nick's Guestbook

Lynda was sitting in Adam's room making sure that Adam stayed stable, at least until Nick could get there and see what he could do for her stepson. Lynda was taking a small break from checking her emails when she heard her husband's voice, though it was very faint at the time, down the hall at the nursing stations. Lynda couldn't help but smile because she knew it wouldn't be long before Nick would be in that room with not only her but to help Adam as well. "Hey there yourself," Lynda said as she put her laptop in the chair, picked up her tablet and then got up and went over and stood next to Nick. She watched as he was checking everything out, starting with Adam's monitors while she pulled everything else up on her tablet. Once she had the rest ready and once Nick was ready, she handed him the tablet. After he carefully looked over her tablet, he handed it back to her. "Good, I'm glad I did," she told him. "I was afraid that I would have missed it or maybe misdiagnosed it," she told him as he moved on to their son, Tommy. Lynda couldn't help but smile as he filled her in on what Tommy wanted to do, which she couldn't help but get a big grin on her face. "That's good that he wants to go to college," she said happily. "He's always wanted to help people ever since he was little and saw mommy and daddy saving lives," she told him with a smile on her face. "I will definitely be celebrating if he does go all the way and be a doctor," she told him. "But I would brag on him no matter what he did," she told Nick as she closed her eyes and felt his warm and sweet lips on her forehead. Lynda nodded as she went over and closed her laptop and got herself back into doctor mode as she went over and stood next to Nick.

Lynda stood there next to Nick for a few minutes as neither one said much of anything. Adam's monitors were still stable and there wasn't much that they could do at the moment or at least not until the morning, so Lynda turned and looked at Nick. "So, Dr. Barkley," Lynda started. "Why don't I take you to my office so that you can get your laptop and everything else you might need to set up," she told him as she looked back over at Adam and then up at his monitors to make sure that he was stable, before turning back to Nick. "I was also thinking that while you were setting up in my office," she said as she kept very professional like she always did when they worked on a patient together. "That we could come up with a treatment plan on how we will be treating Adam," she told him as she looked down at her wedding band that Ben had put on her left hand. Then she went on with her thoughts. "It would give Ben a piece of mind if he knew we had a plan in place," she added as she waited for Nick to say something. Nick stood there for a little bit longer just watching Adam's monitors for a little while longer. Lynda could see that Nick was deep in thought, probably thinking about everything that needs to be done in order to at least get Adam up and talking again. Finally, Nick turned and looked at Lynda. He nodded to her suggestion and then turned back to the nurse to giving her specific instructions regarding Adam, which the nurse looked over at Lynda, who nodded in approvingly. The nurse nodded and then went on her way. Lynda then gathered up her laptop and table and soon they were back in the hallway, Lynda went on speaking. "It's so good to see you again Nick," she said softly as they were walking towards the elevators.

Lynda knew she had done everything right but still she couldn't help but feel like she could have done more, though hearing that she did everything right from Nick, made Lynda smile. As she waited for Nick to look over Adam's scans, she couldn't help but think about everything they are going to do when he got there, of course, besides saving Adam's life that is. After listening to Nick confirm her worst fear, but when she heard Nick say that since Adam's brain bleeds were caught in time, that he had a real shot at surviving. Finally, after Nick took a few minutes to pause and catch is breath, that was when Lynda began to speak to him softly and gently. "Good, and I know this is going to sound weird, but I was afraid I didn't catch them in time," she added with a huge sigh of relief, which also put a smile on her face as she heard his reply to them spending some time together. "It's been too long, but you knew when you married me, I was an overachiever and I go where I'm needed to bring doctors and good medical hospitals," she told him as the smile on her face grew. She really couldn't wait to see him again, and even though deep down she wished he had brought Tommy, she knew she would see her son again one day, though, if things went her way, she would see him sooner rather than later. "I love him too, more than I can say in words," she told Nick. "And I'll have to call him later and talk to him, because I really want to tell him how proud I am of him," she said as she couldn't stop beaming now from ear to ear with pride. She couldn't believe that Tommy was her in male form, which made her wonder what he was going to with his life after he graduates from high school. "Has he decided on going to college or did he want to do something else with his life?" she asked Nick, hoping that Tommy wanted to go to college.

