(Oh man, I can't WAIT for New Blood to come out. I heard the entire thing is VOICEOVERS. Which means that if Sidney or Greg is in there(and I'm almost positive at least Sidney will be there), I MAY GET TO HEAR THEIR VOICES. Cue swoon.
Ahem... this chapter is bouncy. Like a giant, verbal pogo stick.
Two of the poisons I mention are fake; one is real. Can you guess which one is real?
Characters(except the really stupid assistant nurse) © Nintendo
Really stupid assistant nurse © Me, unfortunately)
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Hope Under Attack
Chapter Two- GUILT
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When he woke up, Greg was in more pain than he could have imagined... For several minutes, he kept his eyes closed, wishing for nothing more than to slip back into the realm of unconsciousness, where he could feel nothing.
It soon became evident that his wish would not be granted. Groaning quietly, he opened his hazel eyes slowly.
The ceiling didn't look familiar... where was he?
"Ah, Dr. Kasal! You're awake...!"
The voice was new to Greg as well. Turning his head slightly, he saw a green-haired nurse with amber eyes standing over him, smiling gently.
"How are you feeling, Dr. Kasal?"
"...what... where am I?" His voice was weak; it was tiring to talk.
"Dr. Kasal... you passed out in your office at Hope Hospital two days ago," the nurse replied gently. "Right now, you're in the Caduceus surgical ward."
Caduceus... so it was that bad, whatever he had contracted?
"What is it...?" Greg asked. He had to know; he had to know what could have brought him so far down, and so quickly.
The nurse paused.
"We did some blood tests while you were still unconscious," she admitted slowly. "There were high levels of iocane, paxilon hydrochlorate, and solanine in your blood. We did another test to try and determine the cause of the poisoning..."
Greg already knew.
"You did... a Chiron Test... didn't you?"
"...the spectral analysis was F4-K. It's... it's--"
"It's an unidentified strain."
Sidney Kasal had entered the room.
"Ah, Director Kasal..."
"Hello, Sidney..." Greg muttered, slowly beginning to sit up...
"No, Greg. Don't get up."
Sidney's voice, usually cool and detached, was now so full of quiet concern that Greg felt as though he had no choice but to obey his brother's request. He allowed himself to collapse back onto the hospital bed.
"Leslie, I would like to speak to the patient in private."
"Of course, Director Kasal."
Leslie Sears quickly left the room. Sidney fixed his glasses.
"...this strain is similar to the one that's been appearing in the area lately," he began, his voice once again impassive. "But it's not responding to treatment. We think it's a mutated form."
"Sidney..."
"The plan for now is to drain some of your blood, then replace it with a clean transfusion."
"...Sidney."
"Hopefully, it will dilute the--"
"Sidney, I--"
"Goddamnit, Greg, let me finish talking!!"
Sidney had never yelled before in his life, let alone so loudly; Greg was immediately brought to silence.
"...we hope," the younger twin finally resumed after inhaling sharply, "that the transfusion will dilute the poisons long enough for us to develop an antitoxin."
There was quiet in the room.
It was soon broken by a single dry, choking sob.
"Sidney...?"
"...Goddamnit, Greg, why did you have to go and let this happen to you...?!"
Sidney's voice cracked; even in his tired, pained state, Greg could see tears slowly rolling down his brother's face.
"...Sidney, have a seat."
"No, Greg, I--"
"Sit."
In retrospect, Greg admitted to himself that perhaps he shouldn't have spoken so forcefully; a wave of nausea temporarily overcame him. However, it wasn't in vain; Sidney slowly sat down in the chair set up by Greg's bedside, trying to stem the tears that rolled down his face.
"Sidney," Greg began, "you know I wouldn't have gone and let this happen... on purpose..."
"...I know you wouldn't, Greg," Sidney replied softly, removing his glasses and cleaning them with his shirt. "But I-... why you? Why did it have to be you...? Why couldn't it have been someone else, someone that I didn't know...?"
