"Gonna get some Lidocaine in there and start stitching."
It takes too long to get all three ready, but once that's done I'm able to start delivering them quickly. Halfway through the last one, Ashton's eyes open and he seems to almost come to, but he looks drowsy.
"Welcome back, princess,"
He pales and says something incoherent with a nervous edge, his teeth knocking the syringe barrel. I'm able to adjust the angle at the last second, but those are some muscle tears he didn't need.
"Shh. I'm almost done,"
He snaps his head to the side, wide eyes fixed on the ceiling.
A frustrated "Ashton, hold still," slips out. I managed to follow with his movement pretty well, but there will still be damage. I'm on his left side at an eight o'clock position with my arm down his chest, so when he starts to turn the other direction, I realize I have no hold on his head and no way to hold him still.
"Crystal!"
She comes running.
"Hold his head,"
She does. Ashton cries out and raises both hands. My chest blocks his left, and Crystal catches his right as soon as it's in her range.
I rush through the last third of the cartridge, and he moans.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry,"
As soon as the syringe is down, he jerks hard to the side. I get my hands on his shoulders before he can throw himself to the floor, holding him in place.
"Ashton, tell me what's wrong. I want to help you,"
His chest heaves and buckles in what might be screams or maybe sobs, I can't tell. He's shaking, sweating through his shirt, eyes huge in his sheet-white face. He fights to sit up.
He's terrified, that much I can tell. But why?
I lean my forearm on his chest and strip off my gloves, then hold his legs.
He shoots straight up and tries to drop his legs to the floor, covering his face when he realizes he can't get up. "No, no, no. Let me go! I can't tell you anything, let me out! Please . . . "
I frown. Crystal glances to me. "Hallucination?"
"Maybe. There was a time—" I grab Ashton's shoulders and pin him again. He yells. I cringe. "—a few months back when I thought he was having a weird dream in the middle of the night. He didn't remember it in the morning, maybe it was sort of like this."
"Is he on any medication?"
"Celexa for depression and OCD. Nothing that can cause this sort of thing,"
"Is he an insomniac?"
Ashton flinches and lets out a heavy groan. I squeeze his shoulder. "Yes,"
"Does he drink coffee or soda, anything with caffeine?"
I can't help but roll my eyes. "Takes caffeine capsules after long nights. Needs the energy but is way too anal about decay and staining to drink it."
"And there's our solution: caffeine plus sleep deprivation can cause auditory and visual hallucinations,"
Ashton's fighting me again. "Can we sedate him? I can't have him moving like this while I work."
"Only nitrous. No altered consciousness,"
That will have to be enough. "Then I'll need people to hold him. I can check Luke's next break, I think Calum's full all day, and maybe drag Seth in here. And you, too?"
