Title: Fragility
Author: Sharron Ibbitson
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you recognize, although I
would like to keep Jesse, for just a little while!!
This is my first Diagnosis Murder story, so please take it easy on me. I'd also like to point out that I am from England so some of the Americanisms may be slightly out, but I've tried my best. I generally write Due South and X-Files fics, but since DM is so fantastic and the characters so lovely I thought I'd try my hand at a fiction to see what sort of response it got. Feedback very much appreciated, but please be constructive!!! Thank you!
Fragility
Dr Jesse Travis stepped back from the young girl and sighed deeply.
"Time of death 3.15pm" he declared sadly, as he pulled his surgical gloves off and threw them in the waste bin. It was the end of a sixteen hour long shift, and he was exhausted. He had had a very bad day, and this had made things even worse. Sometimes he got so sick of always having to break bad news to people, sometimes he just wished he had some good news to share. He sighed again and quietly asked the nurse to clean the young girl up, as he made his way to the distraught parent.
Mark Sloane strolled along the corridor of Community General Hospital with a grin on his face. He was having an excellent day, and that evening he was having dinner at his beach house with his son and his two best friends. Jesse and Amanda really did mean the World to him. He shook his head and smiled to himself. Jesse felt like a son to him, he was so fond of the young doctor, and he knew that Steve thought of the younger man as a little brother. Yes life was great for Dr Sloane, that is until he heard the commotion that was coming from down the hall. The grin left his face, as he hurried through the hospital towards the noise. He grabbed a security guard on his way, and finally found the source of the trouble in the relative's room. He gasped as he saw a giant of a man holding Jesse pinned up against a wall, almost dangling as his feet barely touched the floor. The security guard grabbed the man roughly by the arms and pulled him away from Jesse. Mark went straight over to his friend, and put his hand on his shoulder, as he watched Jesse struggle to get his breath back, as he stood hunched over with his hands on his knees and his head dropped down. Jesse didn't speak, Mark just watched concerned as he wheezed trying to breathe, until he was gestured by the guard.
"Dr Sloane, can you hold him for a moment while I go and call the cops?" he asked, Mark was just about to agree when Jesse interrupted him.
"No. No police, just leave it" he whispered, as his voice would go no louder.
"But Dr Travis he could have killed you" the guard protested.
"Just let him go, and leave it at that. It's ok" Jesse stated, and to show the end of the discussion he walked out of the room. Mark just exchanged a shrug with the guard, before following after Jesse. He was concerned about the younger man and wanted to check he was all right. When he found him he could tell that he was far from okay, as he was as white as a sheet, and was retching into a toilet. Mark sighed deeply and quietly went further into the restroom, and placed a hand gently on Jesse's trembling shoulder.
"Jesse are you okay?" he asked softly, Jesse squeezed his eyes shut before responding.
"I'm fine Mark, just really tired is all" he replied, and for the first time in days Mark took a really good look at the younger man. He really did look exhausted; his eyes had dark circles already forming under them.
"Jesse why don't you go home and get some sleep, and I'll see you later at my house for dinner" Mark told him.
"But Mark I still have an hour of my shift left, besides I can't just go" he replied.
"Yes you can, and that is exactly what you are going to do. I will cover your shift for you. Now go, no arguments, and I'll see you later for dinner" Mark told him, not willing to give in on this instance, as his friend looked like if he didn't sleep soon, he would collapse. Mark's worry was deepened when instead of arguing, Jesse nodded silently, before turning to leave the room.
"Thanks Mark" he muttered, and slowly walked to the doctors' lounge. As he walked in Amanda looked up.
"Hay Jess" she greeted him, he smiled weakly at her. Amanda raised her eyebrows at Steve who was sat drinking his cup of coffee, waiting for his father. Jess went straight to his locker and grabbed his kit bag. He hung his white coat up, and not even bothering to change out of his scrubs he walked out the room, waving silently as he walked out.
"What's up with him?" Steve asked Amanda, certain that he was missing something.
"I have no idea, but I'm sure that his shift doesn't end for at least another half hour" she responded, as puzzled as her friend was about Jesse's behaviour. It was at that point that Mark came into the lounge.
"Hi Dad you ready to go?" Steve asked his father; they were off to the grocery store to get the ingredients for that evening's dinner.
