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Post by celticbear on Jan 16, 2014 18:43:01 GMT -5
I agree! Loved the interaction between Keith and Jim! Glad Keith agreed to the pain medicine and the creation of a medical version of Willis was spot on! You wrote that part so well I could see Keith playing with it and having that silly playful look on his face! Barbt job well done!
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Post by barbt on Jan 16, 2014 19:22:10 GMT -5
Thanks, Celticbear! I was thinking more intrigued and fascinated than silly and playful, but either one would work.
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Post by barbt on Jan 19, 2014 21:11:16 GMT -5
As they headed in through the door, they were greeted by an older nurse. "Hi, guys," she said. "Room 3, OK? I'll be in in just a minute." "No problem, Sara," Jim said. They turned into the door of Room Three and parked the gurney next to the table, adjusting the heights so they were level and at a good height for Bruce and Jim to work. Bruce said, "Keith, if you had an arm you could use to help we'd let you slide yourself over, but I don't want you shifting that IV by putting that much weight on your left hand. Let us do the work, OK?" "All right," Keith said, and let the two shift him smoothly over to the table. Sharon watched as they made short work of moving the IV bag over to another stand and getting Keith settled. "Comfortable?" Bruce asked. "I'm cold, actually," Keith said. "Some of that's the blood loss, but it usually is pretty chilly in here," Jim said. "Hang on a second, I'll be right back." He ducked out of the room and came back a few minutes later carrying two blankets and a pair of slipper socks. He handed the blankets to Bruce, who put one over Keith's legs and had him sit forward so he could put one around his shoulders. Meanwhile Jim put the slipper socks on Keith's feet. "Better?" he said, when he was done. "Yeah," Keith said, grinning. "They feel like they just came out of the dryer or something." Curious, Sharon touched the blankets and found they were warm. "Took them out of the warmer drawer," Jim said. "Can't have you getting hypothermic on top of everything else." Keith looked at them seriously. "You guys have been amazing," he said. "Please come to the concert? I'd like to see you again." "I checked the schedule and we're off that night," Bruce said. "Wouldn't miss it." The nurse, Sara, came in. "So who do you have for me, boys?" she said. "This is Keith Harkin," Bruce said. "26, professional musician with a badly lacerated right wrist due to his hand going through a window. He's a bit hung over due to a party last night, but otherwise coherent. He's had one dose of pain meds" and he gave the name of the medication and the dosage. "He's on his first bag of fluids. Blood loss at the scene was fairly extensive but under control when we arrived." "Not a very nice morning, then," said Sara. "Hi, Keith, I'm Sara, your nurse. I see these guys have gotten you taken care of as far as keeping you comfortable and occupied." She pointed at the ball of bandages that Keith was rolling around in his left hand. Keith nodded. "Who is this with you?" she said, looking at Sharon. "Sharon, my producer and manager," Keith said. "She needs to hear everything that the doctors tell me." "No problem," Sara said. "Now of course you know we've got some paperwork to take care of. Dr. Kuntz said he would be done with rounds and down to see you in about half an hour. He's usually pretty accurate with his time estimations unless one of his post-surgical patients is having problems. I'll send in one of the medical records folks to get you signed in. Do you need anything at the moment?" "Something to eat?" Keith said. Sharon smothered a laugh. "I know you're feeling better if you're asking for food," she said. "Sorry," Sara said, "that's probably the one thing I can't do for you. If you do need surgery for that wrist, it's better if your stomach is empty when you go under the anesthesia." "On that note," Jim said, "we have to pull out of here, Keith. If we get back in here later, we'll check in on you if we can." Sharon and Keith thanked the two paramedics again and then got down to the task of getting all the paperwork dealt with. By the time they were done, George had texted Sharon to let her know that they had arrived and were in the waiting area. Sharon looked at Keith and said, "Who do you want in here first? We should probably keep it to two people; this room isn't very big." "Colm and Laura," Keith said. "Once the doctor gets here, I want you and George in here." "That's pretty much what I'd figured," Sharon said. "Hang in there, we'll get through this like we always do." She left to go out to meet the others and update them on what little had happened so far. A few minutes later, Colm and Laura came in. "How are you holding up, Harks?" Colm asked. "Better since I got some pain meds," Keith said. "And something to fidget with." He showed them the little ball of bandages. "The paramedics gave it to me," he explained. "Sounds like they figured you out pretty quick, "Laura laughed. "Yeah. I like them, they're great guys. They're coming to the concert as well," Keith said, smiling. Laura