A Matter of Life and Death Chapter 10
By Marcie Gore
Story synopsis: Who was Shot!? Will he survive? Will The Bad Guys pay for their
actions? Is this the last chapter?
Bruce raises up just in time to see the police handcuff the two kidnappers. Joe has
a bandage on his arm. He obviously took one of the bullets .Then he hears a soft moan
beside him. Dick's been shot ; he's bleeding profusely.
" Jim you have to call an ambulance. Dick's been shot. I think he was hit in the chest!
He's barely breathing and he has blood all over him. I have to stop the bleeding!"
Jim radios for an ambulance. They tell him they will send a helicopter. The nearest
hospital is 5 miles away. He might not make it to the hospital by land. Then he hands
Bruce bandages , suddenly Dick stops breathing completely. Then his heart stops!
Bruce starts desperately doing CPR. In between breaths Bruce whispers don't leave
me son. He tries for 5 minutes.
Jim says "I think it's too late his heart beat and respiration have been gone for too
long. You're bleeding from the shoulder. You need to be bandaged. IF Dick survives
he'll need you to be strong and you can't be if you go into shock."
Bruce pays no attention to him, and continues CPR. He's covered in sweat and blood.
Finally a minute later, Bruce screams " He's breathing! I got his heart started again!
Now you can bandage me Jim."
When the Paramedics arrive Bruce is cradling Dick in his arms, urging him to keep
breathing. They put an oxygen mask on Dick and one of them continues to monitor
Dick's vital signs. The other quickly checks Bruce's bandage. Then two men put
Dick into the helicopter . Bruce asks to ride along to the hospital.
Before they take off ,an ambulance arrives to take Joe to the hospital. He's in no
where near as bad of condition as his victim, but Joe will still need to be examined .
Bruce finds himself wishing it was Joe in the helicopter critically injured not his
son. Then again if there any justice in the world Joe would be being taken away by the
coroner not paramedics.
The helicopter lands on the roof of Thomas Wayne Memorial Medical Center
quickly. They rush Dick into the ER. Nurses Claudia. Gispert and Noel Simms
are waiting for them.
The doctors and nurses manage to temporally stop the bleeding . While he's more
stable they take him to X ray to determine where the bullet is lodged. There is no sign
of an exit wound. The X-ray shows the bullet is in his heart. His lungs are weakened
too; they seem to be full of fluid. This could make the surgery riskier but Dick will
most certainly die if the bullet isn't removed and the damage not repaired.
He will have to be put on a strong intravenous antibiotic if he survives, Nurse Claudia
tells Bruce . Then she hands him the standard consent forms to sign. Bruce signs
the paper with a shaky hand. Dr Katrina Montgomery will head the surgical team.
She is one of the best trauma surgeons in the country. The surgery will be a long
one. But we will to try to send someone out to update you as soon as possible
Then Nurse Gina Ivy says Dr Lites needs to look at his wounds. Bruce says, she
can on one condition. He's not to be put to sleep. He has to be there when Dick gets out
of surgery.
" First it's off to X ray with you , Dr Lites says in a sweet southern accent. We have to
make sure there's not a bullet lodged in your arm. Nurse Gina will take you. "
"Mr. Wayne , You can call me Gina. Your son is in very capable hands. Dr
Montgomery is our best trauma surgeon. Dr Lites says."
.I've admired your work with charities for years. You have been so good to the less
fortunate children of Gotham. I for one never though you considered those two boys
charity cases. I could see real love in the photos from the paper.' Gina tells him.
"Thank you, UM Gina. You have no idea what it's like to lose one son. Then to hold
another in your arms afraid that he will stop breathing and worry that this time you
won't be able to revive him.
Bruce is taken right into X-ray. It shows no bullet in his arm. Then he is taken back to
the room. Nurse Gina cleans the wound off and puts a bandage on it. He was only
grazed . He didn't lose much blood. She kisses the bandage which makes Bruce
blush.
"Oh ,I'm so sorry I did that, Mr. Wayne. It was so unprofessional for me to do that. I
just wanted to help you feel better in some small way, Gina says. If you need to talk ,I'm
a good listener."
I need to call family and friends now, thank you for your help. First he calls the manor
and tells Alfred that Dick has been injured badly during the drop .He doesn't say how
badly or that he was also shot. Then he asks Alfred to inform Tim and the Titans who
came to Gotham in case they were needed.