"...Sidney, it can't be that bad if I'm not--"
"Greg, you-... you weren't watching... while we were first trying to detoxify your blood... you went into cardiogenic shock, it took everything we had to restart your heart, you were gone for six minutes..."
"Sidney--"
"...it was like watching her die again, Greg."
Greg fell silent.
He wasn't sure if he could forgive himself for putting his brother through that traumatizing experience yet again...
"...I'm sorry, Sidney."
Sidney dried his eyes, then carefully placed his glasses back on his face.
"...it's alright, Greg."
"No, actually... it's not. I had... no right whatsoever... to put you through that emotional situation... not when you've been through it once before. ...I'm sorry."
There was a brief silence.
Sidney fixed his glasses.
"...alright. You already know about our short-term care plan... the research department is working non-stop on finding a cure. It's... moving slowly, however. It may take a while before they come up with something."
"...very well. I can hold on for a while... I can wait for the cure."
Sidney stood up.
"I'll tell Leslie to do the transfusion... I need to deliver an important message. ...And, Greg..."
"Hm...?"
"Now that you've promised... I will never, ever forgive you if you give up before the cure is found. Understood?"
Greg couldn't help but smirk.
"Yes, Sidney. I understand."
"Good... now get some rest."
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"How long till Derek's back from Africa, you think?"
"At least another day... the most direct flight from Rubora to Angeles Bay is thirty-three hours, and that's without any unexpected delays..."
Leslie Sears and Tyler Chase were in the Caduceus lounge, drinking their black coffee out of styrofoam cups. At Tyler's(and Greg's, since he knew that Leslie had been working nonstop) persistent suggestion, Leslie had finally called in an assistant nurse to look after Greg while she took a much-needed coffee break.
"Man, he'd better get here soon," Tyler sighed, running a hand through his blonde hair. "I don't care how tough he is, if he's not treated soon, Dr. Kasal won't be strong enough for an operation..."
Leslie's walkie-talkie suddenly began to beep. She quickly took it off her belt and answered.
"Yes?"
"Nurse Sears, it's about Dr. Kasal's condition... he's becoming more listless and pale, and his heart rate has dropped slightly, along with his blood pressure."
"How recently did you do a transfusion?"
There was silence on the other end. Tyler and Leslie exchanged nervous glances.
"Don't tell me you didn't do the transfusion..."
"Well, he looked fine when I came in, so I didn't order for more blood..."
"Go and get at least three pints of AB negative. I'll be there in a minute."
"Yes, Nurse Sears."
Leslie turned off her walkie-talkie.
"I swear, sometimes the assistants are worse now than when they were interns," Leslie sighed as she and Tyler left the lounge, headed for room 202.
"Hey, that's harsh. We were both residents once, remember?" Tyler chuckled.
"Oh, I heard all sorts of horror stories about your residency..."
"Hey!"
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The assistant nurse was right; Greg's already ashen color had become even paler, and when Leslie and Tyler walked in, he could barely manage a half-hearted wave.
"Dr. Kasal, are you alright?" Leslie asked as she approached his side, obviously concerned for his well-being. "I heard Nurse Sienna didn't do a transfusion... we'll take care of that now, okay?"
"Alright..." Greg replied, his voice weak.
Just then, the assistant nurse returned.
"Here's the blood, Nurse Sears."
"Thank you. Did you also grab some empty blood bags so we can drain the excess blood?"
"..."
"...go get some, now."
"Yes, Nurse Sears."
After Nurse Sienna left, Leslie let out a frustrated sigh.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Kasal, but we'll have to wait a few more minutes..."
"That's okay, Miss Se--"
Greg suddenly clutched his right side, crying out in pain. The heart monitor began beeping frantically...
"Dr. Kasal!" Leslie panicked as she saw the monitors start to go haywire. "We need to transfuse him, but there's nowhere to put the old blood--"
"Leslie, what did you do with the bag you used for the last transfusion?!" Tyler cut her off.