sat down on the left side of the table, next to Keith's head. He immediately shifted his upper body over so that he could lean his head against her. She snaked her arm under his neck so that she could wrap it around his shoulders, and he settled in with a sigh. Laura smiled. She knew this was why Keith had asked for one of the women to come along - not necessarily her, any of them would have done. One of Keith's many child-like traits was this need for physical comfort and contact when he was hurt, ill, or upset. Had they been in Ireland, or in the closed world of the CT family, he'd have looked for and received the same comfort from one of the other men without hesitation had the women not been around, but they all knew that too many Americans took this kind of physical contact to mean a romantic or sexual link, and they didn't need rumors starting that might unsettle some of their fan base. Having Laura there made it easier for all of them, and the last thing Keith needed right now was any hassle like that. Nonetheless, Colm pulled the other chair over next to Laura and sat down, putting his own hand on Keith's as well. "Thanks, guys," Keith said. "Colm, if you hadn't been there this morning, I don't know what would have happened." "I'm just glad I could help," Colm said. Laura nodded. "It was pretty awful knowing you were hurt and not being able to do anything," she said. "All Neil and Ryan told us was that it was you and that the ambulance was on the way - they didn't want bystanders hearing any details. The rest of us didn't have any idea how you were until you came out on the way to the ambulance. It was good to see you awake and talking, I'll tell you. Then George got us all together and told us what had happened." "How was Ryan handling it?" Keith said worriedly. "He was really struggling when Colm brought him in to talk to me." "He'll be all right," Colm said. "Neil went back to the room with him to see if he could go back to sleep, but if not, Declan was going to take him for a run. They'll make sure he's not alone until he's back to normal." They sat in comfortable silence for a while until Sara came back in to check on Keith. She smiled when she saw him cuddled up to Laura. "That should help as much as anything we can do here," she said. "At least until Doctor Kuntz gets here. Looks like you're ready for another bag of fluids," and she bustled around, changing the empty bag for a new one. "The doctor should be here in about 10 minutes," she said as she left again. "When he gets here, will you send Sharon and George back in?" Keith asked. "Absolutely," Laura said. "I knew you'd want George here for that part, we all do!"
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Post by celticbear on Jan 20, 2014 0:24:51 GMT -5
Glad Bruce and Jim are coming to the concert! Had to laugh at the part of Keith asking for food! I like Sara the nurse. And Keith's caring side came trough again when he asked Laura how Ryan was doing!
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mkk59
Wicked Fan
Posts: 94
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Post by mkk59 on Jan 20, 2014 0:44:16 GMT -5
Awww!!!! Keith cuddling up to Laura is so sweet! Love this story!
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jan 20, 2014 20:51:16 GMT -5
Wow!! This story is incredible! I love how all the characters interact and how different it is from most stories on here. So great
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Post by barbt on Jan 21, 2014 21:08:58 GMT -5
They sat in comfortable, if nervous, silence for another 10 minutes. Then Sara returned with Sharon and George in tow. "I remembered that you said Sharon was to be here when the doctor came in, and this gentleman said you'd asked for him as well. Dr. Kuntz is just reading over the ambulance records and he'll be in any moment." "Thanks," Keith said. "We'll head out to the waiting area," Colm said, squeezing Keith's hand. Laura gave him a quick squeeze. As soon as she got up, George sat down in her chair and put his hand into Keith's. "All right, lad," he said. "Time to find out what's going on. I'm right here for whatever you need." Keith ducked his head against George's shoulder for a moment before straightening himself up as a dark-haired man walked into the room with Sara. He appeared hardly older than Keith, but had a firm, confident manner about him. "I'm Doctor Kuntz," he said. "Board-certified hand surgeon. I've been reading over the records the ambulance crew left us, and it seems you have had a rough morning. I know, given your profession, that you're probably seriously worried right now, so I'm going to get right down to work and hope we can set your mind at ease." "Thanks, " Keith said seriously. "I appreciate you coming down so fast. We're on tour, we've only got two more days here, so if I need any surgery it has to get done quickly." He swallowed hard. "I'm a guitarist, among other things, and I'm right-handed. So I'm kind of messed up if this is bad." Then, remembering his manners, he introduced Sharon as his manager and George as one of his bandmates. "Nice to meet all of you," Dr. Kuntz said. He gently picked up Keith's right hand, feeling it and looking at his nails. "Well, I