Hey guys! This is a really quick update. Last one of 2007, baby! I'm happy about this chapter. Like, really happy about it. I've been wanting to do something House-like for a while. And at least this is semi-accurate. I've never had a life-threatening surgery before, but I'd say for someone who doesn't spend that much time in a hospital, this is pretty accurate.
Note: The song 'Drinking In L.A' by Bran Van 3000 plays along wonderfully when during the part where Kevin has surgery. Listen to it while you read if you can. That's why the chapter is named 'Drinking In L.A.'.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The world swirled around Kevin as doctors and nurses pushed the wheeled stretched hurriedly down a hallway of the ER. After being given a substantial amount of Advil to surprises the pain and fever, Kevin was finding it difficult to focus on anything for very long. A nurse, clad in pink scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck and brown hair pulled back into a bun, was running along beside his head, trying to keep him awake.
"Focus on me, Kevin, okay? Where are you in pain?"
The neko-jin gazed up at her, eyes glazed over. After a short pause, he opened his mouth to reply.
"Mah leg'n my head..." He slurred, focus blurring for a moment. Though he wasn't sure about anything he was feeling anymore, he was positive the stretcher was being rolled faster then it was a few minutes ago. All at once, the MT guys from the ambulance who were pushing the stretcher swung it around and kicked down the breaks before moving out of the way so that the doctors and nurses could do their jobs. Once again, the woman was leaning over Kevin's face to distract him so the professionals behind her could attend to the torn stitches of what was a healing bullet wound on his leg. They numbed it, pulled over a table with instruments on it, and began to cut into the flesh in order to stop the bleeding and remove the old tattered stitches. Kevin could hardly feel it.
"Honey, I want you to tell me when your headache goes away. Can you do that for me?" The woman asked, pressing a fresh, sterile cloth down on Kevin's forehead where Dickenson had struck him with a gun. Other nurses carefully and quickly unwrapped his arms and legs where one of Dickenson's women had carved poetry into his flesh and began to re-bandage them. The woman standing over Kevin leaned away, leaving the cloth on his forehead. She rubbed alcohol on the inside of his arm just below where it bent. She turned away for a moment, Kevin watching, before turning around again with a needle in her hand. In about twelve seconds, she had Kevin hooked up to an I.V., and was supplying him with painkillers. Slowly, the throbbing headache faded, but there was still a distant sting in his leg. He nodded to let her know that it was gone so that she wouldn't up the dose of morphine.
From farther down the stretcher, a man in a white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck and an identification badge clipped to his pocket looked up solemnly, and said quickly, "We've slowed the bleeding, but this definitely needs surgery. Murphy, call and clear the O.R., this kid needs it now."
Another female doctor with boring blue eyes and brownish-blonde hair looked up and shook her head.
"It's too dangerous, his fever is too high. We need to wait."
The male doctor narrowed his eyes. "The bleeding won't stop until he gets surgery."
"And he could go into shock and die on the operating table if we send him in there with a fever of a hundred and five. We can maintain the bleeding until the fever has diminished, but until then, no operating."
The woman holding the gauze to Kevin's forehead nodded. "Dr. Murphy is right. We'll move him to the back of the ER so he can rest and we'll have two doctors stay and put pressure on the leg to minimize the blood loss."
"I'll stay with him. Samson, bring a crash cart in case his fever gets any worse." The doctor named Murphy instructed. Kevin looked up at the glare of the lights on the ceiling above and tried to think about something other then his current situation.
Still, someone had to be having a worse time then him... right?
-x-x-x-
Slade sat, one wrist handcuffed to the side rail of a hospital bed, studying the bandages that tightly wrapped the stubs that were once fingers on her left hand. She sighed.
Two police officers were standing guard outside, hands folded neatly before them. They were armed. She was missing two fingers. The odds were no doubt against her, but the thought of escape wasn't even on her mind.
They had called for a state psychiatrist to analyze and decide if she should be sent to an asylum, or high management state penitentiary. Slade had never been through the questioning required for the psychiatrist to determine such a fate, but other women in Dickenson's crew had. They told her about it one day while they waited for news on a mission.
First, they asked you what you did. Then, why you did it. Third, they asked you how you felt about it. A few minor questions were sprinkled between the three main ones, but no matter how she tried to prepare herself, Slade just couldn't accept what was going on.
She should be dead. Rei Kon should have taken the shot. Killing wasn't that taxing, you just needed to learn how to get over it, and then it doesn't really effect you. Wasn't that true for everyone? She didn't know anymore. She had killed so many people... Had Kon killed anyone? He must have killed something, sometime during his life. He had probably gotten over it. He would get over her death too. So why didn't he kill her? What stopped him? He had been so full of hate and anger towards her one minute, and then the next, her life actually meant something to him... Or at least enough so that he would kill her. She heaved a sigh of sorrow and confusion. A guard looked back to make sure she wasn't up to something.
