Chapter 6

Save Me

-TC-

TC, Jordan, and Kenny ran down the hallway, pushing Topher on a gurney, towards a trauma room. There had been a chemical explosion at a factory a couple miles from the hospital, and the ER was swamped.

"I need eight units of B positive blood, typed and crossed," TC ordered and a random doctor nodded and headed to go get it.

"Kenny, send a trauma panel and set up for intubation," Jordan added. "Did you call Scott?"

"He's on his way in, about ten minutes out," a nurse replied.

"Someone needs to call his wife, Janet. She needs to be here now," TC told the same nurse.

"I got it."

"Stay with me buddy," he said to a half-conscious Topher.

"Grab me a central line kit," Jordan asserted. As TC and her worked over Topher, Kenny rejoined them with a cart.

"I can't help but think that if maybe I would have figured out what you were trying to say to me—," Jordan began.

"No, no, no. You couldn't have known," TC interrupted.

"—Maybe Topher doesn't get shot because you tried to protect me," she finished.

"Jordan, I was never gonna lose you," he attested. "That guy had gone bad. He shot Dwayne in cold blood. You weren't responsible for any of this." Before anyone could say anything else, Ragosa walked in.

"Guys, I know this is going to be awkward but the shooter needs medical attention," he informed the group.

"Screw him," Jordan muttered.

"That's too bad," TC added.

"I know how you feel—," Ragosa started.

"No, you don't," the head doctor interrupted.

"You're right. I don't. But we have to treat him," he admitted.

"Send Drew," Jordan ordered.

"Drew is overwhelmed with the factory victims. Paul and Krista are too inexperienced to do it alone," Ragosa explained. "Look, under normal circumstances I would send you home. You are the attending, you have to do this." Jordan looked over at TC.

"I'm okay here, Scott's on his way in," he assured. "Just get it over and done with and get back here." She nodded; looking pissed, she ripped off her surgical gown and gloves while leaving the room.

-Kayla-

After Topher had been taken out of the room, a member of the SWAT team had lead Kayla out as well as a couple of hospital workers went in to get Dwayne's body.

The teenager had been numb with shock since it had all happened, and hadn't said a word to anyone. Most everyone was busy with the explosion at the chemical factory and didn't even notice that she was sitting on the floor behind the nurse's station. She had been too scared to go to the break room and be alone.

Drew, Krista, and Paul were dealing with a woman with full body burns before Paul got pulled away by Jordan to fix up the shooter. As they made their way to the trauma room that he was in, Jordan saw Kayla sitting behind the nurse's station, staring at the floor.

Because of what had happened to Topher, both Jordan and TC had rushed off to help him, leaving the seventeen year old in the room with Dwayne's body. Jordan hadn't even remembered that Kayla had been there until she left Topher and TC.

Kayla kept going over what had happened in her head. Dwayne's death kept playing over and over, like it was a badly made Hollywood remix. She still had his dried blood on her face, which was throbbing. When Osborne had clubbed her across the face, it had given her a substantial gash and forming bruise on her cheekbone.

The young girl didn't look up as Ragosa started speaking to a bunch of doctors and nurses who had come in to help with the factory explosion, until he started talking about what happened.

"I know you are all very worried. Topher, he was wounded and he's in surgery. And I'm very sad to inform you that Dwayne, he was shot. He didn't make it," Ragosa told the staff. "This has been a brutal night, and it's not over. Let's say a prayer for Dwayne and Topher and get back to what we have to do. We'll get through this together. Thank you."

He didn't notice Kayla as he left the nurse's station, passing Scott, who had just arrived to help with Topher. As much as Kayla hated the head trauma surgeon, she was glad that he had come in, as he was one of Topher's best chances.

Not even two minutes later, Topher was being rushed out of the trauma room and up to the OR by TC, Jordan, Kenny, and Scott. Many stared after them in concern.

"Kayla?" Drew asked as he passed by and spotted the girl. Looking up from the ground, she stared at him with a blank helpless look on her face. He crouched down in front of her, looking at her face with concern. "Let's get you patched up." Kayla only nodded and took Drew's hand to stand up, following him to a free gurney in a small side hallway. The explosion had filled all of the trauma and examination rooms.