can give you one piece of good news right away. While I don't doubt from the ambulance records that you have damaged at least one artery, I can assure you that you haven't completely severed one. Your hand is warm and the color is good, which tells me that you are still getting adequate blood flow to your hand. If that hadn't been the case, the ambulance crew would have alerted the hospital, and you'd have been rushed right through here and into emergency surgery. " Keith let out a sigh of relief. "I didn't even think of that," he said, "but it's good to know that part's OK." Dr. Kuntz smiled. "Sometimes it's better not to have TOO much medical background when something like this happens, you start worrying about stuff you might not need to," he said. "Now, have you tried to move your hand at all?" "No," said Keith. "I was afraid it would make the bleeding worse." "Smart decision. I'm not going to ask you to do that just yet." At that moment another doctor, a young black man, came to the door and knocked on the edge of it. "I'm sorry, Dr. Kuntz," he said, "I was delayed." "Ah, Dr. Murray," Dr. Kuntz replied. He introduced Dr. Murray as a final-year resident studying hand surgery. "Is it all right with you if he assists me?" he asked Keith. "I need a second pair of hands for part of this, and he's nearly done his training - and very talented, I might add." Keith looked at Sharon and she nodded. "That's fine," Keith said. Dr. Murray was introduced to everyone and filled in quickly on the case. "All right, Keith, the first thing we are going to do is to check to make sure the sensation in your hand is normal. Since the nerves that carry feeling and the nerves that carry motor impulses run right beside each other, if your sensation is intact, it means there is a better chance you've escaped any nerve damage. And of course, as you know, you need to be able to feel what you're doing with your fingers, so sensory nerve damage is something that would need to be corrected." "OK, "Keith replied. "I have felt every time anyone's touched my hand, and it doesn't feel numb or anything." "That's good, but we're going to go a lot more in depth. I'm going to be checking not only your ability to generally feel a touch, but what kind of touch - warm/cold, sharp/dull, location on your hand, passive movement of your fingers, whether you are being touched at two points or only one. There may be times when I ask you if you feel anything that I WON'T be touching you, so if you don't feel anything when I ask, don't panic. Just let me know if you don't feel it, and answer my questions as to what you do feel. Dr. Murray, we'll need to keep in mind that Keith is a guitarist and has some fairly extensive callusing on his fingertips, so that will decrease his sensation slightly from what we might expect there. If it was his left hand, that would be even more of an issue." "Yes, I see, " said Dr. Murray, examining Keith's left and right hand fingertips. "You do a lot of finger-picking, then, I suppose?" he said to Keith. "Aye, depending on what I'm playing," he said. "Do you play?" "Keyboards only," said Dr. Murray with a grin. Looking at Dr. Kuntz and receiving a nod, he said, "Keith, you'll need to keep your eyes shut while we're testing, and please, no cues from the audience." Sharon and George laughed, and George jokingly put his other hand over Keith's eyes. "Hey, that's kind of good," Keith said. "The light was bothering me anyway." They all laughed. The sensory testing went on for what felt like forever, and of course Keith had no idea how he was doing, although he was definitely feeling a lot of different sensations. George, and Sharon, of course, knew that he was getting everything right, and they were feeling more encouraged by the minute. Finally they were done, and George took his hand off Keith's eyes. He opened them to see a lot of smiling faces. "Passed with flying colors!" Dr. Kuntz said. "Your sensation is completely intact." "Two down," Keith said with a smile. "What's next?" "Give me my hand back so I can update everybody, will you?" George said. "Sorry," Keith laughed, suddenly realizing how hard he'd been squeezing George's hand. George sent a quick text to Colm and to Neil, "Doctor is here. Blood flow good to hand, and sensation is good too." "Who are you texting to?" asked Dr. Murray, curious. "The 30-somepeople back at the hotel worrying," said George. "The other singers, band and crew." "Oh!" Dr. Murray said, startled. "I didn't realize there were so many of you!" "Yes," Sharon said. "I told them no more than 4 could come here, or we'd have the whole waiting room filled up." "Well, obviously touring is a bigger concern than I thought," Dr. Kuntz said. "I was thinking 4 or 5 band members and a couple of crew! Well, let's not keep them worrying any longer than necessary. Next thing we check is the muscles in your hand itself; that will tell us if any of the motor nerves have been interrupted." "O-kay," said Keith hesitantly. "What do I need to do?" "It's not that bad," said Dr. Kuntz. "The first thing I want you to do is spread your fingers out like you're showing the number 5, and then pull them all back in again. Don't try to bend them, just keep them straight." Keith slowly