Author's Notes: Yeah, I have no idea if the medical jargon I put in this chapter is accurate. I'm a complete novice at that. I hope what I wanted to convey comes across anyway.
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Chapter 20; World, Hold On:
The gurney carrying Cordelia's limp body burst through the operating room doors. A crew of five hurrying behind her looking incredibly worried. Cordelia had fallen unconscious again on the way to the hospital and had yet to come out of it. The FBI agent who'd been seeing to her wounds in the hub looked worst of all, especially with Cordelia's blood staining the front of her shirt. She was stopped outside the operating room doors, forced to look through them as a spectator.
"What have we got?" Dr. Patrick Drake said and he rushed into the room. He barely glanced at his patient's face while heading toward the gurney to assist Elizabeth, who was trying to get the bleeding under control.
"Single gunshot wound to the abdomen," Epiphany replied, silently wondering why Patrick, a neurosurgeon, was attending.
She kept that to herself as Patrick announced certain medicines and how much to give her. "We've got to control the bleeding," he said while he glanced over to the erratically beeping monitor. "She's going into shock!" he announced suddenly and momentarily glanced at her face.
"Patrick!" Elizabeth yelled when he immediately removed his hands from the wound. She recovered quickly and applied more pressure to the wound.
"Dr. Drake, the patient is going into shock. I don't know what's wrong with you, but you need to get your head straight right now." Epiphany reprimanded when Patrick stepped away with a look of pure shock. Being a seasoned nurse, and thankful that Elizabeth had enough experience, they both knew what to do. "We don't need another lawsuit filed against us for negligence," she added, hoping that would snap him out of whatever state he was in.
Elizabeth looked up at him with worry etching along her eyes. She'd never seen him act that way, not even when he'd nicked himself while operating on an HIV positive woman. She knew Epiphany had an inclination that their relationship was more than professional, and her calling him by his first name hadn't helped matters. She'd just have to worry about that later.
Patrick, for his part, heeded Epiphany's warning and stepped back up to the table to stabilize Cordelia's bleeding along with the nurses. He couldn't believe she was in this town…in this hospital… on this table. "I think her spleen is the source of her bleeding," he said, but his voice was without its usual confidence. He sounded unsure of himself. "Is there an exit wound?"
"No," Elizabeth answered. "The bullet is still inside."
"Epiphany, have Dr. Jonas paged." His face contorted with worry.
He knew that his brother, Matt Hunter, would probably be the best surgeon for her, not to say that Elias Jonas wouldn't do all he could, but he wanted the best. Matt, however, had been placed on administrative leave until after the negligence hearing. The mayor's mistress died on the operating table after a blow to the head… bad business for all.
"We need to open her up as soon as possible and get that bullet out. Start her on a unit of O positive," Patrick said with great certainty. "And 100 milligrams of Kogenate. We need to get her blood clotting… fast."
"Wait," Epiphany spoke up. "Won't that amount increase the risk of a blood clot traveling to her heart?"
"Nurse Johnson, if you're having trouble following orders, I suggest you leave and let Elizabeth and I take point. That way, you're certain to not be involved in any ensuing backlash or lawsuits." Patrick shook his head, cursed when Epiphany leveled him with an annoyed and somewhat hurt glare. He knew Epiphany was worried more about the patient than another lawsuit being brought against them. "Sorry, Epiphany," he said sheepishly. "I just… I'm more worried about her bleeding out before we get her stabilized. She's a hemophiliac."
Elizabeth and Epiphany looked confused, Epiphany the only one who didn't let her emotions show on her face. She moved from the bed to the nurses' phone by the door to have the doctor paged. Elizabeth stayed close to the patient, monitoring and administering the proper dosage of drugs, while also watching Patrick closely. He seemed to be coming quietly unglued.
Patrick couldn't believe he was seeing her again; especially like this. He'd gone over in his head at least a million times the things he wanted to say to her if he were to ever see her again. He'd yell and scream and do all the things he'd never gotten the chance to do.
But he never expected to see her like this…
Never wanted…
"Patrick," Elizabeth's voice was calm; a direct contrast to the look on her face. Patrick could see the question in her blue eyes and he didn't want to answer. She went with the safest question she could think of while they waited for the surgeon. "How did you know she's a hemophiliac?"
Out the corner of his eyes, Patrick could see Epiphany waiting to hear his answer as well while she checked the blood IV she'd set in place. He hated this. Hated answering questions. Hated having to explain himself.
He sighed heavily, feeling only slight relief when the monitors showed signs of Cordelia improving.
"She's my wife."
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The anger set on his face hardened his features. He was due at the hospital ten minutes ago, but had yet to leave the apartment. Couldn't leave the apartment when he saw her bag tossed on the floor beside the door.
"Delia…" he said her name. Found it hard to say anything else. His heart thundered against his chest so hard he thought his ribcage would break. He couldn't believe she was just standing there like she hadn't just ripped his heart out.
"Patrick," Cordelia said his name softly. She would have reached out and touched his face the way she usually did when she wanted to calm him, but felt she no longer had the right to do so. She closed her eyes and sighed. "I have to go. I have to do this."
"Why?" His voice creaked with sadness and anger. The pager on his hip beeped again for the tenth time. He ignored it. "Why do you have to go? There are safer assignments here in the States. You don't have to go all the way to Iraq to be a hero." He moved toward her, touched her face the way he always did. "You're my hero."
Cordelia looked up into his face, her green eyes touching a part of his soul that no one else had ever been able to reach. That no one else could ever reach. "People are dying over there, Patrick. Even some of our friends," she reminded him.
Patrick felt the pang of hurt creep into his heart as it always did when he thought of their friend Cody. He remembered the memorial service they held for him not too long ago. He couldn't imagine holding one for her. The thought was too much to bear.
