It's Just CPR
Modern AU: Detective!Kahlan and Detective!Richard, Doctor!Cara. Kahlan nearly dies in a drug bust gone wrong, and she meets the cockiest, most amazing doctor ever. It makes plenty of sense if you try to perceive them in contemporary situations, right? Right?
Pairings: Cara/Kahlan. Richard's on his own, the poor dear.
As far as patriotism went, Kahlan Amnell was as loyal as any to the United States of the Midlands. She was one of those people who memorised every word in the Constitution, could recite the laws and regulations and rights backwards, and believed every single word. She would fight a person who insulted the country's belief system and she did not believe in fighting. She tears up a little when she sang the national anthem during Midlands National Day ceremonies, and the tears are legit.
A more cynical person would have thought Detective Amnell was just putting up an appearance. After all, the Amnells were a noted political family in the country. Kahlan's mother, and her mother before her, was the mayor of Aydindril City. Her great-great-grandmother led the Midlands in a war against the neighbouring Republic of D'Hara as the Midlands' Prime Minister (War of the Territories, 1900s). Kahlan was born to be a leader, and till high school, she was student council president, valedictorian, all-round straight-A's student slated for great things. But instead of enrolling in university and taking up political studies like her mother wanted, Kahlan went and joined the Aydindril City Police Force instead.
It was a scandal. Every tabloid and even some broadsheets ran the story speculating if the Amnell political dynasty is coming to an end, and Kahlan's mother refused to speak to her for days, even though she later admitted to her daughter that she was extremely proud to see Kahlan in uniform when she was being sworn in at the cadet academy. She did not admit, however, that she still harboured hopes that her wayward daughter would change her mind and become a lawyer at least - join the legal profession, become a district attorney, and eventually become a judge - which is still rather important and a grand-enough profession.
It's been three years into the job. Detective Kahlan Amnell crawled into the unmarked police car, a stale-smelling Honda Civic, and handed her waiting partner a cup of black coffee. Detective Richard Rahl took a deep pull from the brew and released a deep sigh. The tall, well-built officer was folded up almost with his knees to his chest in the driver's seat, and he looked almost comical as he bent around to put his cup in the holder between the front seats
"Any movement?" Kahlan asked, sipping slowly from her cup. Unlike Richard, she was bred with far better table manners. Even though there wasn't actually a table before her, just her lap double up as a holder for the folders and newspaper cuttings that were strewn across her seat a moment earlier.
Richard shrugged and flipped through a few empty pages in his notepad. "Well... a minute after you stepped out to get us coffee a dog darted across the street, chased by a very angry cat. And three minutes after that I daydreamed that I was in Malibu with a fantastic tan and a leggy blonde hanging off my arm."
"Funny." Kahlan grinned into her cup. Although Richard and she had started out awkwardly as partners - her with her famous family baggage, he with his own tetchy issues with a father who, by all accounts, was a bastard in a class of his own - the two had quickly warmed up to each other. For awhile, they even had a "thing" going on, but it fizzled out the moment Kahlan realised it would never work between them when all they had in common was the dedication they had to their job. Maybe in an alternate universe, Kahlan thought, with Richard some brave warrior and she a simpering wench (or maybe, ok, a more traditional-minded wench who kicks ass too). But not in this world.
This world was bleak and depressing, especially in this corner of the woods. Kelton, or K-Town as it is known to its residents, was a drug-addled suburb of Aydindril City overrun with rats posing as dealers and roach-like petty criminals. It used to be a prosperous industrial town but a major economic depression in the 80's put many factories out of business. The decaying infrastructure and below-poverty-line situation attracted plenty of vermin, who set up shop among the weeds-covered plots of empty land and discarded buildings. Kahlan loved the Midlands, but places like Kelton truly tested her. The town was crying out for rescue, and every day she went in to arrest the desperados and crush a drug syndicate made her feel like she was just beating back an overwhelming tide of crime and hopelessness with her bare hands.