and carefully tried it, and let out a huge sigh of relief as his fingers did what he told them to, without pain. Encouraged, he said, "What's next?" "This time," Dr. Kuntz said, demonstrating as he spoke, "I want you to touch the tip of your thumb to the base of each finger, right where the finger joins into your hand. Again, you're not trying to bend or touch the finger, just the top of your palm under each finger." This was a little bit harder, partly because some of the bandage crossed up onto Keith's palm and got in the way. Still, he was able to move at least in the general direction he was supposed to. "Three down?" he said, looking at Dr. Kuntz. "Yes. Now we get to the part where I need Dr. Murray's help. I need to get a look under the bandage, inside your wrist itself." Dr. Kuntz watched Keith carefully. His patient went slightly paler, but then took a deep breath and said, "Does that mean I start bleeding again?" He was now squeezing George's hand very tightly. 'You probably will bleed a bit," Dr. Kuntz said. "Sara will be here helping to keep the area clear so I can see, and Dr. Murray is going to use a pneumatic tourniquet to stop the blood flow briefly so that I can look carefully." "Hold on," Sharon said. "It sounds like you're going to be deliberately cutting off the blood flow to his hand. Is that safe?" "That's exactly what I need to do," Dr. Kuntz said. "We'll be using something similar to a blood pressure cuff to put enough pressure on your forearm to block the blood flow. The key thing here is that it's temporary - the blood flow will be stopped for no more than a minute or so at a time, and then we'll release the pressure and let blood back into your hand for a few minutes before we stop it again. It's exactly what I will be doing if I have to operate on your hand - obviously I can't operate if I can't see what I'm doing because of bleeding."
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Post by barbt on Jan 21, 2014 21:21:58 GMT -5
I should probably note that Dr. Kuntz is the hand surgeon who correctly diagnosed and fixed my own torn wrist ligament two years ago. Dr. Murray is completely a fictional character.
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jan 21, 2014 23:33:39 GMT -5
Whoo! Lots of medical stuff I'm glad his hand is passing so far.... That would be rough if he couldn't go on anymore with playing guitar.
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Post by celticbear on Jan 22, 2014 0:27:07 GMT -5
So far so good! Glad George is keeping every body updated via text messages! Loved Dr Murray's reaction to exactly how big of a family CT is. Hope Keith passes this next phase of the exam.
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Post by barbt on Jan 22, 2014 13:18:27 GMT -5
Keith closed his eyes for a moment in thought. He didn't like the idea of what was about to happen, but at the same time, he NEEDED to know what had happened to his wrist - and the long process of finding out was wearing him down. He felt Sharon's hand on his shoulder. She knew, too, what the waiting, especially waiting without being able to move around, was doing to him. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, looked directly at Dr. Kuntz, and said firmly, "All right, let's get this over with." "OK," said Dr. Kuntz. "We're going to get things set up. First, I need to give you several injections of a local anesthetic. That's going to require taking the pressure bandage off, but we'll keep manual pressure on the wound until we're ready to start working." Sara had been getting out syringes and packets of sterile supplies as he spoke. She put on gloves and a gown, and then came to stand by Keith's right side as Dr. Kuntz prepared to release the bandage. Dr. Kuntz cut the bandage loose and immediately it began to redden. Sara placed her hand directly over the red area, pressing hard, and Keith gritted his teeth at the pain. "Three sticks," Dr. Kuntz said, "and then a few minutes for the area to numb up thoroughly." "Go for it, " Keith said, ducking his head and holding on to George's hand for all he was worth. He felt the three injections all too clearly. Then finally a welcome numbness began to spread through his wrist and into his hand, and he began to relax. "Wow," he said. "That wasn't fun." "I'm sure it wasn't," Dr. Kuntz said sympathetically. Meanwhile, Dr. Murray was setting up the pneumatic tourniquet, and Dr. Kuntz was scrubbing his hands, and getting his gloves and gown on. "We're setting up a sterile field that we'll work in," he explained to everyone as drapes were set up covering the treatment table and all of Keith's hand except a small opening over his wrist. "Are we ready?" he asked Dr. Murray. "Inflating the tourniquet now," Dr. Murray said. Keith felt an intense pressure on his forearm. "All right, release the manual pressure," he said to Sara. She pulled the remains of the pressure bandage away, dropping them onto the floor, and quickly grabbed clean gauze squares. There was a small amount of blood oozing from the v-shaped cut on Keith's wrist, but it was minimal. "Excellent," said Dr. Kuntz. He flipped his head, causing a set of magnifying glasses that he had put on to flip down in front of his eyes. He