A half an hour later Alfred and Tim are at the hospital. Then Roy, Wally, Donna and
Garth. Wally is there first of course Bruce tells them what happened at the drop. Then
he tells them that Dick is in critical condition He will donate blood .Even if they
aren't his blood type please donate too IF they have human blood. Bruce's blood type
is O- which makes him a universal donor. Donna starts to cry and Roy does his best
to comfort her. Wally and Garth start to pace the waiting room. Tears start to well in
the men's eyes too.
Dr Lites tells him she wouldn't advise him to donate blood but she has a feeling she
can't stop him. It probably wouldn't do much harm, he hasn't lost much blood.
Bruce gives the blood and only at the doctor's insistence eats a couple of crackers
and drinks some juice. He doesn't lie down though , instead he goes back to the
waiting room.
Next Wally, Donna, and Jessie donate blood. Wally's blood can be used for Dick
since they are the same type. The other two's blood goes to the blood bank to replenish
the supply. Jim and Barbara come through the door about dawn. Both the
commissioner and his daughter look like they've been sleeping about as well as
Bruce lately. Of course if Dick were here he'd still say she is beautiful.
Jim tells Bruce he'd like to talk to him alone. He tells him that just before he went
into surgery Joe confessed to killing Randy Garrett . He shot Randy when he pulled
over to the side of the road with car trouble. Then he dumped him in the woods near
by and placed Dick's wallet next to him. He did it as a message to you. He got the
car to work and drove it where it was found ,so it would look like a carjacking to
everyone else.
" To be frank with you, I think the reason he confessed was he was afraid he was
going to die, even thought it was only a flesh wound. The guy seems to be a big
coward. He wouldn't have been able to beat that young man so severely if Dick hadn't
been dehydrated and otherwise weakened. He even kidnapped him at night when
Dick would most likely be half asleep. Of course you know he was drugged Jim says.
The Commissioner whispers I can't get used to being able to admit I know you're
Batman."
"You are right about that , Jim, the supervisor he hit was smaller than him too. He is
nothing but a bully, Bruce tells him. Under normal circumstances Dick would be
more than capable of handling those men."
Both men turn around when they hear soft feminine crying. Roy is trying comfort
Donna while Donna holds Barbara. Jim goes to his daughter and holds her as she
cries. Just then Nurse Simms comes in, and says "the surgery isn't over yet but he's
doing ok. There were some problems with heavy bleeding and he stopped breathing
for a moment. They are trying to repair the damage to his heart now . He's not out of
the woods but he's doing better than we first expected. We think he should be in
surgery for another hour. After he gets out of recovery he will be in the intensive
care unit. The doctor will tell you when you can come in."
"Thank you Nurse Simms," Bruce says.
Two orderlies push a stretcher down the hall, with a familiar looking patient on it.
Some idiot put Joe in the same hospital with Dick! He's glad there are police guards
all around the hospital to help protect Dick. .
Bruce can see himself slipping past Joe's guards and putting a pillow over Joe's face
till he stops breathing. It would be so easy with him hand cuffed to the bed! Batman
could easily sneak past the guard. The only things stopping him are his own
conscience and the voice of the dark haired young man reverberating in his head
At last Dr Montgomery walks into the waiting room. She wants to talk to Bruce. At
first She wants everyone else to leave, but Bruce tells her these people ARE Dick's
family in their own way.
She says , "Ok they can stay. Dick survived surgery but his condition is still quite
fragile. From what I was told about how long his heart stopped and he was deprived
of oxygen , it's a miracle the cat scan showed no brain damage. He is in a coma and
has a concussion though. He has pneumonia which we are treating with antibiotics. He
has a compound fracture of his left leg and a fractured arm. The bullet caused
extensive damage to his heart, which we've repaired as much as we can.. "
"You can go in to see him but you must wear surgical scrubs. Not even you can
stay more than 10 minutes at a time. Your father's name is on the hospital but
RULES are rules. PLEASE only immediate family today. The rest of them will be
allowed in tomorrow if he stays the same or improves. Oh by the way no one under
the age of 10 can visit.
Bruce walks slowly into Dicks room. He can barely catch his breath when he sees his
son lying helpless attached to what seems100s of wires and machines. He seems tiny
,childlike next to it all. The signs of his maltreatment at the hands of the kidnappers are
everywhere on his body. Besides the obvious injuries he looks like he's lost weight.
It seems clear that Joe had no intention of releasing Dick.