"I threw it ou-- wait, no I didn't... because the garbage can was full... I think I still have it--!"
Rummaging through the pockets in her dress, she quickly pulled out a crumpled, but untorn, blood bag. She quickly handed it to Tyler, who took the bag and then placed his hand over Greg's left arm.
"Dr. Kasal, I need to see your arm..."
When Greg refused to move his arm, Tyler forcefully pried it away from his side.
"Dr. Kasal, try to relax," Tyler ordered as he carefully inserted a catheter into one of Greg's veins, then attached the empty bag to the end of the tubing. "I need you to relax... we can't give you blood if you're this tense..."
Leslie quickly attached a new bag of blood to the IV site in Greg's right arm when she saw Tyler's bag fill with dark red blood, blood so dark that it was more purple than red.
"...Les, it's not working," Tyler realized after Greg's condition failed to improve as he continued collecting the toxic blood. "I think he's losing it faster than we're giving it back to him!"
"That's not the only thing; his blood pressure's dropping too fast for it to just be from blood loss... I think he's going to go into shock again!" Leslie cried. "But what can we do?!"
"...do you have another infusion set for drawing blood?"
"Y-yes..."
"Get the catheter in--"
Greg's heart monitor let out a series of frantic beeps, then a single tone... his vitals plummeted rapidly, his eyes beginning to glaze over...
"NO!"
"Les, get the catheter in an artery and attach a blood bag to it, it'll pour in faster!" Tyler barked as he ran to grab the AED off the wall.
Leslie quickly stuck another catheter into Greg's arm, attaching a blood bag to the end of the tubing. Clean blood poured into Greg's body as Tyler placed the defibrillator pads on Greg's chest...
"Clear!"
There was a spike on the heart monitor before the line went flat once again...
"Damnit... c'mon! Clear!"
The monitor droned on. Leslie began to sob...
"Dr. Kasal, you can't--"
"Clear!"
Nothing...
"You said you'd live--"
"Clear!!"
"That you'd hold on until they found a cure--"
Only the monotonous hum of the monitor...
"Damnit, Dr. Kasal, live! Clear!!"
"...how could you give up after you told your brother you would hold on?!"
Only the drone--
...a beep.
Tyler and Leslie glanced up, hardly daring to believe it... the flat green line of the heart monitor was broken by small spikes, far apart and short but quickly growing in size and frequency... Greg's vitals began to rise once more, life returning to his eyes...
"We... we did it..." Tyler breathed, disbelieving.
"He... he's alive again...!"
Leslie and Tyler suddenly began cheering victoriously, celebrating the results of their effort.
Their revelry was interrupted when Sidney Kasal rushed into the room, followed closely by a seemingly terrified Nurse Sienna.
"Ah, Director Kasal...!" Leslie couldn't help but smile through her tears of joy.
"Is he okay...?" Sidney asked.
"He's fine, Chief," Tyler grinned. "It was close but he pulled through... now he's just resting."
Sidney immediately relaxed; he then quickly fixed his glasses.
"Good. I just received a message from Langston Miller... Derek is on his way back from Africa. He will be here in two days... until then, I would like you, Leslie and Tyler, to stay and watch after Greg. Notify me if any problems arise."
"Yeah... you got it, Chief."
Sidney left the room, leaving Leslie and Tyler to clean up the mess they had made in their frantic attempts to revive Greg, as well as to reprimand Nurse Sienna for failing to do her job.
Please, Greg... Sidney prayed silently. Please... don't give up. Just a few more days...
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(End chapter two.
NOW WASN'T THAT DRAMATIC.
Lucky for you there's no way I can stop here... it would be a way too sudden ending to the story. You lucky birds get a third chapter! Woo!
Also... the "her" that Sidney is referring to... his wife.
And with that said... please review!)