Finally, Lynda knew how late it was getting and knew that she needed to get to Adam's room soon, though the interns she had watching him were doing a good job, so far, considering the other interns were more into goofing off than saving lives. That's when Lynda once again cleared her throat and got serious, though sometimes Nick made it incredibly hard to be serious, especially when he was talking about them. "Good, I can't wait until you get here," she said softly and then quickly turned on her doctor's voice. "As soon as you get here, your badge and everything you will need will be at the nurse's station and they already have strict orders to go ahead and give you privileges so that you can get right to work," she told him. "I will be in Adam's room, monitoring everything you told me to watch," she told Nick as she had finished up doing what she was doing and getting ready to get off the phone so that she could let Nic concentrate on his driving. "The head nurse will bring you back to his room once you have your privileges and other things," she added. "Now, I'm going to get off here and I will see you very soon, my love," she told Nick, more in a soft, loving tone than in a doctor's tone. "I love you Nick, I always have and I always will," she whispered to him, knowing that he could hear her and knowing that he loved her just as much, if not more, though she doubted anyone could love another more than she loved the men in her life. After he said his goodbyes and that he loved her with all his heart, they hung up and while Nick continued to drive, Lynda hung up her phone grabbed her laptop and tablet, and went to Adam's room, where she told the interns to go home and that she would take over, which they were grateful and was soon left, leaving Lynda by herself to check on everything that Nick wanted to her check before sitting down and doing some work on her laptop.

Lynda sighed as she knew she was right about Adam's prognosis. But she did smile a little bit when Nick told her that there was still hope, which made her breathe a sigh of relief, but she still worried about her stepson. "Good, at least that's a little good news that I can pass onto the family," she told Nick, letting the worry come through her svoice, even though she was using her doctor voice. Lynda listened to the rest of what Nick had to say and then she began to speak once more. "I have him immobilized right now and have a neck brace on him to keep him from moving his head," she told Nick, knowing what she did was the right thing, though she was still worried about any head injuries that Adam might have sustained. "Nick, have you accessed his head scans yet?" she asked him and then went on speaking. "I thought I saw a couple of small bleeders and one big one near his frontal lobe," she told Nick before going quiet again. She knew that he was a professional when it came to doing his job, but would he be able to keep his mind on his work and not how much they missed each other and everything that they had together? That was something she was just going to have to trust, though she did find herself wanting Nick more and more, especially after what he said about she wasn't alone in this and that she did a great job with what and who she had working for her. It was at that moment that she was missing her Nick and couldn't wait for him to come see her. Lynda let out a sigh as she began to speak and change the subject for a little bit, to something she knew they both wanted to talk about. "Nick, honey," Lynda started and paused for a few minutes. "I hope you plan on saving some time for us," she said softly as if she for once being a woman first and a doctor second. "I know that we will be working very hard to pull Adam through," she told him, still using her woman voice and not her doctor voice. "But you and I deserve some alone time too," she added, hoping that he remembered the vows they took so long ago.

Then she went on speaking both as a woman and a doctor, answering the rest of the comments and questions that Nick as said and asked. "I am glad that I called you and I'm also glad that you are taking time to come and help with our stepson," she said with a smile on her face, knowing that even though he couldn't see it, he could feel the warmth of it. Then she smiled even more as she continued speaking before getting serious again. "And I'll tell you the story of my life, if you promise you will not only buy me dinner, but take me to a hotel afterwards so that we can cuddle and see where the night takes us," she said now using her most womanly and seductive voice. After about five or so minutes of not speaking, which Lynda knew that Nick was probably speechless at the moment, she turned back to her serious voice and went onto reply to the instructions that Nick had given her before she changed the subject. "And don't you worry about a thing," she told him. "I'll be staying in his room all night, keeping an eye on his vitals, blood pressure and his neuro stats," she told him. "Like I said, I already have him immobilized him and I have him in a medically induced coma to help keep him from feeling the sever pain that I know he's in," she told Nick, knowing that he knew that she was always just a few steps ahead of him, even in their marriage. Then Lynda went quiet as she opened a door and pulled out a photo of Nick with a little 5 year old boy and once more Lynda got teary eyed. Lynda went quiet once more and after swallowing a huge lump in her throat, she began to speak to Nick, this time about a subject that had to do with her and Nick only. "Nick, how's our son Tommy?" she asked him. "Is he doing okay in school? Have you talked to him lately?" she asked once more as then went silent so that Nick could reply.

