Author's Notes: If you haven't seen "Collision" yet and hate being spoiled, you might not want to read.
Rating: PG
Loud Noises
by Osiris-Ra
Four gunshots rang out down the hall of the first floor. A lanky figure scurried away, stuffing a gun into his pants and leaping out of a broken window, leaving another on the floor to savor the taste of hot lead.
Big Mike raced down the hall, frantically pursing for his radio.
"Officer down! I need an Ambulance to 4552 Jerry Road now!"
He slid to the floor, cradled the head of his downed partner on the floor. Her eyes were half closed, breathing was shallow. The bullet hole in her stomach was bleeding badly.
"A-L, come on, kid, stay with me. Stay with me, huh?"
He patted her face gently, trying to get her to come to. She groaned slightly.
"The ambulance is coming, just hang on."
A pained frown covered her face. She whispered something faintly.
"My baby..."
The lights shone bright florescent white, piercing her eyes. Ana blinked. Then the pain shocked her, tunneling a hole straight through her, it felt like. She squirmed to panicked life, blindly trying to make heads or tails of her situation. The words came suddenly, before the meaning:
"My baby...how is it?"
A nurse pushed her head back down gently, saying something in a comforting voice that Ana couldn't hear at the moment over the commotion of the room. There were nurses and doctors all over, men and women in stain spattered blue smocks and white hats and bloody gloves. Fear went through her like a lightning bolt, muffling the pain she felt running up her legs, back and side.
"Is it ok? Is it – "
She saw her mother's face fly by for an instant, her face red from crying, brow crinkled in worry. Where was Big Mike? What'd happened? The sounds made her nauseous. Or was it something they'd injected? A doctor put a mask over her face, it steamed up with some flavorless gas, and then something pierced her arm. She tried to resist the gas entering her nose, but only choked and was forced to inhale. The gas rushed down her throat, cooling and numbing it. Everything went black again.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Ana came to slowly, groggy and impossibly tired. She blinked slowly. There was something up her nose, two something's. Two or three little plastic tubes. She looked down at her arms groggily. Needles and tubes were coming of them, leading up to various intravenous fluids, blood packs. Someone was standing over her, adjusting some equipment. Hospital smell filled her nostrils. She felt sick. Didn't help that classical music was playing loudly in some other room. There was a terrific soreness in her legs and side. She made a noise for the person near her to hear. The nurse didn't acknowledge, just wrote something on a clipboard attached to some device nearby, then left briskly, closing the door.
It was just Ana and her pain. Then blackness again.
The beeping was softer now, slower. More stable. She listened. It calmed her a bit to hear it's steady candence.
"Ana?"
A female voice said quietly in a hopeful manner. Ana turned her head. Spoke in a tired, half slurred voice.
"Mom?"
Her mother smiled weakly. Took her daughters hand and squeezed.
"How're you feeling?"
"Crappy."
A weak laugh came. Her mother scooted her chair closer.
"That's probably the Morphine. I think they've got you hooked up to everything in the hospital." Her mom said with a comforting grin.
"How long have I been here?"
"Around aweek."
Ana frowned curiously.
"What happened?"
Her mothers face grew dark.
"You were shot."
The gunshots rang again. Ana closed her eyes suddenly, remembering the impact. When they opened again after while, they were filled with tears.
"It's gone, isn't it?"
Her mother didn't say anything. Ana's heart sank. She let go of her mothers hand and turned away, sinking into the new pain, the pain that was ravaging her heart and mind. Her soul suddenly felt vacant and alone. The tears dripped soundlessly from her eyes, wetting her pillow.
It became very quiet, very suddenly, for a long time.