Hi, you guys! This is my first AMC fic, so I apologize if it's not any good. Anyway, this is a oneshot based on what I think happened after the last shot, and the aftermath that Ryan and Greenlee Lavery faced. Enjoy!
-Emma
September 23rd, 2011.
That fateful autumn day.
It had started off as a wonderful day.
There was an invite to a party at the Chandler mansion. Great!
When they arrived, they found that Doctor Angie Hubbard regained her sight. Amazing!
It seemed like something had to give.
Tad gave a wonderful speech about friends and family that had moved even Pine Valley's most rock solid residents to tears.
Then, Adam Chandler popped the question to Brooke English, who happily accepted.
That was when things started to go wrong.
Greenlee's father, Jackson Montgomery, came bursting out from another room, angrily. Erica Kane came out behind him. She was shouting things about how much she needed him and loved him. When Jack left, Opal whispered something to Erica, and she began to go after him.
Greenlee proceeded to do what may have been one of the dumbest things she ever did.
Greenlee ran over to Erica and stopped her.
"Greenlee, I'm not dealing with you right now. Get OUT of my way!"
"Erica, please! My dad just needs some time."
"He doesn't need time, he needs me!"
"Please, Erica! Usually, I'd tell you to stay away, but my father loves you-."
"I KNOW! THAT'S WHY I'M GO-!"
"Erica, let me finish! He needs some time to think abou-!"
That's when Greenlee heard a mixture of things.
"OH MY GOD!" Brooke English cried out.
"Everybody, GET DOWN!" Jesse Hubbard shouted.
"Greenlee!" Ryan shouted.
She then heard one shot…
She felt one, too.
Greenlee took a bullet to the side. She collapsed.
Kendall screamed bloody murder.
Greenlee collapsed. Before blacking out, Greenlee saw and heard so many more things. There were screams.
She heard herself hyperventilating.
Ryan calling out her name and pushing through the crowd to get to her.
Jesse instructing everyone to stay calm.
Another gunshot.
Instead of hitting Greenlee again, Erica Kane took a shot to the head.
Another gunshot.
Erica took another bullet to the side.
More screaming.
Bianca screaming "Oh, God, Marissa, NO!"
Before it all went dark, Greenlee saw Bianca step in front of Marissa before the gun was fired for a fourth time.
Bianca took a bullet to the leg.
It was dark.
Ryan made his way through the crowd of people to his wife, who had collapsed and curled up on the floor, bleeding horribly.
"We need a doctor!"
Jake Martin ran over to Greenlee's aid, Angie to Bianca's, and Cara and Griffin Castillo to Erica's.
Jake began to assess Greenlee's wounds.
"The bullet entered her left side. I think it may have it the bottom of her lung."
"Dear God, oh Greenlee. Baby, you can pull through this. I know you can." Ryan stroked her what seemed to be lifeless cheek as he cried.
He heard Marissa trying to stay strong and help Bianca from going into shock.
Erica was down for the count.
Jesse shouted over everyone.
"The EMTs are down the street. Jake, is Greenlee unconscious?"
"Yes, her blood pressure is low…" Jake said, paying very close attention to Greenlee as he took his tie off and tried to stop Greenlee's bleeding.
Ryan looked away from Greenlee for a minute to see Erica Kane, the eternal fighter, losing immense amounts of blood from her head and her side. He saw that Bianca had been quickly stabilized. Marissa, however, was an emotional wreck.
The EMTs arrived.
They lifted Greenlee onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. Ryan asked if he could ride with her. The EMTs agreed as they hooked her up to a ventilator to stabilize her breathing.
Ryan sighed and wiped his eyes as he knelt down next to Greenlee's gurney.
It was going to be a long night.
After what seemed like hours, the EMTs rolled Greenlee, Erica, and Bianca's stretchers into Pine Valley Hospital. They'd been able to dislodge the bullet from Bianca's leg in the ambulance. Greenlee and Erica, however, had not been so lucky. The bullet was in Greenlee's system and needed to be removed immediately.
Erica was in shock. She was still losing blood from her head, but they'd managed to stop the bleeding from her side. The O.R.s were open and Greenlee, Erica, and Bianca were all being taken inside. Greenlee was still unconscious and her breathing was heavy.
As the doctors were about the close the doors to the O.R. that Greenlee was being rushed into, Ryan cried out.
"NO! I need to be in there!" he screamed. "I need to be in there with my wife!"
"Ryan, please." Angie Hubbard pleaded with him. "Let the doctors do their job. I promise you that Greenlee will be fine."
"But-."
"Ryan, trust me. Greenlee will be up and back on her feet in no time."
Ryan opened his mouth to protest, but stopped and looked down at his feet. Angie silently offered him a hug, and he accepted, only to then cry on her shoulder.
When Ryan looked up, he saw Jackson quickly walking through the hospital, clearly distraught.
"Ryan! Oh, God, who's hurt? What happened?" he demanded.
Ryan broke free from Angie, who nodded at the two men and walked away.
"We were at the party at the Chandlers' and there was shooting-." Ryan began.
"I saw that on the news! Ryan, who's hurt?" Jack snapped.
"Erica was coming after you, but you must've driven away… Erica was stopped by Greenlee, who was telling her to give you some time, and then…" Ryan's voice trailed off.
"Then, what? Damn it, Ryan, tell me what happened!"
"The gun went off and Greenlee took a shot to the side. She's in the Operating Room now."
"Dear God, my little girl…" Jackson had trouble sitting down. Ryan swore he saw the man trembling. He sat down next to his father-in-law.
"Jack, there's more…" Ryan wouldn't look at him.
" I heard there were four shots fired. Are there three more people hurt?"
