Grounded- Chapter Five

[sylvanelfqueen.livejournal.com]

Title: Grounded

 

Pairing:  VigOrli

 

Rating: NC-17 eventually

 

Warning: M/M sex, medical stuff, angst, language, evil cliffhangers, character death, sequel to “Accidents In Air” (must read first).

 

Disclaimer: Medical treatments discussed in this story are partially fictional and partially true. I don’t own the characters, except for ones you don’t recognize; they belong to themselves. The program, “Fly Devils”, is made up by me.

 

Summary: They thought the hardest part was over, the day their lives went to hell in hurry, but none of them were prepared for the aftermath. Sequel to “Accidents In Air”.



A/N:  Forgive me, please!  I know it has been forever since I last posted for this story.  I promise to try and post more frequently now that things are being to settle.  And remember, to read the past chapters, click the banner love.  And leave me a hug because I could use the love!  *super hugs*

Chapter Five- Survival Instinct

 

          The kid was a bloody mess, that much was for sure, Bernard thought, as he once again had to suction out the blood from the site. He cast another glance up to where the Neuro team was working at Orlando’s head. They had decided to perform both surgeries at the same time to reduce the risk. He was going to under long enough for one surgery, let alone two separate ones.

 

        The Neuro team had evacuated the blood that had been surrounding the kid’s brain, and now they were piecing his skull back together, fusing it in place. It had been a shame when they had shaved off all that hair, but it would grow back Bernard reminded himself as he looked away.

 

        Another glance up to the clock showed they were doing okay on time, he didn’t want the anesthesia wearing off until they were well and done. His vitals were holding steady. Everything was progressing as it should, but another look down at the kid’s back and he sighed again.

 

        The vertebrae were shattered; at least two of them in the lumbar region, but it was hard to tell with all the blood. They were just about ready to put the metal rods in place and then he would be able to close it up.

 

~%~%~%~

 

        Sean stepped hesitantly into the darkened room, Ian right behind him. He didn’t know what he expected to see even though he had played the scenario over in his head a hundred times on the way down. Maybe the brown eyes would open and he would start talking away. Or he wouldn’t move at all. Maybe they would say there had been a mix up and he had died. Or maybe none of this had happened at all and he would wake up once he crossed the threshold.

 

        There was no such luck, however. He wasn’t dreaming and the only thing that disappeared as he crossed the threshold was his breath. Tears blurred his eyes as he looked at the body lying so still on the bed. Only his chest rose and fell, but that was even hard to see from the angle he was laying at. The little gasp he let loose was matched by an even larger one from the man behind him. Never had they seen him like this.

 

        Orlando lay on a special bed lined with pads. Each of his limbs encased and strapped down, even his head was held immobile. And the bed was not lying horizontal, but rather rotated, sending Orlando vertical on his side, then rolled the other way. The beautiful chocolate curls were gone. In their place was short brown stubble peeking up from under wads of bandages. Patches of skin were covered in special dressings and Sean knew instinctively that they were burns. Numerous tubes ran in and out of his body, carrying liquid in, taking it out. . .

 

        It all seemed so surreal that Sean had to blink a few times before he reached out an uncertain hand and brushed it against Orlando’s cheek. A small smile curled up the corners of his lips as the eye lids fluttered briefly before settling down again. Feeling braver, Sean stepped closer and took one of Orlando’s hands in his, squeezing gently but firm enough to let the kid know someone was still with him.

 

        “You can talk to him.” The voice startled Sean and he looked over to see a man sitting in the chair in the corner. The man stood up and walked over to them, extending out his hand. “I’m Richard. I’ll be his exclusive nurse tonight until Fran comes back on.”

 

        Sean just nodded. Ian introduced them and spoke a few quiet words with the nurse before he stepped back out of the room. Richard came up to Sean then and gently nudged him closer to the bed. 

 

        “We always tell families to talk to their loved ones. Even though it may look like they are out of it, they can still hear you. Besides, I’m pretty sure he’s sick of my voice by now.”

 

        Once Richard had moved back to the other side of the room, fiddling with the IV lines, Sean leaned down and gently brushed his lips across Orlando’s forehead. “Hey kid.” Orlando’s eyes fluttered once before they stopped. “Are you gonna wake up? You’ve been scaring us all with these antics of yours. Your just lucky Captain likes you or you’d have been outta here long ago.”

 

        Bean let a small laugh leave his lips before he had to wipe away an escaped tear. “If only you knew, kid. I don’t think I ever cried this much since I was kid.” He sighed again, resisting the urge to run his fingertips over Orlando’s cheek. He couldn’t help it though; Orlando looked so young and innocent like this. “Vig’s worried about you. He’s okay, just needs you back.”

       

        He was going to say more but the bed started to move. It slowly started to turn, rolling back over to the other side. Sean looked up to the nurse, startled, but Richard just smiled and motioned for him to come over to the other side.

