Apocalypse Aftermath (28 page)

“First I want to drain off the fluid that’s collected since Sunday morning.” he said, turning to the stand he had positioned.  “And I’m afraid I’ll need your pain responses to let me figure out what we’re dealing with, so I can’t give you anything.”

“I can handle it.” she said, though her voice was a little tight.

He had a big syringe in his hands, but he paused in preparing it to look at her intently.  “Jessica, if it gets to be too much we can stop and I’ll give you something to manage it, and we’ll just take strictly cautious path.”

“Go ahead.” she told him.  “If I could handle it Saturday night, I can handle whatever you’ve got for me.”

He smiled, but it was his professional face.  “Okay.  This part shouldn’t be any worse than giving blood or getting a shot, but don’t move around or you could do yourself some damage if the needle oscillates while it’s in.”  She nodded and settled herself back on her elbows, so she could see what was happening but had something to brace herself against incase she flinched.  Dennis set the needle against her knee and slowly pushed it in.  He was right, she realized as the needle penetrated her flesh.  This wasn’t that bad.  He started pulling back on the plunger and fluid began filling the reservoir.

“Does it hurt much?” Candice asked.

“No, it’s okay.” Jessica said calmly.

“You’re doing well.” Dennis said as he drained the swelling.  “And this looks better than it did the first time.”

The fluid entering the big plastic cylinder on the back of the syringe was yellow with less of a red tint than the last draining, though it still looked thick and decidedly unpleasant.  She didn’t know exactly what about it he thought was ‘better’, but he was the doctor.  She
did
know that the pressure from the swelling was relieving as he pulled the liquid out.  By the time he finished and withdrew the needle, the discomfort was better.

“Okay, that was the easy part.” he said, capping the syringe and laying it aside.  “And the swelling isn’t as bad as I was afraid it might be
, so that’s encouraging.”

“Good.” she said.

“This is the part that’s going to hurt.” Dennis told her, adjusting the stool.  He put one hand under the back of her thigh and the other on her ankle.  “We’re going to articulate your knee, okay?  It’s going to hurt, but try to focus on where it hurts.  That’s what I need to know.”

“Got it.”

“Pain that you can handle is okay.” he said as he gripped her leg gently.  “If you feel anything that’s sharp, or a pop, or something moving around in there; stop and tell me.”

Jessica nodded and took a deep breath.  Dennis smiled his professional smile again.  “Okay,
very carefully, very slowly.  Let me move you.  Here we go.”  He lifted from her thigh, supporting her ankle as he raised her leg several inches off the table.  “And we’re going to bend
slowly
.” he said, supporting her leg at the thigh as he began pressing her ankle down.

Her knee flexed gradually as he let her ankle drop.  At first she barely felt any additional discomfort, then the pain started to increase somewhat.  “Starting to get worse.” she said tightly.

“I know, I know.” he murmured, his eyes on the joint.  “Any spikes, any movement?”

“No.”
  Everything felt normal, except that it hurt.

“Okay, little more.”

He got her foot down on the table, but when they tried to tighten the flex much further she gasped and shook her head.  “There.”  Her knee was starting to really light up, making her very aware that it didn’t like being used for knee-like things at the moment.

“Did you feel a pop or anything like that?” Dennis asked, holding the angle as he used his right hand to probe gently at the joint.

“No, but it’s getting pretty bad.”

“Hmmm.” he said after he finished his probing.  “Okay, can you flex it back straight?  Does it hurt when you try that?”

Cautiously she tried to straighten her leg.  “Not really.” she admitted.  “But most of the pain just went away  There’s just a background ache now.”

“Alright, we’re done.  Lay it down flat.” he said, scooting back from the table and sighing.

“What do you think?” Jessica asked him.

“Well, I think you definitely sprained it, but I’m pretty sure it’s not as bad as I was afraid of.
  You almost certainly didn’t pop anything that’s going to take a long time to heal, or stay broken without surgery.”

“How long?”

He blinked at her.  “How—oh.  You’re probably looking at a couple of weeks before you’re back to full use, but I think if you take it
easy
like I keep telling you, in a few days you should be considerably better than you are now.  You won’t be running marathons, but you’ll be walking without wincing.”

“Good.” Jessica said.  She didn’t like the pain, but she could handle it.  What scared her was the impact it had on her mobility.  If things got bad, she needed to be able to move if she was going to be able to keep Candice out of the thick of any trouble.

After what she’d gone through so far, she was
not
counting on things staying peaches and cream.  She’d like it if they did, but she had to plan for nightmares.

“Here’s what we’re going to do.” Dennis said, reaching for a fresh syringe, one sealed in a wrapper and already containing some clear fluid in it.  “This will keep the inflammation down and help promote healing.  Daily examinations for the next few mornings and a shot at each.”

“Doesn’t sound so bad.”

“It’s really not.” he grinned.  “Keep it wrapped like it was, nice and snug but not too tight.  Stay off it as much as you can, keep it straight, don’t flex it or use the muscles in and around the knee.”

“Okay.”

“I’m serious.” he said as he laid the wrapper aside and put a hand on her thigh to steady her leg.

“So am I.” Jessica assured him.

He jabbed the needle in and injected some of the medicine, then pulled it out and jabbed her in a different spot to inject some more.  “Every three hours you’re going to unwrap it and put some ice on for fifteen to twenty minutes.  Every three hours today and tomorrow at least.”

“At night too?”

Dennis
hesitated, then shook his head slightly.  “No, at night keep it elevated in the bed.  Prop it up on some pillows or something and sleep on your back.  Waking up to ice it will do more harm than just sleeping with it up will, but during the day ice it.  The rest will help you.  Don’t give yourself freezer burn, but you need to cool the knee down pretty good if you want to keep the swelling down.”