Thankfully, Drew had not tried to talk to Kayla. It was obvious she was in shock. He knew that she would need someone to talk to and have comfort her, but he also knew that it should be TC. Once he was out of surgery, Drew would send him Kayla's way.

"I'm gonna give you some numbing medication while I do the stitches. It might take a while," he informed her. She nodded, staring at the wall. Forty-five minutes later, Drew tied off the last stitch and wiped away some of the blood.

"Done," he announced. She nodded in thanks as he told her he had to check on some patients. He made his way over to where Landry was talking to Kenny.

"I think you should talk to Kayla," he told her. "She didn't say a word to me and I don't think she's talked at all since it happened." Landry nodded in understanding.

"Okay. I'll try and talk to her. Thanks, Drew."

Kayla stayed where she was, sitting cross-legged on the gurney. She barely noticed Jordan and Paul walk past her to check on Osborne.

"Hey, Kayla," a voice greeted. It was Landry. Kayla looked over at her before looking back at the ground. The shock had worn off and now she was just focused on not breaking down. Sighing, Landry boosted herself up to sit next to Kayla.

"I know you probably don't want to talk. I know you think that the best thing is to keep your emotions bottled up so that nobody can see that you're hurting," she started. "Am I right?" Kayla nodded slightly, picking at her fingernails.

"Can I ask why you don't want anyone to see?" The teenager stayed silent and Landry changed tactics.

"You don't have to hide your emotions from me. Whatever you're feeling, whatever you want to talk about, it stays between us. Okay?" she offered. It was quiet for a few moments.

"Okay," Kayla whispered. If Landry hadn't been paying attention, she would have missed the quiet response. Not wanting to push the girl, the psychiatrist stayed quiet, instead rubbing Kayla's arm in a comforting way.

"I keep reliving what happened. Over and over again," the teenager's voice cracked. "Dwayne, Topher, everything. And I can't stop it. Whenever I close my eyes, I see Dwayne's body. I hear the gun go off and him fall. I feel his blood splatter on my face. It all just won't stop." Kayla had her fists clenched, fingernails digging into her palms.

"When I moved in with TC, everyone here was so inviting and kind and this place became my home. I always felt safe here. Always. But now? Now, I feel like if I turn around Osborne is going to be there. And he's going to shoot me and TC and Jordan. And I'm so scared," she continued.

"Nothing is going to happen to you. Nothing. That man is going to prison. He can't hurt anyone else," Landry reassured. "But why don't you want anyone to know what you're feeling? Why don't you want people to help you?" Kayla bit her lip, feeling her eyes begin to burn.

"Because Topher is fighting for his life. Dwayne is dead. There was a chemical explosion. I don't need to be another thing to worry about. I'm not worth it," she admitted, a few tears dripping from her eyes to her leggings, which had ripped when she had been pushed across the room.

"Kayla," Landry started, voice filled with sadness. "Don't ever say that. So many people love you and they know that you are worth it." She wrapped her arms around the teenager as Kayla began to cry. She was crying over Dwayne. She was crying over Topher. She was crying because she felt alone.

-TC-

"Toph? Topher?" TC said softly, standing to the side of Topher's bed in a recovery room as Topher started to wake. "Topher!"

"You're not gonna kiss me, are you?" Topher asked, waking mostly up.

"Just try and stop me," TC replied, leaning forward and kissing Topher's forehead. The doctor-turned-patient smiled slightly as TC laughed.

"So, all things considered, you're…" he trailed off.

"Yeah. Dwayne, man," Topher said.

"Yeah, that's gonna be a hard one to forget," TC affirmed.

"How's Jordan?" Topher asked.

"Shaken. She had to work on Milo," TC informed him. Topher looked surprised.

"What?"

"Carotid injury. I wish—I wish I killed him."

"I wish you killed him before he shot me. I have three kids." TC looked a little sad as Topher said that. "That scared the crap out of me, man. I almost pissed myself." TC moved to lean against the wall as Topher spoke. "And then those flash bangs, took me back to the war, you know?"

"You ever think about that sniper that shot Thad?" TC inquired.

"I try not to think about anything about that day," Topher admitted. "Do you? T?"

"Just keeps popping in my head," he replied. "Especially because of Kayla. I almost lost her." TC ran a hand through his hair.

