"How long has it been?" Greg asked Warrick as he stared down at the pale tiles on the floor.
Warrick looked at his watch and sighed. "Going on 11 hours. They should know more by now." That thought made Greg's heart skip a beat. What if they did know more, but didn't want them to know? What if they know Nick's going to die and are waiting to try and make it less painful or something? Warrick could see Greg was starting to freak out by the look in his eyes and the shaking of his hands. "Don't worry man. Nick's gonna be okay. Just hang in there for him, we'll know something more soon."
As if on cue in a bad movie, Dr. Leavell appeared from around the corner. The look on his face was nothing close to comforting and only worsened Greg's fear.
"Fuck." He said as Leavell came closer and he could see the look of sympathy in his eyes. Greg somehow managed to stand up and shake hands with the doctor before blurting out, "Is he okay?"
Dr. Leavell took a deep breath and motioned back to the seats behind the two standing men. "I think you should have a seat." Greg sank back into the chair and covered his face with his hands. The lump in his throat made it hard to breathe and tears stung his eyes. He didn't want to hear what he was dreading Leavell was going to say.
"What's going on?" Warrick asked. His voice was weak and full of fear.
"We found out what Nick had been poisoned with. Ant venom had been injected into his blood stream, along with cocaine, heroin and other drugs. This caused severe damage to his heart and lungs. We managed to stop all the internal bleeding and remove the bullet from his chest and left collar bone...but..." Leavell trailed off for a second to chose his words carefully. "He had a heart attack while he was still in surgery. His heart stopped for three minutes..." Greg's head snapped up and he looked up at the doctor through tear filled eyes. "But we were able to bring him back...we just don't know for how long."
"What are his chances?" Warrick asked. He was surprised he was somehow able to find his voice.
"A valve in his heart isn't working anymore and is affecting the aorta. We would have to go in and do open heart surgery to correct it. The only problem is we would have to stop his heart and have it connected to a machine to keep him alive. Once we take him off the machine, his heart may be too weak to start beating on its own again."
"What are his chances?" Warrick repeated himself.
Dr. Leavell sighed slightly. "Not good...about a hundred thousand to one if we do the surgery."
Warrick nodded slowly. "And without it?"
"He probably won't make it through the rest of the week."
That's only two days. Greg thought to himself. How can this be happening? The tears were overflowing from his eyes and he could feel his heart sinking deeper and deeper into his stomach.
"You're listed as his power of attorney...the surgery's your call." Dr. Leavell said to Warrick.
Warrick put his hand on Greg's shoulder and squeezed it gently. Greg looked at Warrick and forced himself to hold back a sob. "It's as much your decision as it is mine Greg. What do you think?"
Greg swallowed a few times so he would be able to speak. He looked back down at the floor. "Is surgery his only chance at living?" He could see Leavell nod out of the corner of his eye. He clenched his teeth together and closed his eyes. He was quiet for a minute before finally answering. "Then let him die."
Greg felt like someone was trying to rip his ribs out of his chest. He had already thrown up everything in his stomach. The last three minutes had been nothing but endless, painful dry heaves. Once they finally stopped, Greg fell back against the wall of the bathroom stall and panted frantically as he tried to catch is breath.
He closed his eyes when he felt the sting of tears once again. He threaded his shaky fingers through is damp hair and bit his lip so he wouldn't scream. He couldn't believe what he had said out in the hallway. He knew why he had said it...he just wished he hadn't meant it.
He opened his eyes and looked to his right when he heard the bathroom door open and close. He knew it was going to be Warrick even before the older man had kneeled next to him with a worried look in his eyes.
"Are you okay man?" Warrick asked quietly.
Greg shook his head. "No. I just said that I want Nick to die. I don't...that's not what I meant...I just want him to...it's not fair...fuck." The small sobs that rocked his body did nothing to help with Greg's fast paced breathing at the moment.
"I know you didn't mean it." Warrick said soothingly.
"Yes I did." Greg whispered. "I don't want him to suffer anymore because of me. He did whatever the hell he did for me...to save me. I'm just...trying to save him."
"From what?" Warrick asked before he could think.
"From me." Greg choked out. "Even though I don't understand why he was gone, I'm still so pissed about it. It hurt so much...and I know he's in a lot of pain right now. I don't want him to suffer anymore...I don't want him to feel any pain."
Warrick wasn't sure what to say, but he knew he had to say something. "You can't feel responsible for what's happened to Nick. It's not your fault. I'm sure of that even though we don't have the full story yet."
Greg shook his head slowly. "I'm so confused...I don't know what to do."
"It's simple." Warrick said. "Do you love him enough to give him a chance to make up for hurting you?"
Greg nodded. "Yeah...I do. I want to see him again and everying...I'm just afriad he's lying to me again."
"Again?"
Greg sighed. "He did before about stupid little things...but I just can't take too much more of anything. This is way too confusing and painful..."
"I know." Warrick said softly.
Greg sighed again, heavier this time. "But Nick's worth every last bit of it."
The medical stuff may not be 100 accurate, but at least I tried my best. Nick's going to have the surgery if that wasn't clear. Next chapter should be up soon. Thanks for the reviews.