Derek's hands shook violently as he dialled 911 on the phone clutched in his hand. He wanted to cry, scream, curse every deity known to man for the deal his family had been handed in life. After everything spencer had already been through, and had yet to go through...a seizure?
But most of all, he just wanted to hold spencer. He wanted to hold his and comfort his...for what if this was it?
"911, please state your emergency"
Derek ' tongue was tied in a knot and the lump in his throat felt like it was the size of a baseball. The woman's voice in his ear reminded him that he needed to speak. He needed to get help to save spencer's life.
"hello?"
Swallowing thickly, derek opened his mouth as he forced his legs to carry him into the lounge room. "i need an ambulance...my brother ...he's-"
"he's having a grand mal seizure, derek !" emily called out as hes lid a pillow beneath spencer's head and rolled his onto his side. One hand remained on spencer's back, a steadying support as he checked his watch on his other hand.
"take a deep breath for me. Slow down"
Derek did as he was instructed, finally managing to clear his throat enough to speak. "my brother 's having a grand mal seizure"
"ok. Can you confirm that your current address is 182 jefferson drive, east allegheny?"
Derek nodded, and then remembered that the operator couldn't see him. "yes"
"i'm sending an ambulance now. Is your brother an epileptic?"
The questions were already overwhelming derek as the situation became clear; spencer needed serious medical attention, and he needed it now. He had been left in charge, he had promised his parents he would take care of his...
Why had he had to convince his parents to go out?
Looking up from spencer, emily saw the shock setting in on derek ' face. Lifting his hand, she motioned for him to pass his the phone. He did so, quickly collapsing to the floor beside spencer as tears began rolling down his face. He was supposed to protect his baby brother . He 'd promised his that much.
"hello?"
"hello, i was speaking to a young man?"
"he 's a bit too overwhelmed to speak. What did you ask him before?"
"i asked if his brother is an epileptic"
"no," emily replied. "but spencer is being treated for cancer"
"ok. When was his most recent dose of chemotherapy?"
"this morning, i think my parents said it was vincristine"
"what was your name, hon?"
"emily "
"emily , i need you to make sure there's something soft under spencer's head, loosen anything around his neck, and keep note of how long it lasts"
"already done," emily said, glancing at her watch.
"i want you to keep me on the line until the ambulance arrives, ok?"
"ok," emily agreed, switching the phone to speaker mode and setting it down on the floor beside them.
"emily , he's vomiting," derek said suddenly, his voice tight and panicked.
"it's ok," emily said gently. "it's normal. As long as he's on his side, his airway will stay clear"
Looking back down at spencer, he rubbed small circles on the young boy's back as the convulsions continued on. Every second ticked by agonisingly slow, and emily was beginning to pray that the seizure would release spencer from its clutches soon.
"come on spencer," he breathed. "come on, you need to wake up soon"
Silence fell and minutes passed. Spencer slowly stopped convulsing, and much to derek ' relief, the sirens of the approaching ambulance could be heard coming from the end of the street. The sirens gradually got closer, eventually coming to a stop right outside the house.
"i'll go let them in," he said thickly, rising from the floor. He swayed slightly as he stood, the shock making him lightheaded as he turned and headed for the door.
Picking up the phone, emily spoke to the operator. "they're here. Thank you so much"
"get his through, emily , and he's going to be just fine"
Bidding goodbye, emily hung up the phone, turning to look back down at the pale little boy who lay unconscious on the floor before his.
"you're gonna be ok, sweet boy," emily whispered, his hand moving to repeatedly stroke the top of spencer's head. "promise me that you'll be joking and carrying on like usual next time i see you, ok?"
Not too much later, derek returned, two paramedics and a gurney in tow. Emily shuffled back so that the medics could work on spencer, standing up and moving over to derek . As soon as he reached him, he wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. The second he touched him, he burst into tears.
"we need to call dad and pops," she said softly, rubbing his back as she clutched at his.
"i don't know how to reach them," he sobbed.
Emily fell silent for a moment.
"then you go with spencer in the ambulance and i'll wait here for dad and pops to get home. Or until spencer's doctor gets in touch with them somehow. Whichever comes first," she offered.
Nodding, derek pulled away, wiping his eyes as he walked back over to where spencer was being attended to by the paramedics.
"he's not breathing very well, and his blood pressure is really low. I'm hoping that's just the aftermath of the seizure, but we need to get his to allegheny right away," one of the medics said to derek as he placed a mask over spencer's mouth and nose and squeezed the attached bag.
Derek watched in a daze as they lifted spencer up onto the gurney, covering his with blankets to keep his frail little body warm. He watched as emily darted over and tucked spencer's two beloved stuffed toys underneath the blankets to accompany his to the hospital.
With a gentle tug of the arm, emily led derek out to the ambulance behind the medics, guiding him into the back of the vehicle with a steady hand.
And then the doors were closed.
And then they were gone.
Sprinting down the halls towards the emergency department, edmonds dodged hospital carts and patients in wheelchairs, his hands closing around the stethoscope sitting around his neck.
The emergency page from trauma one had been disconcerting at most. He was never paged to the er unless one of his patients had wound up in there during a home stay. And knowing he had at least four kids currently at home during active treatment, he was growing more worried by the minute.
Rounding the corner, he spotted the swinging doors that led to trauma one, and made a beeline for them.
"what have we got?" he asked as he pushed through the doors.
"five year old male brought in after having a grand mal seizure-"
Edmonds' stomach dropped.
Spencer.
Moving closer as the words being spouted by the doctors swam around his ears, he noticed the bluish hue that spencer's lips and fingers were beginning to take on. They were still bagging his through the mask, but clearly, the oxygen wasn't getting through.
"he needs an airway, now!" he said, effectively cutting off whoever was speaking. A nurse nodded, grabbing the tube and endoscope for him and pressing them into his hand.
Moving to the head of the bed, edmonds tipped spencer's head back and opened his mouth as the mask was removed.
"where's his parents?" he asked as he positioned the scope.
"we haven't been able to contact them yet-"
"who came in with his?" he asked irritably as he slid the tube down into spencer's throat.
"his older brother"
"go and get him," edmonds stated firmly. Removing the endoscope, he pulled the guidewire out of the tube. "i'm in. Bag his"
"his blood pressure is incredibly low, even though the seizure happened nearly half an hour ago. It's still dropping," one of the doctors stated.
"i want a full bloodwork done, and let's type and cross match for platelets and blood, i bet he'll need some...," edmonds trailed off, suddenly looking straight at spencer's pale face with wide eyes.
The headaches, the vomiting, the fatigue, and the overall deterioration in his physical condition. He 'd looked for absolutely everything and found absolutely nothing.
Except...
"damn it!" he exclaimed, kicking off the brakes on the bottom of the gurney. "call radiology, tell them we're bringing up a five year old male for an emergency ct scan"
"doctor edmonds, what-"
"let's get his up to radio and get his in the machine, because i bet you anything this kid has a tumor in his brain"