Bruce gingerly reaches out his hand to touch Dick. He's fighting a losing battle with
his tears. He's silently pleading with Dick to wake up. He gently lays his head on
Dick's chest for a second. He keeps hoping he will hear the natural sounds of a
heartbeat and breathing. Instead he hears machines assisting those functions. Bruce
senses he's not alone.
Bruce turns around to see Clark Kent through the window. The man also known as
Superman is watching his friend sadly. Bruce tells Dick he's probably stayed longer
than he's supposed to already. He's going to go for now, before he's dragged out. Bruce
checks his watch, he's been there 15 minutes. He will be back in an hour,
Bruce greets Clark with a wary , Hello Kent. Is this visit professional or personal?
If you're just after a story, "No comment."
"Bruce , I'd never use you like that. I'm here for you and for Dick. I know even I can't
heal your son, but is there anything else I can do? You know I think of Dick and you
as family."
" No, but I think Dick would like that you are here. He's always admired you ,you
know? I was so jealous of that sometime, even though I know he loves me. Did I
ever show you a picture of him in his Superman Pajamas? When he picked them out I
thought why not Batman's? He's threatened to kill me several times if I EVER show
you a picture of him like that. Now I wish he'd just wake up, even if he did get angry
at me for showing you the picture," Bruce says sadly. Bruce passes Clark the
cherished photograph.
Clark smiles warmly at the picture of the raven-haired boy. I can only imagine what
you're going though. I've never been faced with the possibility of losing a child I
hope Lois and I never go through that.
That's right Clark you never lost a son. You don't know what it feels like. I've
thought, I'm in control of my life, what a fool I am. Things like this show me how
little control we really have, super powers or no super powers. Barry probably thought
he was invincible and he wasn't. Oh Please God don't let me lose Dick too! Bruce
begins to sob.
The next day after Bruce and Alfred see Dick, they allow his friends to visit, one at a
time. First Tim comes in before school. Then Barbara comes in, she tells him how
for just a moment she considered taking her father's gun , returning to the hospital and
taking care of Joe. Then she decided that if she managed to get the gun into the
hospital and into Joe's room she'd probably still not get away with it.
Even if she did she knows it wouldn't be what Dick would want.
Just as Barbara is leaving ICU Roy arrives with Lian. He tells his little girl she has to
be very quiet if she wants to go see Uncle Dick. Bruce calls out "Remember no one
under 10 can visit." No one sees him wink in Lian's direction.
As soon Lian walks in the room she jumps on the bed ands says. "Wake up
Unca Dick!" She shakes him and repeats wake up!" When he doesn't respond Lian
starts crying and asks, "Has Unca Dick gone to Heaven to be with his parents and
Grandpa Ollie and his brother Jason? I don't want him to go
Roy says ,No sweetie remember I explained he was in a coma , he's in a deep sleep
cause of his really bad boo boos .and can't wake up right now. This is how he
explains Dick's injuries. I can't promise you he won't go to be in Heaven because of it
but he's just in the deep sleep right now. He needs us to pray God will make him better,
Roy tells his daughter. . Hopefully soon Dick will be back playing with her , Roy
spends some time with his friend then leaves as they do, Roy sees a person in a white
coat enter Dick's room with a hypodermic He feels uneasy but shakes it off. A few
minutes later an alarm goes off.
TBC
By Marcie Gore
Story synopsis: Who was Shot!? Will he survive? Will The Bad Guys pay for their
actions? Is this the last chapter?
Bruce raises up just in time to see the police handcuff the two kidnappers. Joe has
a bandage on his arm. He obviously took one of the bullets .Then he hears a soft moan
beside him. Dick's been shot ; he's bleeding profusely.
" Jim you have to call an ambulance. Dick's been shot. I think he was hit in the chest!
He's barely breathing and he has blood all over him. I have to stop the bleeding!"
Jim radios for an ambulance. They tell him they will send a helicopter. The nearest
hospital is 5 miles away. He might not make it to the hospital by land. Then he hands
Bruce bandages , suddenly Dick stops breathing completely. Then his heart stops!
Bruce starts desperately doing CPR. In between breaths Bruce whispers don't leave
me son. He tries for 5 minutes.
Jim says "I think it's too late his heart beat and respiration have been gone for too
long. You're bleeding from the shoulder. You need to be bandaged. IF Dick survives
he'll need you to be strong and you can't be if you go into shock."
Bruce pays no attention to him, and continues CPR. He's covered in sweat and blood.
