Chapter 4

Thursday morning found Brian up bright and early waiting for the nurses. They helped him to the washroom where he took care of the essentials before breakfast. After a full breakfast the nurses, doctor and his Mother all came in about the same time to find Brian in a good mood waiting for them with a smile.

"Good morning all" Brian greeted them.

"And a good morning to you Mr. Trainer. I'm glad to see that you're so chipper this morning" replied the Doctor.

"Yes, good morning Brian" echoed the two nurses smiling at him.

The medical team quickly unwrapped the bandages and the leads to the machines, turning off the alarms quickly. The doctor examined the wounds and then said "These look good Brian; I think we will remove all of the stitches now. It will hurt for a bit and then they should all feel more comfortable with less pulling."

"Whatever you think Doc, I'm ready to get out of here!" replied Brian.

They all laughed and then got to work with some sterilized equipment the nurses brought in. The doctor snipped and pulled the stitches on both head cuts and the arm one while one nurse held a tray for the scraps and the other dabbed the cuts as directed. After they were done removing the stitches they cleaned all three areas and then checked out the shunt holes, which were starting to heal nicely. They bandaged up the holes but left the two cuts to the air for the time being.

"There you go, all done Brian. With what I see here today, I think it very likely you can go home Saturday morning" the doctor told him.

"Fantastic Doctor, I appreciate all the fine work you did for me, along with your two very capable assistants here" Brian thanked him.

"You are most welcome Brian, it's been a pleasure to see you recover so quickly from your attack" the doctor replied. "I'll drop in a couple more times to inspect the holes and then you can get out of here."

"Sounds good" agreed Brian as the team walked out.

"Brian, those cuts look terrible. I hope the scar will be covered by your hair or you're going to scare away all the women and small children" his Mom said, looking closely at his head.

"Well, the women don't seem to be coming around much anyway so there might not be any children around much either" Brian responded with a small smile.

"Well, hopefully that will change soon" she tried to cheer him up.

Soon after that Mrs. Simon and Heather showed up to take Brian's mom out and about the city. They came over and saw the wounds on his head for the first time.

"Oh my God, Brian, I didn't know they were so bad" said Mrs. Simon in shock while Heather had her hand over her mouth in horror.

"Sorry to shock you ladies, they just took out the stitches and wanted to let them get some air" Brian apologized.

"Don't apologize Brian, they just take some getting used to" replied Mrs. Simon.

"Yes they do Carla, but they're healing fine and will fade in time. He's on schedule to get out on Saturday" his Mom said.

"That's great Sandra. Isn't that good news Heather?" asked her Mom.

"Yes it is Mom" she said in a small voice with her eyes tearing up.

"Oh Honey, are you ok?" asked Sandra worriedly.

Heather broke down and ran to the bathroom crying and shut the door.

"She's been upset since she found out about this. She really got angry at Terry about his stupidity and she's going to be even more livid now that she has seen Brian's injuries. I'm not sure why she's so upset though; you two don't have a thing going on that we don't know about do you Brian?" Carla asked with a grin.

"No such luck Mrs. Simon. I've met her a couple of times at the company Christmas party and she pops her head in to say hi whenever she's visiting Mr. Simon or Terry, but that's it" Brian replied.

"Hmmm, she's always been a sensitive girl, caring a lot for injured animals and such" Carla mused out loud as she moved to the bathroom door. "Are you ok Heather dear?"

"I'll be ok, just give me a minute please" we heard her say.

"Ok Honey, take your time" replied her Mother.

She walked back and shrugged "She's had a lot going on the last couple of weeks, final exams, graduation, Brian and Terry's injuries, moving back home. The stress must have gotten to her."

"No problem, she's the first to go running away but probably won't be the last" joked Brian. "I'm going to have to start wearing ball caps!"

"We'll look for some today Brian. We can't have you scaring all the pretty girls away from afar" his Mom teased. "Now be nice to Heather when she comes out Mister!"

"Yes Ma'am" he replied with a grin.

Heather came out a couple minutes later, looking embarrassed.