An ER future fic. Set during Chicago City Marathon 2009.

Disclaimer: Most Characters in this story are the property of NBC and producers of ER. This particular story is however my own as is the character Jake.

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A little over half an hour before, Ray Barnett had stopped at an Aid Station on the Chicago City Marathon route with his running partner Jake. They had just passed the twenty mile mark and were feeling proud of their accomplishment. At this rate, he was easily going to match his personal best. He was going to finish well under three hours so could afford to rest up for two or three minutes and grab some refreshments. Only another six miles or so and he was still feeling great. This was his first full marathon, although he had run a number of mini and half marathons in the past few months.

He was looking forward to surprising Neela later that evening. He had decided to wait until after the event to tell her he was in town. His pre-marathon nerves and Neela would not have been a good combination.

Ironically, he had Neela to thank for his new passion. As they sat looking out over the lake during his last visit, she had mentioned seeing a number of amputees training on the lake shore using special prostheses before the last marathon. As soon as he got back, he talked to some friends in Rehab and discovered a running club catering for amputees. Not long after that he was fitted for his first pair of cheetahs. Once he was up and running, no pun intended, there was no turning back. He quickly became addicted to his new hobby and Jake a fellow-amputee became his regular running partner.

Now here he was, approximately half an hour away from completing his first full marathon. He could feel the adrenaline pumping and could not wait to get back on the course. Having gulped down some Gatorade, he leaned against the trestle table to stretch before returning to the field. As he stretched he caught a sudden movement to the left of his field of vision and he heard a commotion. The next thing the table lifted up and bounced back down again, he slipped and cracked his chin off the metal edge, then he was on the ground among the spilt water bottles, his legs splayed. One of his prostheses appeared to be twisted. He lay there stunned for a few moments. What had happened?

Jake jumped to his aid. "Ray, are you ok? Don't move. I'm just going to remove your prostheses."

"W-what happened?" he asked as he sat up slowly. As he spoke he felt the excruciating pain radiating up his face. Ouch, he didn't need anybody to tell him he had a broken jaw. He held his chin as he looked around the scene. A delivery truck had just offloaded more water when someone must have put it in reverse instead of drive and it reversed into the other end of the long trestle table and upended it. Thankfully it looked like everybody in its path got out of the way so there were no serious injuries.

As he sat there two paramedics arrived with a stretcher. "OK sir, you seem to be the most serious here, everybody else has minor injuries or is suffering from shock."

"As they assessed him, he heard one of the paramedics on her radio, "Hi, yes, can you hear me? We have a serious incident on the Marathon Route, incoming walking wounded. I've a patient here, a double amputee with a facial fracture and some cuts and abrasions."

"Can you ..peat …at please?" a faint voice crackled over the set.

"Double amputee"

"Amputee?"

"Yes. With a facial fracture."

And a facial fracture? How many ..sualties …gether."

"One serious, five walking wounded."

She got no response.

"Hello, County, can you hear me? I don't believe this," she said to her colleague, "their radio has just died again."

This was the fifth time in a month. She was going to have to log another official complaint. The patient was mumbling something.

"Sir, you've got a broken jaw, try not to talk."

"Did you say County?"

"Yes sir, it's the closest ER," she said as they started to move the stretcher.

Jake followed behind carrying his prostheses.

Great, this was going to be embarrassing. Why hadn't he contacted Neela to say he was here?

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