carefully reached in, moved the flap of loosened skin, and probed under it. "Ah, now that's interesting," he said. "Not at all what I expected, but I'm not complaining. Dr. Murray, will you look and confirm my findings, please?" Dr. Murray took the magnifying glasses from Dr. Kuntz and put them over his own eyes, looking through them into the wound as Dr. Kuntz pointed things out. "Yes, I see!" he said. "Amazing!" "All right," said Dr. Kuntz, "let's replace the manual pressure and release the tourniquet." Keith felt the pressure come off his arm with relief. "So what's so amazing? " he said, impatient now. Sharon squeezed his shoulder. "You are either one very lucky man or someone upstairs is looking out for you," said Dr. Kuntz. "I'm not quite sure how you managed it, but that glass somehow put small nicks in BOTH of the major arteries to your hand, but completely bypassed the tendons that run directly over and beside them." Keith looked at him, wide-eyed. "You mean there's no damage to the tendons?" he finally said. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean," Dr. Kuntz said. "The odds against it are astronomical, but there you are." Keith relaxed so thoroughly that it was like he'd deflated. He closed his eyes and murmured, "Thank God." George echoed him, but also took the opportunity to free his hand and send the news out: "NO DAMAGE to tendons or nerves! Small cuts to the arteries only!" In a moment, they heard faintly from the waiting room a wild yelp of joy, and Keith started giggling suddenly. He looked at George. "You sent that to Colm, didn't you?" George nodded, grinning. "I reckon the hotel figures a bomb just went off or something," he said, laughing. "I'm surprised we can't hear them from here." "Well, we've still got to get these arteries fixed," Dr. Kuntz said. They could tell he was smiling behind his mask. "And I need something firmly understood before I start this process." His voice became quite stern, and Keith, George and Sharon sobered immediately and looked at him attentively. "Once this is stitched up, you aren't completely out of the woods yet," he said. "Because of where the arterial cuts are located, you CANNOT move your wrist or the arterial stitches will pull loose. Once everything is stitched, I'm putting you in a wrist brace that you will need to wear night and day for a full week. After that week, you may take it off once a day, only long enough to clean and rebandage the wound, for another full week. Only after two weeks may you take it off and start using your hand normally again. And NO guitar playing for the full two weeks. Understood?" Keith gulped. This was more than he'd expected, but it made sense. He started mentally counting in his head - yes, the gig at Poor David's was two weeks away. He wouldn't have to cancel it, he hoped. Dr. Kuntz was waiting for an answer, and so was Sharon, looking at him sternly. "Understood," he said. "Good," said Sharon, getting out her phone. "I'm telling Davie to put your guitars in the truck with the other instruments, and telling everyone that they are NOT to loan you any instruments. This is one rule you're not charming your way out of." "I won't!" Keith protested, but Sharon shook her head at him. "Even with the best intentions in the world," she said, "I know you too well. If you have access to a guitar, you won't be able to resist trying something out. I'm putting everybody on guard duty." Keith hung his head. He knew she was right, but two weeks suddenly felt like a year. "All right," he said finally. Dr. Kuntz had let them get this little drama out of the way, but now he was all business. "Let's get these arteries stitched up," he said, "and then I'm going to have Dr. Murray do the skin closure and give you your discharge instructions." The stitching-up process was probably the least stressful of all the things that had happened so far. Within 20 minutes, Keith had a neat row of stitches on his wrist, which was then bandaged, with Colm watching as well so that several people would know how to redo the bandages when needed, and put into a black elastic brace with metal pieces from his forearm into his palm and over the back of his hand. The brace slid on over his hand and closed with straps around his hand and several places on his wrist. Dr. Murray reviewed his discharge instructions - keep the brace on, keep the dressings dry, use ice or over the counter medications for pain, exercises to keep his fingers moving so they didn't stiffen. Since the tour would be in Texas before his stitches could come out, he was given a prescription and information to take to an urgent care center wherever he was to have the stitches removed. He was given written instruction for everything, and picture instructions for the exercises. He was also given extra bandage material so that the bandages could be redone after a week or if they got wet beforehand. He was also instructed to relax for a few days, drink plenty of fluids, and eat plenty of protein to help replace the blood he'd lost - and told that even though they'd replaced the volume with fluid, it would take several days before he was back up to normal. By the time they were done, Keith was exhausted and hungry, and more than ready to leave.
