Author's Note: I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE BELOW SONG LYRICS AND OWN NOTHING ASSOCIATED WITH NBC'S CHICAGO MED.
Let me start off by saying this is a...different chapter. It's hard to explain and will come off as being...random? Just remember that everything I do serves a purpose at one point in time or another. We aren't going to talk REAL Med right now...my Med partner in crime and I are on the verge of losing it right now in regards to Manstead. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this "different" chapter. As always, click on that cute little review button down below and leave me your comments and thoughts on this chapter. They're always much appreciated.
I know we're not alright
It's always darkest just before the light
I know your silence is a deadly sound
It's never easy when you're breaking down
But I'll be there when you come around...
~Papa Roach~ Come Around
Will found himself instinctively wandering back up to the ICU after he had safely tucked away their sonograms in his locker. His mind was still reeling from the impromptu ultrasound. The sound of his child's heartbeat. Hearing it for the first time was nothing short of extraordinary. Knowing that his and Natalie's child was growing and had a healthy heartbeat left Will feeling a little less...on edge. For the first time as he walked into Jay's room and sank into the bedside chair, he felt hopeful. Will looked up at Jay's face, no longer obstructed by the ventilator and breathed a sigh of relief. Today was proving to be a stark contrast to the prior few days. Out of nowhere, Will's pager buzzed against his hip breaking his train of thought. He tapped the number into his cellphone, feeling slightly annoyed.
" Halstead."
" I've got a situation down here," Maggie started.
" Is Natalie okay?" he asked in a panic.
" She's fine. I've got a patient…"
" Mags, you know that I'm not back on the schedule until tomorrow."
" I know. I already explained that to the gentleman and he insisted on seeing you. He won't leave. Do you want me to call security?" offered Maggie. Will sighed once again.
" No. I'll be down. One patient. That's it."
" Good. I'm going to warn you. This guy is a weird one. He looks like the Unibomber."
" Fantastic," replied Will sarcastically before heading for the elevators. As soon as he stepped foot into the ED, Maggie was waiting, a tablet in hand.
" Mr. Alexander Cornelius is in Exam 6. Says he fell off his motorcycle…"
" With that kind of name he sounds too damn stuck up to ride a motorcycle. Where's his history?" asked a curious Will, glancing at the tablet.
" He refused to give me one. All that he'd tell me is that he needed to see you specifically."
" Thanks Maggie. Do you secretly save me the craziest of the crazies?"
" No. Normally I pawn them off on Lanik or Choi," she replied with a smirk. Will shook his head with a laugh then entered the exam room.
" Mr. Cornelius. I'm Doc…"
" I know who you are. Close the curtain." Will complied, feeling even more confused as he turned to face a gentleman who did in fact resemble the Unibomber. The man was sitting up on the gurney with a bloodied knee.
" So...Mr. Cornelius. How exactly did you injure yourself?" he asked, pulling on a pair of gloves.
" Christ Will. You're an idiot," declared Connor Rhodes as he took off his hood and dark sunglasses.
" What the hell Connor? Or do you prefer Alexander Cornelius?"
" My middle names. I didn't want anyone asking any questions."
" I think you failed there. Maggie's on the verge of calling security. What are you doing back here? Besides wrecking motorcycles that is."
" I've been moonlighting in rural trauma centers for the most part. I got tired of the painstakingly slow pace though and decided to sell my Porsche for a motorcycle. The damn thing slid in a puddle, laying me down sideways and making ground chuck out of my knee," Connor explained, wincing in pain as Will peeled off the stack of bloodied bandages.
" That's gnarly," declared Will, standing up to throw away his soiled gloves and the bandages.
I know you already know this, but it's going to hurt like hell once I start digging around in there...and that's before the inevitable staples and possible subcutaneous sutures. Can I at least have a nurse come in and start you on some IV pain meds and an antibiotic?"
" Give me the IV kit. I'll put it in myself."
" Of course you will," remarked Will flippantly before tossing a pair of gloves and an IV kit towards Connor.
" Close the curtain," Connor replied as Will exited the exam room.
" So what's the story?" Maggie asked, appearing seemingly out of nowhere as Will approached a series of supply carts.
