Game Wardens: Jayme & Tripp

by Andria Large

  “I hope he was fucking worth it.” Brett scoffed.

  “Tripp would say that he was,” Elianna said.

  “Jayme, why don’t you take a break; go get something to eat. I’m sure you’ve got to be hungry,” Donna said.

  “I’m really not all that hungry to be honest.”

  “You really should eat something, Sweetie.” She frowned. “A granola bar, anything. You look like you’re about to drop.”

  “I’m exhausted,” he admitted with a heavy sigh.

  “Aw, Honey. Go back to your hotel room and get some sleep. We’ll stay with Tripp. Here, take my phone and Elianna will call it if anything changes.”

  “No. I can’t leave.”

  The thought of something happening while he was away made him want to crawl out of his skin. No way was he leaving Tripp’s side.

  “Okay. Maybe we can get a cot, or something brought in, you could at least lay down.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll ask the nurse.”

  He stepped out of the room and went to the nurse’s station a few feet away. He asked them about a cot, and they said they would get one for him. He thanked them and walked back towards Tripp’s room.

  “Jayme.”

  He looked up to see Brendan and Will walking toward him.

  “Hey,” he said wearily.

  “Man, they did not want to let us in. But we said we just needed to talk to you for a minute, then we’d leave. How’s he doing?”

  “He’s stable at the moment.”

  “That’s good, I guess.” Brendan said.

  “Where’s the dog?” he asked.

  “In the truck.”

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  “What do you mean? It’s Tripp’s dog. We’re gonna hold onto him until Tripp is able to take him,” Brendan said, amusement dancing in his eyes.

  “Fuck no. We’re not keeping it.”

  “You know Tripp is going to want the dog,” Will said with a smirk.

  “Jesus Christ.” He groaned, and roughly rubbed his face.

  “Listen, we’re going back to the hotel. Do you need anything? Do you want your clothes and shit?” Brendan asked.

  “Yeah. That would be great. Just put our gear in the truck. Are you guys going to head home tomorrow?”

  Brendan shrugged. “We’ll see. We might stick around for a little longer depending on how Tripp’s doing.”

  “Thanks, Guys. I really appreciate it.”

  “All right. We’ll see you in a bit.”

  “Okay.”

  Brendan and Will left, and Jayme went back into Tripp’s room. About fifteen minutes later, an orderly brought in a cot; and set it up under the window. Donna insisted that he lie down and get some rest. He practically collapsed on the cot and was asleep a minute later.

  He was back in the water, reaching under the car to find Tripp. Tripp wasn’t there though. He searched and searched, even went under the water himself to find Tripp. He surfaced, panicked. Where the fuck is he? He had to be under the car still. The car lurched forward, and he had to jump out of the way; or get taken down river himself. He watched the car floating away. He screamed Tripp’s name over and over, until he had no voice left.

  “Jayme!”

  He shot up into a sitting position on the cot, his hands clutching the front of Brett’s shirt. Brett was sitting on the cot next to him, his hands on Jayme’s shoulders. He whipped his head around, to find that Tripp was still there in the hospital bed. He sagged, dropping his chin to his chest; as he tried to tamp down the panic attack that threatened to take him.

  “It’s okay. You’re okay. Tripp’s okay,” Brett said softly. “Deep breaths.”

  He nodded, and pulled in a deep breath through his nose; and blew it out of his mouth. He repeated until his heart rate slowed, and he didn’t feel like he was going to crawl out of his skin.

  “I’m okay,” he breathed, patting Brett’s chest.

  Brett gave his shoulders a squeeze, before letting him go. He didn’t get up though. He scrubbed his hands over his face and looked to see Donna and Elianna watching him; concern in their eyes. He gave them a weak smile, before scooting off the end of the cot; and made his way to the bathroom.

  After emptying his bladder, he washed his hands. He made the mistake of looking in the mirror. Holy fuck, he looked like shit. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, and he just looked haggard.

  He exited the bathroom and went back to sit on the cot next to Brett. “How long was I asleep?” he asked.

  “Probably around three hours. Your friends dropped your stuff off,” Elianna said, and motioned to the bags against the wall.

