Tonight, I Need You To Stay

Chapter 4

During the time that she had to wait to be taken up to Travis's ICU room, Vic didn't sleep one bit. The final update that the team had received filled her with enough anxiety that she thought she had taken on all of her team's anxiety too. It was probably the anticipation that was killing her, that she'd be able to finally see Travis again, but not knowing what state he'd be in. She remembered feeling the exact same after his heart surgery.

As soon as she saw Amelia Shepherd walk down the corridor, Vic hopped out of her seat, causing her head to feel light again. She still hadn't eaten or drunk anything, not since the firefighter ball, so her body was starting to rebel. But, she'd eat and drink after she knew Travis was okay. She didn't want to waste any more time away from him now that he was out of surgery.

"Can I see him?" She asked nervously as the doctor finally reached the waiting room. Only Vic and Andy remained there - the rest of the team had gone their separate ways with the promise that they'd visit in the coming days. Robert also said that he was going to update Ben as he had no idea that Travis was even injured.

"If you'd follow me, I can take you up to the ICU right now." The doctor happily replied.

Andy had decided to wait with Vic until she was allowed up, so after they began to walk away and she was satisfied that Vic was in good hands among the hospital staff, she also left the hospital. She would also come back, probably in the morning, with clothes for Vic and some food.

The pair reached the elevator, and after a ten-second ascent (which felt like ten hours for Vic), the doors opened and they were greeted by the sight of the ICU.

As soon as her feet dragged her out of the elevator shaft, Vic felt so weird. The last time she had been up on this floor, not as a patient, was when Travis had his heart punctured. It was quite fitting that she was up there again to visit him.

Everything around her felt so quiet. It was still the middle of the night - around 3 am - so as they passed each room, all the lights were off but all they could see was the flashing of all the machines each patient was connected to. Seeing the ICU at night was so eerie.

The walk to Travis's room - number 2207 - was long, and it seemed like the corridor was never ending - but they eventually made it. It was the seventh room on their left, and as they arrived, they saw a nurse inside the room, no doubt doing some post-op exams on Travis.

"Will you wait out here for like a minute? I'll get the nurse to finish up in here." Amelia instructed Vic who was just fixated on Travis in the bed, not even looking at the nurse. She barely even heard the doctor speak in all honesty, but she nodded her head just to show she heard her and acknowledged the instruction.

A few minutes passed, and as the nurse finally left the ICU, Amelia came out of the room again.

"You're free to go in." She nodded, pulling her phone out of her pocket to check the time. "Rounds are in four hours, I wish I could stay and see Travis's case until the end, but I've got a plane to catch. I'm gonna assign Dr. Seth Cooke to this case - he's one of the best neurosurgeons in this hospital. Dr. Yasuda will be checking in hourly, but if you need anything, anything at all, you can call me on my personal phone." Amelia's smile was genuine and polite as she pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket, scribbling down her number and handing it to Vic.

She looked at the piece of paper as if she had never seen a phone number before, but before she could form a thought and thank the doctor, she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder.

"Take it easy, Hughes. I'll be back in a few days."

Vic nodded lightly, playing with the corners of the paper as Dr. Shepherd walked down the corridor. She didn't have any pockets, and she left her purse back at the firefighter ball, so she just held onto it as she composed herself, getting herself ready to go into the room.