"Sorry Steve, you'll have to wait another hour or so before I finish" he replied with a sheepish smile.
"But Dad you said you finished at five today" Steve whined in response. He was already bored.
"I know and I was supposed to, but I said I'd cover the rest of Jess's shift so that he could go and get some much needed sleep"
"Ah so that was where he was off to" Amanda said to herself, glad that that was one mystery solved.
"Is he okay?" Steve asked his father, concerned about his younger friend.
"I'm sure he'll be fine, he just needs some sleep. This was his fifth sixteen hour shift this week, and he is exhausted" Mark told his son.
"Wow, the little guy just don't know when to quit does he" Steve responded with a grin, amazed that his friend could manage to work a total of seventy- eight hours at the hospital plus do his share at BBQ Bob's and still keep going. Mark smiled, more concerned for, than in awe of his friend. He then made his goodbyes and went off to finish off Jesse's rounds.
Jesse didn't even take his clothes off before crawling into bed; he just pushed his shoes off, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
"What is that racket?" Steve Sloane called out over the wailing coming from the kitchen. His Dad turned round to glare at him.
"I'll have you know I have a very good singing voice" Mark told his son in mock disgust.
"Yeah whatever" Steve retorted with a grin. He was glad to see his father so happy, he grinned again to himself, before making his way back upstairs to get changed.
By the time he came back downstairs Amanda was sat in the front room sipping a glass of wine as she waited.
"Hi" she greeted with a smile.
"Hi Amanda, is Jess in the kitchen with Dad?" he asked her, keen to see his younger friend.
"Jesse isn't here yet Steve. I'm sure he won't be long though" she replied, well aware that her friend was already late.
Jesse arrived over forty minutes later. He had slept right through his alarm and was over an hours late for dinner at Mark's. he apologised profusely upon his arrival, semi aware of Mark appraising glance on him. Jesse still looked very pale, and his eyes were glassy like he had a very bad headache. The bruises around his neck had come up and Mark could actually make out the imprints of someone's hand. Mark sighed, his friend truly did look awful.
"Don't apologise Jesse, from the looks of you, you needed the extra sleep" Mark told him gently, Jesse smiled weakly in response. He couldn't deny that Mark's words were the truth, he was exhausted and his head was still banging. Amanda came over to him, for the first time noticing the bruises around his neck.
"What the hell happened to you?" she asked him in concern. Her tone aroused Steve's suspicions, as he turned around and saw Jesse's bruises. Jesse looked at Mark panicked at the question, so his older friend stepped into help.
"Jesse got attacked today, at the hospital" Mark told them.
"That's funny I didn't hear anything" Steve responded.
"Um that's because I didn't report it" Jesse muttered not meeting anyone's gaze.
"Well why the hell not?" Steve asked his friend almost angrily.
"Steve leave him alone, come on lets go and it before the food is ruined" Mark intervened, seeing the look of distress on Jesse's face, although he himself had every intention of continuing their discussion, he just wanted to make sure that Jesse had something to eat first. Mark was extremely concerned about the younger man, he hadn't been taking proper care of himself and he was looking decidedly unhealthy lately.
The group as usual chatted easily through dinner, although Jesse was noticeably quiet throughout the meal, and also seemed to be lacking his usual appetite. Steve noticed this and exchanged a worried glance with his father, when Jesse didn't even manage to eat half a plate of food. Almost as soon as dinner was over, Jesse began to make his excuses. Mark however could be just as stubborn as his younger colleague.
"Jesse I insist that you stay for a coffee" he stated at the end of a long discussion. Jesse sighed deeply and sat back down on the sofa. Amanda went into the kitchen to put the kettle on. Mark and Steve sat down on the sofa on either side of Jesse, so he was effectively boxed in.
"So Jesse, why didn't you report that man? And why was he trying to hurt you?" Steve asked getting straight to the point. Jesse looked at Mark, silently pleading for help, but none was forthcoming. He sighed deeply before actually replying.
"The man was the father of a girl I had been treating. The reason he hit me was because she had just died, and I guess he needed someone to blame. The reason I didn't report him was because I thought he had enough to cope with having just lost his only child, without getting arrested aswell, why what would you have done?" Jesse asked almost bitterly. Mark sighed, he should have known it would be something like that, and Jesse was right to leave the police out of it, he just didn't understand what was going on inside Jesse's head before the incident even took place.