  “Oh great, thanks.” He got up, went to his bag; and pulled out some clothes. “I’m going to take a shower. I smell like that water we were in.”

  “Okay, sweetie. We’ll be here.”

  He nodded, and headed back into the bathroom with his things. He took a quick shower, feeling loads better when he walked back into the room in his own clothes. He did put the hospital socks back on, because they were comfy.

  “Jayme, I’m going to get something to eat, want me to grab you something?” Elianna asked.

  “Sure. I’m not picky, whatever you decide is fine with me.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll go with you, Babe,” Brett said as he stood.

  Brett and Elianna left the room, leaving Donna and him alone with Tripp. He walked over to Tripp on the opposite side of Donna, and smoothed his hand over Tripp’s blond hair.

  He kissed his temple, then whispered in his ear, “Come back to me, Baby. I know you’re in there. Don’t leave me.”

  He kissed him one more time, before backing away. He stood there watching Tripp until Elianna and Brett returned with the food. They got him a ham and cheese sandwich, chips, and a soda.

  He thanked them and took it over to the cot where he sat and ate. He was hungrier than he thought and had scarfed down the sandwich and chips in a matter of minutes. When he looked up, Elianna was watching him; her eyebrow cocked.

  “Want me to get you something else?” she asked, knowingly.

  “If you don’t mind,” he said sheepishly.

  She gave him a soft smile. “I don’t mind. Do you want another sandwich, or something else, like a burger and fries?”

  “Burger and fries sound good.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

  “I’d give you money, but my wallet got soaked.”

  “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  She was back in fifteen minutes with his burger and fries. He took his time eating this time and shared his fries with whoever wanted some.

  The nurse came in some time later to check on Tripp’s vitals, and change his catheter bag. She looked at the four of them with a regretful smile.

  “I’m sorry, but no one is allowed to stay the night,” she said. “I really shouldn’t have had the four of you in here at once. The limit is usually two. But since he’s been stable, and you guys were fairly quiet; I made an exception. Visiting hours are over in fifteen minutes.”

  She left, and Jayme felt his panic rise back up to the surface. His burger wasn’t sitting well at the moment. Donna must have noticed, because she stood from her seat next to Tripp; and walked over to him. She squatted down in front of him and placed her hands on his knees.

  “It’s okay. He’ll be okay,” she said.

  “But what if something happens? I don’t have a phone.”

  “Come stay with us. We have a pull-out couch in the room. That way we’re all together, and if something happens; you’ll be there.”

  He nodded. “Okay.”

  He hated having to leave Tripp, but he didn’t really have a choice. They’d call Donna if something happened, and they could rush back over. The hotel was only down the road, which was good. He was dead on his feet by the time they walked into the hotel room. Brett helped him pull out the sofa bed, which he collapsed onto and fell right to sleep; in his c
lothes and shoes. Luckily, he didn’t dream again.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Jayme

  IT HAD been a full week since Tripp drowned, and was revived multiple times. He was still in the ICU, and they were taking out the breathing tube today. Jayme was nervous. They said if he wasn’t breathing on his own, they’d just put it back in; but still, it freaked Jayme out.

  Donna was there with him. Elianna and Brett had to go home after a couple of days, because they had Noah; and Brett had to go back to work. Jayme took family leave, so that he could stay with Tripp for as long as he needed to.

  When the doctor and nurses came in to take out the tube, he and Donna stood over by the window and watched. It was a quick process, and then they monitored Tripp for about ten minutes. After deeming that he was in fact breathing on his own, they left.

  He walked over and placed his hand on Tripp’s chest, feeling it rise and fall at a steady, even pace. He closed his eyes, and sighed in relief. They were making progress. Now all Tripp had to do was wake up.

  Tripp’s face was now covered in a week’s worth of facial hair. He thought he looked ruggedly handsome, but he knew Tripp didn’t like facial hair on himself; it annoyed him. He liked when Jayme had some scruff though.

  “I think I’m gonna shave his face now that the tube is out of the way,” he said.

