Perseverance (The Resident FF) by Frances51163

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN: A Quiet Night

Jude walked back into the small cubicle a few minutes later as Bronson watched on with interest.

"Hey Conrad I have a facecloth for you," the Surgeon gently placed the wet cloth over his friends' eyes, "that should help a bit."
"Thanks man. Sorry about this," the prone man sighed in relief as the cold seeped into his eyelids.
"Nothing to be sorry for," Jude glanced back at the local Doctor, "listen I figure you need a shot to deal with the pain so what do you say? Will you agree to some morphine?"
"No way!" Conrad tried to get up but between the pain and the other mans' quick response he was unsuccessful in the endeavour, falling back with a groan he was unable to silence.
"Hey Conrad it's okay," Jude assured as he replaced the cold material which had fallen away in the brief struggle, "no one is going to force you to do anything. The thing is though the way your eyes are I don't think you'll make it back to Atlanta tonight so I figure we'll head back up to the cabin. If you get the shot I promise we'll head out straight away."
"But .. I can't ......," Conrad tried to think properly, the extreme pain stealing his concentration.
"Can't what?" Jude frowned.
"Morphine .... knocks me ....... out Jude. You know that. I don't ...,"
"Well what about if Bronson gives me the morphine and I'll give you the shot when we get to the cabin?" Jude shook his head when he saw the listening Doctor about to interrupt.
"Okay," the younger man acquiesced softly in defeat, in too much pain to argue.
"You just rest and once we get your cuts sorted we'll head out," the Surgeon stood up as he realized his companion had actually fallen asleep, a combination of longstanding exhaustion and pain combining to knock him out.
"You can't give him a shot," Bronson argued once the pair were out in the hallway, well out of earshot of the sleeping man.
"Look I've given him morphine before. Like I told you he takes DF118s but when an episode is this bad morphine is the only thing that helps."

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Over ninety minutes later Jude had delivered his newly stitched friend back to the cabin and administered the medication. The local Doctor had taken some convincing about the morphine despite the Surgeons' credentials. In the end it had been Judes' argument that his friend would do without the pain relief if it was the only way he could leave. Bronson wasn't happy with the situation but knew the younger man needed a break from the pain. He had made one proviso though. Jude had to promise to bring his friend back before they returned to Atlanta. To this he had acquiesced deciding to worry about that argument when it came up. It was over four hours before Conrad finally surfaced from his room down the hall from the kitchen/living area.

"Hey! I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up," Jude greeted as he muted the TV from the couch and stood up noting with relief that the pain seemed to have receded from his friends' features, "you hungry?"
"Not really."
"I made you a chicken sandwich," the older man ignored the response as he retrieved the item from the refrigerator and uncovered it before placing it on the marble counter as his friend sat down on a stool, "water?"
"Beer?"
"Maybe later buddy," Jude took out a bottled water and placed it beside the plate, "you don't need to be sick as well as everything else."
"I don't remember coming back here," the fair haired man pointed out quietly as he broke off a small section of the full sandwich and tried it as if testing his stomach.
"You were pretty out of it."
"What time is it?"
"Late," Jude gestured to the rains pelting the large windows, "the forecasters called it right. Been raining for hours. Just as well that Officer warned us about the road block or we could be stuck out in it."
"So we head out first thing in the morning," Conrad stated around a yawn, "it's meant to ease off by five this morning."
"You know we could just stay a couple of days. I probably won't get another chance to come here this year," Jude looked at his friend hopefully, he figured guilt was the only ploy left to sway his friend.
"You agreed we'd go back today. We're already staying tonight," Conrad argued.
"How about we wait till morning to make a decision?"
"Okay," Conrad agreed reluctantly knowing he would have a fight on his hands in the morning but willing to set the matter aside for now.
"I'll check your dressings after."
"They don't need changing Jude," the Resident shook his head in disgust, "and I'll take care of them."
"You don't even know how many stitches you have."
"So? Doesn't make a difference to changing the dressings."
"Do you want to know how many stitches you have?" Jude asked with exasperation.
"Nope."
"People always want to know how many stitches they have."
"Well I don't," Conrad pushed his plate away after eating less than half the offering.
"Twenty-nine."
"So?" Conrad shrugged nonchalantly as he stood and went over to the leather couch his friend had abandoned on his arrival, "anything on worth watching?"
"No games," Jude replied as he walked over and sat down beside his stubborn friend, "Tom isn't into sports. Guess most people spend their time outdoors when they come up here. There are plenty of DVDs to choose from though."
"Might as well watch one then," Conrad walked over to the stand his companion had pointed to underneath the large wall mounted television monitor, "hey I haven't watched the first Die Hard in years!"
"Hell it's on every Christmas how do you miss it?"
"You want to watch something else?" Conrad went to put the DVD back in its' place.
"Hell no! I could watch that any time," the Surgeon quickly reassured glad to see his friend animated about something even if it was only a film.
"Well since I picked the film you can do the popcorn."
"Popcorn?"
"Yep popcorn," the Resident nodded decisively as he returned to the couch after setting the disc to play.
"Don't know if Tom stocked up on popcorn," Jude commented doubtfully as he walked over to the pantry door.
"I checked. There's plenty."
"Never knew you liked popcorn," the older man found a box and made short work of putting a bag in the microwave.
"There's a lot you don't know about me," Conrad noted innocently.
"So I'm beginning to learn."

Before long both men were soon engrossed in the travails of Detective John McClane, vigorously debating how they would have done things better in various scenarios. Sipping a beer Jude had kept a watch on his friend unobtrusively and was surprised but pleased to note that he actually seemed to be feeling good. The sadness he had witnessed before seemed to have been banished. He wasn't naive enough to believe that a night spent watching a movie was going to fix things but he hoped his friend would be more receptive the next day to opening up.

tbc