"You're right Jesse, I would have done the same thing" he assured his young friend, and Jesse smiled shyly, relieved that his mentor agreed with his judgement. Steve sighed before admitting that he also agreed with Jesse. Jesse yawned then climbed to his feet, swaying slightly as he did so.
"Look guys, I'm gonna go. I'll skip the coffee okay?" he told them, but Mark shook his head.
"Jesse you are dead on your feet, why don't you stay here tonight?" he asked him, and before the younger man could object he continued. "Jess you have done too many long shifts this week, plus your work at Bob's and you are exhausted. I am worried, now do an old man a favour and stay here tonight so that at least I can worry whilst keeping an eye on you" Mark told him firmly, and Jesse added to his concern by just nodding in agreement rather than arguing.
"You know I think I might call it a night aswell" Steve told his father about five minutes after Jesse had retired for the evening.
Jesse stripped down to his boxers and slid between the sheets into the freshly made bed, it only took him a matter of seconds to leap out of bed and sprint to the bathroom as the nausea hit him. He retched up what little he had managed to eat for dinner, and then the painful dry heaves set in. In his haste Jesse had forgotten to shut the bathroom door, and when he looked up with sheer misery on his face, he saw Steve standing over him. Steve went straight to the sink and rinsed a cloth, then carefully bent down and wiped Jesse's flushed face, before helping the exhausted doctor to his feet, and guiding him back to bed. . Steve looked at his friend in concern before heading back downstairs to get his father.
"How is he?" Mark asked in concern.
"I just found him puking his guts up in the bathroom" Steve told him, and neither doctor responded, each totting up a list of symptoms in their head.
Jesse was exhausted and yet sleep was hard to find that night. He was having difficulty in relaxing, as his head was throbbing and his mind could not expel the image of the young girl that had died that day. He was also angry at himself, he couldn't even remember the girl's name. He hadn't been able to save her, and now he couldn't even remember her name, what sort of doctor did that make him? His plight was made worse knowing that he was in someone else's house, and not at home in his own bed. He sighed deeply his head really did hurt. He gingerly felt the back of his head where it had come in contact with the wall. There was a bump there, and Jesse was not surprised. He climbed out of bed and went to his jacket, where he removed a packet of aspirin from his pocket; he swallowed four of them dry. He knew it was more than the recommended dose, but he was hoping it would knock him out for the night.
Less than two hours later Jesse decided to just give up on sleep, since it had evaded him all night. He staggered out of bed, swaying as he made his way down the hall to the bathroom. He quickly splashed cold water over his face, hoping to wake himself up. He ran his fingers through his hair and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. His eyes had none of their usual spark and there were dark circles under them. His neck had turned a deep shade of blue where his bruises had formed overnight. He sighed again then winced as it aggravated his sore throat. He turned and quietly made his way back to the guest room, where he straightened the bed before getting dressed and making his way downstairs and silently letting himself out of the house and to his car. He drove straight to the hospital to start his shift two hours early. Mark watched the younger doctor from his bedroom window.
"Oh Jesse, why won't you just tell me what's wrong?" he asked to himself.
Jesse spread the file out across the desk in the doctors' lounge. He had just taken some more aspirin, but they still put no dent in the pain in his head. Hi sighed then picked up the cover of the file he was reading.
"Lucy Marshall" he said to himself, finally remembering the name of the girl. Twelve years old and she had died of a gunshot wound. She'd been living with her father since her mother's death three years previously. Jesse rubbed his hands over his face, trying to prevent the tears from falling, that poor man, now left with nothing in the World. He blinked hard, to clear his vision, he didn't know why he was reacting like this, he had lost patients before, under similar circumstances and not torn himself up over it like this. Maybe it was because of the man's reaction, what ever it was Jesse couldn't put his finger on it at that moment. He shook his head to discard the spots forming in front of his eyes, and picked up the first sheet of the file and began to read.
That was where Mark found him an hour later, when he arrived to start his shift.
"Jesse what are you doing?" he asked softly.
"Ah, just reading up on some files" Jesse replied not meeting his friend's gaze.
"Is this the young girl that died yesterday?" Mark asked. Jesse looked up surprised at his friend's insight.