“Ice every three hours.” she repeated.  “I’ll go to the cafeteria.”

“No, stay off your feet as much as you can.” he said as he finished with the shots.  “I’ll tell Mr. Carter to make some arrangements for someone to bring you some.  We’re trying to keep the swelling down as much as possible, so you’ll heal faster.”

“I understand.”

“The more it swells, the longer you’re going to be limping.” Dennis said as he put the syringe down.

“Dennis, I’m not arguing.”

“You’ve been a little difficult so far.” he said with a wry grin.

She looked at him for a moment, stopped herself from glancing over at Candice, then took a calm breath.  “Things have been pretty crazy since I hurt it.” she told him.  “You know that.”

“Yes.” he said softly.

“Now that we’re here, I’m going to take it easy.”

“I still think you should take a few days to stay in bed.”

“There’s a lot to do.  The things that need doing from a desk I can do, which keeps someone who’s not hurt from having to sit at that desk.” she said, thinking of Vanessa’s anger over the scheduling and use of the hands they had available.  The woman’s anger didn’t necessarily bother her; but the thinking behind it did.  Both because it raised questions about Vanessa’s intentions, as well as how things going undone might affect the safety of the facility.

“I’m not fighting that fight again.” Dennis said as he started cleaning thing off the little stand.

“Good.”

“Alright, I’ll let you get dressed, then I need to finish packing a bag to take with me into town.”

“I hope you can help them.” Jessica said as he dumped the used syringes into a sharps container on one of the counters, along with the alcohol pads.

“I’m sure I can.”

He left the tray on the stand and went outside, closing the door behind himself.  Jessica started unraveling the sheet she’d been using for modesty.  “Sweetie, can you hand me my pants?”

Candice stepped over and handed Jessica the slacks, which she’d been holding while she stayed out of the way.  Partially undressing in front of Candice wouldn’t have been Jessica’s first choice, but she flatly refused to leave the girl standing out in the hallway, and the infirmary was only a single small room.

“Mom, I . . . can I ask you a question?”

Jessica paused in her attempts to get the slacks on her left leg; which was tricky when she was trying very hard not to bend it.  “You can ask me anything.  You can always ask me anything.”  There was a very serious tone in Candice’s voice, cut through with a large dose of doubt and tension.

“Are Mr. and Mrs. Morris bad people?”

“Wh—” Jessica began, then caught herself just in time.  She managed to discard her second response as well, and fell back on the old parental standby.  “What makes you think that?”

Candice squirmed a little, looking down at her shoes.  “They . . . they don’t seem like they want to help anyone.” she almost muttered.

Though she had her own thoughts along the exact same lines, Jessica didn’t want to have to get into them with Candice.  While the girl had shown considerably more resilience in the face of all the hell she’d been through since all this started, more than could have reasonably been expected, she was still only ten.  Plus Jessica wasn’t entirely sure herself, though she was definitely curious and alarmed at some of what she was seeing out of Dennis’ brother.  Especially out of his sister-in-law.

“They helped us.  They’re still helping us.” Jessica said after a moment.

“Yes, but isn’t that just because Dr. Morris is your boss?”

“Maybe.” Jessica admitted.  “He is my boss,” – though she mentally added
“was”
– “but he’s also my friend too.”

“What about everyone else?”

Jessica felt for the sheet and made sure it was still draped in place, then patted the table next to her.  “Come on, sit up here with me a minute.”  Candice stepped closer and hopped up with her hands braced on the edge of the table while Jessica caught her under the arms and heaved her the rest of the way up.  “Ooof, you’re getting so big.”

Candice smiled briefly, but she mostly just looked up at her mother with searching eyes.  Jessica sighed lightly and hugged her daughter’s neck.  “Sweetie, you remember we discussed the rules, right?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell them to me?”

Candice’s eyebrows and forehead crinkled up as she thought.  “Don’t let a zombie touch me no matter what, do what you say period, don’t assume people aren’t sick, don’t assume people aren’t bad guys, and . . . the last rule doesn’t apply anymore does it?”

Jessica grinned, though without any serious humor.  “No, you shouldn’t go back to Atlanta to Dr. Morris’ house if something happens to me.  That’s my fault, I’ll have to come up with a new emergency rule for you if case something happens to me, but forget about that right now.  Did you know I have rules too?”

“You do?”

“I do.  And they’re even more important than yours.”

Candice looked up at her for several moments.  Jessica smiled and leaned in to touch her forehead against Candice’s, so their noses were almost in contact.  “You want to know what they are?”

“Yes.”

“Rule one for me, make sure you’re safe.  Rule two for me, make sure you’re safe.  Rule three, make sure you’re safe.  Rule four, make sure you’re safe.” Jessica said quietly.  She was proud of how even she was able to keep her voice against the titanic surge of emotion pounding against the back of her throat as she spoke.  “There are more, but can you guess what they are?”

“They’re all about keeping me safe?”

“They are.” Jessica confirmed, rubbing her nose across Candice’s several times before pulling her daughter into a hug and burying her head next to the girl’s.  “I love you so much, that any other rule doesn’t matter, so I don’t have them.  You’re all that matters.”

Candice’s arms squeezed around Jessica’s midsection.  “I love you mom.”

“I love you too Candy Bear.  Now listen to me.  I’m proud of how brave you’ve been, and how brave you’re still being.  You need to keep being as brave as you can.”

“I will.”

“Good girl.  Now, as for what’s going on around here, I don’t know yet.  Right now we’re safe, and that’s what’s important.  It’s good you’re paying attention to everything, paying attention to what’s happening all around you.  Keep doing that.  But you can’t talk to anyone else about what’s happening except me.  Do you understand?”

“Uh . . . sorta.”