thanks again for the reviews which are much appreciated. Now, I do hope you guys realize I'm in Australia...so I may occasionally use a word typical for Australian English and I apologize for the confusion. And really, you guys call an ambulance a 'bus'? Oh, well...
Reminded me of the blooper bit with John Noble and Joshua...John is talking about 'batteries are flat' and Josh reminds him in the US they are 'dead', so John repeats his line, fluffs it and says flat again instead of dead!
10am
The broken glass from the shattered windows crunched under her feet as Olivia ran past the members of Alpha team, barely noticing the two dead bodies on the floor of the front room. The only survivor of the group was being led out handcuffed by members of Gamma team. Broyles fell back to confer with Alpha leader leaving Olivia to continue down the hall way heading straight to the bedroom at the back where she skidded to a halt at the door.
Gamma leader stepped back allowing her to enter the small sparsely furnished bedroom.
He nodded briefly and averted his eyes on Olivia's questioning look and her heart sank.
The sight that awaited Olivia made her grab the door frame for support and she required all her willpower not to cry out loud.
A deathly pale Peter lay motionless on the bed. There were copious amounts of dried blood on the pillow and bedding which together with the stench of vomit in the room made her gasp. This was worse than she had imagined. In spite of all the noise with the storming of the premises Peter had not stirred.
The unthinkable had happened and she had arrived too late. Olivia hesitated to step forward, not willing to confirm her worst fears and she instinctively reached for the small gold cross around her neck seeking strength.
She licked her dry lips nervously as nausea nearly overwhelmed her.
'I'll go and check on the medics, Agent Dunham' the low voice of Gamma leader pierced her daze.
'Yes, thank you' she responded forlorn and grateful for the privacy he was giving her.
He turned away his foot steps echoing down the hallway.
Olivia walked up to the bed and gently sat down next to Peter. Her eyes settled on the extensive scalp laceration and swelling on the side of his head with alarm. There were beads of sweat on his forehead and his stubbly beard couldn't hide the sunken cheeks and dry, cracked lips. The weak rise and fall of his chest was accompanied by a soft barely audible wheeze.
'Thank God, he is still alive' she thought relief making her dizzy and she closed her eyes for a moment.
'Peter? …Peter!" she called softly and placed her hand on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat under her palm, fast and erratic.
Slowly Peter opened his eyes and he stared straight at her, blinking a few times. He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating again. Then he felt her weight on the bed and her warm thigh against his body. The touch of her hand on his chest was strangely reassuring.
'Peter…' Olivia forced a smile even though she was silently screaming in horror to see him so hurt. Tears welled up in her eyes and she drew in a deep breath fighting for composure.
'Heh, Olivia…' Peter whispered 'I knew you'd come. How's Walter?'
'Walter is fine, just fine don't worry. But you're a mess…!' she pressed her lips shut afraid her voice would break.
Peter narrowed his eyes and lifted up his right hand to touch her face, gently cupping her cheek. Olivia instinctively leaned into his touch. She reached up and caught his hand with hers, squeezing it gently.
'Agent Dunham, are you crying?' teased Peter with a smile tugging at his lips.
Her breath caught in her throat at Peter's enquiry.
'Nonsense, just the smoke from the grenade irritating my eyes' she answered lightly.
'Good, shouldn't cry for me…' his eyes fluttered shut 'Olivia…' his voice faded and his hand slipped out of Olivia's grasp back onto the bed.
Anxious, Olivia bent over Peter, her hand feeling for his pulse over his carotid artery.
'Peter, stay with me…'
A spasm ripped through his body and he started to convulse violently.
'Oh, no, no…Peter!'
Alarmed Olivia jumped up from the bed running towards the door and calling out.
'I need the medics now, damn it, where are they?'
She pressed her hand against her mouth helplessly watching the spasms torture Peter.
Heavy foot steps could be heard running down the hallway and two medics with their gear rushed in.
Olivia stepped back to give them space to work.
The first medic secured Peter's airway and placed an oxygen mask on his face while trying to prevent him from hurting himself as his body convulsed out of control.
The other medic was speaking with the hospital on his two way radio while waving through two men with a gurney to take Peter out to the ambulance.
'Yes, severe head injury, likely skull fracture of temporal bone. Currently seizing but we are maintaining air way. Estimated arrival time 15 minutes'
The medics lifted Peter over to the gurney, strapped him in and moved quickly out the door towards the ambulance. Olivia ran after them watching as they loaded Peter into the back of the ambulance and with lights flashing and sirens blasting they made their way to Mass General.
The hours without sleep were taking their toll as Olivia leaned against her car taking deep breaths fighting down the panic that had gripped her.
