Chapter 45
"Jemma, she is going to be okay, isn't she?" Skye asked as she looked up. Agent Hand was quiet, lost in a drugged sleep, but it didn't seem like a peaceful sleep. Skye could practically feel the fear still radiating off of her, and what she had said, about everyone on their team hating her, it was haunting her. Agent Hand seemed like the type who wouldn't care what anyone else thought of her, who was secure in who she was and the decisions that she was making, but for something like that to slip out when pain, and fear and medicines were messing with her head, on some level it had to bother her. But how could they fix it? Agent Hand was big and scary, but for her to think that they hated her it just didn't sit right with Skye, but how in the world were they going to manage to fix it?
Jemma studied the monitors before replying. Agent Hand's heart rhythm seemed stable once more, and the rate was hovering around 80. That was a good sign, but still with how weak the fever and the flu had left her, Jemma wasn't completely comfortable that she wasn't still in a degree of danger. What was taking Agent Coulson so long to bring those medicines she had requested? She would feel a whole lot more secure dealing with potential cardiac problems if she had the drugs to treat them on hand.
"Jemma? She is going to be okay, right?" Skye asked again when Jemma didn't answer immediately. And if Jemma thought there was even a chance Agent Hand wasn't going to be okay, why were they still sitting here, and not getting her to a hospital?
"Sorry. I'm just being paranoid, I know." Jemma shook her head and forced herself to focus. "Her vital signs look good. I'm almost positive that as long as we can keep her from experiencing further shocks, that she'll be fine."
"Well, I fixed her phone where she can't get online again, and her computer's locked down." Skye said. "Is there anything else that we can do for her?"
"Not until Agent Coulson and the others get back with the medicine. At least I can't think of anything, except to talk to her, perhaps, and let her know that we're with her."
"I'm not sure if that would help or not, since she has the idea that Fury's trying to pull the same thing with her that he did with AC. And that she's about to become the newest resident of our plane." Skye said as she gently rubbed Victoria's back in small circles. Between dealing with the worst case of the flu even and now this, Agent Hand just looked so absolutely small, and small was an awful look for her. And her hair, four days of being sick in bed had definitely not been good for her poor hair. "Do you see a brush or something in her desk? Maybe brushing would help a little."
Brush. Jemma opened drawers and pushed things around until she found a hairbrush to hand to Skye. "We probably need to see about getting her cleaned up a bit. That might help her feel a little better."
"A bath, even a sponge bath, would probably feel really good." Skye agreed as she ran the brush through Agent Hand's hair, carefully trying to work out the tangles without pulling. "Do you think there would be some way to wash her hair for her too? I know that the dry stuff is supposed to work fine, but I've tried it, and it doesn't feel as good as real water and shampoo."
Real shampoo. That might a bit tricky, but Skye was probably right that it would make Agent Hand feel better than the dry type. Surely they could figure out a way to manage it. She pulled out a pen and quickly scribbled another list. Towels, washcloths, soap, plenty of warm water, cups and bowls for pouring water, a fresh gown and shampoo. "You don't think her hair needs a special shampoo, do you? I would hate to use the wrong thing, and damage those red streaks."
"One time with the wrong thing, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt." Skye said. "When her fever came down and she started sweating like crazy, that didn't do anything, and I would think being drenched in sweat would be way worse than the wrong shampoo for hair, right?"
Before Jemma could reply, there was a knock on the door.
"Agent Simmons?" Bruce called. "I heard what happened, with Agent Hand, and I was wanting to see if there was anything I could do. How is she?"
"She's better." Jemma said as she went to the door. "Heartrate's around 80 and the rhythm's stable. Blood pressure was around 115 over 70 when I checked it. Do you know if Agent Coulson was able to find those medicines? I would really like to get her on the nitroglycerine as a precaution."
"They're looking for the medicines." Bruce told her. "Tony suggested something, though, and I thought I would see if you think it might be a good idea. He knows a lot of cardiologists after his heart thing, and he offered to set up a teleconference if we thought it might be a good idea. It sounds like she's fine, and what you're doing is working, but if you think it would be a good idea, he's happy to set up something."
