So�This Is Montana Ch. 5
Dr. Ralph Parrish looked up from his paperwork to see Harvey Benson stride purposefully into the treatment room of the county clinic.
�Hey there Harvey,� the doctor said as he stood up from his desk and made his way over to the older man. The pair shook hands and then entered the treatment area that contained a collection of beds on the far side of the room.
�How are they doing?� Harvey Benson�s voice was tinged with concern as he took in the sight before him. Five beds filled with five young men. All of them appeared to be either asleep or unconscious.
�Pretty good considering. Did you happen to see what their vehicle looked like?� asked the doctor. If he knew more of the condition of the vehicle, then he might better understand the injuries that he was treating the young men for.
�Yeah, I saw it.� Harvey ran a tired hand through his thinning hair and shook his head at the memory. �They went through Jensen�s fence and hit an old live oak. Didn�t look like they were going pretty fast though...speedometer was stuck on 45mph. That was plenty slow for the driving conditions. The front end was crushed, both front airbags had deployed and the glass in both the front and back passenger windows were either cracked or shattered.� The doctor nodded his head in understanding. The shattered windows explained the need for stitches in Mr. Fatone and Mr. Timberlake�s right arms as well as Mr. Kirkpatrick�s left arm. They must not have had time to brace themselves against the impact.
�How many of them have been awake?�
�Two of them have come to, but one of them went right back out.� Ralph pointed at the bed at the far corner of the room. �That one over there� Joseph Fatone.�
�Joey,� corrected Mr. Benson. �He�s called Joey.�
Dr. Parrish looked quizzically at the older man who smiled sheepishly.
�When Lance spent time on the ranch, he had pictures of his friends with him. He told me their names and talked about the music group that they belong to�their families��
�Well, we need to get in touch with them sometime tonight.�
�I�ll take care of that for you if you want. I�ll call their manager�uh�Johnny Wright. I think I still have one of his business cards lying in my desk.�
�Good.�
The two men continued to make their way over to Joey�s bed where Ralph explained that he had been the one to mention Harvey�s name before blacking out again.
Harvey Benson looked down at the young man lying on the bed before him. He couldn�t be more than 25 years old�Lance never did mention ages other than his own. Joey�s beard gave him a more mature look, but Mr. Benson could tell that there was youth hidden beneath it.
He brought his gaze up to the large bruise that had spread its way across Joey�s head.
�Was he wearing his seatbelt?�
�Yeah�they all were except for Joshua Chasez. According to the other one who had come to, Mr. Chasez had been asleep in the very back of the suburban on the bench seat.�
�What did he hit his head on then?�
�We think it was Mr. Bass�s arm. Mr. Bass was driving and Mr. Fatone was the front seat passenger. Mr. Bass has a clean break in his right arm so we just assume that that was what happened.�
�Broken arm?� Mr. Benson asked as he looked at the heavy bandage wrapped around Joey�s left arm.
�No. Just a bad sprain. He also needed about 20 stitches to close up his right arm and he has a mild concussion on top of all that. He should be coming around again in another hour or so.�
�Where�s the other one that came to?�
�Over there.� Dr. Parrish walked a few feet away from Joey�s bed over to the bedside of another dark haired man. Mr. Benson saw that this young man also sported a small beard and was slightly smaller in stature than the rest of the men.
�This is Christopher Kirkpatrick.�
At the mention of his name, Chris stirred on the bed and gave a small moan. His eyelids began to flutter and he brought his hands up to his face.
�Sh�Chris�take it easy son.� Harvey reached for Chris� hands and pulled them away from his face so that the IV tubing would not become tangled or pulled. At the touch of the hands, Chris opened his dark brown eyes and looked up at the man holding his hands.
�Mr. Benson?� Chris croaked as he squinted his eyes against the glaring lights above him.
�How did you recognize me?� the older man asked as he released the hands that he had been holding.
Chris licked his lips and blinked his eyes wearily a few times before answering.
�Lance showed us some pictures of the ranch and there were a few of you�� Chris�s voice trailed off as he began to wince in pain.
Dr. Parrish put his hand on Harvey�s arm and indicated that he needed to step back for a moment.
�Head bothering you?� the doctor asked as he pulled out his penlight and flashed it into Chris�s eyes.
�Yeah�and that certainly didn�t help,� Chris groaned as he tightly squeezed his eyes shut once the doctor had finished.
�Sorry.�
�It�s okay. How are the others doing now? Has anyone else come to yet?� Chris whispered.