 

        “Dr. Hill ordered him to be kept on this bed for a few days. It rotates so that we’re not putting pressure on Orlando’s back until its healed some more. As you know, the surgery went perfectly; we just don’t want to irritate the area. And Dr. Hill was also hoping that this would pull some pressure off Orlando’s lungs so hopefully he can start breathing more on his own. He fixed the ribs but all the wire and metal is putting some unneeded pressure there. We’ll know in a day or two if it works.” By now, Orlando’s bed had completed its rotation and now he was facing towards the windows. Richard reached his hand out and gently squeezed Orlando’s arm. “Isn’t that right, buddy?”

 

        Orlando’s eyes fluttered in response and Richard laughed. “I think he’s annoyed with me, but he’ll have to get over it. I’m here for the next ten hours, bud. Sorry.” He let out another laugh, and went back to his chair. Sean’s relieved smile didn’t escape his notice however.

 

~%~%~%~

 

        Our top story tonight on the six o’clock news, Captain Ian McKellen speaks at a press conference about the ‘Fly Devils’ tragedy.

 

        We go now to our correspondent, Alice Cooper who is waiting outside the Colombia building where Captain McKellen will give his speech. Alice . . .

       

        Hi Julie. As you have said, we are currently located outside the Colombia building where in a few minutes, Captain McKellen, leader of the ‘Fly Devils’, will be giving a press conference about what happened at the show two days ago.

 

        As many of you recall, the show was to benefit a local kid’s charity. Many had shown up and were dazzled by the skill the five pilots displayed. Then something went horribly wrong and left two planes colliding and debris from the crash taking down another plane.

 

        We know now that the two planes that hit belonged to Lieutenant Viggo Mortensen, a veteran on the ‘Fly Devils’ team and experienced Marine pilot, and Lieutenant Orlando Bloom, the youngest member of the team and son to legendary Captain Harry Bloom. The third plane that crashed belonged to Lieutenant Karl Urban, an experienced Army pilot. The other two pilots, Lieutenants Sean Bean and David Wenham, landed safely in the fields. Not much else is known at this time but hopefully this press conference will clear this all up.

 

        We go now live inside the Colombia building with Captain McKellen. . .

 

        Good evening and thank you for coming on such short notice. This will be brief and I will only be answering a few questions.

 

        Now, as you all know, there was a serious crash two days ago at the show including three planes. After study and analysis of the tapes, we are confident that none of the pilots showed any error in judgment or in handling their aircrafts. They performed the show as it had been choreographed, sticking to the same specifications as the practice the day before. What is also known is that the winds at their altitude were of a higher speed than originally anticipated. That slight change in weather during the show was enough to throw each pilot’s course off path by just a few degrees, which in turn caused them to crash into one another. There was nothing that could have prevented it, and there was no way for the pilots to know such a thing had occurred. It is regrettable, and a horrible tragedy, but there was no one at fault.

 

        Two of the planes crashed on the field. One pilot, Lieutenant Mortensen, was able to bail out of his aircraft. He was taken to the hospital and is now in stable condition. The second pilot, Lieutenant Urban was unable to bail out of his plane and crashed into the field. The medical examiner has informed us that he was killed from the initial impact of the debris hitting the plane; he was already deceased when his plane crashed.

 

        The third plane disappeared over the cliffs. Divers were sent out and after many hours of searching the waters, Lieutenant Bloom and his plane were found. He was flown to the hospital and is critical condition right now. . .

 

        Dave clicked off the TV; he didn’t want to hear anymore. He knew what had happened; he had seen it with his own eyes. But he had needed to hear Ian’s words, needed to reassure himself that there wasn’t anything he had done wrong. He had made the call when he and Karl were supposed to split and he feared that he had called it too early. He feared that if he would have called it a few seconds later, then Karl’s plane wouldn’t have been directly over Orlando’s and he wouldn’t have been hit by the wing. He wouldn’t have died.

 

        Of course, he had let these feelings slip to Ian and Sean and they had scolded him. They said there was no way he could have known, there was nothing else he could have done. He was trained to act on instinct and that’s what he had done. Nothing could have changed the situation. But sitting here in silence of Orlando’s room, staring at his young friend’s body, he couldn’t help but wonder if his instinct hadn’t gotten one of his friends killed.

 

Comments

[idri-fic.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy to see more of this posted. I hope RL is being kinder to you at the moment *hugs*

Poor Orlando though.. so damaged and his beautiful curls gone. And I love sensitive sad Sean.. this bit:

“If only you knew, kid. I don’t think I ever cried this much since I was kid.”

*gulp*

Really looking forward to more, thanks so much for posting a new chapter.

[sylvanelfqueen.livejournal.com]

*big grins*

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I always thought of Sean as a big softie!

*huggles*