She wondered if anyone else was having as horrible a time as her.
-x-x-x-
Lee clenched, released, and re-clenched his fists again and again. Deep breaths, he told himself, deep breaths.
He had been betrayed.
When Rei had abandoned the White Tigers all those years ago, Lee was positive that it was the worst thing that could happen. Having someone so important just walk out of your life with no reason or warning was surely the worst. But now, after emerging from the stairwell on that floor and stopping short at the sight of Stanley Dickenson holding Kevin around the neck and pressing a gun against his head? Lee remembered the stunned anger he had felt after a moment of shock. He still felt it. So what felt worse; having your best friend up and leave with no warning, or having a respected elder act like a good person while he was really a heartless criminal? Lee found no contest between the two. He had forgiven Rei long ago, but Dickenson? He had used Kevin as a test subject, a pawn in his plan to withdraw money from the BBA for himself and get publicity out of it as well. Lee could never forgive that. Dickenson had probably been using them all as a cover up all these years. They had probably, at some point, been tricked into helping him with his crimes.
Lee felt terrible at that realization. What if someone had died because of something Lee did? Dickenson had asked him for a few favors throughout the years. Things that seemed small and unimportant, but now that he was looking back on it, it could have been part of something much larger. The captain of the White Tiger's clenched his fist tightly and held them that way. Though he didn't know what had become of the older man, Lee had the feeling that he was still alive. He had seen the building explode on the evening news that played over a television in the hospital. Some nurses were watching, and Lee stood by the nurse's desk with Tala and Tyson and watched it happen.
His eyes had been focused on the floor of the building in where Dickenson had been left. Not only did a bomb not explode on that floor, but there were no blasts on the floors above it. It gave reason enough to believe that the man was still alive, and it drove Lee mad with fury. He had to make this man pay for what he had done to them all – to Kevin. Kevin… how was he? He was in the E.R., for all Lee knew. Poor kid… Lee had always found it difficult to get along with Kevin. They were either arguing, debating, or ignoring each other because of something that was, in retrospect, pointless. Despite the rough relationship, they respected each other and both found comfort in the others company. Lee found that Kevin's light hearted attitude could make even the glummest of situations bearable, and Kevin felt protected when Lee was around.
But Lee couldn't protect him this time. Of course none of it was his fault; he had no idea it was going to happen. But he still felt guilty. He gave a frustrated growl.
Someone had better be having a worse time then him.
-x-x-x-
Rei looked across the hall to Kai. Both had had their upper arms stitched and bandaged. Rei hadn't spoken much, which was out of character, and it made him feel like Kai. Deciding that he didn't feel comfortable being affiliated with Kai in that way, Rei decided to speak.
"So…"
"Nope."
"Huh?"
"Don't bother, I'm thinking." Kai didn't look up. His eyes were fixated on the floor sternly, suggesting he was deep in thought. Rei wrinkled his nose and glanced down the hallway before looking back at the Russian blader.
"What did you say to Dickenson?"
A long, uneasy pause followed. Rei wondered whether he should have asked such a question, but just as he was opening his mouth to excuse the inquiry, Kai looked up at him.
"He's alive, Rei. I told him that his options were to give up and die there, or run and hide. There's no way that man would just sit back and give in, it's not in his nature. He ran, Rei."
Well, shit. Rei raised an eyebrow before looking quickly down at the floor. If Dickenson was still alive, would he disappear permanently, or would he come back? What if he went after them again, or hired someone to kill them? Rei asked Kai, who sighed.
"That depends. He was planning on giving Ki to a friend of his, right? As a test subject?"
Rei winced and nodded. Kai sighed. "Then he not only knows a lot of powerful people, but some of them are working along with him in this crime ordeal. He could pull a favor and any one of those powerful men could get pulled into this, and we would have no idea where the attack was coming from."
Rei just looked at him, appearing to have not processed anything. Still, Kai knew it had all sunk in. Rei caught on quickly to things. Rei, staring blankly at Kai, only had one thing on his mind.
"What if they go after Kevin again?" He asked in a daze, unblinking, not breaking his gaze. He looked like he was daydreaming. Albeit, Rei did have a habit of phasing out, but this time he was in full focus… Actually, Rei didn't know what was going on anymore. Kai's statement had sent a shiver right down his spine, and it echoed through his head as if all other thoughts had just shriveled up.
"I don't think they would, Rei." Kai said slowly. It was a delicate subject. "He's not the only one that knows about Dickenson anymore, so he wouldn't be their target."
Rei shook his head, telling himself that Kai was right, and found an odd amount of relief in his words. "What do we do, Kai? How much longer does this have to go on?"
