk again?
"With proper speech therapy, you should be able to communicate effectively, yes. You probably won't have perfect speech for quite a while, maybe ever, but you'll certainly be able to make yourself understood just fine. You've actually got an advantage because you've still got a good chunk of your tongue left so we'll be able to work with that. A lot of the people who are fitted with a tongue prosthesis don't have that working for them."
- a lot of people also don't have their tongues even halfway cut out, Finn started to write, but crossed it out before he finished it. The sudden flash of bitterness on his face said it, though, and Dr. Hendrix's smile faded.
- that's good, Finn wrote instead, and she smiled a little again.
"I'm hoping you'll be able to regain almost complete speech ability by December or so," she said. "I don't want you to get overly hopeful but if all goes well I think we can aim for that as a viable goal."
- thanks doc.
"I'll talk to your brother when he comes in later and tell him basically the same things, and I'll also discuss it with your mother when she gets here. Just so we're all on the same page."
Finn nodded.
"All right then, Finn. Look over that packet I gave you. If you have any more questions, let me know. I'll talk this over with Michael and maybe later this week we can set up an appointment for next month when you're all healed up, okay?"
Nod.
Dr. Hendrix hesitated, then reached for Finn's left hand and squeezed it. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Finn. Have a good afternoon and let me know if you need anything."
Another nod, smile, and she was gone.
User Reviews
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2006-11-02 17:37:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by stardamage (user info) at 2006-08-28 19:04:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I'm probably going to start posting it without the St. Eubrie part. I want to keep writing it though.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-08-28 16:42:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I like your stuff, but this series is no longer trendy
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-08-27 22:02:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-08-27 21:46:53 (#)
Ranking: 2
Why does this have no reviews?
Anyway, it wasn't as good as the first part, (maybe +1 or whatever) but I want you to continue it, so +2. And it's nice to see someone writing a St Eubrie story with no explosions and without constant murders.
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This has all the earmarks of being quite long before it is over.
Explosions and murders have their place. . .
Submitted by ilikesteak (user info) at 2006-08-27 21:53:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-08-27 21:46:53 (#)
Ranking: 2
Why does this have no reviews?
Anyway, it wasn't as good as the first part, (maybe +1 or whatever) but I want you to continue it, so +2. And it's nice to see someone writing a St Eubrie story with no explosions and without constant murders.
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Fuck you. I love murders.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-08-27 21:46:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Why does this have no reviews?
Anyway, it wasn't as good as the first part, (maybe +1 or whatever) but I want you to continue it, so +2. And it's nice to see someone writing a St Eubrie story with no explosions and without constant murders.