He kissed her then. Hard and fast, holding her body tightly against his, feeling her soft, velvety skin against his fingertips. They'd always had their problems. Both were too ambitious, even at the expense of the time they spent together. Both of their families were absentee and a source of resentment and there wasn't a day they didn't fight. But, there also wasn't a day that Patrick didn't make love to his wife to remind both of them that they shared something special. That no matter what the outside world put them through, they always had a home in each other.
"I can't lose you, Delia," he whispered against her lips. "I wouldn't know how to live without you."
Cordelia didn't say anything, she really couldn't bear to break his heart any more than she was already planning to.
"Promise me you'll wait. Let's just… talk about it first." His eyes locked with her. He was begging. "Please…"
"Okay," she replied when his pager went off again. She kissed him again before ushering him out the door.
Cordelia waited until she saw his car turn out of the garage and drive off down the street toward the hospital before calling for a cab. She tossed her car keys into the key bin on the desk by the door and pulled the letter she'd written him out of her bag.
She hoped the letter would explain to her husband why she had to go. She hoped that one day he would understand why she had to do this. Picking up her bag, she left the apartment, knowing the divorce papers would reach him as soon as she hit Iraqi soil in two days.
Patrick paced back and forth outside the operating room along with Rex. The two men didn't know each other, not until John introduced them, but they both carried the same look of constant worry. In fact, everyone in the small area, from Patrick to Rex, to John, Jason and the FBI agent who'd seen to Cordelia's wounds in the helicopter hub looked the same.
Patrick didn't know what the hell his wife (ex-wife, he reminded himself) was doing with someone as dangerous as Jason Morgan, and he didn't really care. He just wanted her away from him.
That was something he and Rex agreed on. The blond PI's face twisted with anger every time he looked at Jason. He kept his cool however, remembering there were mafia goons lurking around and knowing that John would more than likely break it up. The FBI agent was feeling a certain sense of camaraderie with the mob enforcer… and Rex hated that as well.
It had been three hours since Cordelia was rushed into surgery. The drugs that Patrick prescribed had done the trick and stabilized her; they just hoped they would last long enough for the surgeon to get the bullet out.
Rex sighed, stopping mid pace and looked over at Jason. Rex couldn't believe the mob enforcer had the nerve to look worried when all of this was his fault. Rex felt he should have never let Cordelia get involved with the likes of him.
"You never did tell me what the hell happened," Rex directed at Jason, his voice remaining surprisingly even.
Jason ignored the glare, deciding nothing good would come from challenging the PI. "Cordelia and I were doing a favor for a friend," Jason began to explain, unsure of why he classified Alexis as a 'friend'.
"What friend?" Rex all but demanded.
"That's not important," Jason glossed over that.
Anger flashed hotly in Rex's eyes and John went on alert. The 'Cordelia and I' bit was grating on him as well. "Oh, but it is, since the little favor your friend requested nearly got my best friend killed."
Jason glared at Rex, but otherwise ignored the subtle threat. He knew Rex was itching for a fight, but he refused to give him one. "Cordelia and I realized we were being followed. She called John to get us some help."
Rex looked over at John with surprise before that melted away to anger as well. Jason caught it and realized that John had left him out of the loop. "You knew about this?" He didn't let John answer before turning his gaze back to Jason. "Go on," he demanded.
"The Zacharra's warehouse was being raided and while there, we learned that Lesley Lu Spencer, Lucky's sister, was inside one of the warehouses that had a bomb inside." Jason still felt angry at Lulu for risking her life for Johnny. "Cordelia ran inside and before I could get to her, the helicopter she requested was landing to get us all out of there. She came back out and had been wounded, but before passing out she said Paul Wade was inside."
Everyone was quiet for a long moment before Rex spoke again. "So…she goes with you to do a favor for a 'friend'," he made air quotes around the word. "Then she ran inside to save the life of someone she never met knowing there was a bomb inside and gets shot in the process… and you come out of this unscathed?" Rex snorted derisively, "Sounds like a set up to me."
Jason didn't know why, but he snapped, and was on Rex in two seconds flat with John at his back trying to pull him off. "I didn't set her up!" he yelled. He couldn't explain his anger, could only see Cordelia's limp body falling into his arms.
"Could have fooled me!" Rex yelled and pushed Jason back as hard as he could. "Ever since she's met you, she's been in danger!" Patrick grabbed and held him back when it looked as though they were going to go into a full on brawl. John held Jason back as well.
"Stop it, both of you!" the female agent, Laurel Mason, yelled stepping between them. Neither man challenged her. "None of this is helping her!" She looked at Jason. "I don't know whether what Rex said is true or not, but I saw your face in the hub. I know you didn't set her up." She turned to Rex. "And if you think Cordi running to a building with a bomb to save even one life is unlike her, you really don't know her at all."
No one else said anything when Elizabeth walked upon them. She'd heard the commotion but didn't let on. "Ms. Roberts made it out of surgery. We got the bullet and she's stable." The blue-eyed nurse looked at each face wearily. "We're going to move her to ICU in a few minutes. We need to keep an eye on her for any clotting or internal bleeding." She looked directly at her husband and her lover before telling them, "You can see her soon, but I recommend one at a time." Elizabeth took her leave and turned to go back inside.
"You stay the hell away from her from now on, Morgan," Rex said after a moment. "Or so help me, I'll make you regret it," he threatened quickly before stalking off.
Patrick looked over Jason with anger before he, too walked off. Laurel returned to her seat to collect herself before going back out into the field, leaving John and Jason alone.
"I know you didn't set her up," he said quietly. He looked into the mob enforcer's eyes to show he meant it.
"But I think somebody else tried to," Jason replied. "Somebody knew we were coming."
"Yeah," John agreed. "But who?"