AN: Happy New Year! So I've been busy with this story lately because I felt bad for leaving it for almost an entire year. I can confirm that I'll probably only do a few more chapters, it's about time I rounded it up really. This chapter is pretty long, but hopefully very tense as well. I don't want to drag it out too long and I probably will end up writing a sequel to this because I've just got so many ideas for where this could go. As always please review because it does genuinely help and I hope you like it!

"Never knock on Death's door: ring the bell and run away!" -Matt Frewer

The smell of blood hung heavily the air as the Trauma room was sent into frenzy. The relentlessly shrill beeping sounding from the monitor was an unwanted reminder that Carter could be dead any second.

Carter's lifeless form had crumbled onto the hospital bed with the final release of the arrow as the doctors and nurses laid him down. The blood was now flowing like water from his shoulder at an uncontrollable speed. Benton was working furiously to control the bleeding, the sweat lashing off his forehead as he felt the full force of the burden he was dealing with. He had to do his job perfectly or Carter would be gone.

Concentrate.

Benton was focused. He was completely oblivious to the separate chaos ensuing around him. There were nurses running into the room with bags of O-Negative to feed into Carter's rapidly emptying veins, Dr Ross was administering even more epinephrine to the patient with steady hands and Dr Greene was shouting various orders all at once as he closely monitored Benton's work.

"Come on, Carter. Come on.." Dr Ross could be heard mumbling to himself as though the mantra would make Carter stabilise faster. He needed to stabilise. He was dangerously close to stroking out due to the blood loss, but they wouldn't let that happen.

Then Haleh half-jogged into the tense room looking flustered and catching everyone's attention for the briefest of moments.
"Dr Benton," she panted. "They need you in Trauma 2; there was a multiple car pile-up and they've sent two to County."

Not now.

"Can't you see I'm busy here?" he bit out, not lifting his gaze from Carter's shoulder. His fingers worked robotically as he continued to try and stop the excessive bleeding. He can't stop now. He won't stop now.

"Peter, go. I can take over." Dr Greene stated snapping his gloves more securely over his hands.

Peter almost laughed.
"No man, I'm finishing this." Again he kept his gaze fixed steadily on his work.

I won't let him die.

"Dr Benton that is an order. Now move, I will take over." Dr Greene's tone was sharp and authoritative.

Benton was becoming furious. They couldn't pull him away now! He knew he could fix Carter. He couldn't just walk away.
"Mark, I-" he started angrily.

"Peter, go! Now!" Mark shouted losing his temper. He could understand Benton's position though and hated ordering him to leave when they all wanted to fix Carter.

Benton's quick hands reluctantly ceased their work knowing there was no way this battle could be won. He didn't want to leave Carter, but he knew he was in capable hands and after all there were other patients on the brink of death that needed his help. He couldn't just favour Carter over them. It would be unfair. He practically threw his instruments down and sprinted into the next ER, Mark swiftly picking up where Benton had left off.

"His rhythm isn't changing," Dr Ross noted staring unblinkingly at the monitor. "I'll give him another amp of epi."

"Okay, but no more after that. We don't want to flush out his system." Mark retorted concentrating on the lesion in Carter's shoulder.

"Carol check response." He said nodding his head towards Carter's. He had never seen the young man so pale before now, although the alarmingly serene expression on his face made is seem as though he was simply asleep, happily oblivious to the carnage unfolding around him.

"Both pupils non-reactive to light." Carol stated in a quietly panicked voice as she flashed the light in Carter's tired eyes.

"Still no change with 1 mg of epi," Doug let out a frustrated sigh. He scratched his head and turned to the nearest nurse who happened to be a very alert Yoshi who was monitoring Carter's pulse ox. "Get me another EKG and we'll see if that brings any joy."

Yoshi dodged other nurses and escaped out of sight to fulfil Doug's wish. Chuny was replacing another bag of blood when Dr Greene turned to her.
"How many units have transfused so far?" he ventured hoping the answer wouldn't be too high.

"5 units." She replied uneasily.

That's too high.

Mark and Doug shared worried looks knowing that the amount of blood they were transfusing meant that Carter was losing too much blood too fast to replace. Realising this Mark forged forward even faster to try and control the bleeding as best he could.

And then..

"HE'S CODING!"

Flat line. That harsh and bone-chilling sound which flooded the Trauma room stopping the medical staff in their tracks for only a second before mayhem broke out.

"Goddamnit!" Benton shouted running back into the room having successfully stabilised his other patient.

"Doug, get the paddles now!" Mark yelled, panic obvious in his voice.

"200 cc's." Doug said lifting up the paddles, the sickening whine emanating from the defibrillators.

"Clear!"

The paddles were placed forcefully on Carter's prone chest, jolting his fragile frame upwards.

A united sigh of relief washed over the room as a stable rhythm sounded from the heart monitor.

"Goddamnit, Carter." Benton whispered in an exasperated tone. He briefly hung his head before carrying on with the work he was doing before leaving the trauma room.

"That was too close." Uttered Doug turning to face Mark. His frown deepened as he took in his colleague's puzzled expression. "What?"

"He's bleeding out too quickly," Mark pushed his glasses further up his nose as he pondered the situation. He checked the Foley bag under the bed, but it was clear. "There must be a secondary bleed."

"There is!" Benton said almost in unison with Mark's declaration. "It's deep, but it's there. It's a heavy bleeder but I can fix it."
With new determination, Benton somehow managed to quicken his pace and began to mend the muscle wall which was weeping from a large lesion.

Mark looked between Peter's meticulously speedy work and Carter's pale face. He couldn't get over how peaceful the young doctor's expression was in contrast to the earlier pain which had consumed Carter's eyes so greedily. The torture his body was going through could not have been read on his face. In that moment he truly admired Carter for coming this far.

He's still alive.

Mark got ahead of himself.

Again the shrill and endless noise of the flat line sounded, settling a cold and unfathomable fear in the pit of Mark's stomach. No.

"Paddles again!" he managed amidst the relentless beeping, throwing his hands out to receive the defibrillators.

"No, no wait!" Mark spun his around in shock to Benton who was angrily still sewing up the lesion in Carter's shoulder.

"Peter-" he started.

"I almost have it. Hang on!" he shouted leaving his completely focused gaze on the lesion he was furiously trying to get rid of. The entire room waited with belated breath as Benton powered on through the hanging sound of the monitor.

He's gone..

Mark watched the clock anxiously, acknowledging every second that passed knowing Carter was further away with each.
"Peter, we need to shock him now!"

"Hang on!" was the bitter reply, Benton's hands working more and more frantically.

"Alright go!" Peter barked with a final flourish as he cut the wire which he had been using to sew up the lesion with. He stepped away as Mark mercilessly slammed the paddles down on Carter's blue-tinged chest once more.

"CLEAR!"

The body landed back on the bed roughly.

"No change," Dr Ross noted. "Charging up to 300."

"Again, CLEAR!"

Another jolt of electricity surged through Carter's exhausted form.

Nothing.

Time of death, 10:03 am..

"CLEAR!"

AN: I am so evil.