"How is she?" Topher questioned. From what he remembered, the teenager had looked terrified most of the time.

"Physically? Drew told me he stitched up her face," TC answered. "I haven't talked to her yet. Drew said that she hadn't said a word since what happened. When I went to find her, she was talking to Landry. So, I came here instead. I figured talking to Landry would do her some good until I knew that you were okay."

"How do you think she's taking it?"

"Not good. At all," TC admitted. "She's only seventeen. She's never witnessed something like that. It was horrible for all of us, I know, but she was the one that Osborne kept under gunpoint the entire time. He shot at her, to make sure that we didn't do anything stupid. And the fact that I couldn't do anything to protect her? Man, that just kills me."

"T—," Topher began.

"Topher! Oh, Topher!" Janet exclaimed, running into his recovery room.

"Hey!" Topher greeted, surprised.

"Toph!" Janet gave him a hug, placing a hand on his face.

"It's okay," Topher assured.

"I don't understand. How did this happen?" Janet demanded, looking at TC.

"Topher will explain everything. You guys need to talk, Janet. He's going to be fine. I took the bullet out myself," he informed her. "Toph, there's extra morphine in the PCA machine. You just, you—you enjoy." TC walked out of the room.

"T!" Topher called after him, but he was gone.

As TC walked through the ER, he saw Molly and Jordan conversing about a secondary explosion.

"I got it. I can go," he announced. "Topher is fine, I just saw him. Spread the word."

"Hey!" Jordan called. "T, can we talk for a second?"

"Yeah," TC agreed, stopping outside of a room.

"The only place you should be going right now is home. You've been through a lot tonight."

"Yeah, so have you. But you're here," he pointed out.

"And so is Kayla. She needs you and she needs to go home, T," Jordan tried persuading him. She had seen Kayla crying minutes earlier onto Landry's shoulder.

"I need to get out there. I can't be late and have that on my hands," TC ignored Jordan's comment about Kayla. He knew she was hurting, but she was alive. As much as he wanted her to be his top priority, there were people at the factory who needed help.

"No, T!" Jordan called as he walked off. "Drew, I need you to go with TC and keep an eye on him, he's way to jacked up."

"I got it," Drew replied. "How you doing?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine," she assured as Drew ran to join TC. The latter was staring at the ground, waiting for the helicopter to be ready, when Drew joined him. It took a couple of tries to get TC's attention before the two jogged to the helicopter. The two climbed inside and TC pulled out his phone to make a call.

"Who are you calling?" Drew inquired as they started to take off.

"Someone to help Kayla," he answered, waiting for the other to pick up their phone.

"Hello?" a groggy voice asked. It was two forty-five am, and most of the city was sleeping.

"Wes? Something's happened," TC addressed.

-Kayla-

Landry was still with Kayla when she tried to force herself to stop crying. It was just small hiccups and shuddering deep breaths that followed.

"You don't have to stay with me. You should be helping with the factory explosion," Kayla insisted.

"Kayla, you don't have to push me away. I'm not going to leave you. Not alone. Not unless TC or someone else is here for you. Okay?" Landry replied. The teenager nodded slightly, biting her trembling lip. She was on the verge of breaking down.

"Kayla?" a familiar voice called. "Kayla? Kayla?" The person turned down their hallway and spotted her on the gurney. It was Wes.

He ran towards her, placing his hands on the sides of her face before moving them to her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug. She immediately wound her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Kayla asked, mumbling into his chest.

"TC called," he replied simply. Landry gave him a smile over Kayla's head as she moved off of the gurney to let Wes take her place. The two had only met once before, but Landry knew that he would take care of Kayla. He sat crisscrossed on top of the gurney and pulled Kayla onto his lap.

"Wes," she began, voice cracking.

"It's okay. Everything will be okay," he assured as she started crying into his chest.

-Jordan-

Milo Osborne strained against his handcuffs as Jordan checked on his neck. He had gotten carotid artery surgery not long before.

"Urgh, my neck! It hurts really bad!" he complained. "I need something for the pain!"

"That's too bad," Jordan countered. "And you know it's probably just going to get worse."

"Please," he begged. "I get it. You hate me."