"That would be wonderful." Jemma was sure that what she was doing was correct, and the standard treatment for what had happened, but still, consulting with an expert if they were willing would be wonderful, in case there was something new that she might not have heard about yet. "Please tell Mister Stark thank you for me!"
"I will and I'll let you know when we set something up. Is there anything else you need?"
"If you could give this to Agent Coulson?" Jemma asked as she passed the list she had made under the door. "We were thinking getting cleaned up a bit might make Agent Hand feel better."
"Bath. Probably a good idea." Bruce said. "I'll give it to them and then go talk to Tony about that teleconference, okay?"
"How is she?" Coulson, May and John were just coming through the stairwell door when Bruce reached it.
"Her vitals are good. She's stable. I think she's going to be fine. Agent Simmons said we could go ahead and set up a teleconference with that cardiologist, but really, it's going to be a precaution more than anything at this point."
Coulson sighed with relief. Fine. Victoria was going to be fine, and hopefully Fury was going to be able to get the entire mess with her funeral straightened out. This was going to be okay.
"What's that list?" John asked as he spotted the paper in Bruce's hand. Did Vic need more medicines? But how could she be okay if she needed more medicines?
"Agent Simmons thought it might help make Agent Hand more comfortable if they could clean her up a bit." Bruce said as he handed the list over.
"I'll handle hunting down this stuff." John offered. Vic would probably hate the idea of being so sick that she needed someone to bathe her and wash her hair for her, but Coulson's girls were right, it would make her feel a lot better. He started back down the stairs as he read the list. Towels, now where could he find some nice, soft, fluffy towels? Vic would have his head if he brought up the scratchy towels that they used in the training rooms for her. Maybe Phil had something on that plane of his. He had always used fabric softener and nice towels. That ought to work. And hopefully by the time he was back with everything, Fury would have called with the good news he had fixed that mess with Vic's funeral.
"Aunt Peggy!" Sharon Carter sighed with relief as she spotted her aunt. With traffic, they hadn't been able to get to the funeral service before it was over, and they had missed the burial as well. But finally they had been able to get into the wake, and Director Fury had sent her to find her aunt while he alerted people to the fact that Agent Hand was alive.
Peggy looked at the young woman in confusion for a moment before she placed the face. "Sharon? Could you tell me what's going on? The nicest people from the White House came to get me this morning, and told me that poor Victoria had passed away. But I've been talking to Agent May, and she says that she's fine. Why would Nick let them have a funeral for someone who isn't dead?"
"We've been having a few problems with the flu." Agent May? Was her aunt… No, she spotted the older lady that could only be Agent May's mother standing a few feet away and remembered she was an agent too, although with a different agency. "Director Fury's getting everything straightened out now."
"Excuse me." Agent May's mother said as she came over. "But could I ask where those people are taking your director?"
"What?" Sharon spun, her eyes going wide as she spotted Fury, who had obviously been hit with some sort of fast acting drug, being taken out of the room by a group of people dressed in medical uniforms that looked alarmingly like the outfits the staff at the local mental institution wore. They were dragging Fury off to the mental home? After the mess with Agent Hand's funeral, okay, maybe he felt like he needed a nice long stay there, but still…. "Come on, Aunt Peggy! We've got to go help him!"
They reached the door just in time to see Fury being tossed into the back of a van, a van from the mental institution. Sharon had been right about those uniforms. Perfect, just perfect. And wasn't that the director's car, being drug away by a tow truck?
"I don't suppose I could beg a ride, could I?" Sharon asked Agent May's mother as she pulled out her phone and hit Agent Hill's number. "Hey, we have a little problem. Director Fury was trying to alert people that Agent Hand isn't dead, and apparently they thought that was a sign of insanity. He was just drug away in the back of a van heading for the mental institution. What am I supposed to do now?"