A/N: Hello! Glad you've continued reading this far into my story. I know this isn't the longest story, but it was one that I wanted to right desperately because so little happened in the episode "Hell's Heart." This is the final chapter of this story, but I have much much bigger plans for this fandom. I have about 6 other story ideas that I'm developing now. One that I'm in the process of finishing the outline for. Most of my writing is going to by Willis h/c or angst because I love him so freaking much and tearing his walls down is one thing I loved about the show. Hope you enjoy this last chapter, and please don't forget to comment, favourite or follow me so you get a notification the next time I upload. It won't be long now!
P.S. If you have recommendations for ANY story you'd like me to write (I don't do smut though, lol) Please PM me and I'll see what I can do! Doesn't matter what characters, ships, themes, I'll write it!
Chapter 4.
"Welcome back, Dr. Willis," Jesse and Mario greeted the returning doctor. It had been roughly 2 months and 5 days since the events of the burning building. He was signed off to return to work under strict observation by Dr. Mario Savetti.
"Thanks, guys, first patient?" Willis questioned.
Mario spoke up, "We've got an ambulance arriving with a 24-year-old female, stab wound to the lower left quadrant of the abdomen," they waited by the ambulance bay doors.
"Ready Willis?" Mario looked at the man.
"Always," Ethan replied.
When the ambulance arrived they worked swiftly, Ethan was on autopilot, the extensive training from his many years as a doctor. His muscle memory and quick thinking kept him afloat as always.
The patient didn't take much time to get taken care of, it was a minor injury, Leanne didn't want Willis starting off with anything too intense. Easing back into his practice was the best thing for him.
"It's like you never even left Dr. Willis," Mario mentioned after they had finished cleaning up from their patient.
"Glad I've still got the touch," Ethan gave an honest smile.
He was trying to hide it, but his lungs had begun to send shooting pain throughout his chest. He tried to control his hitching breath but decided he should ride this out. He leaned against the wall to the right of his patient's bed. He hung his head in a grimace, his right shoulder, and arm supporting him.
He hoped nobody was paying attention, but no such luck.
"Dr. Willis, are you alright?" Leanne asked, keeping the concern from seeping into her voice.
Ethan kept his eyes shut for a few more seconds before looking up at the doctor.
"I'm fine, just needed a second," he pushed himself off the wall and headed towards the on-call room to ride out the rest of it, hoping it would stop soon.
The next day, painfully aware of the hawk-like eye Leanne and Jesse were watching him with, Ethan returned to check on his stab wound patient.
"Mrs. Hendricks, how are you today? Any pain?" He asked with a questioning smile.
"Fine, just a little but your nurse here said he's going to help me with that," she referred to Jesse who was standing by the IV stand.
"Glad to hear it, we'll be moving you up to another room in a few days so you can get out of here. Sound good?" She nodded and he smiled and turned to leave.
He headed towards the men's restroom afterward, looking to catch a moment of silence from the bustle of the busy ER. He made it halfway down the near quiet hallway before suddenly he stopped in his tracks.
His lungs had launched into a full on spasm, halting any breath from being taken and sending white-hot rivulets of pain through his chest, he reached for the wall, slowly collapsing onto his left knee. He tried to pull a breath, part of one, anything, to no avail. He was left there, his chest heaving and hand clutching at it. He heard quick footfalls trailing towards him, "Dr. Willis, look at me," it was Leanne.
"Do you know what's wrong?" She asked urgently, one hand on his shoulder and the other holding his face to look at hers.
He shook his head, he was at least getting some oxygen into his lungs at this point, but not enough. He fell to a sit, his back pressed against the wall.
Leanne had called for someone to bring an oxygen mask and O2 tank, looking to preserve his consciousness at the very least.
Perfect timing, he thought. He was beginning to see dark spots dance around his vision, Dr. Rorish placed the mask over his face, noticing the immediate improvement in his mental awareness.