The possibility of loosing Peter terrified her. She didn't think she could take another loss after John and Charlie.
Without Peter Walter would disintegrate into madness again and for the first time she understood Walter's choice. When life got too difficult madness seemed appealing.
Broyles had followed Olivia out side after giving orders for the transport of the prisoner to a FBI holding cell downtown. Agents were busy securing the house, taking photos and gathering evidence.
Broyles observed his Agent through hooded eyes. It had been all too clear for sometime to him that the relationship between Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop had taken on a complexity beyond a simple working relationship.
'Agent Dunham, there is nothing more you can do here. Go to the hospital and check on Peter Bishop. Walter will need you now, too'
Olivia looked up into Broyles eyes.
'Summers wasn't among the men shot and arrested. He is still out there, right?'
Broyles nodded grimly.
FRINGEFRINGEFRINGEFRINGE
Olivia negotiated the street barricades and left the neighbourhood with her warning lights flashing.
She rang and advised Astrid that Peter was arriving any minute in the ER and to go down and meet him.
'…just don't let Walter know where you're going. I don't want him to see Peter like this'
Every time she closed her eyes she saw Peter's broken body convulsing.
'He'll pull through. He is young and strong. He's going to be alright' Olivia kept repeating to herself.
She made it in record time through downtown traffic and pulled up at the curb of the ER entrance.
Stepping through the doors she was greeted with the organized chaos of the emergency room as doctors, nurses and patients moved about. The stark light of the emergency room made Olivia blink and it took her eyes a few seconds to get used to it.
She found Astrid standing at the triage desk. 'He was taken down there.' she pointed towards the room at the end of the corridor.
Astrid was pale and shaken. The sight of Peter convulsing, his lips blue and the Medics frantically working on him made her understand why Olivia had requested that Walter didn't see him like this.
Olivia nodded her eyes dark with worry and swept past, following Astrid's directions to the treatment room.
The sounds and the smells of the hospital enveloped her and she shivered as she hurried down the corridor towards the treatment room. Her heart was beating fast and her hands were sweaty as she stopped at the open door.
A young doctor in scrubs and several nurses were busy working on Peter who was still seizing.
They had removed his shirt and pants which had been discarded on the floor. One nurse was applying the heart monitor tabs to his chest and the doctor had just placed an IV in Peter's right arm.
'10mg Midazolam IV push. We've got to stop the seizure.' called the doctor grabbing the laryngoscope from the incubation tray as a nurse drew up the medication from a vial and inserted the needle into the IV hub.
The drug started to work nearly immediately and Peter's muscles finally relaxed and his body was still.
'Intubating now. Open up the IV and let 500mls run in. He is dry as a bone.' There was momentary quiet as the doctor inserted the laryngoscope and gently guided the tube down Peter's windpipe, connecting it up with the oxygen while a nurse tied the tube down so it wouldn't be dislodged.
'Oxygen on 8 liters continuous flow'
The doctor listened to Peter's chest placing the stethoscope on each side of his chest.
'Good air entry bilaterally' he confirmed
'Blood pressure 70 palpable only. Pulse rate 110 and thready. Temperature 102' called out one of the nurses.
'The OR will be ready in 45 minutes Doctor' advised another nurse holding a phone.
'Not acceptable. I need to have this skull fracture decompressed ASAP.' Replied the doctor while using his pen light to check Peter's pupils.
'Left Pupil sluggish. Dilated and fixed on the right'
'Damn, possible epidural hematoma. He just made top of the list. Advise the OR we are coming up in 5 minutes. Call the neurosurgeon and tell him to meet us up there.'
A nurse rushed past Olivia into the room carrying two bags of blood.
'O negative has arrived, Doctor. Setting up now.'
'Good, I want that antibiotic drip started too'
One of the nurses saw Olivia standing at the door and went to shut it.
'Please how is he?' asked Olivia with a shaky voice.
'We're doing all we can…' the nurse answered
'I can see that, but how is he?' interrupted Olivia her voice on edge.
The nurse's face softened and she flashed an apologetic smile.
'You need to wait for the doctor to talk to you' and she firmly closed the door.
Olivia watched through the small window as the staff continued to work on Peter.
She clenched her hands and rested her forehead against the door.
'Fight, Peter, fight! Don't you dare give up!' she whispered fiercely, hoping he would hear her.
So Peter is in pretty bad shape, but how is Olivia coping...?
And no, its not a crossover with ER *lol* George Clooney is not going to walk up the corridor!
Anyway, I hope you are satisfied with this chapter and a review will definitely put a smile on my face so please leave one. Thanks for reading!