"Get it?!" Jordan yelled. "You murdered a man. You were probably going to kill me and you almost killed two of my friends! The only reason that I fixed you up is because it's my job! I hope you live to be a hundred years old and that you spend every day of it rotting in prison because that is what you deserve. So no. No. You don't get any pain medication. You can lie here and suffer for all I care!" Jordan was seething after her speech.

"How's he doing?" Detective Gonzales asked as he entered the room.

"He's fine." Jordan left the room, angry, glancing around. She saw Kayla down the hallway to her left, being comforted in Wes's arms. Jordan was thankful that the teenager wasn't alone, especially in a hospital. The number of drugs she had access to was innumerable. And with Kayla's past, there was the possibility of a relapse.

-TC-

"What the hell are you doing?" Drew yelled.

"I heard someone yell!" TC explained, yelling through the mask. Drew had run into the unstable building to find him after realizing the ex-ranger had not been with them when they loaded the ambulance.

"TC, there's no one here!" Drew assured him, grabbing his arm to pull him out.

"But I heard them! There's someone here!" TC insisted.

"TC, there's no one here!" Drew repeated. "We have to get out of here! There's no one left!" TC shook his head as if to get rid of a memory and nodded, following Drew out of the collapsing building.

"Let's get out of here," TC announced as they climbed into the ambulance.

-Jordan-

The machines were going crazy in Milo Osborne's room when Jordan walked in. Scott was in the room, flinging bloody gauze out of the way of seeing Osborne's neck. The shooter himself was coding as Scott worked over him. Detective Gonzales was standing in the corner looking on with a subtle nervousness, as he did not want his suspect to die.

"All right, I'm calling it. Four oh two am," Scott announced angrily.

"He's dead? Gonzales asked incredulously. "Why?"

"Carotid artery burst open," Scott explained. "This man needed to be in IR first and then the OR with me. The sutures tore and needed to be repaired with a Dacron patch." He turned to Jordan. "Who dropped the ball on this?"

"I did," she admitted, sighing. "He was my patient and made the wrong call."

-Kayla-

Kayla stopped crying after an hour or so. She had pretty much cried herself out in that time period. Which was a good thing, as she didn't want to be crying the whole night. It was four am, and Kayla had been sitting there for a couple of hours. First with Drew, then Landry, and then Wes.

Wes leaned back against the wall as Kayla moved to sit beside him rather than on him. His eyes were bloodshot and he kept yawning as he held her hand.

"You can sleep," Kayla told him.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," she reassured him. She had tried keeping her emotions in after getting over the shock of what had happened, but that just made it worse. After crying about it for a while, she felt much better.

Wes only nodded and closed his eyes. In minutes he was asleep. Kayla slowly let go of his hand and slid off the gurney. Quietly, she made her way down the hallway and to the ER.

"Hey, Molly. Do you have anything for me to do?" Kayla inquired as she walked behind the nurse's station, giving the nurse a small smile.

"Kayla!" she exclaimed, rushing to give the teenager a hug. "You should be resting!"

"I can't sit anymore. If I sit then I won't be able to stop thinking about it and I'll break down," Kayla replied.

"Okay," Molly sighed. "I guess you can input these and then take them to the filing room." Kayla nodded, sending her another small smile, and sat down.

-TC-

TC rushed into the OR after hearing that Topher was in surgery again.

"We have to stop this bleeding," Scott said to the nurses and other doctors.

"What happened?" TC interrogated.

"Epidural hematoma. Bullet must have ricocheted off his spine and blood his compressing his spinal cord. If we don't stop the bleeding, he could become paralyzed. Or worse," Scott explained.

"He can't die," TC implored.

"We need to evacuate all this blood," Scott announced.

"He can't die," TC repeated as he stared at Topher, flashing back to Thad's death.

"TC, you okay?" Scott asked.

"I gotta stop the bleeding!" TC cried, running at Topher. "I gotta stop the bleeding!" Kenny and Drew grabbed him to keep him from upsetting the operation.

"Get him out of here!" Scott ordered as TC repeated that he had to stop the bleeding over an over. The nurse and doctor dragged him out.

"Jordan, step in!" Scott told her. She nodded and scrubbed in, staring after TC.

"That guy's a freaking nutjob and he's gonna drag you and everyone else down with him," he seethed. Jordan rolled her eyes slightly.