"I feel better knowing that you are coming to help," she told him and as she was continuing her conversation with Nick, she was upload everything that she had on Adam's case. "I'm sending the files now, but I am warning, he does have a sever spinal cord injury, at least from the waist down," she added as Adam's files finished uploading to the email. Then she hit the send button and waited for sent message to come up. "This horse really did a number on him, though the interns didn't help much. I plan on firing all of them, and hope to god that Ben doesn't sue me, his own wife, for negligence," she said with an exhausted sigh just as the sent message came up. Then Lynda sat back and chuckled as heard Nick say he always knew she had built something enormous. "Well, I didn't exactly build the ranch myself, that would be my husband, Ben Cartwright, who built that up, but I do have to say, I have added my share of private housing to the ranch," she said laughing. Then Lynda got quiet again as if she was thinking about something.

"I really do appreciate you doing this and I know Benny does too," she added."As for you coming here, I need you as soon as you get your schedule lined out. Like I said, Adam is stable right now, but I'm afraid that if something isn't done soon, he might have a stroke or worse throw a blood clot which leads to worse things," she told him honestly. Then Lynda went quiet for a few minutes as she let out an exhausting sigh. Finally, she began to speak to Nick again, knowing he was a trusted friend that she could count on. "As for the story of my life," she told him with a chuckle. "You aren't going to believe half the things I went through. Hell, I'm not sure I even believe it and I was the one who was there," she said chuckling and then sighing again still having that exhausted sound in her sigh. "But anyway, you should have received an email with all of Adam's tests and scans and what not," she told him. "I'll get off here and let you look things over and I will see you soon," she told Nick.

Lynda couldn't help but chuckle at she listened to everything that Nick had to say. Once he paused for a few minutes, she couldn't help but respond to what he had just told her. She had a playful tone to her voice as she spoke. "Hey, what can I say?" she asked him playfully. "I like to remember and talk about the past a lot, or rather the best parts of the past," she told him. "There's nothing wrong with that, though it does tend to make some people a bit uncomfortable," she added and then went quiet so that Nick could speak again. She couldn't help but blush when Nick complimented her on being and overachiever. He always did have a way with words and sometimes those words made her blush. Once again, when Nick went silent, Lynda began to speak and reply to the compliment he had given her. "To be honest Nick, I have had to overcome a lot in my life and I guess I just continued overcoming things to get what I want the older I got," she told him. "In fact, I sometimes, well more times than not, overdo it and forget I need to rest," she added with a nervous chuckle.

But it wasn't until he brought up Adam that she got serious. In fact, she had gone from her playful tone to her doctor's tone, making sure that Nick knew that this was a very serious situation. "It is a very serious situation, Nick. I had to put Adam in a medically induced coma," she told Nick honestly. "That's how bad it is, well, that and a couple of interns who work for me nearly killed him by giving him penicillin, which he's majorly allergic to," she added trying not to sound like she could cry and hoping that Nick didn't notice the sad tone in his voice. She then went on speaking to him, this time about Nick's abilities as a neurosurgeon and how she trusted him. "And I do trust you Nick, even back in medical school," she told him. "You were just as good as me back then and you are just as good as me now, maybe even better," she added, now sounding a bit happier than before.

Lynda couldn't help but chuckle at Nick saying he would finally get to see the empire she spent all those years building. "I don't know about building an empire, since the Ponderosa is technically my husband Ben's ranch, but I do have or trying to have the best hospital in Virginia City," she told him with a chuckle. "But you are more than welcome to stay at the Ponderosa while you are taking care of Adam," she told him. "And then we can have that coffee, and I'll tell you the entire story of my life, if that's what you want," she said as she chuckled once more. Lynda let out a heavy and sad sigh as she went on speaking as the when she would need him out here. "I'm not sure how long I will need you for, but I could use you as soon as possible," she told him. "I think his head injury is more serious than I can even handle," she told him.

"You see, he was trying to tame a horse for his fiancé, Jennifer, when things went wrong and not only was Adam thrown from the horse, but the horse began to trample him as well," she added. "I know he does have a spinal cord injury that is sever, and I did run a CT on his head, and to me it looks like he has sever brain bleeding," she told him. "I have his brain scans if you want me to send them to you so that you can judge the severity of his injury and make a plan on a course of action," she told Nick.