AN: Special shoutout to Elaine who helped me tremendously with writing the medical stuff. I am so appreciative that you took the time to let me pick your brain and help me write this so it's believable because that's what I wanted in this rather than just a gloss over of his injuries. XOXOX
Shaw hurried back into her living room, still barefoot, hair wet and hanging, and in only a thin black tank and black cotton briefs. Her unconscious patient was currently sprawled out on the floor waiting for her with Carter by his side. His knees buckled the moment they got him inside, as if he had been waiting for the right moment before passing out. Carter tried but he was too big for them to break his fall to the floor so he'd landed with a sickening thud which made Carter even more upset than she was prior.
"You bring me the nicest things; a hot guy who is bleeding all over my floor. Guess I better kiss that security deposit goodbye, landlords don't care for blood stains," Shaw commented dryly. Blood was oozing from several different wounds, now a small gash on his cheekbone from where he'd hit was added to the sieve. Shaw spared Carter a passing glance noting the tears in her eyes. "I take it he's your frog prince judging by the fact that you brought him to me and not a hospital."
Joss felt her control on her emotions slipping but she tightened it up once again as she nodded. "Not the way I wanted to make introductions but I need you to save him, Shaw," she whispered. While Shaw had run off to get supplies she had tried to remove his shirt. Trying to move John was like trying to move hundred and eighty pounds of semi solid Jell-O, green to be exact because of his current skin color. When she realized moving him would be next to impossible, especially since he was now totally unconscious, she changed her tactic to put pressure to the wound to his abdomen since it was the worst looking one. This time he barely responded and it frightened her to the point of her heart nearly stopping in her chest. The blood was spreading across the floor and between the joints of the floor boards, thick, dark red, sticky.
Shaw looked up quickly. "You do know that my usual patients are already dead, right?"
"I know you were in med school for years and you changed to a pathologist from ER doctor because your personality disorder made getting along with your co-workers, your patients and their families difficult for you," she replied with bite to her tone. "John said no hospitals so you're the best I could come up with."
"Such the ringing endorsement," Shaw snarked back as she refocused on the prone man and proceeded to cut open his shirt from hem to the neck quickly. "But if I'm to save your frog prince I need to see what I'm dealing with and then do something to plug the holes."
Shaw parted the shirt to see what she was dealing with. There were two gunshot wounds in total; one wasn't serious but the one in his abdomen was cause for concern. John's breathing suddenly became more labored, his breaths sounded like he was drowning in his own fluids. Shaw shot a concerned glance to Carter, all business now. "Get up by his head. Pull it back…gently…to open his airway. Now!" Joss, unquestioningly obeyed her friend's firm order and his breathing improved immediately. Shaw nodded. "Better," she said, still examining her 'living' patient. She put some pressure on the dressing she'd slapped on the most serious wound.
Joss stared into John's ashen face. "Just hang in there, John," she murmured before looking at Shaw who was eyeing her, looking serious.
"Carter, I've got to get supplies and equipment if we have any chance of saving him," Shaw told her bluntly. Joss shook her head frantically; what if something happened that she wasn't equipped to deal with. Her medical expertise was limited to CPR training and knowing basic First Aid. "Listen to me! Keep his airway open and talk to him. They say that patients can hear you even when you think they can't. Doesn't make any damn sense to me, but let's not debate it now. Just do it!" Shaw answered as she was already standing up to leave.
Joss looked at her pleadingly. "Hurry!" she barked, but Shaw was already heading out the door, her wet hair and skimpy outfit forgotten.
Once Shaw was gone, Carter repositioned herself. She straddled John, so she could hold his head in a better position to help him breathe. The minutes began to drag by. He took a ragged breath. "You have to keep on breathing, John, because I'm selfish and I need you. You promised me that we would go slowly in our relationship so that means there is no giving up, you understand?" she instructed raggedly. His breathing stabilized. "And we still have our trivia quiz to end. You didn't even let me give you one back." she paused, listening to him make a gurgling noise. A gurgle was better than silence. "Let's see: a horse can look forward with one eye and back with the other." she said shakily trying to think of a good one.
