Title: Take your breath away- chapter 1
Pairing: Ryan/OC
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: None of this is true. And I own none of the CSI characters. Not one of them. (Unfortunately!)
Spoilers: Season 4, episode 8- 'Nailed'
Author's note: This is just my version of what 'happened' during & after Nailed. Had this on my computer for a while & forgot about it!
Lizzy Matthews worked as an ER nurse in Dade Memorial Hospital in Miami. As part of a busy trauma team, Lizzy had seen a number of horrific injuries pas through the ER doors. That Monday was no difference as the radio announced that somewhere an officer was down.
Injured police officers were always the worst cases to Lizzy, that and injured children. Lizzy knew a number of police officers and CSIs as they were often in and out of the ER and the hospital itself, interviewing victims or suspects. She momentarily held her breath as she wondered who it was that would be wheeled through the doors.
Soon there was not time to wonder as trolley hurtled through the doors, carrying on it an attractive young man she recognised as being one of the local CSIs. She was not sure of his name, but she remembered briefly chatting to him the week before, he had cheered her up after she had had a long hard day. Lizzy gasped as she took in the nail sticking out of the corner of his right eye. Before Lizzy had the chance to let her emotions get the better of her, her training kicked in and she helped to wheel the CSI into the emergency room. She began to talk to him, to encourage him to stay conscious and to try and avoid shock. She was amazed by hoe calm the CSI, Ryan Wolfe, was- she did not think she would have remained as calm with a two and a half inch nail sticking out of her eye!
He had been extremely lucky; the young chatty nurse had told him. The x-rays and examinations showed that the nail had not damaged his brain, his eye or optical nerves. "Millimetres either way and it would have been a different story." The nurse had said, holding his hand and smiling down at him. He sighed with relief and squeezed her hand. He recognised the shiny flame red hair of the nurse he had briefly spoken to the week before, and he remembered how attractive he had found her, especially when she had laughed at one of his feeble attempts to cheer her up.
He remembered the way she had thrown her head back and roared with laughter completely oblivious to what anyone thought. Ryan flushed slightly as he realised he felt ashamed to have her see him lying there like that.
Before Ryan had chance to ask the nurse her name, Alexx Woods blustered into the room and hugged him gently. "Oh baby boy, what have you been doing to yourself?" Ryan smiled weakly and gripped her proffered hand as a doctor entered the room, pushing a trolley topped by a surgical tray. "You're a lucky man Mr Wolfe; we can remove the nail without operating. Nurse Matthews here will give you a local anaesthetic to numb the area." Ryan saw the nurse lift the syringe from the tray and gripped Alexx's hand tighter. "Hey tough guy, it's ok, I'm not going anywhere."
"Ok," began the doctor "You're not going to feel anything. I know it'll be hard, but try not to move." Ryan almost flinched as he saw the doctor move the tweezers towards his eye, but tried to focus on Alexx. The doctor swiftly removed the nail, applying pressure afterwards to contain any bleeding, before passing the nail back to Lizzy to keep as evidence. She almost gasped again as she realised the true size of the nail. "It feels like it's still in there." Ryan mumbled. "That's normal." Lizzy replied, gently patting his leg as she spoke. "It'll soon change."
"Right," said the doctor, "Lizzy here will clean up your eye and apply some butterfly stitches to close the wound. After a bit of a rest you'll be fine to go home." The doctor turned to Lizzy before she continued "I'll be back in a while to check on him."
Ryan could barely take his good eye off of Lizzy as she treated him. He had thought she was beautiful the first time he had met her, but now she seemed even more beautiful, even without a scrap of make-up on and her hair scraped back. He took in every detail of her face- her creamy pale skin, her sparkling green eyes and the shine of her hair. His heart skipped a beat as she stroked his cheek after finishing. "All done!" she smiled, completely oblivious to the effect she was having on Ryan. His heart was now beating so fast he thought she could hear it, and his stomach felt like a nest of snakes were squirming inside of him.
Lizzy walked Ryan to the door of the ER. "Promise me you won't drive home." She said, her green eyes begging him to consent. He held his hand up and swore to her that he would get a cab home. He gently stroked her arm as he spoke "Thank you for everything." "No worries," she replied with a smile. "Any problems then come back, anytime ok Ryan?" "Okay." He promised as he walked towards where his colleague, Eric Delko, stood waiting. He turned and raised his hand in a brief wave to Lizzy as he left his, heart sinking as he wondered if he would see her again.