The older leaned back, biting his lip. He knew what he was going to do, but he couldn't tell anyone lest he risk his own well being. Tala, he could tell, but Tala would rather go along with him then turn him in. Tala lacked that principle. Rei, on the other hand, would try to stop him if he knew.
"We'll have to let the police know about our concern. They'll agree, Rei. I can hire body guards if I have to."
Yeah right, Kai, Rei thought. He wouldn't give up that easily… Something else was on his mind, and he wasn't going to let Rei know about it. Despite the offense Rei took in this, he restricted his reply to a nod before letting his gaze drop to the floor. His arm hurt.
At least he wasn't having the hardest time. Someone had to be worse off then him.
-x-x-x-
"I want you to count down from ten, okay honey?" An assistant surgeon said smoothly, placing a cup-like breathing assistant over Kevin's mouth. He had been moved onto an operating table after being prepped for surgery, and as the medical professionals farther down the table prepared the scalpels, stitches, and medical gauze, Kevin began the countdown.
"Ten… Ninnneeh…" Blackness. Kevin had lost conscious, eyes falling closed swiftly as he heard echoing voices around him.
"He's in dreamland now, boys, you can get started."
"Thanks, Ellice. Making incision."
"Good lord, look at that mess. Poor kid."
"Pull out that stitch slowly, I'll cut it."
"What's that?"
"Looks like… Glass. How the hell did that get in there?"
As the voices faded every farther away, Kevin became aware of a colorful setting as it began to surround him. City lights, cars, people, shops, money, traffic lights, it all swirled around him before Kevin found himself standing on a street in one of Los Angeles's most profitable districts. He had only been to L.A. once, and didn't find it to his liking, but yet, here he was again. People hailed cabs, climbed in and out of fancy cars, all with at least three shopping bags totting along with them. Music was playing from some unknown source as the blur of the city wafted around him. And Kevin began to walk.
He passed shops, their windows full on mannequins dolled up in designer clothing. He passed by clubs, their music blasting through the doors as lines of people waited to get in, the buff bouncers all checking lists and I.D. cards. No one seemed to notice Kevin as he continued on. Malls, beauty parlors, tattoo shops, jewelry stores, all full of expensive items that offered happiness and popularity, but never seemed to deliver. Finally, after what felt like a long time, Kevin came to a bridge and leaned against the rail, looking out over the water as the lights of the city sparkled across its surface. In the middle was a boat, with a man sitting in it. He was staring right back at Kevin, the first person to notice the teenager. He was smiling, calling for Kevin to come out and sit with him. He seemed so nice and happy out there, and Kevin, deciding that he wanted to be happy too, climbed onto the railing of the bridge and waved at the man before jumping. As he fell toward the water, with every intention of swimming out to the man, Kevin felt the depression fall away from him; the depression he had gained by walking through the city. And then he hit the water.
"He's crashing!"
"I told you his fever was too high, damnit!"
"Get the crash cart!"
The surgeons flew around the operating table, one pulling away at the hospital gown Kevin had been changed into. With his chest exposed, a doctor with a shock pad gripped firmly in both hands, shouted 'clear' before pressing them against either side of Kevin's chest, thumb pushing against a small button on the handle.
A violent jolt shook Kevin, but it did nothing. The heart monitor beside the operating table, which once supported a steady beep, now produced a constant wail of noise, alerting the people around Kevin that his hear had stopped.
"Again! Don't lose him!"
Another jolt. Nothing.
"Do it again, Goddamnit!"
Finally, a jolt that shook Kevin so hard the medical professionals had to hold him down passed through him, and the next thing he knew, Kevin was back on the bridge, gasping for breath. He looked around, noticing the relieved faces of people all around him as things calmed down. Frantically, he looked out over the water and saw Dickenson sitting in the boat, glaring. He shuddered, and opened his eyes.
Above him, five doctors and surgical assistants stood, all relieved, some smiling, some with eyes closed and hearts still racing. Kevin let his gaze wander across all of their faces before settling on the woman with boring blue eyes and brownish-blond hard. For some reason, when he saw her face, he smiled, and then lost consciousness.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
xChewy; This chapter feels really short to me. Maybe it is, or maybe I just wrote it really quickly. I don't know. Sorry for grammar mistakes, I'm sure there were some.
Kevin; Wait… I just died?
xChewy; I guess.
Kevin; Didn't that happen to me in another story you wrote?
xChewy; Yes, but that was a long time ago. This one is better written and makes more sense, if you ask me.
Kai; I'm going to be incorporated into this more heavily now, right?
xChewy; Indeed.
Kai; …
xChewy; Oh come on, don't try to hide it. You want to smile.
Kai; ):
xChewy; I knew it.