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Post by celticbear on Jan 22, 2014 18:41:12 GMT -5
So happy Keith made it! Now comes the hard part, keeping him from ALL HIS GUITARS AND GUITAR SHOPS! I seem to remember Keith posting that after every thing was done in the hospital that the two weeks with NO GUITARS WAS THE WORST PART OF THE WHOLE ORDEAL!
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jan 22, 2014 21:34:15 GMT -5
Ugh. Two weeks without playing an instrument would be so tough.... You have a great writing style
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Post by barbt on Jan 26, 2014 14:16:35 GMT -5
By the time they got back to the hotel, Keith was almost asleep in the van. George and Colm had to support him for a few minutes until he finally woke up enough to walk without stumbling. The three other singers had taken the liberty of ordering from room service and had enough food for all of them in George and Ryan's room. Keith made himself eat, knowing he needed to, and then Davie took him to their new room. Keith was asleep almost before he hit the bed, and Davie went back to the others. "So the doctor said everything was fine?" Dave said to George. He'd been worrying himself sick about how Keith would handle not being able to play if there was major damage. "Aye," George said. "No damage to anything but the arteries, somehow. But Keith's not allowed to play at all for 2 weeks, and we've got to make sure he sticks to that. The doctor said if he's not careful he could tear the stitches out of the arteries." "THAT'S going to be fun," said Neil. "I can't imagine not touching a guitar for 2 weeks, and Keith plays more than I do." They all knew he was right. Keith nearly always had a guitar within reach and, especially on the long bus journeys, killed the time by playing. They knew the next two weeks were going to be rough - Keith bored was bad enough, coming up with pranks for everyone. Keith bored and grumpy because he couldn't play was going to be miserable. They knew he wouldn't intend to, but he'd make it rough for all of them. It didn't help that there weren't going to be many other things he could do, either. He wasn't into sports or video games, so neither of those were going to help fill in the hours as they did for the other guys. Even his skate boarding was going to be have to be kept to a minimum to avoid falling on his wrist. They all had to resign themselves to the fact that, for the next two weeks, the only time Keith was going to be anything close to happy would be when he was on stage, performing. By this point, the concert was a day and a half away. That time wasn't too bad; between the rehearsals they needed to switch out Keith's guitar parts to others, Keith mostly slept or ate. He didn't have enough energy to do anything else. That was odd enough to keep everybody a little on edge, since Keith was close to hyperactive most of the time. Fortunately, he'd had broken wrists before from skating and knew all the tricks to functioning with his wrist immobilized, so he didn't have that frustration to deal with. On the afternoon before the concert, Keith finally seemed to be somewhat back to his old self. He'd been so quiet that Sharon had actually talked to him about sitting out this concert, worried that he wouldn't have enough energy for it. As she expected, he'd flat out refused to consider sitting it out and told her he'd be fine. He knew Bruce and Jim were coming and wanted them to see the whole show. And Sharon knew he'd push himself through it if he had to, even if they practically had to carry him to the bus afterwards. When Bruce and Jim arrived at the venue, they were a little surprised to see how much of the audience was women - and older women at that. And it was clear that some of them were close to groupies rather than fans - they heard some of them talking about how this was their 4 or 5th concert this year. Sharon had, of course, told them the name of the group, but Jim and Bruce had agreed not to look them up and just see what happened at the show. When they picked up their tickets, they were surprised to find a note and two backstage passes along with them. Sharon had written that she'd like them to come backstage to thank them again for being so helpful. They were glad; they hadn't had a chance to get back to the hospital to check on Keith and they wanted to find out how things had turned out. Their seats turned out to be front row center, which made them feel a little odd since that was where most of the seriously groupie women seemed to be. Some of them at least had husbands with them, and the men seemed just as ready to enjoy the show, although less openly excited about it. They were surprised to see that there was actually a bit of a set, and clearly space for musicians on the stage. They had been expecting something more like a traditional band set-up. Sharon came out of stage briefly before the show started, to explain that Keith had injured his wrist and that other people would be doing his guitar parts. That started the whole audience murmuring, and Jim and Bruce caught a lot of things like "Oh, not again!" and "What has that boy done to himself now?" and a fair amount of concern as well. Clearly