So I put a lot of medical terms in here, becaus I have a thing for reading the Merick Manual, and other medical texts. I'm not studying to be a doctor or nurse, but I know a good amount of crap.
Dick could feel Jason's grip on his hand suddenly soften. He glanced toward the passenger seat, "Jason?" he called. However, there was no reply.
Panicking, he pulled over and put a hand on Jason's chest to see if he was okay. Dick swore when he realized that Jason was not breathing. He jumped out of the vehicle and dashed to the other side to drag Jason out and onto the sidewalk. Even in the dim light, Dick could tell that Jason's lips had turned a soft shade of blue and his face was pale. He was the color of a dead body.
The sight of the weak teenager was making Dick panic. He did not really know what to do. He pressed his ear against Jason's chest, but heard nothing. Dick put his fingers on Jason's neck to feel for a pulse, if there was one it was too weak for him to find. Not wanting to accept the truth, tears began to mist over Dick's eyes, "Jason...Jay...Please don't die." he begged, unsure what to do.
Suddenly a shadow loomed over him, and he glanced up to see a man dressed in a black and gray costume with a long cape that cloaked him. Dick shuddered from the intimidating figure before him.
"You know CPR?" Batman questioned, nodding as a gesture to that if he knew the steps, to quickly begin.
"Y-yeah." Dick stuttered, as he did the only thing he could do, and positioned his hands to begin compressions. His hands were shaking, but he had to stay calm and focused if he was going to save Jason.
Dick put his mouth on Jason's and breathed into him. He breathed for him, and continued to compress. He wiped the tears off his face with his shoulder, and prayed, "Please start breathing...wake up." in a low, defeated voice.
"Don't stop." Batman urged, "I just called an ambulance for you."
There was no time to be scared at the intimidating figure before him, Dick nodded and breathed into Jason again.
Jason had been out for almost a minute, when he suddenly took in a short breath on his own and he started coughing violently. Bloody sputum sprinkled out with each cough. Dick quickly took off his sweater and wrapped it around Jason. Dick set Jason's head on his chest, and allowed him to cough into his shirt. Once the attack was done with, he let out a sigh and his eyes fluttered half way open. His eyes roamed around to observe the surroundings, and he looked scared. He began trembling, and his breaths were coming in short, almost hiccup like bursts.
"You're going to be okay," Dick promised, in a low whisper. "I've got you. An ambulance is coming, you just have to stay with me." he held Jason closer, and gazed up to see that Batman had disappeared.
"Yeah..." Jason could hear Dick's heartbeat pounding. As confused as he was about what had happened, and why they were sitting on the side walk, he knew he could focus his thoughts on that. The heavy thumping that betrayed Dick's feelings despite the calm and even tone of his voice. "I'm...scared." he admitted.
Those words about broke Dick, he could feel his defenses crumbling and he wanted to start sobbing because there was nothing he could do to make Jason feel better. "No, no don't be scared," Dick tried his best not to choke, he looked up and down the street, straining his ears to try and hear sirens. "I'm here, I'm here with you. All I need you to do is focus on breathing."
"...Breathing..." he mumbled weakly, in between gasps. "It...hurts..."
"I know." In the distance the sound piercing sound of the ambulance sirens, "They're almost here, can you hear them?"
"Yeah," Jason nodded, "...but don't – don't leave me."
"I wont," Dick pressed a kiss to Jason's feverish forehead and promised. "I'm going to stay with you."
The ambulance pulled over a few feet away from them, and a group of men stepped out. Dick was allowed to ride with them, and he was able to hold Jason's hand the entire way. There was so much energy rushing about. An EMT strapped an oxygen mask on Jason's face, and began asking him questions. Jason was barely able to answer, he was too tired and a little confused with everything that was going on. The oxygen made it easier for Jason to catch his breath, but it did not make the uncomfortable tightness in his chest go away.
A tear escaped Dick's eyes as Jason let out a whimper from a needle being inserted into his arm. Jason studied Dick who was trying to keep his composure. His eyes kept losing focus, but he knew it was Dick that was tightly squeezing his hand, and telling him not to worry because everything is going to be okay.
Dick was not sure if anything he was telling Jason was actually reaching him. His eyes were vacant, and he was not saying anything back.
Once they arrived at the hospital, Dick was blocked from going beyond the waiting room. Not being able to be with him, made the anxiety rise within him. He took a seat, because he knew if he stayed standing he'd fall. His legs were quaking too bad, and so where his hands.
He needed to know if Jason was okay. Back on the sidewalk, Jason had admitted that he was scared. Knowing he was afraid, tore up Dick. He needed to be there with him, and comfort him the best that he can.
"Excuse me?" A nurse from the front desk called him.
Dick glanced up.
"Can you tell me his name?" she questioned.
"J-Jason Todd." Dick could hardly keep his tone straight.
The nurse said nothing else, but it looked like she had typed his name up on the computer.
After about the longest thirty minutes of Dick's life, a doctor approached him, "Are you a part of Jason's family?"
