A/N: Okay I decided to do the first part of this chapter from the doctor's point of view. This chapter is dedicated to my close friend Ashley Imhoff who's almost as obsessed with Charlie as I am! Okay, but who doesn't love a big-hearted genius, and that hair, oh my goodness, we love his hair and those eyes, they're so deep... Sorry, I'm rambling now, lol. The doctor is also based on her, although she's no where as nice as the doctor is. My friend is comepletely evil, I swear. The only time she ever acts the slightest bit girly, giggley or nice at all is when we talk about Charlie(which we do alot). Here's chapter seven.

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"Severe burns to the thighs, back and chest, some damage done to the left cornia, he also suffered inhalation of deadly fumes. Your going to have to do a tox screen," the paramedic informed the doctor as Charlie was rushed into the ER.

"Room 19 was just vacated, get him in there," the dark blonde doctor ordered quickly, "Ryan! Get over here, we need your help!"

"Yes Dr. Imhoff!" The young man answered enthusiastically, he was a new med student and wanted to start helping out right away. He had dark curls and brown eyes, not unlike Charlie, although Ryan's hair was shorter.

Ryan helped get Charlie's stretcher into Room 19 of the Intensive Care Unit, "Ok, Ryan do have a good grip?" Dr. Imhoff asked quickly. He nodded as he gripped the sheet under the unconscious man firmly, "One, two, three!" They hefted him off the stretcher and onto the bed.

There was a flurry of activity as they removed his remaining clothing, and the hospital gown tooks its place. They covered him up to his waist with a thin sheet, "Ryan, elevate his legs," the young doctor commanded the student and he hesitated, "to reduce the swelling involved with those burns," she clarified. She placed an oxygen mask over the young man's face and watched as he breathed heavily. She hoped it wouldn't be too much of a problem, it would be better if they could abstain from putting him on a ventilator.

Dr. Imhoff began to speak quietly to the unconscious man, "Dr. Charles Eppes? Do you mind if I call you Charles?" She knew there would be no reponse but was shocked when a voice answered.

"His name's Charlie," She whipped around to face a hagard looking man, who's eyes bore a terrible burden.

"I'm sorry, but you can't be here. It's procedure," she told him as gently as he could.

Don flashed his badge, "Agent Donald Eppes, that's my brother...please let me stay with him."

She relented and nodded silently, she could tell she wouldn't get any trouble from him, "Alright, just stay out of the way okay?" She got no answer, but the yes was understood, "Charlie? I'm Dr. Ashley Imhoff I'm going to check out your burns now okay?" She quietly untied the gown and slide it down to his waist, leaving his chest exposed. The burns were extensive and she guessed at second degree by the looks of them. They would be very painful when he awoke. The skin was red and blistered and it was luckly that none of the blisters had broken, the area would have an increased probability of infected if they were.

"Ryan? Go get an IV quick!"

Don heard all of the medical talk Dr. Imhoff was spitting out at her assistant, but his mind was elsewhere. How could he have left Charlie when he knew the danger he was in. Sure, he'd trusted Agent Marshall, but it hadn't been enough. He couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had only stayed.

He saw his little brother laying there unmoving as the doctor inserted the IV into his arm and began to lightly bandage the burns with fresh gauze. It was unreal to see his brother that way and be unable to help him, he felt so damn helpless, and he hated it. He could only watch as his brother lay in the hands of two people he didn't know, and one was only a medical student, not even a doctor yet. A needle caught his eye and he looked up at the doctor hesitantly, he wanted to know everything that was happening to Charlie, "Whats that for?" He knew that it was most likely antibiotics or to take blood for Tox, but he wanted to be sure.

"I need to take some blood and give him an antibiotic shot, it's only to help him, you know that Agent," Dr. Imhoff explained gently, she knew he just cared for his brother. She took a the unit of blood she needed for testing purposes and passed it off to Ryan. She talked Charlie completely through it even though he couldn't hear a word of it.

It made Don wonder slightly about her, she was an especially compassionate doctor, he was glad she'd been assigned to take care of Charlie. He just wished that it was an unnessecsary experience. He watched as she pulled the gown down again to uncover his little brother's burnt thighs. The skin looked almost shiny, Don had seen burn victims before, but none of them had been his brother and he had to look away. The mathematician was helpless on the bed, comepletely exposed and it wasn't supposed to be that way. It should be me there on that hospital bed, not him... was all he could think.

The med student still hadn't returned and Ashley started for the door to find a nurse to help her turn the young man over without irritating the newly bandaged burns on his front.

"Where are you going?" Don asked, didn't she know he had more burns that she needed to take care of?

"I need to get Charlie turned over to treat his back, it should only take a second to flag down a nurse," she told him with a soft smile.