" You mean with my patient? We're uh...good friends. We went to highschool together."
" You were friends with a guy who wears Armani sunglasses?" questioned Maggie as Will gathered supplies.
" They're knockoffs. Truthfully the guy is a tool. More of Jay's friend than mine," lied Will.
" Don't you want a nurse to start those IVs?" Maggie enquired.
" Hypochondriac. He won't let anyone else touch him but me," he blurted out.
I need to get back to Con...Mr. Cornelius." He scooped up all of the supplies he needed before rushing back to the exam room.
" What took so long?" asked Connor, a fresh IV lined taped down to his left forearm.
" Maggie cornered me as soon as I walked out and started asking a million questions."
" I'd expect nothing less," replied Connor as Will pulled on a pair of gloves, attached the IV bags to an infuser, next connecting them to the tubing Connor had placed, and then adjusting the doses of the medication on the machine. He grabbed a vial of Morphine and filled a syringe, injecting the pain meds before sitting down.
" How's Jay?"
" He's finally off the vent. Marcel is going to start weaning his sedation meds this afternoon," explained Will as he began irrigating Connor's knee.
" Crockett Marcel? The night shift womanizing jerk?"
" He's actually not that bad of a guy. Saved my life a few months ago."
" What happened?"
" Natalie's psycho ex-boyfriend jumped me in an alley and I wound up with a severely lacerated spleen and broken ribs."
" Wait...Phillip Davis? That dude was insane! How's Natalie doing?" he asked, oblivious to Will who was pulling bits of gravel out of his knee.
" Actually…" Will started before a knock sounded on the door and it slid open.
" Who is it?"
" Your beautiful wife. Mags said you were in here with some guy that looked like the Unibomber. Can I come in?"
" Do you think I look like the Unibomber?" challenged Connor, his inhibitions obviously compromised by the pain meds before blurting out
Your wife? You two got married? Daaaamn!"
" Connor?" asked a surprised Natalie, pulling back the curtain back in surprise.
" Natalie! Ssssh! No one knows I'm here. Kinda like how you two are married now and nobody told me. We should celebrate! Do you have any champagne?"
" That's the Morphine talking," explained Will.
" I figured as much. How much longer are you going to be? I'm craving a juicy cheeseburger and thought we could grab lunch."
" Are you pregnant?" Will and Natalie looked at each other before Will turned back to the task at hand, both of them dead silent.
" Seriously? I miss all the good stuff!" sighed Connor.
" You should come back," suggested Natalie.
" And learn how to be quiet," quipped Will.
I'll come find you when we're finished," Will stood, giving her a quick kiss before going back to the task at hand.
" How are you getting home?" Will asked, carefully wrapping Connor's knee in an ace bandage about an hour later.
" I called an Uber," explained Connor as he pulled out his IV and applied a bandage. Will secured the wrap around his knee before grabbing for a set of nearby crutches.
" It was good seeing you," he said, watching as Rhodes pulled on his hood and sunglasses. He stood, doing his best not to put weight on his injured knee as he adjusted the crutches underneath his arms. Much to his and Will's dismay, the sliding door opened again, followed by the curtain being flung aside.
" Knock much?" challenged Will, glaring at Crockett.
" We've got a problem," Marcel said, urgently.
" Can it wait? I'm with a patient."
" I began tapering Jay's sedation meds earlier and he's growing increasingly combative," declared the surgeon.
" I'll talk to you later," Connor said, hobbling out of the room on the crutches Will had given him.
" Since when are you friends with Connor Rhodes? That guy is nothing but a rich, conceited prick," voiced Crockett as Will matched his hurried stride to the elevators.
" That wasn't…"
" I'm not an idiot Halstead. I don't care what he was doing here. What I'm concerned about is stopping Jay from flipping out before I have to reverse the the current course of treatment and drastically make an increase in his sedation meds for his own safety." Will bit his tongue, knowing that the two surgeons had never seen eye to eye during their short time working together. The two doctors entered Jay's ICU room to find a frenzy ensuing. A barely conscious Jay was thrashing around on the bed, fighting against the hands of at least half a dozen nurses and orderlies trying to hold him down.