"Yes." Dick forced himself stand up and talk to the doctor. "He's my brother," he lied, but he had too. Dick knew that Jason was underage and living alone, if others found out they'd make him live in an orphanage. "Please tell me that everything is okay." "We took some emergency x-rays on his on his lungs and I have confirmed that he has pneumonia which has caused a pleural effusion that is making it difficult for him to catch his breath and it also would explained why his heart stopped," the doctor diagnosed. "We are going to have to admit him, and do procedures – the only problem is that he has no health insurance. Unless you find a way to pay for everything by six in the morning we are going to have to release him."
"You can't do that -"
"I'll have a nurse inform you about the cost of everything." the doctor cut him off. "If you need to go see him, we have a room set up down the hall in intensive care."
Dick growled, and pushed his way past the doctor and through the doors to go find Jason. He had to ask a nurse for the specific room number, but he eventually found his way. Jason was half asleep on his bed, there was an IV and heart monitor attached to one arm. He had on an oxygen mask, but it was obvious that he was still having problems breathing.
"Jason," Dick sat on the edge of the bed and stroked the side of the teenager's face. "Hey."
Jason opened his eyes, and gazed upward at Dick. He pulled the oxygen mask down and said, "I – I'm sorry I made you cry."
Dick shook his head, and guided Jason's hand to put the mask back over his face, "Let's try too keep that on." he said.
Jason reached up, and whipped a tear off Dick's cheek, "Don't change the subject."
"You scared me, and I..." Dick choked, he could not keep anything back anymore. He wrapped his arms around Jason's shoulders, crying. "You stopped breathing, and I couldn't find a pulse and I couldn't hear your heart – and I just panicked. Now the doctors wont help you because you have no money...you died – and these people are going to let you die because..."
"It's okay." Jason whispered, "Just stay with me...be-because I'm scared too." Jason had always thought that if he was going to die it would be from a shot on the street. Not pneumonia. However, he felt good knowing that if he was going to die, he would not be alone. He would be with someone he loves.
Dick pulled away, and stared straight into Jason's eyes, promising, "I wont let you die. I'll come up with the money..." he paused to use his sleeve to clean his face. "...by six in the morning. It's not even midnight yet, I can do it."
"With a pretty ass like yours...it shouldn't be hard to work the streets..." Jason joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Dick smiled, "How old are you?" he asked, suddenly.
"Sixteen...why?"
It was because Dick was starting to develop feelings for Jason. There was something about seeing him defenseless, and at his weakest but still able to want to soften the tension in the air that made Dick want to hold him. The thought of the kiss they had shared that morning was still very fresh in his mind.
Dick liked it. He knew very little about the teenager, he liked him too. If Jason was going to die he wanted him to know that the kiss was not a wasted effort. That he was with someone that loved him back.
"Jay," Dick ran the knuckles of his fingers against Jason's forehead and down his cheek. "I think I -"
An alarm from the monitor buzzed off and Jason sat up coughing. His hand darted to his chest, which was suddenly feeling very tight. The oxygen mask was not working well enough for his condition. The pleural effusion surrounding his lungs was making it impossible for him to breathe on his own.
This time, Jason was not going to let go.
Even though his lungs were burning.
He was going to stay alive.
His other hand clasped tightly around Dick's.
A different doctor than the one who talked to Dick a few minutes ago came in. She was an older woman, with graying hair and determined eyes. A group of nurses followed her in, and immediately she began calling orders, first to Jason, "You need to lie down, I'm going to have one of the nurses –" she paused and pointed at a male nurse. "Go get an endotracheal tube," she pointed at another nurse, "You begin a tube thoracostomy, but after you," she pointed at another nurse, "Start a Fentanyl drip, and prepare a morphine drip to replace it once it runs out." then she shifted her attention to Dick and Jason. "I know you don't have the money for this, but I just received your case file, and don't like to see my patients go without help. I still need you to come up with some sort of payment by six in the morning." she then addressed Dick, "Since he is not old enough to consent to the procedures I need you to sign for him." then to Jason. "Don't be scared, but we are going to have to put you on a ventilator. From reading the report, I saw that you experienced some heart failure, and," she glanced over at the EKG machine. "Since you are already in a cardiac arrhythmia, we need to do it now."
"Is that okay, Jay?" Dick asked him.
"Yeah..." the Fentanyl was starting to take effect, and Jason suddenly felt extremely calm and sleepy.
The doctor, who sad her name was Leslie Thompkins, began to help the nurse preform the thoracostomy. Jason was too distracted by the drugs, and the man inserting the tube in his mouth to notice the doctor inserting a tube in his chest. After the endotracheal procedure had been preformed, Jason gave into the heaviness in his eyelids and fell asleep.
"I recommend while he's sleeping you think of a way to pay for all of this." Leslie informed Dick.
"I will."
Dick peered over to the window, and saw the bat signal glowing in the sky. That was when Dick realized that maybe he could go and find Batman. He had called the ambulance, so maybe he did not mind helping more. All Dick had to do was go and find him.
He stood up, and kissed Jason on his cheek before leaving.