"Let me help," he offered quietly, but in truth it was more of a plea, he wanted to do something to help his brother, anything.

Dr. Imhoff hesitated, but saw the look in the agent's eyes. Even though she could get suspended for it, or even fired, she nodded, "Okay, but only do what i tell you to do, nothing else." Not many victims or their families affected her in such a way, but there was something about the two of them. Her job didn't have the same joy in it it used to have. This case seriously made her think about quitting, "Put your hand behind his right should gently, I already checked and there isn't a burn there. Use your other hand on his lower back, ok push up, but not too quickly."

Carefully the two of them got Charlie onto his side and she started to treat him right away, Ryan came in just as she finished and looked at her puzzled, "Ashley..."

"Not now Ryan, and your not supposed to call me that here. Dr. Imhoff...remember?" She spat unintentionally, unaware that the agent finally had a small smirk on his face. It was quite obvious the two were close, but the smile was quickly replaced when complete silence was evident in the room, there was no sound of Charlie ragged breaths.

"ASHLEY! He isn't breathing!" Ryan yelled at her, forgetting her reprimand only a few seconds ago, knowing that she already knew the patient was in distress.

"Get a ventilator NOW! I'll keep him going until then," she bellowed back and went into action, her patient was depending on her. Leaning over him, she removed the oxygen mask and breath life saving air into his lungs. She stopped for a second and watched for signs of him breathing on his own and found none.

She breathed for the young man for a good two minutes before Ryan returned with another resident doctor and a ventilator, "Sir, I'm sorry, you absolutely have to leave now," she told Don, who'd been staring at the scene as it unfolded. Without a word he turned and left, there was something on the man's mind, she didn't know it, but it was guilt.

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"Donny? Is he okay? I heard a commotion?" Alan couldn't help but shoot the questions out before Don even had a chance to answer. His youngest was still in a danger of sorts, and he wanted to know why there had been a unroar.

"He stopped breathing," Don told them softly, a state of dizzying shock settling around him.

"No," Amita pleaded quietly, a tear trailing down her cheek, "no."

"They brought in a ventilator, but I don't know. The burns, they looked really bad," he swallowed the lump in his throat and sat down in the chair beside his father and looked over to his little brother's two friends. Larry had only arrived shortly before, after turning up at Charlie's house and finding out that he was at the hospital. His brother's mentor was staring off into space, he didn't know an astronomical anology for this one.

Amita was slumped in her chair, tears marring her pretty face, half of which was hidden in her hands. They were a sorry bunch, that was for sure.

Don's father wrapped an arm around him and gave his eldest son a comforting hug, the last time the two of them were in a hospital together was when Margaret died, and they didn't want a repeat occasion.

"Mr. Eppes?" Dr. Imhoff exitted Charlie's room and informed them on Charlie conditon, "We've stabilized him on a ventilator, and its working well. We hope that after the fumes leave his system, the lungs will repair themselves, with our help, and we can wean him off of it. As for the burns, there are several first and second degree burns, but more of the latter.
Unfortunately, there a two third degree burns on his back. I'm going to recommend a skin graft to reduce scarring and help fight against infection, although there are some risks involved. Sometimes the donor skin doesn't take and complications can occur."

Alan took a moment to absorb the information before asking, "What do you suggest?"

"It will be better for him in the long run so undergo with the skin graft. Usually it's nessecsary to get the patients permission, but considering the circumstances, the next of kin will have to make the descision. Truthfully it's up to you and your other son to decide," she explained and gave him a warm smile.

"What kind of complications" Don asked looking up at the doctor.

"If there's any trauma at all after the graft a hematoma may form, and there's also the chance we may not be able to get a matching donor," she told him with a sad smile, "Charlie's blood type is AB negative and thats pretty rare, so we mightn't be able to do the procedure at all. That's why I mentioned it, we searched the registry and there aren't any, we're probably going to have to put him on a waiting list."

Amita visible paled at the revelation, a waiting list, that could take months or years for him to get to the top."Without the graft, the probability of infection is severely increased," she murmured to herself, new tears finding their way down her cheeks.

Dr. Imhoff nodded, "I'm sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news."

Don thought about it for a moment and knew he had a way to finally help his baby brother, "I'm AB negative," he told her, "I'll do it."

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A/N: I'm so sorry that took so long to write, butI had real life to deal with and quite a bit of research had to be done to make the medical stuff more realistic. I know I got Charlie out in the last chapter, but I so had to add more angst to this story. I hope you liked it, i'm not too sure ifI did though, ohwell...I am my own worst critic.PLEASE REVIEW! All flames (I still find that ironic considering the plot of my story) will be disregarded and all praise will be treasured!