In which Terra just came back from his surgery and is very high on painkillers. He sees Aqua and asks if he could go out with her. She says she’s married (but didn’t mention she’s married to him) So he looks at her for a moment as it slowly sinks in and he starts a high pitched noise before he cries in despair. (prompt by @chachacharlieco)
Forgive me. I may have had a little fun writing this. I do happen to work at a hospital (non-clinical) and I’m pretty familiar with the surgery process at my specific location. I also wrote this while at work too so LOL. I do plan to make a small comic based off of this too!
‘What’s your relationship to the patient?’
‘H-huh? Oh! I’m his wife.’
The woman at the desk smiled. ‘And your name?’
The woman reached over to a stack of what looked like pagers on her desk and handed one to the blue haired woman. ‘Alright, Aqua, if you want to, you can go ahead and have a seat. That pager I just handed you only works here in the hospital. The tracking number you were given earlier-‘ the woman gestured to a large television mounted on the wall. ‘-the numbers cycle automatically and will let you know where your patient is within their procedure.’ The woman turned in her seat to point to a corner in which Aqua’s gaze followed. ‘In that corner we have complimentary coffee and hot water for tea. Feel free to help yourself.’ Aqua nodded in understanding. The look on Aqua’s face must have looked concerned because the woman smiled again. “Don’t worry sweetheart, He’s in good hands.
She stood at the desk for a moment before decided what she should do. Aqua could go for a wander around the hospital, maybe stop at the cafe, but she didn’t want to miss the doctor if he were to come out and tell her how the surgery had gone.
Opting for the later option, Aqua found a set of chairs on the far wall she could sit in and wait. She had brought a book with for the wait considering the surgery could take close to 3 hours; easily an hour and a half alone for the recovery room.
This was the first time Terra was getting a pretty major surgery. Sure he’s had to have stitches for stupid things here at there, but this was the first time he would actually have to be put under anesthesia. When his doctor told him the 6 weeks of physical therapy hadn’t helped his torn rotator cuff, the earthy man nearly looked like a ghost leaving the office after hearing he would need surgery and more physical therapy.
Aqua recalled the moment Terra came home from work complaining about how bad his shoulder hurt. Since Terra worked in construction, he was always doing stupid things at his job. In the past, he’s pulled a few muscles here and there and even then for the few days he was in pain, all he could do was complain. Aqua couldn’t help but be amused as she attempted her usual methods to shut him up; a gentle massage that would usually result in Terra always managing to get Aqua undressed and in bed… or on the couch. Unfortunately this time the results were different.
Terra had been in so much pain that he wasn’t even interested in sexual activities, which was rather odd considering how ‘handsy’ he got most days. Half of him actually complained that the massage wasn’t working and it hurt more. The following nights, Terra wasn’t able to sleep properly due to the amount of pain he was in. After almost a week of trying to convince him, Aqua was able to drag him to the doctor where he found out about the rotator cuff.
Terra was forced to take a medical leave from work so he could attend his mandatory physical therapy sessions, all of which Aqua attended. They both thought the therapy was working until a week ago when his doctor told him nothing had changed and that he would need it surgically taken care of.
That morning when they arrived at the hospital, Terra could not sit still. When the nurse had come to get him so they could prepare him for surgery, He almost made a mad dash for the exit. When Aqua was able to see Terra before he was sent in for surgery, she had to contain her laughter at the sight of him. The hospital gown that was given to him hardly fit; his muscles were so constrained in the sleeves of the gown and the back of the gown couldn’t be tied around his upper body. The length of the gown was even more amusing considering it was so short on him that it hardly covered half the surface area of his exposed thighs. At one point, he was about to rip the stupid thing off and lay in the bed butt ass naked.
When the anesthesiologist entered the room to talk with them, Aqua sat next to Terra’s bed and rubbed his arm softly to keep him calm. When it was time for the procedure to begin, Aqua gave Terra a kiss and plenty of reassurance that everything would be fine.
At the moment, Aqua had been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed the woman from the desk was now standing in front of her trying to get her attention. ‘Excuse me, miss?’
Startled, Aqua looked up. ‘Y-yes?’
Her reaction was clearly common seeing as the woman dismissed it. ‘The doctor will be out momentarily to tell you how everything went. So, for patient privacy reasons, if you’ll just come with me, I’m going to put you in one of our consultation rooms.’
Aqua quickly gathered her things as she followed the woman across the room to where the consult rooms where. When the doctor came in, he told her exactly what she wanted to hear. ‘Aqua, everything went great. We were able to make all the necessary repairs we needed and with just a bit more physical therapy, Terra should be good to go in a few months time. Considering he’s such a… large man…’ The doctor was referring to Terra’s over all size; height and weight, ‘it could be a while before he wakes up. So hang tight here in the surgery lounge and a nurse will bring you to him when he’s coming off the anesthesia.’
