DISCLAIMER: I do not own Chicago Med or any of the characters. Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews! Just wanted to inform everyone I have finals this week and I'm letting everyone know THERE WILL NOT BE AN UPDATE TILL EARLY NEXT WEEK. I would say maybe next Monday or Tuesday? So I tried to make this chapter long for you all! Enjoy and please review!
Of course it wasn't in between patients or Rhodes completing charts that his migraine decided to hit him full swing. No, his head literally cracked open with pain as Connor hurriedly tried repairing the liver of the patient lying before him.
At first, he tried his best to cope with the immense pain in his skull, breathing deep and blinking hard to take his mind of the burning, yet as each second passed, it became nothing short of a miracle that he was able to withstand it.
He couldn't handle it anymore. Lifting his hands and scalpel from the patient and taking a step back, Rhodes eyes squeezed shut in an effort to block out the rest of the world.
"Jackie," he addressed a nurse to his left hoarsely, eyes still closed and hands now up to his temples, "Page Dr. Carnegie, tell him to close up for me."
"Yes, Dr. Rhodes," she nodded, looking at the surgeon in concern, "are you alright?"
Rhodes just groaned in pain before retreating towards the doorway, scrubs and gloves still on, and swung the door open. He leaned against the sinks of the scrub room hard, removing his gloves and holding his face in his hands, trying to block out the pain.
"Damn it," is all he mumbled as the pain took on a new meaning. Rhodes opened his eyes and he found that the room was spinning, his stomach responding in nauseous waves to the rollercoaster of the outside world.
He ducked out of the OR and half-jogged, half-stumbled to the nearest supply closet, sinking to the floor hard as the door closed behind him.
Here, Rhodes knew he could regain composure. It was just a matter of time before this horrific migraine passed. But it hadn't loosened its grip yet, and didn't plan on it. Another wave of pressure encompassed Rhodes' skull, causing him to moan and pull his head between his knees.
After a few minutes, when the oncoming migraine had subsided not even a degree, Connor lifted his head, panting hard. Opening his eyes wasn't a good idea, it seemed the world was free falling around him.
Rhodes, wild-eyed, reached for the nearest waste basket beside him and vomited, unable to contain his nausea.
He breathed hard, leaning his head against the metal supply rack behind him and contemplated calling someone.
Halstead would be at home asleep, it was 3:17 in the morning. Although he would immediately come to Rhodes' aid, Connor didn't want to burden him with his headache.
Natalie was out of the question too, she needed to rest up as she had a family at home she needed to look after.
Maggie would wake up the whole neighborhood trying to get him help, which certainly wasn't going to happen on Rhodes' watch.
Choi was right downstairs…it was tempting. Another wave of pain surged through him and left Rhodes thinking about paging Ethan right then and there.
No, a voice in his mind scolded at him, What, Riyadh didn't teach you a thing or two about coping? Pull it together!
And he did. Taking a few deep breaths and grabbing a water bottle from a case off the shelf, Connor opened the door and braced himself for the long night.
…
Will entered through the ED doors bright and early the next morning, a skip in his step as he faced the new day with a smile. He spotted April at the nurses' station and made his way over, wishing her a happy "good morning."
"Well somebody is in a good mood," she teased, eyeing him curiously.
"What?" he joked back, heading towards the locker room, "I can't afford to be happy?"
April smiled back and called, "Nope!" before she disappeared from Halstead's sight.
He chuckled to himself, opening the door to the locker room and was startled to almost run face first into Choi.
"Whoa, man," Halstead commented, looking Ethan up and down, "You look like absolute hell."
"Yeah, well spending the night on a plastic chair does that to you," the exhaustion was evident on the doctor's face.
"You spent the night here?" Halstead asked, curious, while helping Choi pack his backpack, a few things falling out of it from their near run-in.
"Yeah, Goodwin needed us to cover," Choi yawned, swinging his bag on his shoulder as he was anxious to get in his own bed.
"Us?" Will was 20 questions today.
