Strike Up the Band (Sequel to Blind Faith)

Ten

The next Morn, Rob really and truly woke for the first Time since he'd been put under general anesthesia in the OR. He'd been in and out–mostly outta it–after being brought down to recovery, but that was relatively normal right after surgery. Since his vitals'd remained stable through the Eve and Night, none of the staff was too worried that he spent most of that Time asleep.

        Granted, he wasn't the least bit happy to wake up and realize that not only could he not really move his head into a comfortable position, but he'd been cathed while he was out. Now, he totally understood Richie's hatred for having a plastic tube shoved up his dick just so he could piss without pissing all over himself. Well, that was assuming he wasn't so swollen, he couldn't piss at all without having the catheter in to essentially hold him open. Either way, it was highly annoying for a couple different reasons, the first being that it was making him feel like he'd to piss, whether he actually had to or not.

        Realizing he was alone, the older brunette managed to find the Call button on his bed rail and hit it, despite barely being able to see since he couldn't crane his neck. He couldn't help a grumble as he waited for the page to be answered, which thankfully didn't take very long, considering where he was. A relatively young ginger walked in, a smile crossing her lips when she realized that he was actually awake and had hit the button on purpose, rather than by accident in his sleep.

        "Well, good Morn, Mr. Dall," she chuckled, pointing toward the white board hanging on the wall at the foot of his bed. "My name's Rowan, and I'll be your nurse till shift Change at six this Eve."

        "Eh, I wouldn't quite call it good," Rob said with a bit of a smirk. "I mean, can't really move my head, so I'm not too sure, if that's feeding into how much my neck hurts or not, and I'm definitely not liking this catheter."

        "You'd be surprised how oft I hear that from patients fresh outta the surgery you just had," the nurse told him. "But it's normal–your cervical spine was just put through quite the bit of trauma in a way, and your body's to adjust to the sudden Changes it underwent."

        "It just feels like my neck's stiff and needsta be cracked," he grumbled.

        "That's most likely the hardware anchoring your vertebrae together," Rowan explained. "Which's why you're in a cervical collar, and definitely means no cracking your neck–or even trying to."

        "What about this catheter, then? 'Cuz it's seriously annoying the shit outta me right now," the older brunette admitted.

        "Once Dr. Morgan says ya can get up and start moving around, the urologist'll come down to evaluatecha and decide when it can come out," she answered. "Till then, the less we've to pick ya up and move ya, the less chances those replacement discs'll slip, even with the hardware in there to prevent that."

        "Dare I ask how long that could take?" Rob asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

        "You're definitely gonna be stuck there for today," the nurse chuckled. "Then again, you're only about twelve hours outta surgery, so that's pretty normal."

        "And I'm guessing any longer depends on how I'm Healing?" he asked.

        "Bingo." Rowan nodded, finally moving to check his vitals. "If all goes well, ya might even be discharged in the next couple Days, but I'm not making any promises–depends on whether Dr. Morgan thinks you'll actually follow his instructionsta the letter or not."

        The older brunette couldn't help cocking a brow, which was his way of asking what she meant since he now had a thermometer probe stuck in his mouth. She made no bones about how he was supposed to stay off his feet and get as much rest as he possibly could for the first month outta surgery. Granted, he was gonna have a physical therapist coming to his home to work with him on being able to do things like strengthen his grip and just retain what upper body strength he still had. However, that wasn't including getting a bit more range of motion in his neck so he could turn his head better and easier as he Healed.