"Let's just focus on saving Topher. Okay?"

After getting out of Topher's surgery and talking to Janet, Jordan headed downstairs to check on something. She reached the room they were keeping TC in and stopped to stare before storming in.

"Take the cuffs off of him, now!" she ordered. TC was sitting on the couch, elbows on his knees, with his hands cuffed and head hanging down.

"Ma'am, it's for his own protection," the security guard informed her.

"Please." He took the cuffs off while TC watched emotionlessly. After the guard left, Jordan sat down on the bale in front of the couch TC was sitting on.

"I'm just gonna sit with you, okay?" He looked up at her sadly.

"It was my fault," he told her.

"No, Topher's gonna be okay," she replied. "That was not your fault. You did what anyone would have done in that situation." TC shook his head.

"That's not what I'm talking about," he said, inhaling a shaky breath. "I keep having these memories…dreams…whatever you want to call them. About—about when Thad w-was killed. I keep seeing him get shot. Over and Over. I keep reliving that moment. That's what I'm talking about. That's what's my fault."

"No!" Jordan protested, trying to get him to see nothing was his fault.

"Yeah," he nodded sadly. "Yeah. I hesitated. The sniper was a kid. He was maybe 12…maybe. He was a kid, Jordan. So, I hesitated and I got my brother killed."

"No, no," she insisted, furrowing her eyebrows together in concern.

"Yeah."

"No." Jordan shook her head as TC's eyes filled with more tears.

"I've been blocking it for years. I've been blocking that—that it's my fault."

"You've been carrying this around the whole time?" Jordan asked sadly.

"I had to tell somebody, Jordan," he replied, trying to get her to understand. He sounded broken. "I had to. I thought I could bury it in here, and I can't. I c-can't. Because I-I-I got Thad killed."

"Oh, T," Jordan whispered.

"I'm sorry, Thad, I'm so sorry," TC said, tears falling. Jordan shushed him and placed her hands on the sides of his head, letting him lean forward, comforting him. TC cried as Jordan slowly traced lines on the sides of his face to get him to calm down. Eventually he started to stop crying as Jordan whispered comforting words to him.

Neither of them noticed Scott standing at the door, watching with a pissed off expression.

-Kayla-

Kayla was on her way to the filing room with a stack of files in her arms, staring at the floor as she walked, not noticing Scott storming from the other way. He was not watching where he was going either, and the two collided, sending files, lose papers, and his coffee everywhere.

"Dammit, why don't you watch where you're going next time?" Scott told her angrily as Kayla was preparing to apologize.

"Hey, you weren't watching either!" she spat back.

"What are you even doing here? Huh?" he demanded. "I've seen you hanging around here before." The pair was glaring at each other so much that neither of them noticed the nurses and doctors who were staring at them.

"So? What about it?" Kayla asked, crossing her arms.

"So you need to stop. Leave. Don't come back," Scott ordered. "I know you're just some drug addict who wants us to fuel your high. It's pathetic, really." The teenager flinched before turning her glare up a notch.

"No, what's pathetic is how you act sometimes! I've witnessed how you've acted towards TC, and that's not okay!" Kayla cried out. "You keep talking about how he is a dick, but then you act the exact same way!"

"He had a freaking mental breakdown in the OR! Don't tell me about how we act the same when I can keep control of myself!" Scott retorted. Nobody noticed that TC and Jordan had exited the quiet room as Scott and Kayla argued.

"Scott, stop!" Drew said from the sideline.

"Stay out of it, Drew," Scott retorted.

"Geez, you're such a douchebag! You can't even get over your self-centeredness enough to see that there is something wrong! You're too jealous over Jordan and it's making you a dick towards TC!"

"Oh, why do you care?" he interrogated. "It's not like you care about anything but drugs. You're just some stupid druggie! You don't even belong here! " TC had been walking slowly towards them and the moment Scott said that, he transformed from hurting war veteran to protective brother. He pulled Scott back and moved to stand between him and Kayla, jaw clenched.

"You are way out of line," TC told him, voice dangerously low.

"Why do you care so much about a stranger?" Scott demanded to know. TC ignored him and turned to Drew.