  “Okay. I’m gonna go get some lunch. Want me to bring you back something?” Donna asked.

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Okay. Be back in a bit.”

  He wasn’t impressed with the hospital food, but whatever; he didn’t care. As long as he got to stay with Tripp, then that’s all he cared about. He went into Tripp’s bag, and pulled out his shaving kit. He pulled out the shaving cream and razor, then went to the bathroom and filled a large Styrofoam cup with warm water. He also grabbed a wet rag and brought that over to the rolling table with him. He set up his little work station, then went about lathering up Tripp’s face.

  With the utmost care, he shaved Tripp’s face. It wasn’t an easy task, but he did it without cutting him; which he was happy about. He wiped the remaining lather off his face with the wet rag, then went to the bathroom to dump the dirty water.

  When he walked back into the room and looked at Tripp, his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Tripp’s eyes were cracked, and he was lifting his hand. He rushed over to the bed and took Tripp’s wayward hand.

  “Hey, Baby,” he said with a soft smile. His eyes welled up and spilled over, tears running down his face. Tripp was awake. He couldn’t believe it. Relief hit him like a ton of bricks, and his knees threatened to give out on him; so he sat on the bed next to Tripp’s hip.

  Tripp’s mouth worked, but he couldn’t get anything out. Jayme cupped his now smooth face and brushed his thumb over Tripp’s bottom lip.

  “It’s okay. Don’t try to talk.”

  Tripp closed his eyes and squeezed Jayme’s hand. Jayme brought it up to his lips and kissed the backs of his fingers. A smile ghosted across Tripp’s mouth, before it went slack, and he was back out.

  He then called the nurse and told her what happened. She said it was a step forward, and she’d let the doctor know. Donna returned a few minutes later with food for him.

  “Tripp woke up for a minute,” he said as she handed him a sandwich, fries and a Gatorade.

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? That’s fantastic.”

  “It was brief, but the nurse said it was a good sign and a step forward.”

  She went over to Tripp and took his hand. “You keep fighting, Sweetie. I know you can do it.” She kissed his forehead, patted his hand; then took a seat in the chair next to the bed.

  Donna was amazingly positive the whole week. Whenever he got down, she knew just what to say to give him hope. She never doubted that Tripp would wake up, not once. He wished he could say the same, but he couldn’t. His mind took him to dark places, especially at night when trying to get some sleep.

  About an hour later, there was a knock on the door frame. He looked up to see Tripp’s nurse, Bridget, standing there with a smile on her face.

  “Hey, Jayme, you have some visitors in the waiting room.”

  His eyebrows cranked down. “I do?”

  She nodded. “Yep.”

  He glanced at Donna, who smiled knowingly. He narrowed his eyes at her, and she laughed.

  “Go on,” she said, and shooed him with her hand.

  He walked out to the waiting room to see his family sitting there. His mother stood when she saw him and walked toward him with her arms open. He hugged her tight, tucking his face against her neck. Fuck, he needed this. He didn’t even know he did, but now that they were here; he absolutely did.

  “Hi, Sweetie.”

  “Hi, Mom,” he said, his voice muffled.

  When she let him go, he sniffed and brushed away the tears running down his face. Dammit, he was so emotional lately. He understood why, but shit. He couldn’t keep crying like this. His dad was next to hug him, followed by his brothers and their spouses.

  “What are you guys doing here?” he asked.

  “Donna called and said you needed us, and here we are,” his mom said.

  “You need all the support you can get,” his dad added.

  He nodded, and brushed away more tears.

  “How’s he doing?” Seamus asked.

  “He woke up for a couple of minutes not too long ago."

  “That’s great,” Mitch exclaimed with a bright smile.

  “Do you think we can see him?” his mom asked.

  “You sure can,” Donna said from behind them.

  He turned, and gave her a grateful smile. She sent him a wink in return.

  “It can only be one at a time, but you can all see him,” Donna said.

  Jayme ended up bringing his family in one at a time to visit with Tripp. They all gave him encouraging words, and kisses on his forehead. He was very grateful that they cared enough to come to Galveston and see his fiancé. It showed him that they loved Tripp and considered him part of the family.