"Only two… Jack, Erica took a shot to the head and then one to her side. Bianca stepped in front of Marissa and took a bullet to the left leg.
"Thi-this… it's not… NO!" Jack put his face in his hands and cried.
Ryan resumed crying as well. He wanted to know how this could've happened. Jesse had stayed behind with Natalia and Brot to find out.
Just then, Jake came out of Greenlee's Operating Room and walked over to where Ryan and Jack were seated. They rose when they saw him and Jake nodded.
"Greenlee's surgery is over. We successfully removed the bullet from her system, but it nicked the bottom lobe of her lung, so it was removed. She may have pain breathing for a while. But, other than that, she's expected to make a full recovery as long as she wakes up soon."
Jake's last words hung in the air like smoke on water…
As long as she wakes up soon.
Jack said exactly what Ryan had been thinking.
"How soon, Jake?"
"Within the next twelve hours. As long as she wakes up in that time period, she'll be fine…"
"What h-happens if she doesn't wake up by then, Jake…?" Ryan struggled to get the words out.
Jake sighed. "Greenlee could go into a coma."
Ryan felt his heart skip a beat, and then drop into his stomach.
A coma.
"What about Bianca and Erica?" Jack asked. His voice cracked and he looked down.
"Bianca is fine. Cara stitched her up and she's good as new… Marissa's a wreck, though." Jake laughed slightly. Then, slowly, his face fell. He addressed Jack solely.
"Erica… is…"
Greenlee woke up and looked around.
What happened?
Wasn't she at the Chandler Mansion?
Where was Ryan?
She tried to breath and felt a sharp pain around her ribcage.
Greenlee looked down and saw a bandage on her left side. She was hooked up to an IV drip and was confused for a moment.
She looked at her bandage, put a hand on it, but only for a second, because it hurt like hell.
Then, she realized what happened.
She'd gotten shot.
Just then, as she tried to process things, Jake Martin walked into her room with his clipboard to check on her.
"Hey, sweetheart, you're up!"
"Ryan…" she muttered, looking at Jake, her eyes only half open.
"Already on it."
Jake turned on his heel and left.
Jack and Ryan were still sitting in the waiting room, waiting with baited breath.
Greenlee had been out of surgery for about three hours.
Jake walked down the hallway towards them and stopped.
"She's awake."
Jack and Ryan glanced at each other. Their faces lit up.
"Ryan, she wants to see you."
Ryan stood up quickly… and got a head rush doing so. Jake led him to Greenlee's room.
Ryan rushed himself to Greenlee's bedside. She had closed her eyes for only a second and then, when Ryan knelt down next to her and kissed her forehead, she opened them.
"Hi, baby…"
"Hey…" Greenlee whispered. It hurt her ribcage if she spoke too loudly.
"How do you feel…?" Ryan stroked her hair ever so lightly, as if to not hurt her anymore than she already had been.
"Like I got shot."
Ryan gave her a look.
"Just because I lost blood doesn't mean I've lost my sense of humor."
Ryan laughed lovingly at his wife.
"Ryan, what happened?"
"JR Chandler happened. He was outside the house at the party; apparently he'd been aiming for his father with a gun he stole from him. He missed his dad three times. So, after that, he went after Marissa."
"Wh-who's hurt, Ryan?"
"Bianca and Erica got shot…"
"God, how are they?"
"Bianca's fine… it was really just a flesh wound…"
"And Erica?"
"Greenlee, honey, Erica's dead…"
Greenlee started hyperventilating…
She may not have ever liked Erica… but she certainly didn't want her dead.
"Greenlee, honey? …Greenlee? Greenlee!"
"Greenlee?"
Ryan caught Greenlee's attention.
They were sitting on a park bench, on September 23rd, 2013.
"I'm sorry, Ryan… I was-…"
"Shhh…" he kissed the top of her head. "You were thinking about Erica, weren't you?"
"Yeah." Greenlee sighed.
"You know it's not your fault, right?"
"Ryan, even after two years… I still can't honestly say I believe it wasn't my fault."
Ryan looked his wife in her big brown eyes.
"Greenlee, listen to me. It was JR's fault. He shot you. He shot Bianca. He killed Erica. Where is he now?"
"Prison…" Greenlee muttered. "Where that scum bag belongs…"
"That's right. It wasn't your fault. You just happened to be standing in his way."
Erica's death had shaken Pine Valley to its core.
Greenlee's father had taken it pretty hard. He didn't do anything for a while, but then he got back on his feet…
And back in the game.
He was happily married to Krystal Carey.
Bianca and Kendall took it pretty hard as well. They had gotten over it now, but it was had to lose their mother… again.
The kids were all hit with it pretty hard, but AJ was the worst. His dad had tried to kill multiple people and now he was in prison.
Greenlee and Ryan were affected more than anyone could've expected.
Greenlee blamed herself for the entire thing.
Even after two years, when she was sort of over it, she was still affected. And it KILLED Ryan to see her like that.
"Ryan, this is horrible."
"I know… I take it you miss Erica."
…
"I do. I never really LIKED her per say… but I miss Erica Kane."
"God, I never, in as long as I've known you, EVER thought I'd hear you say that." Ryan said.
Greenlee cracked up at that and Ryan laughed at her.
Ryan wrapped his arms around his wife and she cuddled up next to him.
"Ryan?"
"Hmm?"
"How did we get here?"
Ryan opened his eyes and laughed at Greenlee's question.
"Baby, we got here by pushing through thing. We got here by being strong. Greenlee, we got here by loving each other."
Greenlee smiled to herself.
"I love you."
Ryan kissed her head.
"I love you, too."
Okay, thanks for reading! Please review!
-Emma :)