One Day At a Time ✔️

Ch. 18 Coughing

Drift's P.O.V.
Jamie wants to go to the cafeteria with me and Crosshairs. Even though her fever has gone down, she's still dealing with being freezing and not liking the few seconds she's not covered with a blanket. I wrap her so that I can get to the feeding tube port. It's much work, but this is good; we're working on another problem we must deal with. 

Crosshairs insists I stay with Jamie even though she will let Sunstreaker near her. I brought some apple juice in a syringe. I was hoping a coughing fit wouldn't happen, but we prepared for this. I'm glad Jamie will let Sunstreaker hold her while I deal with the trach. Doesn't matter who's holding her; she's still frustrated with the coughing fit.
"You're ok," Sunstreaker assures her while rubbing her back. It's still hard to believe how much he cares about her. 
Thankfully, the coughing fit ends within a few minutes. Sunstreaker asks to take Jamie for a walk.
"You need to take a break," he argues.
"He's right," Crosshairs agrees as he walks over with our dinner. Of course, I have to make sure Jamie is ok with this.

Sunstreaker's P.O.V.
I take Jamie for a little walk before returning to the medbay, expecting her to be asleep when I get to the medbay.

She isn't asleep, and I don't want to be put on the bed. She coughs again once I sit down. I didn't know Jolt and Ratchet were around until they rushed to me to help Jamie. I see fear in her eyes.
"You're ok; this is good," Ratchet assures her. 
He knows what he's doing, but I still worry he's lying to keep her calm. Ratchet takes Jamie from me and puts her on the bed before propping the pillows up. I watch Jolt increase how much oxygen Jamie needs. 
The more I think about it, I fear that all this time, Jamie has lung damage causing pneumonia to be a lot worse than it should be. I know there's a nebulizer, but it can't be used while Jamie has a trach. I want to find Megatron and kill him.
"Try the nebulizer?" Jolt asks.
Even I want to object to this idea.
Ratchet tells Jolt it's impossible right now. Jamie's oxygen level is low. 

Jamie looks at me, begging me to come to her. I can lean on the bed and hold her hands as she continues with the coughing fit. I see her chest rise and fall; this isn't good.

Drift's P.O.V.
I feel something is wrong, but Crosshairs insists I'm worrying for nothing. He tries to joke, but I'm not paying attention. 
"No, something is wrong," I fret before running out of the cafeteria.
"DRIFT!" Crosshairs yells.
I don't look back to see if he's following me.

Ratchet grabs me and forces me into his office before I get to Jamie.
"What the frag is with you?" He asks, concerned.
"Jamie-."
"Is fine now."
Now?
"So, something was wrong?"
Ratchet has me sit down as Crosshairs runs into the office.
"Don't tell me he's right?" Crosshairs frets.
"No, coughing is good. The problem is Jamie gets scared, and she trusts Sunstreaker to comfort her. Her oxygen level is back to normal, and I have her on a nebulizer," Ratchet explains.

Jamie is lying on the bed, which is at a 45° angle. She's tired but can't sleep while on the nebulizer. I hate to make her cold, but I need to feed and change her, which should keep her from falling asleep. 

The nebulizer finishes by the time I'm done. I wrap Jamie in a blanket and cover her with another, and she's asleep within ten minutes.
How long must my girl deal with this scrap?

"How long do you think she'll be able to sleep?" I ask Crosshairs.
He knows I worry coughing will wake her up and suggests sleeping in the medbay. We could have all this time, but Crosshairs has insisted we sleep in our room until now. 

We go to the lounge and watch T.V. for a couple of hours. I worry about Jamie waking up and not cooperating with Jolt and Ratchet.

We return to the medbay three hours later.
Ratchet tells us Jamie woke up coughing; he gave Jamie sleep aid to let her sleep all night.

Crosshairs' P.O.V.
Glad Drift is a heavy sleeper this morning. Ratchet, Jolt, and I take care of Jamie before taking her for a walk around the base, but I'm carrying her even though I also need to carry the oxygen concentrator.
She still feels like scrap and warm to the touch.

I go to the lounge room and have Jamie sit on the couch, hoping she'll watch a little T.V.
I brought a syringe with me to give Jamie a little apple juice we have in the fridge.
"You'll recover soon, I promise."
I put the syringe in her mouth and pushed the plunger as Jamie drank the juice.
She leans on me as we watch T.V. for an hour before I realize she's fallen asleep.
"Cone on, Drift will not like it if we stay in here until you wake up."
It's a challenge to get the oxygen concentrator and pick her up.

Drift is about to leave when he sees me walking down the hall.
"She's asleep; let's get breakfast," I suggest as I walk by him into the room Jamie has been staying in. She stays asleep as I lay her on the bed, cover her, and put the oxygen concentrator on the table beside the bed. Drift kisses Jamie before we leave. He's having a hard time since it's been a little over a month since Jamie awoke from the coma, yet she still has a long way to go before she's fully recovered — if she can fully recover.