"Yeah I just thought I'd check it over that's all" Jesse replied.
"Okay do you need any help?" Mark offered.
"No thanks Mark, I'm done actually besides I've got rounds to do" Jesse responded before getting to his feet. Mark was alarmed to see him sway slightly. Jesse stretched and then slowly left the room, leaving a worried Mark to watch him go.
Mark sat down in Jesse's recently vacated chair, and picked up the file that the younger man had been reading. It was upsetting, such a tragic waste of a young life but it was nothing that Jesse hadn't seen a million times before. Mark rubbed his eyes with his hands, suddenly feeling very old. Just what was going on with Jesse he didn't know, but he was determined to find out.
It took twenty minutes for Steve Sloane to arrive at Community General Hospital. His father's call had puzzled him, he knew that he needed to discuss something to do with Jesse, but he wasn't sure what could have happened since that morning. Having said that Steve was very glad that the were finally going to come up with a plan to get to the bottom of whatever was troubling Jesse.
He found his father sitting in the lounge, and he pulled up the seat next to him. Mark immediately handed him a fresh cup of coffee, and Steve smiled his thanks. Just as the two men began to drink their coffees they were joined by Amanda Bentley.
"Hi guys" she greeted "Where's Jess?" she asked, surprised that their youngest companion wasn't present.
"It's him we're here to discuss Amanda" Mark replied.
"Well it's about time" Amanda surprised them by responding. She herself had been quite anxious about her friend's behaviour of late. Just as the three friends were about to enter into discussion, they were interrupted by the intercom.
"Dr Sloane to the ER, Dr Sloane to the ER" Mark sighed as he rose to his feet and headed out of the door.
"Wait here and we'll continue this when I get back" he told them as he left the room to head to the ER. Mark dashed towards the group of staff to find our why he had been paged. He was horrified to find the reason was Jesse. His young friend was laid on a gurney, deathly pale and covered in sweat.
"What happened?" Mark asked a nearby nurse.
"Dr Travis just collapsed. He sort of swayed and then just crumbled to the ground. He was unconscious for about ten minutes, then he came to but he was very confused and dazed." The young nurse told Mark. He thanked her then went into see his friend for himself.
This is my first Diagnosis Murder story, so please take it easy on me. I'd also like to point out that I am from England so some of the Americanisms may be slightly out, but I've tried my best. I generally write Due South and X-Files fics, but since DM is so fantastic and the characters so lovely I thought I'd try my hand at a fiction to see what sort of response it got. Feedback very much appreciated, but please be constructive!!! Thank you!
Fragility
Dr Jesse Travis stepped back from the young girl and sighed deeply.
"Time of death 3.15pm" he declared sadly, as he pulled his surgical gloves off and threw them in the waste bin. It was the end of a sixteen hour long shift, and he was exhausted. He had had a very bad day, and this had made things even worse. Sometimes he got so sick of always having to break bad news to people, sometimes he just wished he had some good news to share. He sighed again and quietly asked the nurse to clean the young girl up, as he made his way to the distraught parent.
Mark Sloane strolled along the corridor of Community General Hospital with a grin on his face. He was having an excellent day, and that evening he was having dinner at his beach house with his son and his two best friends. Jesse and Amanda really did mean the World to him. He shook his head and smiled to himself. Jesse felt like a son to him, he was so fond of the young doctor, and he knew that Steve thought of the younger man as a little brother. Yes life was great for Dr Sloane, that is until he heard the commotion that was coming from down the hall. The grin left his face, as he hurried through the hospital towards the noise. He grabbed a security guard on his way, and finally found the source of the trouble in the relative's room. He gasped as he saw a giant of a man holding Jesse pinned up against a wall, almost dangling as his feet barely touched the floor. The security guard grabbed the man roughly by the arms and pulled him away from Jesse. Mark went straight over to his friend, and put his hand on his shoulder, as he watched Jesse struggle to get his breath back, as he stood hunched over with his hands on his knees and his head dropped down. Jesse didn't speak, Mark just watched concerned as he wheezed trying to breathe, until he was gestured by the guard.
"Dr Sloane, can you hold him for a moment while I go and call the cops?" he asked, Mark was just about to agree when Jesse interrupted him.
"No. No police, just leave it" he whispered, as his voice would go no louder.