" Dr. Marcel, his heart rate and BP are skyrocketing," explained a nurse.
" He's trying to rip out the IVs," reported another.
" Get me 10mg of Versed and somebody get me some soft restraints!" barked Crockett.
" No. He doesn't need restraints damnit!" argued Will.
" Do you want him to die from a fucking heart attack or tear his incisions up and bleed out?"
" Let me in," Will ordered, shoving aside a nurse who was trying to hold down Jay's shoulders.
" Jay! Jay! Damn it Jay! You're okay. It's me. It's Will. I'm here. We're trying to help you, but you've got to calm the fuck down. They're giving you some medicine, but if you can't calm down, they're going to have to restrain you. We both knew you don't want that. I know you're not 100% with me, but I know your stubborn ass hears me. Stop fighting!" Whether it was the Versed or hearing his brother's voices, Will felt Jay's body slowly calm under his strong grip.
" There you go. Everyone. Hands off!" The group looked hesitantly at Will.
I said hands off!" One by one, each person stepped back, until it was just Will standing by Jay, holding onto his shoulders.
" I'm going to let go now. I need you to be okay with that, or we'll have no choice but to restrain you for your own good," Will calmly explained. Jay's body paused, not making any movement. Will felt his tensed body relax, a sense of relief washing over him as he watched his brother's vitals lower. He sat back in the bedside chair, letting out a sigh.
" What the hell do we do now?" Crockett let out a breath he had been holding, running his hands over his face and through his short hair.
" Obviously we don't want that to happen again. Honestly, I'm torn. Clearly Jay's body is fighting the sedation to regain consciousness. I can't risk his body sustaining any further stress or trauma, yet the sooner we completely wean him from the sedation meds, the better."
" Agreed. If you thought that was a sign of Jay's stubbornness, you've got no clue," conceded Will. Crockett grabbed a nearby tablet and began tapping away at the screen.
" For now I think it's best to discontinue the sedation meds by tapering the dosage throughout the rest of the afternoon. I want to keep the Versed on board so he stays less...agitated as he comes to."
" Just wait until he realizes that he's in the hospital."
" As long as he punches you again and not me, I'm good," Crockett remarked, docking the tablet on a nearby counter.
I've got a surgery in fifteen minutes. Are you good to stay here and keep a close eye on things?"
" I think we'll be alright."
" Text me with any updates," instructed the surgeon.
" Will do," replied Will, reaching for his cellphone as Crockett left. He typed out a quick message to Natalie explaining what was going on, then turned back to Jay.
" You just can't do things the easy way, can you?"
For hours Will sat at Jay's bedside, watching as Jay's chest rose and fell on its own with each breath. The waiting was agonizing. Will took a gulp of the coffee that Natalie had just brought him, letting the hot liquid trickle down his throat. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, discovering a text from Connor upon pulling it out.
Connor (sent at 4:37p): How are things going?
Will (sent at 4:38p): Other than Marcel trying to put Jay in restraints?
Connor (sent at 4:39p): Just another reason why I don't like that man. How is Jay doing now?
Will (sent at 4:41p): Resting comfortably with Versed on board. Just waiting on his stubborn ass to wake up now.
Connor (sent at 4:42p): Don't let him punch you again when he realizes where he is.
Will laughed as he pocketed his phone. It seemed as if the whole hospital had heard of the exchange that had taken place last year between the brothers when Will had surprised Jay with that flu shot.
Will (sent at 4:50p): How's the knee?
Connor (sent at 4:51p): Feels like I laid a motorcycle down on it. Morphine is wearing off. Currently icing it and took some Advil. Oh and I sold the motorcycle.
Will (sent 4:53p): Probably a smart choice on the motorcycle. You were...entertaining on Morphine.
Connor (sent at 4:55p): Oh god. How bad was it?
Will (sent at 4:56p): I've seen much worse. You were just...extra loud.
Connor (sent at 4:58p): Was it the Morphine talking or are you and Natalie really married and pregnant?
Will (sent at 4:59p): Definitely not the Morphine talking. I'll have to explain that later. It's...I gotta go.
Connor (sent at 5:02p): Will? What's going on? Will?