�Mr. Fatone came to briefly before losing consciousness again. He should be coming to again soon.�
Chris nodded his head and listened as the doctor continued with his update.
�Mr. Timberlake and Mr. Chasez are beginning to show signs of awakening.�
�What about Lance?� Chris asked with concern as he opened his eyes and looked at the doctor.
�He took a pretty good lick to the head. He�s showing some signs of waking up, but it�s not going to happen probably for several more hours. Don�t worry�he�s going to be fine.�
Chris nodded his head and once again allowed his eyes to close as another wave of pain hit him. He let a small groan escape his lips as he clinched his eyes tightly against the increasing pain. Dr. Parrish shook his head at the sight before looking up at his assistant standing over JC�s bed across the room.
�David�I want you to give Mr. Kirkpatrick another 2 milligrams of morphine.�
�Be right there in a minute.� He looked back down at JC. �It won�t be much longer before this one wakes up Ralph.�
�That�s good.�
Dr. Parrish leaned over Chris and spoke quietly to him. �Mr. Kirkpatrick�� Chris opened his eyes and slowly blinked at the doctor trying to focus on his face. �I�ll have David give you another morphine push. That should make you more comfortable. He also just informed me that Mr. Chasez should be waking up any minute now.�
Chris gave a faint smile and nodded at the good news before closing his eyes as Harvey Benson tentatively placed a weathered hand on his arm. Dr. Parrish quickly made his way over to JC�s bedside to monitor him.
�I�m going to let you get some rest son.�
�Thanks for coming Mr. Benson,� Chris whispered.
�I�m just glad to see that you and the others are doing okay.�
Harvey moved out of the way when David came to the bedside carrying a syringe filled with a clear liquid.
�Okay�Mr. Kirkpatrick�you�re going to feel a burning sensation as I administer the morphine. You�re going to get pretty sleepy. I don�t want you to fight it.� David finished with his instructions and watched as Chris just nodded his head before he administered the drug. Chris slightly frowned as the burning sensation slowly traveled up his left arm.
�Feel it burning?� David asked as he rubbed Chris� left arm in an effort to mask the sensation.
�Yeah�but the rubbing helps�thanks.�
Minutes later, David and Mr. Benson could tell that Chris had drifted off due to the morphine and the pair left his bedside to join Dr. Parrish and a now awake JC.
Dr. Parrish was performing a quick neurological check on JC, but the patient was not being too cooperative.
�Would you�just tell me how�where am I�where are the others,� JC sputtered in frustration as he tried to avoid the painfully bright light being shown in his eyes.
Dr. Parrish gave an exasperated snort and shook his head when he realized that he was getting absolutely nowhere with his exam. The doctor stepped back, crossed his arms over his chest and gave JC a look that said his patience was running very thin.
�Listen, if you�ll let me perform my exam I�ll answer your questions�okay?�
JC nodded and relaxed back against his pillows while the doctor checked him over.
�Do you remember what happened?�
�No sir�well sort of. I kinda remember waking up when I was being pulled from the suburban. I could see my friends being taken care of and then I guess I passed out again. How are they doing?�
�Well, they�re all doing good considering the way the vehicle looked,� Mr. Benson stepped into JC�s line of vision.
�Mr. Benson? How did you know?� JC bewilderedly asked.
�Joey woke up long enough to let the doctors know my name.�
�How is eve�� JC�s question was interrupted by a low moan from the next bed. Dr. Parrish looked over his shoulder at the next bed and smiled before turning back to his assistant who had just joined them.
�David, stay here and answer Mr. Chasez�s questions. I think Mr. Timberlake is finally going to join us.� Dr. Parrish made his way over to the next bed just in time to see a very confused young man attempting to sit up.
�Whoa there son,� the doctor said as he gently lowered Justin back down against the bed. �How are you feeling?�
Justin nodded and looked around him. His eyes grew quite large and he looked back up at the doctor.
�So it wasn�t all just a dream?� he rasped out before coughing.
�Afraid not son.� The doctor reached to a little table behind him and picked up a small cup of water. �Drink some of this.� The doctor helped Justin to lift his head slightly us so that he could swallow a little water.
�That�s enough,� the older man murmured as he took the cup away and helped Justin to get resettled on his pillow.
