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Through the Fire
"Sometimes the wrong choices bring us to the right places."
Signing off on the files that the desk nurse puts in front of him, Jason Quartermaine thanks the nurse before handing over the files and making his way back to his office. For the most part, the night has been relatively quiet, exactly the way he likes it. As much as he loves to help people and save lives, Jason prefers the quiet nights, thankful that no lives are hanging in the balance. This is the first night that he's been left in charge of the hospital. His father has approached the hospital board with the proposition of creating a new position, Co-Chief of Staff, one that Jason would fill once it was created. With his father's influence, its only a matter of time before its approved and tonight is his chance to prove his father right. His chance to prove to all of them that he can take on that responsibility and thrive.
"Baby, hey." Jason answers his private phone with a soft smile on his lips as he flips open another file. "I can't really be on the phone right now..."
"Jason, I need you. Please, baby, I..." his girlfriend blubbers as she paces the floor of their apartment. "I did something really bad...I need your help."
"Whoa, whoa, slow down." Jason voices with fear as he rises to his feet. "What happened? What did you do?"
"Jason! Jason!" his sister voice shouts with alarm just outside his door before she barges right in when he doesn't answer. "Jason, you have to come quick. Please!"
"Give me one second." Jason says before turning his attention back to his girlfriend. "Courtney, please, tell me what's wrong."
"Your sister needs you, you should help her." Courtney says with a shaky voice. "I...I have to go. I'm so sorry. Just know that I never meant to...I...I have to go."
"Wai...dammit!" Jason slams the phone down on the hook before looking at his sister. "What is it? What's going on?"
"Its Elizabeth. She's in real bad shape, Jason." Emily says as Jason starts following her out the door. "According to the OR nurse, we're lucky if she survives surgery, let alone the next few hours."
"Were you with her in the ambulance?" Jason questions her as they get on the elevator to head down to the OR, continuing when she confirms she was. "Catch me up on her vitals during transit."
"Her blood pressure kept dropping, she nearly flatlined twice, but they were able to get her stable after the second time." Emily relays as the doors to the elevator open and the continue their venture to the emergency room. "From what they were able to tell me, according to their professional opinion, she has a few broken ribs, two fractured legs, and severe internal bleeding. According to the police she was thrown on impact which resulted in extensive head trauma. Jason...its bad. I could barely recognize her through all the blood."
"I'll do whatever it takes to pull her through this." Jason promises her before kissing her forehead. "I know you want to watch over the surgery, but with her injuries this extensive I'd rather you didn't. Go up to my office, help the staff make notifications, tell her family they need to be here right now just in case..."
He doesn't dare finish his train of thought, unable to do that to his sister, before he makes his way into the OR. Scrubbing in, Jason rushes into the room where he gets caught up on Elizabeth's current vitals and the damages she has sustained. Once he gets up to date, he starts instructing the OR personnel on what to do. From the look of the patient, this was going to be a long night. Making a small sign of the cross, Jason gets started.
:::through the fire::::
From the moment she found Elizabeth laying on the side of the road, fear has taken hold of her, squeezing the very breath from her lungs. She couldn't believe that anyone could be so callous as to hit her and just keep driving. They didn't even stop to see if she was okay. For someone to just hit her and leave her for dead, Emily felt every part of her shatter. Imagining her laying on the side of the road, bleeding and all alone, in desperate need of help with no one around to help her.
"Emily?" her mother's voice causes her to break down completely. "Emily, what's the matter?"
"Its Elizabeth, mom." she says through her tears. "Its really bad...Jason's in with her now, but not even he knows if she'll live past this."
Allowing her mother to hold her as her whole world begins to fall apart, Emily takes the moment to feel sorry for herself before sucking it up and stepping out of her embrace. Swearing to herself that this is the only time that she will feel sorry for herself from this point on. Elizabeth is the one that's in pain. Whether she lives past this or not, none of this is about her. Taking in a deep breath, Emily makes her way to the nurse's station, its time to make notifications.
"The hospital has personnel for this sort of thing." Monica places her hand over her daughter's as she picks up the phone. "You do not have to be the one to make this call."
"Yes, mother, I do." Emily gently removes her mother's hand. "Elizabeth would do the same for me. I have to be the one to call her grandparents. I owe her that much."
"She's your best friend." Monica replies. "I doubt she'd be upset with you if you didn't make this call."
"I was supposed to meet her at the diner." Emily says seriously. "I was running late and...I should have been there."
"What could you have done?" Monica voices seriously. "What happened to Elizabeth is not your fault! Its that driver's."
"If I was on time, she wouldn't have been waiting on the sidewalk for me." Emily snaps. "I know you're trying to comfort me, but right now I just can't hear it. I'm making this call."
"Okay." Monica takes a few steps back, giving Emily her space. "Okay."
Taking a deep breath, Emily dials the one number that would surely break her even further. As soon as she replies, she could tell that Elizabeth grandfather already knew it wouldn't be good news. She could hear the pain in his voice as he tells her they're on their way. Every part of her aching when he pleads with her to watch over the surgery until they get there. It was the most heartbreaking request she's ever agreed to, but one she has agreed to none the less. Against her mother's wishes, Emily makes her way to the observation room to watch over the surgery as it goes underway.
:::through the fire:::
Stripping off the scrubs, Jason makes his way out of the OR to inform Elizabeth's family about the surgery and his predictions on her chances of making it past what has happened to her. Regardless of how many times he has done this, he never gets used to informing the family of the possibility that their loved one will not survive.
The moment he stepped into the conference room, Jason knew that this would be the hardest one of all. At first, his mother tries to step over to him, intending to give him moral support as he gives the devastating news to the Hardy family, but he stops her. If he's supposed to run this hospital with his father, he needs to be the one to stand in front of this family and deliver the news.