it wasn't unusual for Keith to have some sort of injury, as Dave had said. The band came on to loud cheering, and it was clear that the people in the audience knew the band by name as well - another surprise. Then the lights went down, and the drums started, and Bruce and Jim grinned at each other, realizing that this was going to be a lot different than they had expected, and already enjoying it. A haunting voice came from backstage, and then the cheers erupted louder as the singers came on stage. When Keith lifted his head up and started singing, Bruce and Jim just looked at each other in amazement. Somehow this strong, clear tenor call wasn't what they'd expected from Keith singing. They'd somehow both expected a rougher rock or country edge to his voice. The surprises just kept coming. The only person who sounded like they'd expected him to was George. Emmet turned out to have a phenomenal and highly trained tenor/baritone voice, while Colm's gentle voice was completely at odds with the man who'd taken such control after Keith's injury. They'd hadn't actually met Neil, but his high sweet tenor was like nothing they'd ever heard before. Keith turned out to also have the rock/country voice they'd expected, but it was so different from what he'd started the show with that Bruce and Jim both agreed that they wouldn't have thought it was the same person if they hadn't seen him singing. The biggest surprise was Ryan. The hesitant man who could barely speak was completely gone. Ryan's eyes were flashing, his movements were crisp and sharp, and his voice was powerful. He was playing the bad boy role to the hilt, clearly enjoying it. When intermission came, Bruce looked at Jim and said, "Is that really Ryan? I wonder what was wrong with him the other day?" Jim grinned. "Keith told me, actually, while we were in the ambulance. Ryan had a head injury that nearly killed him in June. Keith said he was in a coma for 3 weeks, but he was back in rehearsal with them by the beginning of August. He said Ryan hadn't had an episode like that in over a month. I guess waking up to that was just too much for him to process all at once." Bruce looked at him skeptically. "This past June? Like 5 months ago? That's a ridiculously fast recovery!" "I know," Jim shrugged. "But there he is, and he's obviously fine when he hasn't just had his world turned upside down." When the second act started, each of the singers had a brief moment to talk to the audience. Keith told them that he'd cut his wrist on glass, but would be fine in two weeks. He also (carefully not looking at Bruce and Jim) said that the paramedics who had helped him were in the audience and thanked them again. When the people around the two men realized that Keith had actually needed an ambulance they suddenly became much more upset than they had been; some of them were almost crying. A few of them compared the situation to finding out about Ryan's accident. When Ryan had a chance to talk he gave them a brief version of how he'd been injured, and said that he couldn't believe how much support he'd gotten from the fans and how much they'd helped him through his recovery. It was obvious from the reaction of the crowd that Ryan was dearly loved by everyone - in fact, all the guys were. Bruce and Jim had never seen such a camaraderie between performers and fans before, it was like they were all family somehow. After they finished what seemed to be the last song, the performers were all taking their bows and responding to the audience, clapping and pointing back at the audience. Jim suddenly shuddered and said, "Oh, no he didn't just do that!" Bruce had been looking the other way, and said, "What?" "Keith just tried to clap," Jim said. "You should have seen the look on his face for split second. That must have hurt like heck." "Well, he looks OK now," Bruce said. Keith was standing there smiling and waving, like nothing had happened, and Colm actually gave him a hand to clap against when they went over to the other side of the stage. The performers went off stage, and Bruce and Jim figured the lights would go up, but they didn't. Instead, the band broke into a lively instrumental number. Backstage, where no one could see, Keith had nearly dropped to his knees as soon as he was out of sight of the audience. His wrist hurt so badly he thought he might pass out. Colm and Emmet grabbed him and hauled him back to the quick change area and sat him down. "Are you all right?" Colm said urgently. "No," Keith said, gasping and bending over his wrist, which was cradled against his body. "God, that hurts. I almost passed out." Sharon appeared beside him. "Are you going to be able to do Ireland's Call? Or should I have Colm take your part?" "I can do it," Keith said. "I'm not going to scare them like that. But I'll need help for the kilt change, I'm not going to be able to use this hand at all." He forced himself to get up and get moving, knowing they had only minutes. "Sharon, can you get Bruce and Jim back here as soon as the lights are up? I might need them again." "Of course," Sharon said, watching him worriedly as he started to one-handedly get ready for the kilt change. Candice and her assistants appeared and took over, letting