He groaned and became restless. "I know it was terrible but you have to cut me some slack, John, I'm not used to digging into my useless knowledge bank while you're bleeding out," she said softly, trying to keep him still. But when it didn't work and he was still restlessly moving she ever so gently firmed her hold. "Hold still, John, please! You're too big for me to handle. Just listen to my voice and relax, I won't let anything happen to you. You didn't let anything happen to me or Taylor, so trust me," she pleaded and he quieted down. He even made a feeble attempt to look at her, but his eyes slipped shut, sinking deeper into his drawn face. She didn't know how he had the strength or awareness, but he lifted his left hand to skim hers, the one holding his neck back and his airway open. At first she thought he was trying to draw her hand away, but then she realized it was a pat, a way to acknowledge what she was doing and why. She was angry with herself that simple gesture touched her so much that a tear slipped down her cheek and landed on his face. She was supposed to be comforting him not the other way around. His hand slipped away from hers after a moment and she kept talking to him about everything and nothing. Telling him he'd be okay. Telling him how much she loved him. Told him all the new things Taylor had done since he last seen him. Tried to explain Shaw's personality, because, really, how could anyone truly explain Shaw to someone? Joss started wondering aloud about Martine and Snow, and if Root and Zoe were okay. She even admonished him that she was going to help him get through with his past for their future together, and if that scared him, tough luck.
What seemed like a lifetime later, but was actually less than an half hour, Shaw returned, loaded down with bags of supplies and equipment that Joss had no idea what it was for and she really didn't think she wanted to know. Shaw immediately knelt down by Joss. "He's still alive!—either your frog prince is a stubborn bastard or you are." Shaw said sounding surprised, which didn't bode well for Joss's peace of mind.
Joss's hand were cramping from holding John's head in a position where he could breathe better. "Yea, he seems to be breathing okay as long as I hold his head back. As soon as I start to let go, he starts choking again. He started acting like he was going to puke. I didn't want him to choke so I turned him on his side. When he stopped, I turned him back and held his head back again."
Shaw looked at the remains of John's last meal near Joss's hand that held his head. "Looks like Thai; must of got some to feel closer to you. How disgustedly romantic that is. And it's semi-digested." Shaw sneered before taking a sniff. "Appears he had some ice cream and some cheap booze too; no blood though," she concluded analytically. "That's good. And you did the right thing, otherwise he'd be fighting pneumonia along with bullet holes," she nodded as she began pulling things out of the duffle bag she'd brought in.
Shaw set up two IVs and tried to start one with a large bore needle. It looked to Joss like it was the size of a freeway tunnel. By the way John reacted to the stick of the needle it must have felt that way too. He tried pulling away. Shaw leaned over him and not to gently said, "Hey, frog prince!—hold still! It's just a little stick. We're trying to save your life." He let her take his hand and let her slide the needle in his fisted hand. "That's better. Now another one in your other arm," she said triumphantly, ready to jab him again. She knew it hurt like hell, but he hurt Carter when he upped and left her after her pooping machine was born, and Carter was her only friend so he was lucky Joss wouldn't let her jab the needles in his eyes! He weakly tried to withdraw from her grip.
"Shaw, be kinder!" Joss ordered before looking at John. "John," she said soothingly leaning near his ear. "Shaw might have the personality of a shark but she's going to help you." Joss whispered in his ear. She saw him stop fighting Shaw's grip. His eyes remained closed but she saw him flinch under Shaw's, lacking finesse, ministrations. Now she understood why Shaw had decided working with living patients wasn't her cup of tea, her bedside manner was in the dumpster, but she was her only hope at saving John and she trusted Shaw implicitly.
Shaw pulled several bags of blood out of her duffle bag. "I 'borrowed' this O negative blood from NYC Med Center, next to the morgue. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing," she mumbled to no one in particular. She retrieved a small portable heart monitor and attached him to it before hanging one bag of blood from the back of a nearby chair. "We've got to watch him close. He may have a reaction to the blood, especially if he's had a transfusion before." She got face to face with John. "Have you had a transfusion before?" she spoke to him loudly, inches away. He gave an almost imperceptive nod. Shaw leaned back. "Just our damn luck!" she griped. "Okay, let's turn him on his side. Let's see if the shots went all the way through or if we have to dig one…or more pieces of lead out of him."
With a concerted effort they turned him on his side and found one exit wound seeping blood after pulling his khaki shorts down off his hips. The exit wound was on his left hip. He made a harsh anguished sound when Shaw put pressure on the wound. "The bullet probably bounced off his hip bone and it hurts like hell and will for quite a while," she explained to Carter, hoping John was hearing and maybe understanding her. He started panting as she pressed harder on his hip. "Watch out, Carter. He's going to puke again. It's from the pain."
And he did. Joss wiped his mouth with an unused dressing she grabbed. "Sorry," he mumbled. He never opened his eyes. His skin was getting paler and clammy. His heart rate was gradually getting faster and faster.