"Me and Rhodes," Choi opened the door.
"Connor?" Halstead suddenly remembered the note he made to himself of how ragged Rhodes looked yesterday, "Where is he?"
"I don't know," Choi yawned once more, "but, man. He was like a well-oiled machine while I was past out on the chair."
Halstead looked confused, wondering how the man had the energy. Choi offered a quick "see ya" before disappearing as well.
As Will placed his stuff in his locker, he couldn't stop picturing in his head the pale, coughing version of Rhodes he encountered yesterday. And after spending more than 24 hours at work, Will was sure his condition hadn't improved.
Stuffing his belongings in the small compartment, Halstead quickly locked the door and was like a bloodhound hot on the scent of finding Connor Rhodes.
…..
"Listen, Sheila," Halstead scrutinizingly used the first name of the stubborn nurse he was confronting at the moment, "I need to know which OR he's in so I don't go scrubbing in and out of every operating room and waste valuable time!"
Both Nurse Sheila and Will Halstead were replicas of each other: hands on their hips, tempers hot, and death glares unholstered.
"So typical of all you doctors," she spat back, "thinking you can go around ordering the nurses what to do. Well not on my surgical floor!"
Before Will could return with a stinging retort, he heard a voice from behind him amusingly ask, "Tearing down the nurses now are we?"
Will whipped around and relaxed his tense shoulders as he saw Dr. Daniel Charles calmly approaching, defusing the situation.
Halstead sent one last menacing glances towards Nurse Sheila before walking towards the psychiatrist who was curious about the situation.
"Long story, little time," Will sighed, "listen, I have to find Connor. Have you seen him today?"
"This early?" Dr. Charles asked back, confused, "Hell, I haven't even finished my first cup of coffee yet."
"Yeah, well apparently Choi and him took the overnight shift for whatever reason," Halstead informed, Daniel and him continuing down the hall, walking slowly.
"Why'd they take the overnight?" Dr. Charles stopped, adjusting his glasses.
Halstead shrugged, "Precisely why I'm trying to find him to ask. He's been MIA since last night but, from the little I got from Nurse Sheila," Will shot a despicable look in her direction, "he's been in an emergency surgery for over 6 hours."
Dr. Charles looked up, shocked beyond belief, "A 6 hour trauma surgery during the graveyard shift? On top of yesterday's work day?"
Will nodded, mouth pressed into a thin line.
Dr. Charles glanced back in the direction they had walked from, "Give me a minute while I go charm Nurse Sheila."
He winked and walked away.
…..
The pair made their way towards the last OR in the hallway, Nurse Sheila willingly offering Dr. Charles this information because he "asked nicely".
Will couldn't help but roll his eyes at that.
Halstead opened the swinging door of the scrub room which provided a clear view of the operating room before them.
Nurses and surgical tech surrounded the bed, operating lights and equipment bearing down on them. Yet, standing out in a navy blue scrub cap, stood a tall, tense figure, face turned away from Will and Daniel.
"There's Rhodes," Halstead quietly pointed out as the two scrubbed in the sink, making another mental note that, just from the way Connor was standing, he wasn't doing too hot.
"This is why I could never be a surgeon," Dr. Charles added, lifting his now wet hands from the sink, "6 hours of this? No thank you."
Halstead only smiled as the two proceeded into the operating room, which, previously quiet behind the glass of the scrub room, was awake with beeping machines and hoarse orders from Dr. Rhodes.
"Jackie," he addressed the nurse next to him, eyeing Connor with worry in her eyes, "ten blade."
As Halstead approached the operating table, he couldn't tear his eyes away from his friend. Rhodes 100% hadn't slept in over a day, his faces, though half hidden by a surgical mask, was the picture of exhaustion.
His head looked like it felt too heavy for him to hold up any longer and his arms were slightly shivering from the constant hours of careful placement and exertion. Connor's eyes, Will noticed, were red rimmed with fatigue and discomfort, which did not help the pallor of his skin.