Colm and Emmet have time to change as well. Keith was white as a sheet, and sweating, and his breathing was still ragged. Sharon had no idea how he was going to get through that last song, but by the time the first chords started and the screams began from the audience, he had found a moment to shut his eyes and pull himself together, and went out on stage as if he hadn't been gasping in pain 3 minutes before. She watched in concern from the side of the stage, and although she and the others in the CT family could see the effort it was taking him to get through the song, from the audience side it had to look nearly flawless. Sharon shook her head, wondering at the strength in that young man, and then went and asked one of the security men to find Bruce and Jim as soon as possible and bring them back to the singers' dressing room. Bruce and Jim had seen little to concern them when Keith came out; he seemed to be fine, using his arm freely and singing as clearly as he had all night. When the song was over and he'd gone offstage, several of the ladies commented that he hadn't done his normal heel click kick when he went off. What they couldn't see was that just backstage Colm and Emmet had thrown their arms around Keith and practically carried him to the dressing room, the others clearing the way for him. Once inside, they sat him on the couch and Colm made him put his head between his knees; he was afraid Keith really was going to pass out this time. Bruce and Jim had barely risen from their seats when a security guard asked their names and then said, very quietly, "I've been asked to bring you backstage immediately. Keith wants you." They looked at each other in worry, but didn't ask anything until they were backstage. "Is he all right?" Jim said. The security guard shook his head - he was part of the CT crew, and Keith was family to him as well - and said, "No, they practically had to carry him off stage from both of the last two numbers. He's hurting, bad." He opened the door to the dressing room and let them in, then stationed himself outside the door as he closed it. The first thing they saw was Keith hunched over on the sofa, Colm beside him and the other singers as well as Sharon nearby. Jim was down on his knees in front of Keith in an instant, trying to get a look at him. "Keith? It's Jim. Are you OK? What happened?" Keith pushed himself up left-handed, and flopped back against the couch, trembling. He was still pale, and still breathing roughly. He said, "When I forgot and started clapping, it felt like every stitch pulled out of my wrist. I've never had anything hurt like that in my life. I honestly expected to see blood coming out from under the brace. It's not hurting as much now, but it burns like fire. Can you guys check it out and make sure I didn't do any damage?" "Of course," Bruce said. "Do you have extra bandage material?" Colm got up and went to where the box of supplies was. "Yeah, we brought it in from the bus in case he got the bandages wet in the shower," he said. "All right," said Jim, "First, we need to know what was damaged. Did you need any surgery?" "No," Keith said. "Dr. Kuntz was surprised, but he said I only had nicks in both of the arteries, no tendon or nerve damage. I've got stitches in the arteries and the skin, that's it." "Ok, then let's get this brace off," Jim said. "Gently, now." He unstrapped the brace and gently pulled it off over Keith's fingers. "Keith, I'm going to support your wrist while Bruce undoes the wrapping." "Ok," Keith said. He concentrated on trying to keep his hand as still as possible and not clenching it into a fist against the pain. "You're good," Jim said. "The stitches are intact, although they're clearly irritated. If you'd torn the arterial ones, there'd be a huge bruise and swelling by now, so I'm sure they're fine as well. We're going to get this wrapped up again, and then I think an ice pack, if you have one, would probably help a lot with the pain. Just make sure you keep that wrist supported until the brace is back on." Keith breathed a huge sigh of relief as did everyone around him. It was clear everyone else in the room had been just as stressed by Keith's pain as he was, and just as worried. Ryan had disappeared out the door and came back with a bag of ice in a few moments. He grabbed a towel and put the ice on Keith's wrist gently, watching him carefully. "All right?", he said. "Yeah," Keith said tiredly. "It feels good. Thanks, Ryan." "No problem," Ryan said. "I can't believe you managed to get through that without losing it onstage. I didn't even realize you'd hurt yourself until you almost collapsed before the kilt change." Colm said, "I knew it hurt when you clapped, but I didn't know how bad. I just figured I'd help you out so you wouldn't try it again." "Don't worry," Keith said, grimacing. "I won't be trying THAT again anytime soon!"
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mkk59
Wicked Fan
Posts: 94
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Post by mkk59 on Jan 26, 2014 15:51:25 GMT -5
Oh no! That was such a close call for Keith! I can imagine how easily it would be to get caught up in the moment though!
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