"But Dr Travis he could have killed you" the guard protested.
"Just let him go, and leave it at that. It's ok" Jesse stated, and to show the end of the discussion he walked out of the room. Mark just exchanged a shrug with the guard, before following after Jesse. He was concerned about the younger man and wanted to check he was all right. When he found him he could tell that he was far from okay, as he was as white as a sheet, and was retching into a toilet. Mark sighed deeply and quietly went further into the restroom, and placed a hand gently on Jesse's trembling shoulder.
"Jesse are you okay?" he asked softly, Jesse squeezed his eyes shut before responding.
"I'm fine Mark, just really tired is all" he replied, and for the first time in days Mark took a really good look at the younger man. He really did look exhausted; his eyes had dark circles already forming under them.
"Jesse why don't you go home and get some sleep, and I'll see you later at my house for dinner" Mark told him.
"But Mark I still have an hour of my shift left, besides I can't just go" he replied.
"Yes you can, and that is exactly what you are going to do. I will cover your shift for you. Now go, no arguments, and I'll see you later for dinner" Mark told him, not willing to give in on this instance, as his friend looked like if he didn't sleep soon, he would collapse. Mark's worry was deepened when instead of arguing, Jesse nodded silently, before turning to leave the room.
"Thanks Mark" he muttered, and slowly walked to the doctors' lounge. As he walked in Amanda looked up.
"Hay Jess" she greeted him, he smiled weakly at her. Amanda raised her eyebrows at Steve who was sat drinking his cup of coffee, waiting for his father. Jess went straight to his locker and grabbed his kit bag. He hung his white coat up, and not even bothering to change out of his scrubs he walked out the room, waving silently as he walked out.
"What's up with him?" Steve asked Amanda, certain that he was missing something.
"I have no idea, but I'm sure that his shift doesn't end for at least another half hour" she responded, as puzzled as her friend was about Jesse's behaviour. It was at that point that Mark came into the lounge.
"Hi Dad you ready to go?" Steve asked his father; they were off to the grocery store to get the ingredients for that evening's dinner.
"Sorry Steve, you'll have to wait another hour or so before I finish" he replied with a sheepish smile.
"But Dad you said you finished at five today" Steve whined in response. He was already bored.
"I know and I was supposed to, but I said I'd cover the rest of Jess's shift so that he could go and get some much needed sleep"
"Ah so that was where he was off to" Amanda said to herself, glad that that was one mystery solved.
"Is he okay?" Steve asked his father, concerned about his younger friend.
"I'm sure he'll be fine, he just needs some sleep. This was his fifth sixteen hour shift this week, and he is exhausted" Mark told his son.
"Wow, the little guy just don't know when to quit does he" Steve responded with a grin, amazed that his friend could manage to work a total of seventy- eight hours at the hospital plus do his share at BBQ Bob's and still keep going. Mark smiled, more concerned for, than in awe of his friend. He then made his goodbyes and went off to finish off Jesse's rounds.
Jesse didn't even take his clothes off before crawling into bed; he just pushed his shoes off, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
"What is that racket?" Steve Sloane called out over the wailing coming from the kitchen. His Dad turned round to glare at him.
"I'll have you know I have a very good singing voice" Mark told his son in mock disgust.
"Yeah whatever" Steve retorted with a grin. He was glad to see his father so happy, he grinned again to himself, before making his way back upstairs to get changed.
By the time he came back downstairs Amanda was sat in the front room sipping a glass of wine as she waited.
"Hi" she greeted with a smile.
"Hi Amanda, is Jess in the kitchen with Dad?" he asked her, keen to see his younger friend.
"Jesse isn't here yet Steve. I'm sure he won't be long though" she replied, well aware that her friend was already late.
Jesse arrived over forty minutes later. He had slept right through his alarm and was over an hours late for dinner at Mark's. he apologised profusely upon his arrival, semi aware of Mark appraising glance on him. Jesse still looked very pale, and his eyes were glassy like he had a very bad headache. The bruises around his neck had come up and Mark could actually make out the imprints of someone's hand. Mark sighed, his friend truly did look awful.
"Don't apologise Jesse, from the looks of you, you needed the extra sleep" Mark told him gently, Jesse smiled weakly in response. He couldn't deny that Mark's words were the truth, he was exhausted and his head was still banging. Amanda came over to him, for the first time noticing the bruises around his neck.
