Title: Heart of the Matter
Summary: Blair collapses on the way to the station
Disclaimer: The boys are not mine, and I am making no profit from this effort. It's just for fun and enjoyment.
A/N: There are two things that you need to know about this story. First, this is NOT completed yet. It is the first actual WIP I have posted here. While a form of this story was originally posted on SentinelAngst, it was not the complete version, as I am still working on that! I am hoping to get a chapter up at least once a week, but it will not be going up as quickly as Beneath the Surface and Frozen Assets did. Second, there will be spoilers here for numerous episodes. I will try to put which episodes at the beginning of the chapters, but for right now, just know that there are multiple episodes involved.
So here we go...
September 1994
The knock on the door was a welcome relief to the young man sitting behind his desk in the cramped, cluttered office. Settling his glasses more firmly on his face, Blair Sandburg looked up expectantly. "Door's open!"
He smiled widely when he spotted the petite brunette standing there. "Hey Angie!" Then his smile dipped a bit as he rubbed at a sore spot on his neck.
Angie Lorenzo, a friend and fellow TA at Rainier University, returned his smile, hazel eyes sparkling. "I haven't seen you in awhile and I was over here in your neck of the woods, so to speak, so I thought I'd stop in. Got a few minutes?"
"Oh, sure!" Blair indicated the only empty chair in his office. "Have a seat! I was afraid you were another one of my Anthro 101 students stopping by with some lame excuse for why they need an extension on this paper." He gestured at the papers strewn haphazardly across his desk. "I've been grading these things for hours and I feel like I'm not getting anywhere."
Angie's smile softened in sympathy. "Oh, I feel for you. I was there myself last week with my Bio 101 classes. If it's any consolation, I got through it."
Blair smiled again, then grimaced. He rubbed again at the sore spot on his neck. It felt as though all of the muscles in his neck and shoulders had revolted at once. Probably from sitting too long. "Yeah, that's encouraging."
Angie crossed the room, concern darkening her eyes. "Are you okay? Maybe I could help you loosen up?"
Blair looked up, waggling his eyebrows suggestively at her. "I'm sure you could......."
Angie slapped at his shoulder playfully, giggling. "No, I'm serious. Here, lean back." She circled around behind his chair and began to massage his shoulders.
"Oh, wow! That feels great already!" Blair closed his eyes and leaned into the massage. "Where were you a half an hour ago?"
Angie squeezed his shoulders, making him yelp. "Don't complain. Just be grateful I'm here now. I could always find an elsewhere to be....."
"No, no, that's okay. I'm so not ready for you to quit what you're doing!" Blair smiled again, finally relaxing as the firm massage began to break up some of the burning pain he had been feeling through his neck and shoulders.
As the massage continued, the overworked TA began to relax so completely that he dozed off. "Hey, are you still awake?" The voice made him jump, just on the edge of a deep sleep.
"Yeah, I'm awake. Thanks a lot, Angie. I feel great now!"
"Well, I'm not done yet." Blair opened his eyes to find Angie standing there with a steaming towel in her hands. "I want you to be awake for this so you can tell me if it's too hot, okay?"
"Where did you come up with a towel?" Blair eyed the towel longingly. Heat. He could never seem to get enough heat.
Angie returned to her position behind him and carefully wrapped the steaming towel around his neck, tucking it into his shirt beneath his chin. "I found it in the faculty lounge. How does that feel?"
Blair moaned in ecstasy at the warmth flooding through him from the neck down. "Oh I could really get into this." He closed his eyes again.
"Feeling better?" He mutely nodded his assent and heard her giggle again. "Well, I have to go now. It was great seeing you, Blair. Maybe we could......you know.......go out sometime soon?"
"Sounds great. Thanks again, Angie!" Blair kept his eyes closed, reveling in the feel of the heat against his abused muscles. He barely registered the snick of the door closing when Angie left. He was too focused on relaxing to care too much at the time.
He had nearly fallen asleep again when he noticed something out of the ordinary. Jerking in his chair, he opened bleary eyes and struggled to figure out what had changed. The towel had fallen open and was drooping off his left shoulder, and the heat had changed to an uncomfortable chilly dampness. Lifting the towel the rest of the way off his neck, he dropped it carelessly to the floor.