"He's going into shock. We need to find that bullet in his shoulder and get it out or he'll bleed to death right in front of our eyes. He's bleeding out more blood than we're putting in him," Shaw announced, after putting a pressure dressing on the exit wound found on his hip, she pulled more supplies out of her duffle bag. There were a couple kits labeled 'Emergency Trauma' from an operating room at NYC medical center. She poured a strong smelling hand cleanser into her hands and scrubbed them and up her arms. She handed it to Carter and told her to do the same. Carter objected, saying she needed to make sure John was breathing okay, but did as she was told when she got a frighteningly evil look from Shaw. Shaw sat herself cross legged near John's upper abdomen. She opened the emergency pack, pulled on sterile gloves, and took a deep breath. "John, listen to me," Shaw spoke loudly. Joss rubbed his uninjured shoulder. He didn't respond. Shaw tapped his chest. "John, this is going to hurt like hell. You've lost too much blood to give you pain medication. Do what you need to, scream, cry, groan, cuss me out, pass out, I don't really care. Just don't move. Carter is going to hold your shoulders down to help you. Do you hear me? Don't move," Shaw ordered.
The next ten minutes seemed like ten hours to Joss. She could only imagine how long it felt like to John who gasped at first but didn't move for them until it didn't matter because he finally passed out from the pain and went completely still. He was still breathing heavily and he was soaked in sweat. Joss realized she was too. She glanced a couple of times at what Shaw was doing but quickly looked away when she saw her friend probing his wound with a long metal probe. That's when John had passed out and Shaw grunted in satisfaction. She replaced the probe with a big pair of tweezers and a minute later, she triumphantly withdrew it with a lead slug caught in its claws. Blood gushed from the wound. Carter got drafted to hold pressure over the wound and help tie off blood vessels that kept bleeding. She swallowed hard as she did as she was told. Soon the bleeding slowed to barely a trickle.
Shaw leaned back after all his wounds were bandaged and cared for. "Shit! That was cool! Reminds me of my ole' days in the ERs! Doesn't beat working with my stiffs who don't say shit about my technique but damn, what a rush!" Shaw exclaimed, but sobered up when she saw Carter's expression. "Y-you did good too, Carter, and your frog prince is a good listener. Now we'll need to give him more blood and fluids and wait and see. Can you get all the blankets and pillows from my spare bedroom and towels from my bathroom? All of them, we'll need them. I'll get more blood running. I'll watch his breathing while you're gone."
"What are we going to do with him? We can't leave him lying on the wood floor," Joss asked. There had to be way to move him someplace more comfortable. She did not want the man she loved sleeping on a hard floor while he was recovering from being shot twice.
"I don't think we have much a choice. We can't get him up and anywhere in his present condition. Unfortunately, I'm like a foot shorter than him and you're not much taller than me. So we'll clean him and the floor up. We'll put blankets and towels under and over him and watch him like a hawk." Shaw stated, not wanting to worry her friend because John lost a ton of blood.
Joss wasn't happy with the plan, but she didn't have a better one so she left to go do as suggested. By the time she returned ladened down with everything Shaw had cleaned up the equipment she'd used. John was resting quietly, still pale, but the sheen of sweat had disappeared. A new bag of blood was running and a third was ready to go.
Shaw gave him a quick look before she went in the kitchen and returned with a basin of water. They worked together to get John's shirt out from under him and checking the exit wound to make sure it hadn't started bleeding again. They wiped off as much blood as they could from his arms, chest and abdomen and hip, being cautious around the wound where they'd just removed the bullet. Shaw was happy to see only a small amount of fresh blood on that wound.
Joss sent Shaw off to get a mop and fresh water in the basin, kicking and cursing, so she could further undress John alone. She pulled his shorts and boxer-briefs off and washed away any blood she saw before covering him with one of the light blankets she brought earlier.
Shaw returned still spitting mad. "I can't even have one peek at your frog prince?" she demanded handing her the mop.
"No," Joss snapped. Shaw's mouth immediately closed. Shaw was Shaw, her lack of emotions usually didn't upset her, but tonight was different. She wasn't even sure if John was going to make it and Shaw wasn't helping matters. "I'm sorry for my lack of humor, Shaw, but the man I love is lying on your floor unconscious and I…" she said coming to a choked end.
Shaw frowned, feeling like an ass. Shaw didn't feel much, aside from anger, but not everyone was like her and Carter loved the frog prince and she should have realized she was being callous. "I'll mop up," she offered in way of an apology.
Joss shook her head. "No, I'll do it. I rather you make sure he's alright," she murmured. Shaw shrugged, not needing to be persuaded into it. While Carter mopped up the dried blood and vomit, she watched John and the heart monitor.
The floor wasn't spotless but doable and Joss decided she could clean up the rest tomorrow. "I think it looks better, but could use a good scrubbing," she acknowledged.
"Watch him," Shaw ordered and disappeared into her bedroom before Joss had a chance to answer. Her friend reappeared minutes later and pointed over her shoulder. "Go wash up in my bathroom. I left a shirt and some old Adidas track pants I own in there that you can change into," Joss blinked and looked down at herself and grimaced at how she looked. Blood covered her. "Unless of course, you were aiming for the 'bloody massacre look,' which then you nailed it," Shaw responded with her usual dryness.