"What the hell happened to you?" she asked him in concern. Her tone aroused Steve's suspicions, as he turned around and saw Jesse's bruises. Jesse looked at Mark panicked at the question, so his older friend stepped into help.
"Jesse got attacked today, at the hospital" Mark told them.
"That's funny I didn't hear anything" Steve responded.
"Um that's because I didn't report it" Jesse muttered not meeting anyone's gaze.
"Well why the hell not?" Steve asked his friend almost angrily.
"Steve leave him alone, come on lets go and it before the food is ruined" Mark intervened, seeing the look of distress on Jesse's face, although he himself had every intention of continuing their discussion, he just wanted to make sure that Jesse had something to eat first. Mark was extremely concerned about the younger man, he hadn't been taking proper care of himself and he was looking decidedly unhealthy lately.
The group as usual chatted easily through dinner, although Jesse was noticeably quiet throughout the meal, and also seemed to be lacking his usual appetite. Steve noticed this and exchanged a worried glance with his father, when Jesse didn't even manage to eat half a plate of food. Almost as soon as dinner was over, Jesse began to make his excuses. Mark however could be just as stubborn as his younger colleague.
"Jesse I insist that you stay for a coffee" he stated at the end of a long discussion. Jesse sighed deeply and sat back down on the sofa. Amanda went into the kitchen to put the kettle on. Mark and Steve sat down on the sofa on either side of Jesse, so he was effectively boxed in.
"So Jesse, why didn't you report that man? And why was he trying to hurt you?" Steve asked getting straight to the point. Jesse looked at Mark, silently pleading for help, but none was forthcoming. He sighed deeply before actually replying.
"The man was the father of a girl I had been treating. The reason he hit me was because she had just died, and I guess he needed someone to blame. The reason I didn't report him was because I thought he had enough to cope with having just lost his only child, without getting arrested aswell, why what would you have done?" Jesse asked almost bitterly. Mark sighed, he should have known it would be something like that, and Jesse was right to leave the police out of it, he just didn't understand what was going on inside Jesse's head before the incident even took place.
"You're right Jesse, I would have done the same thing" he assured his young friend, and Jesse smiled shyly, relieved that his mentor agreed with his judgement. Steve sighed before admitting that he also agreed with Jesse. Jesse yawned then climbed to his feet, swaying slightly as he did so.
"Look guys, I'm gonna go. I'll skip the coffee okay?" he told them, but Mark shook his head.
"Jesse you are dead on your feet, why don't you stay here tonight?" he asked him, and before the younger man could object he continued. "Jess you have done too many long shifts this week, plus your work at Bob's and you are exhausted. I am worried, now do an old man a favour and stay here tonight so that at least I can worry whilst keeping an eye on you" Mark told him firmly, and Jesse added to his concern by just nodding in agreement rather than arguing.
"You know I think I might call it a night aswell" Steve told his father about five minutes after Jesse had retired for the evening.
Jesse stripped down to his boxers and slid between the sheets into the freshly made bed, it only took him a matter of seconds to leap out of bed and sprint to the bathroom as the nausea hit him. He retched up what little he had managed to eat for dinner, and then the painful dry heaves set in. In his haste Jesse had forgotten to shut the bathroom door, and when he looked up with sheer misery on his face, he saw Steve standing over him. Steve went straight to the sink and rinsed a cloth, then carefully bent down and wiped Jesse's flushed face, before helping the exhausted doctor to his feet, and guiding him back to bed. . Steve looked at his friend in concern before heading back downstairs to get his father.
"How is he?" Mark asked in concern.
"I just found him puking his guts up in the bathroom" Steve told him, and neither doctor responded, each totting up a list of symptoms in their head.
Jesse was exhausted and yet sleep was hard to find that night. He was having difficulty in relaxing, as his head was throbbing and his mind could not expel the image of the young girl that had died that day. He was also angry at himself, he couldn't even remember the girl's name. He hadn't been able to save her, and now he couldn't even remember her name, what sort of doctor did that make him? His plight was made worse knowing that he was in someone else's house, and not at home in his own bed. He sighed deeply his head really did hurt. He gingerly felt the back of his head where it had come in contact with the wall. There was a bump there, and Jesse was not surprised. He climbed out of bed and went to his jacket, where he removed a packet of aspirin from his pocket; he swallowed four of them dry. He knew it was more than the recommended dose, but he was hoping it would knock him out for the night.