"The next forty-eight hours is crucial." Jason sums it up once he divulges all there is to know about Elizabeth's condition. "I know how difficult this must be, but I'm going to have to deny visitation at this point. Just for now. Once she's stable enough to be moved into the ICU, limited visitation will be allowed. I will be on-call to answer any and all questions you may have."
Once he gives his last word, Jason makes his way to the locker rooms to get washed up, a fear creeping into his heart as he stands beneath the pouring water. It couldn't be a coincidence that his girlfriend would make a frantic call just moments before Elizabeth is wheeled into the hospital. He hates thinking it, but it lines up.
Slamming his hands against the tiled walls, he finishes washing up before quickly getting dressed and making his way down to the parking garage. He has to know for sure. If his girlfriend is responsible for this kind of damage, if she's the one that left Elizabeth for dead, he has to know. Driving as fast as he can, Jason tries to call Courtney, but it goes straight to voicemail.
Pulling up to their apartment, Jason felt his heart sink even further when he finds an ambulance parked in his driveway with the lights flashing. Throwing the car into park, he quickly makes his way up the pathway to the front door, arriving just as the medics are wheeling her out on the gurney.
"What happened?" Jason asks the medic that falls behind to speak to him. "What's wrong with her?"
"Dr. Quartermaine, it seems as if your girlfriend has overdosed on prescription pain medication." the man replies. "We'll do what we can, but its best not to get your hopes too high."
"What are her chances?"
"She consumed what looked to be a full bottle of oxycodone. Maybe if she had gotten help sooner, she'd have better chances, but that's not the case." he sighs. "I'm sorry."
Watching the man walk out of the apartment to join his partner in the ambulance, Jason could almost feel the ground beneath him disappear, sending him straight into the dark abyss. Blindly walking into the room where they had found her, Jason finds a note addressed to him on the nightstand by the empty bottle of pills. Detailed in short simple words is his girlfriend's confession to the hit and run. Begging his forgiveness before apologizing for what she had to do. She just couldn't live with the guilt if Elizabeth were to die because of her. Cursing to the high heavens, Jason tosses the note onto the bed before making his way back to the hospital. Elizabeth will not die. His girlfriend will not be the reason that his sister loses her best friend. Not on his watch.
:::through the fire:::
She wasn't sure if the room was actually colder or if it was just her, but she could feel the chills spreading over her body as she sat beside Elizabeth in the recovery ward. Normally no one is allowed access to the recovery wing, especially once the doctor has revoked visitation for a specific patient, but she just couldn't stand waiting another moment longer. She had to see her best friend. Call it self-punishment or whatever, but she had to see her for herself, to know that she was still alive. That Elizabeth still had a chance.
"You shouldn't be in here." her brother voices as he stands in the doorway. "She's still unstable."
"I know." Emily whispers as she holds Elizabeth's hand in hers. "I had to see her."
"Mom told me what you said." Jason admits. "Its not your fault, Em."
"Please don't try to reassure me." Emily sighs, tears stinging her eyes. "Everyone has tried to and I just can't take hearing it from you, too."
"Fine." he accepts, knowing that now was most definitely not the time to divulge the truth behind the accident. Not with things looking so dreary as it is. "But I can't have you staying back here. Her condition can go bad fast and you'll only be in the way."
"I'll leave, but only on one condition." Emily says firmly. "You have to stay with her. She doesn't deserve to be alone, Jason. Especially now."
"I'll be with her as much as possible." Jason assures. "But I do have other patients to tend to."
"She's my best friend, Jason, and her condition is sketchy at best." Emily pleads with him. "If she doesn't make it through the night, I need to know that she wasn't alone. Please, I can't leave here without knowing that she has someone by her side that cares for her. Please."
"Okay." Jason relents, tears stinging his eyes. "I'll stay with her until she's transferred to the ICU."
"Thank you." Emily hugs her brother tightly for a long moment before moving to place a soft kiss upon Elizabeth's forehead. "Keep fighting, Liz. Don't give up."
Taking in a deep breath, she makes her way out of the hospital, in desperate need to wash away the day from her body. The blood has begun to dry on her clothes, a sore reminder of the reality that has fallen upon here, and Emily just wanted to burn the outfit altogether. Today never should have happened and she will never forgive herself for being late. She should have been there. The one time that she's late, the first time ever, and this happens. Shaking the thoughts from her mind, Emily makes her way back to the estate and into her private bathroom, slowly dropping into her tub to soak the day away. Tomorrow has to be better. It just has to be.
:::through the fire:::
Staring down at Elizabeth, his heart tightens, seeing the damage that his girlfriend had caused. A part of him wanted to tell Emily the truth, that Courtney had been responsible for this, but what good would that have done? Courtney has chosen to kill herself rather than face the consequences of her actions, actions that will undoubtedly come to light once the police get involved, and then all hell will break loose then. For now, he just wants the focus on getting Elizabeth better rather than the person that put her there.
For as long as he's known her, Elizabeth has always had this light about her, a unique ability to just liven up any room she walked into. Seeing her like this now, laying motionless upon the hospital bed, Jason couldn't hold it in any longer. Lowering his head upon their joined hands, he allows the tears to fall from his eyes. All the pain, the anger, and heartache pour into the tears falling down his face. None of this should have happened. This shouldn't be their reality.
"I'm so sorry." he says through his tears, raising his head to look upon her face. "This never should have happened to you. I swear, on my life, that I'll do whatever it takes to get you past this, but I need you to do your part. I need you to fight as hard as you can to stay alive. You do that and, I swear to you, I will get you past this."