Today they were on a stake-out following a tip-off from one of Richard's sources. Word was someone was running a drug mule syndicate from a warehouse in Kelton. He was paying destitute people to travel between the countries' borders with small bags of pure heroin in their stomachs. Richard's snitch told them that one of the syndicate's leaders would be holding a meeting at the warehouse to pick up a new batch of mules. Richard and Kahlan were taking the lead in this bust, and their backup wited in several cars and other disguised forms some blocks away.
They were parked behind an alleyway with their seats pushed all the way back. The district was so deserted they did not see anyone walk by. Even the beggars knew better than to risk their lives coming here, where they could see something they weren't supposed to. It was getting late - nearly six in the evening - when a small blue van appeared down the street. It came to a stop outside the warehouse they were watching, and a slight middle-aged man hopped out, followed by half a dozen other men carrying bags from the back of the vehicle. He glanced about himself, and entered the warehouse. Kahlan sat up a little straighter.
"Looks like it's time," she said.
"Sit tight. Look, the rest of the people coming for the meeting," Richard whispered. Two vans drove up, and about twenty men and women crawled out from the back, clutching duffel bags to themselves and looking fearfully about. The men driving the vans came out and ordered them into the warehouse.
Richard pulled his walkie-talkie out. "On my count..."
Kahlan followed closely behind Richard when he kicked down the doors to the warehouse and stormed in. At the same time, officers and SWAT team members crashed in through the other obvious exits - windows, back doors - and the resulting shouting and movement startled the gang of people in the middle of the desolate warehouse. Kahlan saw that several tables have been placed in the centre of the room, laid out with pouches of white powder. Guns were drawn.
Kahlan darted behind a pillar and took down two gunmen as the other people - the mules, probably, screamed and ran for cover. Richard, trusting that Kahlan was covering him, ran towards a woman who was standing in the line of fire. He pulled her to safety behind a wall of empty crates as a hail of bullets hit the wall behind them. The other policemen gave chase as several of the syndicate's members tried to run. Kahlan stepped out of her cover and ran towards a man who was tugging at a gunman. The two were shouting over a small bag, filled with money.
"Drop that gun! Aydindril police!" she shouted, feeling a sense of unease as her brain tried to recall where she had seen that particular handgun model before... The gunman pistol-whipped the person harassing him to the ground and raised his revolver. Kahlan fired off a clean shot to the man's shoulder, and when the man fell to the ground, kicked his weapon away and cuffed him. She didn't see the other man, his face bleeding now, hesitate when he picked himself up from the ground, and she certainly did not see him pick up the fallen gun and level it at Kahlan's back. "You have the right to remain silent..." She said to the man in front of her.
"Kahlan, watch out!" Richard called out. There was a shot. Then another. Kahlan felt her body shudder with a sudden impact. She tried to stand up - when did she fall forward? - and she turned to see the man behind her falling to the ground, crimson blossoming red in his chest. He gaped at his wound, and then looked at her to mutter something wetly. It was a D'Haran vulgarity, she vaguely recalled, and she did not react when he fell to the floor unmoving. His gun skittered away.
"Kahlan, are you all right?" Richard came up to her, shaking her by her shoulders. She was still on her knees.
"I feel... Hang on, this is too tight," she mumbled, tugging at her body vest. Underneath it was a shot that went all the way through her body. Blood was soaking up her blouse. She fell into Richard's arms. "Ah. I thought I recognised that gun model. It was one of those banned in the Midlands because it takes bullets that can penetrate armour. Cop Killers, they call them. I should have remembered it right away. I studied so hard for that weapons course in the academy I thought my brain was going to turn to slush..."
"Stop talking, shut up, shut up!" Richard gasped in horror at the blood bubbling out of the entry and exit wounds. The raid was wrapping up; the officers were rounding up the men they had arrested and the refugees in a separate huddle. "You! Get the ambulance here quickly! We've an officer down, do you need me to repeat myself..."
Kahlan felt so tired, as if she had not slept in days. When the slumber came she fell into it readily, despite Richard's pleas.