Aqua sighed with relief as she thanked the doctor. Before he stepped out entirely, the doctor turned to add something else. ‘Also, Aqua, for the first 12 hours, he’s going to be under some pretty strong pain killers. Since we don’t know his history with such medications…’
Aqua smiled. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll keep a close eye on him. Chances are he will just be extra tired and hardly do anything.’
When the doctor left, Aqua went back to sit down. She pulled out her phone to let everyone know how the procedure went. Their good friend, Ventus, was the first to message back saying he was on his way over to the hospital to visit.
Aqua spent the hour switching between text messages and her book. When the nurse had finally come out to get her, she was anxious to see how Terra was. As she was lead back to the post-op recovery room, she sent out a few more text messages before losing phone service entirely; the hospital unfortunately had it’s dead zones and the post-op area was one of them.
When they got to Terra’s bed, he was passed out cold with a thick line of drool running down the side of his mouth. Aqua considered this to be the first time he’s gotten decent sleep since getting the injury.
Another nurse readjusted some equipment as Aqua sat down in the chair next to Terra’s bed.
‘He was awake not long ago but it seems as though he’s out cold again. You can thank the medication for that. I’ll be back shortly to see how he’s doing and if he isn’t awake, we will see about getting him up.’
Aqua nodded. ‘We’re in no rush. Thank you for everything. By the way, I have another person coming to see Terra… will it be alright if he comes back as well?’
The nurse scribbled something down on to her clip board and smiled. ‘That’s not a problem at all. So long as they’re over 18, we allow two people back here in the post-op area. I’ll inform the nurse liaison.’
‘Thank you.’ And with that, the nurse stepped out and Aqua was left with her unconscious husband. She sat there holding his hand, rubbing her thumb against the side of his hand as he slept. Considering he showed no signs of waking soon, Aqua opened her book on her lap and started to resume her reading.
It was when she felt Terra’s hand clench and his rough voice that it snapped her out of the enchanting book she had gotten sucked into. ‘Gosh… you’re really pretty Aqua…’
She placed her bookmark between the pages and set her book aside. ‘Well good morning there sleepy head. How’re you feeling?’
Instead of responding, Terra lifted the hand in which she was holding so he could look at it. ‘Your hands are really soft…’
She stifled a laugh as she forced his hand back down to rest on the bed. ‘Well, yes but that’s not what I ask-‘ Aqua paused. The medication… ‘Terra, how are you feeling?’
Terra again ignored her response as he tried to lift his hand and reach out to her. ‘Hey… do you think I could take you out for dinner and a movie? I’d like to get to know such a pretty woman such as yourself…’
Aqua internally sighed. The drugs he was on clearly had him delirious and he seemed to have no recollection that the two of them were actually married. ‘Terra, no… you can not.’
He was playing with her fingers now. ‘I really want to go out with you.’
She chuckled. ‘I’m sure you do Terra, but I can’t. I’m married.
There was a pause. His fingers slipped away from hers as a soft ‘Oh.’ slid past his lips. His gaze drifted to the light fixture on the ceiling. As Aqua was about to ask him again how he was feeling, someone knocked on the door. ‘Come in!’
To her relief, it was Ven. ‘Hey Aqua! Hey Terra!’ Aqua waved but Terra’s attention seemed to remain on the light fixture. ‘How’s the big cahoot feeling?’
Aqua shrugged. ‘Not sure. Since waking up, he’s done nothing but compliment me and ask me on a date. The pain killers he’s on clearly have him delusional…’
Aqua looked at Ven with a confused expression.
‘You know…’ Ven leaned over to whisper to Aqua. ‘Did you say he could take you on a date?’
Aqua snorted. ‘Of course not. I told him I was married.’ Just didn’t mention that I was married to him…
The moment Aqua said the word ‘married’, the pair was startled by a strange noise coming from Terra.
He lies in the bed, eyes streaming with tears as a low whine comes from him. His whine eventually cracks and becomes high pitched to where he’s full on in tears; his eyes closed and his chest heaving.
Aqua immediately is at his side trying to soothe him. ‘Terra! What’s wrong? Are you in pain?’
He doesn’t respond to any of her questions as he shifts in the bed, trying to curl up but all the equipment attached to him prevents that.
Aqua goes to run her hands through his hair in another attempt to calm him. ‘Terra…’
After a few minutes of his loud wails, Terra eventually falls back into a half sleep. He mutters just above a whisper, ‘She’s married…’ before he’s out cold again.
‘What was that about?’ Ven had plopped down in the second chair and leaned back.
Aqua sighed. ‘Ven… this is going to be a long 12 hours…’