He looked ghostly. Sickly. And Halstead wasn't going to continue watching his friend clearly suffer.
Dr. Charles seemed to pick up on the notion as well because he suggested, "Dr. Rhodes, are you almost finished here? If so, let me call another surgeon to close-up, it seems to me the patient is away from any life-threatening situations."
Connor, who saw this as a challenge on his skill and not as an excuse to help him, glared at the psychiatrist.
"Thank you for the concern, Dr. Charles," the hoarseness in his voice clear, "But, I'm just about done here and-"
Rhodes broke off his sentence midway, stepping back from the patient on the table, all eyes on him. He moaned quietly, trying not to show weakness, but rubbed the knuckles of his hands against his temples. This bout wasn't an easy one.
Connor again squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to fight off his racking migraine, which had incessantly stayed for over 8 hours now.
Nurse Jackie, clearly having been through this drill several times throughout the night, tried pleading once more, "Dr. Rhodes, please-"
"Jackie, I'll be fine," Rhodes could hardly muster, still bent over in pain.
Halstead sprang into action, having never seen Connor like this before in the entire time they had known each other, quickly shouting, "Connor! Connor, let's go, buddy, you're done here."
Rhodes didn't protest as his colleague led him out of the operating room, his eyes still closed as his migraine raged.
Dr. Charles settled the situation inside by ordering Nurse Jackie to page the trauma surgeon on call, Rhodes' shift was supposed to have ended over an hour ago, yet the man was nothing if not dedicated. The psychiatrist stayed in the room, however, and watched over the patient as a few fourth year residents stepped in and started to finish closing up.
"Buddy?" Connor confusingly asked Will as they tried not to bump into their surroundings on the way out.
"Yeah, well, call me old-fashioned," but Halstead didn't get to see Rhodes' reaction as the trauma surgeon stopped in his tracks once more and fell to his knees, moaning.
"Rhodes!" Halstead's worry took on new meaning as he bent down towards his friend, who looked to be consumed by pain at the moment, "What's wrong?"
"My…head…" Connor barely managed before gritting his teeth and slowly lowering his head to the floor as if to block out his surroundings.
Connor's headache went from "I'm having a bad month" pain status to "Never live again," because Rhodes just couldn't bear it any longer. Halstead's voice sounded far away, though he knew his colleague was only a few steps away.
The world dipped, then twirled, and finished off with a backflip, causing an all too familiar nausea to resurface. He tried to keep calm and cope, but incomprehensible stutters of pain escaped his lips in the process. Yeah, this wasn't a normal migraine.
His chest felt heavy, the new-found pressure in his lungs beginning to increase, and he struggled for air. This didn't seem to make Halstead feel any better as he led Rhodes to the wall, propping him up against it as Will started his examination, nervousness clawing at him, yet Halstead didn't dare show it.
Will just stared at his friend who was slumped against the wall, gasping for breath. Something was not right at all.
"I know this is probably the worst moment ever to say 'I told you so,'" Will began talking out of worry, doing a mental checklist of Rhodes' examination, "But, pal, I told you so!"
Dr. Charles emerged from the operating room, looking for Will and Connor, only to find the two a few feet away, Rhodes lying against the wall. He rushed over upon seeing Will's serious expression and Connor's half-aware state of mind.
"What happened?" Dr. Charles demanded as he knelt down, snatching one good look at the surgeon and taking a sharp intake of breath at Rhodes' demeanor.
"I'm not sure," Halstead responded, focus etched in his face, "But pulse is sluggish and respirations are low quality."
"I'll get a team up here," Dr. Charles whipped out his pager, dialing everyone from the security guards to Sharon Goodwin: EMERGENCY.
Halstead looked up, frantic, yet keeping his composure for his patient. He heard Rhodes ask, half in delirium, "Pal? …Did you..just call me…pal…?"
Rhodes' head then felt like it weighed over a thousand pounds and, unable to keep himself propped up any longer, fell to the floor, blackness encompassing him on the way down.
…