  Jayme stayed in the waiting room with his family and talked with them for a little longer; before the urge to be with Tripp became too much to ignore. He thanked them profusely for coming and said that whenever he was out of the ICU they could visit again. They agreed, and he left them to go back to Tripp’s room.

  ~~~

  Jayme

  The next day, Jayme and Donna walked into Tripp’s room; to see the nurse checking his vitals and changing his saline bag. Jayme walked over to the other side of Tripp’s bed, and took his hand.

  “Has he woken up again at all?” Jayme asked.

  “He woke up a little last night, said he was thirsty; then drifted off again,” Bridget replied with a smile.

  He snorted, and shook his head. Bridget finished what she was doing, then left him and Donna alone with Tripp. He leaned in and kissed Tripp on the lips and said good morning to him.

  As he pulled back, Tripp turned his head toward him. “Morning,” he whispered.

  Jayme’s heart leapt into his throat. Donna appeared on the other side of the bed. She smoothed her hand over his hair.

  “Hi, Sweetie,” she said softly, as if she were afraid to scare him.

  He turned his head toward her and gave her a faint smile. “Hi, Mom.”

  Donna smiled brightly. “I knew you could do it.”

  Tripp then turned back to him and cracked his eyes open. “Did you catch the puppy?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I caught the fucking puppy.”

  Tripp smiled weakly. “Good. That’s good. Now give me a hug.”

  Jayme gathered Tripp in his arms and held him tight. He tucked his face against Tripp’s neck, and fought back tears. Damn it felt good to have Tripp’s arms around him again.

  “I love you,” he whispered.

  “I love you too, Baby.”

  “I’ve missed you,” he croaked.

  Tripp hummed, and stroked the back of Jaym
e’s head. “Wish I could say the same, but I’ve been unconscious.”

  He chuckled as he let Tripp go. Donna leaned in and gave him a hug too. He rested his hand on Tripp’s thigh. He needed to touch him, to make sure this was really real. Tripp was awake and talking. It was a miracle. The doctors didn’t have high hopes in the beginning, especially with Tripp dying on them twice. He proved them wrong.

  Tripp yawned. “I’m tired.”

  “Go to sleep. We’ll be here when you wake up,” he said.

  “M’kay.” Tripp nodded and shut his eyes. He was asleep a minute later.

  Jayme looked at Donna and smiled. “He’s back.”

  Donna smiled in return and nodded. “Yes, he is.”

  Tripp woke up again a couple of hours later. His eyes opened wider, and he was more alert. The doctor came in and checked on him, did some tests; and said that he didn’t see any signs of brain damage. Tripp was one lucky son of a bitch. The doctor also decided that it was time he was moved out of the ICU.

  A few hours after that, Tripp was in a new room on a different floor. He took another short nap, then was complaining that he was hungry. His new nurse promised to have something sent up for him.

  Jayme was sitting in the chair next to the bed, and Donna was sitting in another chair over by the window when an orderly brought in a tray of food for Tripp. He put it on the rolling table and pushed it over to Tripp.

  Tripp looked down at what they sent him and groaned loudly. “Broth and a jello cup? What the fuck?”

  “Babe, you haven’t eaten anything in a little over a week; you were being tube fed. You need to start slow,” he said.

  “But I’m hungry,” Tripp whined.

  Jayme fought off a smile, so glad Tripp was feeling well enough to whine. “I know. Maybe tomorrow you can try something solid.”

  Tripp grumbled to himself as he picked up the broth and took a sip. He made a face and set the cup down. “Tastes like dirty dish water.”

  Jayme barked out a laugh, and Donna snickered.

  “Honey drink it anyway; it’ll fill your stomach,” Donna said.

  Tripp shook his head. He thought Jayme was stubborn. Tripp grabbed the cup of red Jello and opened it. “I don’t even like Jello, but it’s better than that shit.” Tripp put a spoonful in his mouth, and grimaced. “It’s the texture. I can’t.” He spit it out into his napkin, before dropping the cup and spoon to the tray; and shoving the table away. “This is bullshit.”