Bright lights... they flicked on and off. Every movement sent jarring pain through her body. She wanted them to stop moving her, and she wanted the person who was playing with the lights to cut it out. It's a waste of electricity and her mother has always expounded on the importance of conserving energy to reduce dependence on burning fossil fuels... Kahlan loved listening to her mother talk about the environment. She knew her mother was secretly crazy about geography and nature and might have become an environmentalist, if she didn't end up in politics because it "was the right thing to do, and Amnells were born to lead". The Amnell curse, she heard her grandmother mutter once when the woman was tipsy from wine after a dinner party, was that the women have to take up leadership roles to lead the city and the Midlands. Because if they didn't, who else would? Certainly no one worth the position.
Someone had placed an oxygen over Kahlan's face, and she struggled to take it away. It felt strange, everything hurt, and why was Richard weeping at her side? They strapped her arms down so she could not fight back, and eventually, she calmed down enough to stop struggling. Occasionally, her ears worked, so she heard the whine of an ambulance siren, and the urgent tone of voice of the paramedics around her as they pinched her skin and pierced it with needles.
"I need another bag of A negative," one of the paramedics called out. "She's bleeding too quickly from both sides! Sir, keep applying pressure there. You're doing a good job."
"Okay I've replaced the bag, thank god, we're here," the other paramedic opened the door and wheeled Kahlan out, with Richard following helplessly beside her stretcher. "We've got a gunshot wound here straight through the chest and massive bleeding..."
"Oh my god," Richard said, his hands slipping. Blood spilled from the wound. "Kahlan, don't you dare die like this, you idiot."
One of the emergency doctors faltered when she received Kahlan at the hospital entrance.
"Get Mason over here," she said, unrolling her stethoscope to check for Kahlan's pulse. "Shit. Will someone hurry and get Dr Mason here now!"
"You have to save her," Richard blubbered, clasping his bloody hands as they wheeled his partner through the corridors. "She's like family."
The doctor grasped Richard gently by the arm. "Don't worry, officer. Dr Mason is the best emergency doctor we have in the city. She'll do her best for your partner. Now, please go to the counter and our staff will attend to you, all right?"
Kahlan was in white. She thought it was a wedding dress at first,but it was just a gown, made of some heavy material that trailed behind her as she ran. It had long sleeves, that caught the wind as she moved. Her chest was embarrassingly exposed, at least, there was a lot of cleavage showing.
Putting aside her modesty, for the moment Kahlan saw that she was running through the woods chased by men in the shadows. Daggers were in her hands, heavy, weighted things that felt like they could take people down if the user knew how to use them. Unfortunately, the blades were useless to her. Her Glocks would take care of those men in a heartbeat.
She ran wildly through the bushes, her pursuers closely behind her. She heard their breathing, felt their heavy boots hitting the ground behind her, they were that close. They panted like animals.
A woman stepped into her path from out of nowhere. Clad in red, like blood, with appraising eyes of blue... or were they green? For a moment, Kahlan was unsure. Were the men the ones she was running from, or was this woman her pursuer?
The red-clad woman raised both hands up to Kahlan. "You're going into cardiac arrest."
That was a horrible whining noise, and Kahlan felt searing pain reach into her chest as the woman stepped closer.
Kahlan drifted in and out of consciousness. She was in a dimly-lit room, not her bedroom. It smelled funny; everything did. She tasted rust in her mouth. Tubes were in her mouth and nose and she felt a dull ache. A woman in light pink came up to her side and injected something into a tube hooked up to her arm. The pain subsided and she went back to sleep.
Hours later, Kahlan woke. Richard was dozing in an armchair beside her. He looked hagged, like he had not rested (or shaved) for days. His coat, which was draped over his body, had moved and half of it was threatening to spill over the chair. She tried to reach out to adjust the coat but her body screamed in pain. She winced, feeling the stretch in her chest. She sighed and regretted it. Breathing hurt. She was frightened, however. What happened? She was clearly in a hospital. What was the last thing she recalled?
The door to her room opened and Kahlan's thoughts came to a standstill as a slim-built blonde woman entered, wearing the dark red surgical garb that was characteristic of surgeons at Aydindril City General Hospital. Her eyes were dark, maybe blue in the dim lighting, but as she approached Kahlan the eyes seem greener. Like aquamarine, perhaps. Kahlan watched with rapt attention as the woman picked up a clipboard and glanced through the pages, looking almost bored. She canted her hips, gripping her stethoscope in one hand, the other resting on her hip, and appraised Kahlan like how Kahlan dreamt it.