�My friends?�
�They�re all doing fine. Mr. Fatone��
�Joey.�
�Okay, Joey woke up briefly about an hour ago before losing consciousness again. He has a slight concussion, sprained left wrist and needed some stitches in his right arm. Chris woke up not to long after Joey, but the morphine that we�ve administered has him pretty much out of it. He has a mild concussion, some stitches in his left arm and he bruised some ribs. Josh just woke up about 5 minutes ago. He has a slight concussion and minimal bruising. Out of the five of you, he�s in the best shape probably due to the fact that he was so relaxed in the back seat when the vehicle impacted the tree.�
�So�that�s what we hit? A tree?�
�You don�t remember that?�
�I remember hearing Chris yell and us hitting a fence, but I guess I had already blacked out before we hit the tree.� Justin rubbed his forehead in an attempt to retrieve more memories, but they just weren�t there.
�Don�t worry son. You�ll remember later. Let me finish telling you about your friends.�
Justin nodded his head and listened as the doctor explained Lance�s condition.
�Lance is beginning to show some signs of waking. He has a concussion, some slight chemical burns from the airbag on his face, chest and arms, and his right arm is broken�apparently he hit Joey across the forehead.�
That remark earned a weary chuckle from Justin. �I always knew Joe had a hard head�so how am I doing?�
�Slight concussion, stitches in your right arm and bruises from head to toe.�
�That�s not too bad,� Justin whispered, as he suddenly grew very tired. The doctor saw that Justin was losing his battle with staying awake. He patted the young man on the arm and spoke.
�Get some sleep now. I�ll let you know how Lance is doing when he wakes up.�
The doctor watched as Justin turned slightly onto his left side and went to sleep. He spent one more moment there at the bedside, checking IV lines and making sure that Justin would be comfortable before turning to walk away.
He stepped back into the middle of the room and stared wearily at the sight. These boys sure were lucky. With one more shake of his head, he walked over to Lance�s bedside and was joined by Harvey.
The doctor pulled out his penlight, lifted Lance�s left eyelid, and checked his pupil�s reaction before doing the same with the right eye. He was rewarded with a slight moan and movement from the young man. With a look of surprise, Dr. Parrish put away his penlight and looked at Harvey. �Wasn�t expecting this from him for about another 3 or 4 hours.� With a shrug of his shoulders, Dr. Parrish turned back around and leaned over Lance�s bed.
�Lance�Lance�I need you to wake up. You and your friends are at the county clinic. Everyone is okay. I need you to open your eyes for me.� He gripped Lance�s wrist and felt that his pulse was becoming steadily stronger.
Both men watched as the young man moaned slightly and moved his head restlessly against his pillow. His eyelids began to flutter and the lids slightly parted. Lance attempted to bring one hand up to shield his eyes from the bright lights overhead but it was pulled back down to his side.
�The light,� Lance croaked.
�I know it�s bright son. Just take your time opening your eyes,� the doctor said in encouragement. �Go slow�that�s it. Just take your time.�
Both men watched as Lance gradually opened his eyes. He blinked several times in an effort to focus on the two dark shapes hovering over him. Moments later, the shapes came into focus and Lance recognized Mr. Benson.
�Mr. Benson?� The effort caused him to cough and wince in pain as his head began to pound. �My head,� Lance moaned as he reached up and felt a bandage across his forehead. At that moment, Lance suddenly remembered the accident and his sudden movements startled the doctor and Mr. Benson. Lance shot up into a seated position, ignoring the pain in his head and arm and glanced nervously about. He could see the others in beds throughout the large room. Bandages wrapped around various limbs�IV�s�looks of pain on JC�s face. With wide, scared eyes, Lance looked back at the two men standing before him and spoke in a voice filled with anguish.
�This is all my fault�this is all my fault,� before his eyes rolled back into his head and he began to fall limply back against his bed. Dr. Parrish managed to grab hold of Lance�s shoulders and lowered him carefully back to the bed. He quickly pulled his stethoscope from behind his neck along with his blood pressure cuff from his pocket. He quickly checked Lance�s blood pressure and heart rate before stepping back away from the bed.
�How is he Ralph?� The doctor turned to look at Harvey and saw tremendous concern written on his face.
�He�s okay�just a shock seeing everything. Why don�t you give his manager a call and let him know what�s going on. I�m going to give my wife a call and see if she can come up here and give us a hand. After tonight, I don�t think David and I will have any trouble convincing city council to get us some help.� With a weary shake of his head, Dr. Parrish joined his assistant in the corner of the room for a much needed cup of coffee while Harvey Benson left the building in search of the little business card with the group�s managers name and phone number on it.