What was wrong? Suddenly he realized-- it was his heart. It had started to pound fiercely enough that he almost thought he should be able to see and hear the pumping. When had that happened? Apparently while the hot towel was wrapped around his neck. He shrugged languorously. Yup. Still relaxed. The extra hard pounding of his heart was probably from the heat of the towel. He had experienced similar feelings before and they had always gone away. He looked at his watch.
Oh, man! Jim is going to kill me! I totally forgot I told him I'd meet him at the station at three! He looked down at his attire. His shirt front was now drenched from the hot towel, and he imagined the back was no better. Oh, great. Now I'll have to take more time to go home and change!
He jumped up from his chair, almost overbalancing on a wave of dizziness, then caught himself and headed for his Corvair. He needed to hurry. He couldn't afford to have Jim get upset with him and drop him as an observer. He needed Jim for his thesis, and he was pretty sure he had been able to help Jim somewhat with his heightened senses. But Simon Banks, Jim's captain, didn't seem to like Blair, and the young man was sure that it wouldn't take much for his observer's credentials to be revoked - like being incredibly late.
All the way home, Blair noticed the strange pounding of his heart. He could feel his pulse in the strangest places. If he looked closely, he could even see his long hair swinging in rhythm with the beat. For some strange reason it didn't seem to be going away this time. He shrugged, pulling the Corvair up in front of the warehouse he was currently calling home.
Opening the door, he climbed out and stood up, staggering as he was hit by another wave of dizziness. I don't have time for this! He quickly entered his apartment and changed his shirt, feeling the need to sit down several times during this simple activity. Oh, man! I probably have the flu. Well, I don't have time to deal with it! He grabbed his backpack and headed back outside to his car.
He discovered that his equilibrium was the worst when he was standing up, and as long as he stayed seated, he felt pretty good. That meant he would have no problem driving to the station. Taking deep breaths to center himself, just in case he was having a panic attack, he quickly drove to the police station. He didn't think he would make it walking from his typical parking space down the street from the station, but he found an opening in the visitor's lot that was fairly close to the door. Since he wasn't planning to stay long, he only felt a small twinge of guilt at taking the space.
Blair turned off the engine and removed the keys, taking one more deep breath. Now all he had to do was get into the building, make it up to the seventh floor and find Jim--without tipping over. He opened the door and climbed out again, straightening up more slowly this time. He looked up as a car drove by him and found himself smiling and waving to Captain Joel Taggart of the bomb squad.
Joel waved back and continued on his way. Once he was gone, Blair let go of the death grip he had on the door handle to hold himself up, and took two steps around the back of the car. The next thing he was aware of was the pavement coming up to meet his face.
He was sprawled inelegantly on the ground, his backpack lying beside him. He looked around furtively to see if anyone had noticed his swan dive. Then he pushed himself to his knees and crawled back to the car door. He opened the door and dragged himself back inside. Now what? How was he supposed to let Jim know he was here? If only he could afford a cell phone like all the detectives carried, he could call for help. But the lot was deserted. He put his head back, closing his eyes wearily.
"Hello? Are you okay?"
Blair looked up in surprise at the uniformed police officer standing beside his car. She opened the door cautiously, studying him in concern. When he was silent, she repeated in a louder voice, "Are you okay? Do you need help?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess I do." Blair blushed, not liking this feeling of helplessness. "I guess I'm not feeling very well. How did you know? I thought the parking lot was deserted."
She smiled, pointing at the video camera mounted at the edge of the lot. "I saw you fall on the videotape. What's wrong? What can I do to help you?"
Blair sighed. He knew this was going to be embarrassing. Focusing on the name printed above her pocket, he steeled himself. "Officer Sheridan, I'd appreciate it if you could contact Detective Ellison in Major Crimes for me. Could you tell him that Blair Sandburg is down here?"
"Sure thing, Honey. You just take it easy." Officer Sheridan spoke into the transmitter clipped to her breast pocket. "Jason, call up to Major Crimes and tell Ellison there's a Blair Sandburg down here that doesn't look too good, will you?" She turned back to Blair with a reassuring smile and laid the back of her hand against Blair's forehead. "Do you think it's the flu? You don't really feel warm."
"I'm never warm," Blair muttered, leaning his head back against the seat to wait for his partner.
"Sandburg?" Jim's concerned voice coming from just beside him made Blair jump. He opened his eyes and looked into his partner's worried face. "What's going on, Buddy?" His voice was soft and gentle, which scared Blair more than if he had snapped at him for being late.