"I'm Doctor Cara Mason. I stitched you back up." The woman was quiet, but her words sounded brusque.
"T-thanks," Kahlan said weakly.
The surgeon shrugged. "It's my job. You were a messy one. Your heart shut down a few times. I thought I was going to wear out the defibrillator."
Kahlan arched an eyebrow. "I was shot, doctor."
"Try to avoid getting shot so seriously next time, then," Cara said with a straight face. She folded her arms. "You seem fine. If you need anything, press that button, and a nurse will come in. Your friend looks like he'll sleep through a war." She took a look at Kahlan again, then left the room.
Richard switched the car engine off and opened the door. He turned and glanced at Kahlan, who was twisting a pamphlet - it read "Learn The Breath of Life and Save Someone In Future!" in wordart - in her hands into a tight little rope. Rolling his eyes, he said, "Hey, are you coming or not?"
"Wait, let me have a few minutes," she said, frowning.
Richard sighed. "Kahlan, you said that three times in the past fifteen minutes. If we don't get out of the car I'm driving us back to the precinct for Free Donuts Wednesday."
"No, no! I'll get out, jesus," Kahlan muttered, crawling out the car hesitantly. "Look, Richard, I don't think this is such a good idea after all."
Richard locked the car before Kahlan could try to sneak back in. He folded his arms. "We're entering that hospital and we're going to take part in that completely unnecessary CPR course that we already have refresher courses for at the precinct, and we're doing that because you found out that the hot doctor who saved your sorry ass those months ago is conducting the class this evening." He had recited the instructions like a brief to junior officers before an operation, and Kahlan found herself unconsciously straightening her back at the authoritative voice.
"Maybe it's not such a good idea. I mean, we do already know CPR," Kahlan said.
"You've been stalking the poor woman for months since you were discharged. I don't understand why you can't just ask her out like a normal human being," Richard exclaimed, hands spread open wide. "I'm only coming with you because someone needs to push you or you'd just keep following her every move and you'll be found out and she'll slap a restraining order on you and we don't have highpowered binoculars for you to ogle her on her morning jogs from half a mile away."
"Also, it's illegal. I mean, stalking and breaking the restraining order rules," Kahlan pointed out meekly as she followed behind Richard as he ranted. They were walking into the hospital.
There were about a dozen people milling about in the room when the two arrived. The tables and chairs were stacked against one side of the wall, and on the floor were mats and some dummies. Kahlan squeaked when she saw Cara standing at a corner of the room, speaking to a few nurses who were there to help her with the course. Cara was out of her surgical garb, of course, and wearing a pair of jeans and a tight red polo shirt that rode up when she gestured with her arms.
Richard whistled under his breath. "You've got good taste, even if you haven't got much balls, Amnell. They should make it illegal for her to wear something that form-fitting. If you don't ask her out by the end of this class I might." He grinned at her.
Kahlan spun around glared at her best friend. "You wouldn't dare."
Cara was speaking, "...am Doctor Mason, and I need you all to partner up to practice for me to go through some of the basic steps of CPR today. I need a volunteer."
Richard leaned towards Kahlan, his dark eyes sparkling with mirth. "Want to bet?"
"You wouldn't." Kahlan bared her teeth in a hiss.
Richard raised an arm. "Hi doctor I'd like to vo-"
"I'll volunteer," Kahlan shoved the bigger man aside and stepped forward without thinking. Cara blinked, folding her arms when she looked at Kahlan. "I'm Kahlan."
"Detective Amnell." Cara nodded, her face unreadable as she glanced behind Kahlan and saw Richard smoothly introducing himself to a woman he had accidentally walked into when his partner pushed him. "And your partner. Is this some sort of undercover operation?"
Kahlan nodded. "Doctor Mason, I hope you'll keep it quiet, but we're actually investigating a case here. A most nefarious one."
"Nefarious," Cara repeated, eyebrow arched, her gaze on Kahlan unblinking.
"Nefarious. Someone's been kidnapping chipmunks, and we traced the drug used to knock the chipmunks out to this very hospital. It's probably a chipmunk kidnapping syndicate operated by a crooked orderly. Richard, I mean, Detective Rahl and I set up a sting here, to catch the crooks in the act."