Less than two hours later Jesse decided to just give up on sleep, since it had evaded him all night. He staggered out of bed, swaying as he made his way down the hall to the bathroom. He quickly splashed cold water over his face, hoping to wake himself up. He ran his fingers through his hair and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. His eyes had none of their usual spark and there were dark circles under them. His neck had turned a deep shade of blue where his bruises had formed overnight. He sighed again then winced as it aggravated his sore throat. He turned and quietly made his way back to the guest room, where he straightened the bed before getting dressed and making his way downstairs and silently letting himself out of the house and to his car. He drove straight to the hospital to start his shift two hours early. Mark watched the younger doctor from his bedroom window.
"Oh Jesse, why won't you just tell me what's wrong?" he asked to himself.
Jesse spread the file out across the desk in the doctors' lounge. He had just taken some more aspirin, but they still put no dent in the pain in his head. Hi sighed then picked up the cover of the file he was reading.
"Lucy Marshall" he said to himself, finally remembering the name of the girl. Twelve years old and she had died of a gunshot wound. She'd been living with her father since her mother's death three years previously. Jesse rubbed his hands over his face, trying to prevent the tears from falling, that poor man, now left with nothing in the World. He blinked hard, to clear his vision, he didn't know why he was reacting like this, he had lost patients before, under similar circumstances and not torn himself up over it like this. Maybe it was because of the man's reaction, what ever it was Jesse couldn't put his finger on it at that moment. He shook his head to discard the spots forming in front of his eyes, and picked up the first sheet of the file and began to read.
That was where Mark found him an hour later, when he arrived to start his shift.
"Jesse what are you doing?" he asked softly.
"Ah, just reading up on some files" Jesse replied not meeting his friend's gaze.
"Is this the young girl that died yesterday?" Mark asked. Jesse looked up surprised at his friend's insight.
"Yeah I just thought I'd check it over that's all" Jesse replied.
"Okay do you need any help?" Mark offered.
"No thanks Mark, I'm done actually besides I've got rounds to do" Jesse responded before getting to his feet. Mark was alarmed to see him sway slightly. Jesse stretched and then slowly left the room, leaving a worried Mark to watch him go.
Mark sat down in Jesse's recently vacated chair, and picked up the file that the younger man had been reading. It was upsetting, such a tragic waste of a young life but it was nothing that Jesse hadn't seen a million times before. Mark rubbed his eyes with his hands, suddenly feeling very old. Just what was going on with Jesse he didn't know, but he was determined to find out.
It took twenty minutes for Steve Sloane to arrive at Community General Hospital. His father's call had puzzled him, he knew that he needed to discuss something to do with Jesse, but he wasn't sure what could have happened since that morning. Having said that Steve was very glad that the were finally going to come up with a plan to get to the bottom of whatever was troubling Jesse.
He found his father sitting in the lounge, and he pulled up the seat next to him. Mark immediately handed him a fresh cup of coffee, and Steve smiled his thanks. Just as the two men began to drink their coffees they were joined by Amanda Bentley.
"Hi guys" she greeted "Where's Jess?" she asked, surprised that their youngest companion wasn't present.
"It's him we're here to discuss Amanda" Mark replied.
"Well it's about time" Amanda surprised them by responding. She herself had been quite anxious about her friend's behaviour of late. Just as the three friends were about to enter into discussion, they were interrupted by the intercom.
"Dr Sloane to the ER, Dr Sloane to the ER" Mark sighed as he rose to his feet and headed out of the door.
"Wait here and we'll continue this when I get back" he told them as he left the room to head to the ER. Mark dashed towards the group of staff to find our why he had been paged. He was horrified to find the reason was Jesse. His young friend was laid on a gurney, deathly pale and covered in sweat.
"What happened?" Mark asked a nearby nurse.
"Dr Travis just collapsed. He sort of swayed and then just crumbled to the ground. He was unconscious for about ten minutes, then he came to but he was very confused and dazed." The young nurse told Mark. He thanked her then went into see his friend for himself.