The young man cleared his throat nervously. "I don't know. A friend of mine gave me a massage this afternoon and then wrapped a hot towel around my neck. My heart started beating extra hard, and I've been getting more and more dizzy ever since." He laughed uneasily. "Probably the flu or something. Anyway, I tried to get out of the car and fell. Guess it was a good thing you guys have those video cameras. Officer Sheridan saw me and came out to help." He looked beyond his partner and saw to his surprise that not only was Officer Sheridan still there, there were several other people there as well.
"Chief, do you have any idea why your heart is racing?" Jim's voice remained soft and gentle, and Blair suddenly realized that his partner was scared.
"I....I didn't know it was! It's pounding really hard, but it doesn't feel any faster than usual." He looked up at Jim quizzically.
"Trust me--it's racing!" Jim looked grimly at Blair. "Your pulse is running about 150 right now. I'm going to step back for a minute here and let the medics take a look, okay?"
"Yeah, sure!" Blair felt his heart rate increase even as he willed it to slow down. He swallowed hard as two uniformed medics crowded in beside him, one on either side. He was still in a fog, wondering what was causing this strange reaction, when he felt a cold tube against his face and then felt a hiss as cold oxygen began to flow into his nostrils.
He hadn't realized until that moment that he was having difficulty breathing, but he felt better already. Looking down, he noticed that one of the medics was trying to start an IV on the back of his left hand.
"I can't get a vein over here. How about you?" The medic looked at his partner.
Blair felt his other hand being lifted, and then a sharp prick brought him out of the fog he had drifted into. He looked down, irritated by the nasal canula that had been strapped to his face, but grateful for the flow of oxygen. The paramedic on his right had started an IV and was taping the tubing down to Blair's arm. His clean shirt was hanging open, and there were wires taped to his chest. A pressure on his left arm made him look down to see a blood pressure cuff inflating itself around his bicep.
"What's wrong?" His voice came out in a funny croak, not sounding like him at all.
"We're not sure yet. But don't worry, Chief. They're taking good care of you!" Jim's reassuring voice came from behind the medic to Blair's left, and he instinctively looked up at his partner.
"I think I have the flu." His voice was still shaky, but he sounded a little more like himself. "I should probably just go home and sleep it off, right, Jim?"
"Sorry, Mr. Sandburg. We think it would be better if we take you over to the hospital first. Your heart rate is elevated quite a bit, and your blood pressure is really high right now, too. We need to find out why." The medic on the left spoke soothingly, but Blair wasn't really listening.
He was trying to remember the man's name. He knew that the medic had told him while he had been out of it, and he couldn't keep calling him the medic on the left. "What's your name?" he rasped.
"John. My name is John, Mr. Sandburg. And that's my partner, Tim, on your other side. Do you think you can stand up if we help you? We need to get you to that stretcher over there." He gestured toward a third medic who was standing beside a stretcher. "I know that in the movies the medics are always carrying people around, but we prefer not to." He grinned and Blair found himself grinning back.
"Sure, I can stand up. As long as I have something to hold onto." He carefully pushed to his feet, clinging to John's hand. He felt Jim holding him up under his arms, and Tim crawled through the car and climbed out after him, holding his other hand. He had barely gotten to his feet when the dizziness returned.
"Okay, his pulse and BP just shot up. Let's get him down quick." John looked up at the other two men and they quickly lifted Blair up and onto the stretcher. "Well, I guess we should have carried you after all!" He smiled at Blair reassuringly, but his tone was grave. "Let's get over to Cascade General, okay, guys?"
Blair was strapped onto the stretcher, along with the heart monitor and the automatic BP machine. The oxygen tank was tucked under the blankets beside him, and the medics tilted the head of the stretcher up until he was almost sitting. There was a brief moment of disorientation as the stretcher was lifted up into the back of the ambulance, then John and Tim climbed in beside him and began to shut the doors.
Jim poked his head in the door. "I'll meet you over there, Chief. Uh..is there anyone I should call for you?"
Blair shrugged, finding this entire episode humiliating. There was nothing quite like being surrounded by people in uniform and your partner while you were flat on your back on a stretcher, hooked up to all sorts of medical paraphernalia. "No, there's just my mom, and you'd never be able to find her. She's out of the country."
"Okay, well you hang in there, okay? I'll see you soon." Blair felt a hand squeeze his ankle gently, and then the doors closed.
To be continued...
So there's the first chapter. I will have chapter two up at least by next Monday, but it might be a little sooner. Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think.