Cara canted her hip. "I see. And you're pretending to take a CPR course you obviously don't need, since I know there are regular refresher courses held at the police headquarters. It's so you can spy on the suspects, is that it?"
"Excellent! I knew you'd understand the purpose of our visit today, doctor," Kahlan smiled in relief, rubbing her hands nervously.
"Of course," Cara said, then she raised her voice to speak to everyone in the room. "Now is everyone in pairs? One of you should lie down on the mat."
Cara gestured with her head for Kahlan to lie down. Kahlan did so, obediently, as Cara knelt down beside her. She sneaked a peek across the room and saw Richard giving the thumbs up as he laid down on the floor too. A very attractive blonde woman was kneeling beside him, looking a little bemused.
Cara was talking about airways and breathing and circulation, the ABCs of CPR. She placed a steady hand on Kahlan's head, to describe how to be careful if the person has a head or spinal injury that might be worsened if the person is moved. Kahlan held her breath when Cara tilted the officer's head backwards, to illustrate checking the airway for obstructions. The doctor was leaning close to Kahlan, turning her head sideways to show how one should listen to signs of breathing. Kahlan felt the blood rushing to her ears; she could not hear anything even if Cara was shouting in her face. Cara asked everyone to practice on their partners, then glanced down to look at Kahlan with some alarm.
"Detective, even though you're playing a person who needs medical attention, you don't actually have to hold your breath throughout the session. You're turning blue, and your ears are red. It's an unusual colour combination, but a little disturbing, frankly speaking."
Kahlan gasped and caught her breath, and the sudden movement resulted in a coughing reflex. She cleared her throat and flushed. "Sorry." She heard Richard's muffled snort a few feet away and thought murderous thoughts.
"It's okay. Relax. Even if you did lose consciousness again I'll be able to get you back. I patched that hole in your chest after all," the woman smirked. "Fixing anything else should be a piece of cake."
Kahlan felt winded, like the first time she felt when she saw Cara in that dream she had when she was dying. She looked at Cara, wide-eyed, as the doctor continued obliviously talking to the class about assisted breathing. Wait, her mind back pedalled like crazy when Cara grasped her chin with one hand, the other cupping her nose to make Kahlan opened her mouth.
"Oh." Kahlan said when Cara leaned down.
"After you give two breaths like what I did, give a chance for the patient to respond. If there's no reaction," Cara glanced down curiously at Kahlan, who was lying with her mouth still open, looking stricken. "If there's no reaction... kind of like how my partner here is behaving, you need to check the blood circulation by pressing down on the carotid artery here... Check if there's a pulse."
Kahlan was frozen, petrified. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish.
"Detective, your heart rate is unusually fast. Try to relax," Cara whispered, patting Kahlan on the shoulder.
"Are you free tonight?" The words tumbled from Kahlan's lips before her hesitation could catch up with them, mainly because all of her focus was still on the good doctor's pink lips, and she had had a very strong vision - or maybe a memory now - of her self floating away when Cara leaned down to her face, and was it her imagination? But the doctor might have breathed more than just air into her mouth... A tendril of white smoke, like the wisps of the beginning of life...
Cara blinked, then she glanced up at the class, most of whom had stopped mid-way through their practice to listen to her response. Richard was rolling on the mat in silent laughter, biting his arm to keep from making too much of a sound. The nurse beside him was giggling. All of Kahlan's blood, which was recently pooled somewhere lower down her body, surged to her face.
"No." Cara shook her head. There was an audible "aw" in the room. Kahlan felt the pit of her stomach open up. Rejection sucks, Amnell, and there was no reason why she would go out with you anyway, Kahlan told herself unhappily.
Cara continued: "I have to stay late for a night shift today. Make it tomorrow." She got to her feet and went to a pair nearby. "No, no, you're pressing your partner's abdomen wrongly, sir! Do you want him to vomit on your pants?"
Kahlan caught Richard's eye and, quite intentionally, looked away but she was really pleased till she realised that means she has another 24 hours of worrying to go before the actual date.