Joss looked up and gave a wan smile. "Thanks, Shaw,"
"Don't thank me when you realize you're a few inches taller than me and the pants reach your mid ankle."
Joss didn't care if they were flood pants at least they didn't have blood all over them. She entered Shaw's bathroom bringing the basin and mop with her. She poured out the basin of dirty water before running the water in the tub to rinse it out, deciding the mop head could be thrown out. Joss turned, now it was her turn now. She first washed her hands to remove the caked on blood off. She had to scrub her skin and work the soap under her fingernails. Joss swallowed hard as tears blurred her vision as the porcelain sink and clear water pouring in it turned a sick pinkish red color.
"We saved him," she reminded herself as she shut the faucet off and towel dried her hands.
Joss carefully removed her clothing until she stood in just her bra and panties before tugging on the clothes Shaw left for her. The shirt was a little snug in the chest area as she had larger breasts than Shaw but overall it was comfortable. It was just a simple black soft tee. The Adidas pants fit perfectly without any issue about Shaw's lack of height. She exited the bathroom carrying the remains of her clothing and the ruined mop head.
"How's he doing?" she asked instantly as she came upon the scene of Shaw checking on John.
"Breathing," Shaw answered succinctly. Once she was satisfied her patient was, in fact, still with them, she turned to eye Carter. "You look hot in black, Carter."
"Do you own any other color?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Shaw mused.
Joss smiled gently. "I didn't think so. Uh, you got a trash bag I could bum off you so when I leave, no one wonders why I'm carrying bloody clothes?" she asked.
Shaw merely turned and headed for her quaint kitchen that was off to their left. Joss stayed near John as Shaw pulled out a white trash bag and handed it to her. "Do you know what happened tonight?" Shaw asked curiously.
"Root called me to tell me that Martine had used Zoe as a means to lure John into a trap. Somehow the blond bitch realized John knew Zoe and Zoe, scared for her life, gave him up. When I got there Root was already trying to help John by providing backup and I provided John with some cover to get in my car to get the hell out of there. I need to call Root and make sure she's okay before figuring out how to get in touch with Zoe to make sure she's okay," she explained tiredly.
Shaw frowned when she actually kind of cared whether or not the brunette was breathing still. "I, uh, could call Root to make sure she's not dead," she offered hesitantly.
Joss looked at her and smiled briefly. "That would help me out, Shaw. And when she answers, because I believe she will, tell her thank you," she said sincerely. Shaw shrugged. Joss shifted her gaze onto John and prayed she didn't make a mistake by not calling Finch, who probably had connections to get John hospital care without revealing he was there, and instead coming to Shaw. To get out of her head she glanced at Shaw. "You don't mind keeping him here for tonight?" she asked changing subjects as she deposited her ruined clothes into the trash bag and then proceeded to put John's in there too.
"Do I mind keeping your boyfriend hidden?—nah, but when he's conscious and starts asking for food all bets are off. I don't share my food with anyone," Shaw stated darkly.
"I'll make some calls with a friend of John's and mine and see if he can help us move John to a different location so we're not bothering you too long," Joss reassured as she sank into a comfortable recliner near John. She needed to go pick up her son but first she needed to take five.
Shaw shrugged and said, "Speaking of food; I'm hungry, I'm going to make myself a ham sandwich. You want one too I don't mind sharing with you...much."
"Oh my god, how can even think about food after what we just did?" Joss said in consternation. With the way she felt she'd throw it up for sure.
"What? We need to save our strength for when he wakes up. I have a feeling he's going to be a handful when he starts feeling better." Shaw said before she grew more serious. "He's not out of the woods yet. I'll stay up with him tonight, just in case."
Carter immediately cut in. "I'll stay with him. You have done more than enough to help me. If he wakes up, he won't know who you are. But, uh, do you mind watching John for the time being? I need to go pick up my son and stop by my place to grab the portable play pen so Taylor has someplace to sleep tonight."
Shaw gaped. "Wait! You're bringing your pooping machine here?" she asked incredulously.
"He has a name! And of course I am, Shaw, I want to be here for John and I can't do that without my son. Maybe once in a while you can even hold Taylor too," Joss said, feeling oddly evil at the way Shaw paled at the thought.
"Y-yea, sure, I'm not scared of a little human that eats, sleeps, and poops for a living," Shaw muttered.
Joss didn't call her a liar because Shaw probably saved John's life and was hiding him out until they could move him. Her long day was about to get longer as she forced herself up to her tired feet and checked on John before hurrying for the door to go get her son.
AN: John's about to feel how Joss did when she was pregnant and was forced to rely solely on John.
Thank you for reading!