Fifteen Bells: [ACTION/WRITTEN]

[simplestgift]

[Archie woke up yesterday.  How is this new?  Well, after getting some fairly critical stab wounds from Grell, he was put on a ventilator and kept under sedation for a few days.  The ventilator was exchanged for a less impressive-looking concentrator yesterday and he was taken off sedation.  He spent yesterday sleeping anyway, since anesthesia doesn't generally leave you bright-eyed immediately afterward.

This morning, he is talking and eating Jell-o, which is a new experience. The most important bit comes written on the journal network in wobbly handwriting courtesy of the heart monitor clipped on his finger.]

I have been informed that I may have visitors. I'd like to know everyone is all right.

Kennedy

[Anyone who comes in will find him looking predictably weak and pale but lucid and in good spirits, or possibly catnapping after a dose of painkillers.

OOC: Purely for the sake of mercy, Archie is unaffected by the event.]

Comments

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

[ McCoy will make an appearance the second his shift begins and naturally comes in to see how Archie is doing. surprise does not register on his face when he strolls into his room and sees his patient is conscious and simply looks at his chart. ]

[simplestgift]

[Oh, there he is!]

Good morning, Leonard. Am I still alive?

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

[ the doctor looks up from the chart and stares at Archie blankly. ]

Doctor McCoy. And yes, you are still alive. [ and back down to the chart again. ]

[simplestgift]

[Archie's smile vanishes.] Is something the matter?

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

Nothing is the matter. You are recovering well, Lieutenant.

[simplestgift]

Oh, good. [He's going to let this one go. Maybe McCoy is in ultra-professional mode and will pipe down after a few days.] Was it really necessary to keep me in coma for a week?

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

[ bluntly: ] Yes.

[simplestgift]

Why?

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

Because of the injuries you sustained from Miss Sutcliffe's attack, you were experiencing respiratory failure and had to be placed on a mechanical ventilation system. I placed you in a medically-induced coma so you would not awaken and try to pull out the breathing apparatus and to allow your body time to recover from the trauma of the attack.

[ a beat. ] Miss Sage was responsible for treating your outward injuries.

[simplestgift]

I'll have to thank her. [Respiratory failure?] I stopped breathing?

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

Make sure you do.

[ blinking. ] Are you experiencing auditory problems?

[simplestgift]

There's nothing wrong with my ears. I was stabbed in the back.

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

Lower back.

[simplestgift]

Yes, precisely. Quite a distance from my ears.

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

Most people suffer confusion and poor memory skills after coming out of a coma. [ a pause. ] Since your memory skills seem satisfactory, I came to the conclusion you were experiencing some other, seldom known symptoms.

[simplestgift]

[He stretches a little, as much as the bed and the things attached to him will afford him.] You're terribly dreary today, Doctor.

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

So I have been told.

[simplestgift]

Oh, so it isn't only your favorite patient suffering from your utter lack of...[Wait.] Is there an experiment going on?

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[simplestgift]

I see. [The "troll" part of his brain turns on, and he tries to think of how amuse himself with this. When he speaks, he's mostly thinking aloud.]

You're very unfeeling, Doctor.

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

[ ... ]

Thank you.

[simplestgift]

Yes. One might even say you've no heart at all. Utterly inhuman.

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

"I can assure you that I have a heart, Lieutenant."

[simplestgift]

"Of regular size?"

[hippocraticly.livejournal.com]

"Ten to twelve ounces."