"Do you think she belongs here?" he asked. Drew nodded and TC moved on to Kenny, asking the same question. He nodded also. TC asked Krista, Paul, Molly, and Landry if they thought that she should leave. All of them said no.

"Ragosa!" TC called as Ragosa exited the waiting room. "Do you think that Kayla is a part of the night shift as much as every one of us?" Ragosa glanced at Kayla before replying.

"Yes, I do." TC gave an emotionless smile of triumphant as he turned to Scott.

"She belongs here and she's not going anywhere," he informed the surgeon.

"Why do all care so much about some stranger? Some nobody!" Scott demanded.

"Because she's not some stranger, she's not a nobody," Jordan protested. Kayla had been silent through the whole thing.

"Really? Then who is she? Why is she so important?" he questioned, staring at Jordan for an answer.

"Because she's my sister," TC announced at the same time Jordan said, "Because she's family." Scott looked surprised before finally realizing the resemblance between the two siblings.

"You said some really messed up things. If you ever say anything like that to her again, I'll mess you up so bad that the only person who'll be able to fix you is me. And I won't. Got it?" TC threatened. Scott glanced between the siblings before giving an angry laugh.

The angry surgeon didn't even say anything before he punched TC across the jaw. Kayla yelled in surprise and everyone looked shocked as TC fell backwards and landed on his back, staring up at Scott with an angry expression. TC slowly got up but before he could retaliate, a hand shot out and punched Scott in the nose. The entire OR could hear the small crack as his nose broke and blood spurted everywhere.

"Nobody gets to punch my brother except for me," Kayla told him, glaring, as he stared at her with a mixture of hatred and shock. Before either could do anything more, Jordan pulled Scott away to fix up his face and to keep any more drama from happening while TC came to stand beside Kayla. She spun around and wrapped her arms around his torso, sighing deeply as she smelled his body wash that always seemed to have a calming affect.

"I'm glad you're okay," she murmured. The two broke apart from the embrace to find everyone staring at Kayla, who suddenly felt like her shoes were more important than anything else.

"Nice punch!" Krista exclaimed, laughing. Kayla gave her a small smile as the rest of the ER laughed.

"Okay everybody, back to work!" Ragosa ordered. Reluctantly, the small crowd of nurses and doctors headed to trauma rooms or the waiting room as they checked up on people.

"How's Topher?" Kayla asked as the two siblings started walking down the hallway from the ER.

"He's doing better. Do you want to see him?" TC inquired, keeping his arm around her shoulder. She nodded, walking to the elevator.

"Topher!" Kayla called as she entered his room, rushing forward to give him a hug. Janet was there, sitting in a chair next to his bed, and not letting go of his hand.

"Hey, Kayla," Topher replied, patting her on her back while TC watched with a small smile.

"Hi, Janet," the teenager greeted, turning to give Janet a hug.

"I'm so glad you're all okay," Janet said. Kayla's smile faltered slightly, though TC was the only one to see, and she nodded.

The four people in the room talked for about an hour before Topher fell asleep and Janet decided to go and get coffee.

"Let's go home," TC told Kayla as they reached the ER, who nodded and yawned before her eyes widened and she sprinted down a different hallway. She had forgotten about Wes.

She came to a stop, breathless, in front of him only to notice that he was still sleeping soundly. He had somehow moved in his sleep to be lying on his back with a hand splayed across his abdomen, another behind his head, and one knee in the air, propped up against the wall. Kayla sighed and softly smiled, shaking his shoulder.

"Wake up," she whispered. Slowly, he awoke and groggily sat up. By the time TC had reached them, Wes had swung his arms over the edge of the gurney and was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Well, it looks like I'm suspended, so it'll just be you and me for awhile," TC announced. Kayla rubbed his shoulder and he swung an arm around hers.

"Let's go home," she said, grabbing Wes's hand. And so they did.

Please pray for my swimming friend Jake, who found out his cancer, which was in remission, came back in his leg and spread to his lungs. He had surgery today and is going into chemo and radiation soon. Please keep him in your prayers.

Prequel entitled "Little Callahan" is up.

Shoutout to OLICITY-of-All-Kind-LOVER who gave me the inspo for Kayla vs Scott. I, too, love Olicity. Any Arrow fans out there?

This wasn't my best chapter, but if you liked then favorite, follow, REVIEW! xoxo -L