They sat there for what felt like forever, but they knew it had only been a minute or so. Finally, his lungs returned to their regular functionality, he removed the mask, still breathing slightly irregularly.
"Way to make someone's heart stop," Leanne sat with her back to the wall beside him.
"Yeah, sorry about that," he said.
"Has that happened before?" She asked.
"No, fortunately," he replied.
"You shouldn't be back with your condition like that Dr. Willis. As far as I'm concerned, you should still be on chest physiotherapy and not working at all. I expect you'll take that to heart and get it done?" She questioned.
He didn't answer, only glanced at her and looked down.
She took that as her answer and stood.
"I'll have someone cover your shift, and let Dr. Savetti know you'll be out for the rest of the day. Go home, Ethan." She urged, she helped him stand and then headed back to the currently calm ER.
Having not yet followed Dr. Rorish's advice, Ethan returned for his shift the next day. He had taken care of several routine patients. Grunt work really, but he didn't mind, as long as he was in the ER, he was happy. He couldn't get out of his head, despite being busy, what Leanne had said. Something was up with his lungs that should've been on the mend after a few weeks of physiotherapy right after it happened. The chest x-rays looked good and his therapy had gone well. He hadn't experienced any problems.
He pushed it from his mind as he opened the curtain to his next patient.
Flu-like symptoms, 3rd time today. He began the routine questions, ending the consult with a smile and a nod.
He could feel another bout of pain lacing its way through his chest. He rested against the pillar near the nurse's station, letting his head fall back against the wall. He clutched his eyes shut for a brief second. Shaking it off and looking back at his chart.
Of course, Jesse managed to catch the quick grimace from a few feet away and stood in front of him. His arms crossed and a quirked eyebrow.
"I think I remember Leanne telling me something the other day, you wanna know what it was?" He asked sarcastically, "No it's fine, I'm gonna tell you anyways. She said" he leaned forward, arms still crossed as he said it "Get. Help. I'll walk you up to physiotherapy myself if you want, mama ain't scared of no therapists." He waited a few seconds.
"I'll do it, don't worry. I'm glad Leanne let you know the details of my condition," Willis said the last part with a bittersweet twist.
"If that's sass I hear, mama's gonna give you a whoopin'. My ER, my doctors, and my doctors listen to their mama." He ended with that and walked off.
He let out a breath, the pain had ceased but he knew it wouldn't be the last time. He needed to get that appointment scheduled. He hadn't heard from Rox today, maybe he'd check in with her.
"What's up Mr. Hotshot?" Rox greeted him with a partial mouth full of her sandwich.
Willis sat down at the small table, "Nothing much, glad to be back at least. You?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Doing well, just another day in the bus. You get cleared by Rorish for full return to work yet?" She continued eating.
He took a second to respond, glancing down at the coffee cup in his hand"I think I'm going to take a few more weeks off, actually." He looked at her again.
She was suddenly concerned, her eyebrows quirked slightly. She had set down her food.
"Everything all right? I thought you were on the mend?" Her eyes were intensely trained on him, searching for anything that might be revealed in his light eyes.
"Yeah, everything's fine, just having a little bit more trouble with the lungs than initially planned. It's not a big deal," He waved his hand as if brushing the topic away.
"I think it is a big deal if the one person in this ER that is basically invincible is taking a few weeks."
He huffed, "I honestly don't know what's wrong, not that that's what you wanted to hear, but, I think the damage was more severe than we initially planned. It's nothing a few more weeks of physiotherapy won't fix. Then I'll be back saving people's lives on your rig again. You know, dream team back at it again," he smiled.
"I've been keeping the spot open specifically for that reason, not having my Superman on the rig as been kind of boring. Just waiting on you to come back," she laughed.
"I'm glad," he was staring at her with a small smile on his face, she could see something unsaid on his lips. In the way his eyes traced the outline of her face and how they were both immediately in a good mood whenever they saw each other.
"Don't worry," she reached over and placed her hand on his, "I do too."