Finally a minute later, Bruce screams " He's breathing! I got his heart started again!
Now you can bandage me Jim."
When the Paramedics arrive Bruce is cradling Dick in his arms, urging him to keep
breathing. They put an oxygen mask on Dick and one of them continues to monitor
Dick's vital signs. The other quickly checks Bruce's bandage. Then two men put
Dick into the helicopter . Bruce asks to ride along to the hospital.
Before they take off ,an ambulance arrives to take Joe to the hospital. He's in no
where near as bad of condition as his victim, but Joe will still need to be examined .
Bruce finds himself wishing it was Joe in the helicopter critically injured not his
son. Then again if there any justice in the world Joe would be being taken away by the
coroner not paramedics.
The helicopter lands on the roof of Thomas Wayne Memorial Medical Center
quickly. They rush Dick into the ER. Nurses Claudia. Gispert and Noel Simms
are waiting for them.
The doctors and nurses manage to temporally stop the bleeding . While he's more
stable they take him to X ray to determine where the bullet is lodged. There is no sign
of an exit wound. The X-ray shows the bullet is in his heart. His lungs are weakened
too; they seem to be full of fluid. This could make the surgery riskier but Dick will
most certainly die if the bullet isn't removed and the damage not repaired.
He will have to be put on a strong intravenous antibiotic if he survives, Nurse Claudia
tells Bruce . Then she hands him the standard consent forms to sign. Bruce signs
the paper with a shaky hand. Dr Katrina Montgomery will head the surgical team.
She is one of the best trauma surgeons in the country. The surgery will be a long
one. But we will to try to send someone out to update you as soon as possible
Then Nurse Gina Ivy says Dr Lites needs to look at his wounds. Bruce says, she
can on one condition. He's not to be put to sleep. He has to be there when Dick gets out
of surgery.
" First it's off to X ray with you , Dr Lites says in a sweet southern accent. We have to
make sure there's not a bullet lodged in your arm. Nurse Gina will take you. "
"Mr. Wayne , You can call me Gina. Your son is in very capable hands. Dr
Montgomery is our best trauma surgeon. Dr Lites says."
.I've admired your work with charities for years. You have been so good to the less
fortunate children of Gotham. I for one never though you considered those two boys
charity cases. I could see real love in the photos from the paper.' Gina tells him.
"Thank you, UM Gina. You have no idea what it's like to lose one son. Then to hold
another in your arms afraid that he will stop breathing and worry that this time you
won't be able to revive him.
Bruce is taken right into X-ray. It shows no bullet in his arm. Then he is taken back to
the room. Nurse Gina cleans the wound off and puts a bandage on it. He was only
grazed . He didn't lose much blood. She kisses the bandage which makes Bruce
blush.
"Oh ,I'm so sorry I did that, Mr. Wayne. It was so unprofessional for me to do that. I
just wanted to help you feel better in some small way, Gina says. If you need to talk ,I'm
a good listener."
I need to call family and friends now, thank you for your help. First he calls the manor
and tells Alfred that Dick has been injured badly during the drop .He doesn't say how
badly or that he was also shot. Then he asks Alfred to inform Tim and the Titans who
came to Gotham in case they were needed.
A half an hour later Alfred and Tim are at the hospital. Then Roy, Wally, Donna and
Garth. Wally is there first of course Bruce tells them what happened at the drop. Then
he tells them that Dick is in critical condition He will donate blood .Even if they
aren't his blood type please donate too IF they have human blood. Bruce's blood type
is O- which makes him a universal donor. Donna starts to cry and Roy does his best
to comfort her. Wally and Garth start to pace the waiting room. Tears start to well in
the men's eyes too.
Dr Lites tells him she wouldn't advise him to donate blood but she has a feeling she
can't stop him. It probably wouldn't do much harm, he hasn't lost much blood.
Bruce gives the blood and only at the doctor's insistence eats a couple of crackers
and drinks some juice. He doesn't lie down though , instead he goes back to the
waiting room.
Next Wally, Donna, and Jessie donate blood. Wally's blood can be used for Dick
since they are the same type. The other two's blood goes to the blood bank to replenish
the supply. Jim and Barbara come through the door about dawn. Both the
commissioner and his daughter look like they've been sleeping about as well as
Bruce lately. Of course if Dick were here he'd still say she is beautiful.
Jim tells Bruce he'd like to talk to him alone. He tells him that just before he went
into surgery Joe confessed to killing Randy Garrett . He shot Randy when he pulled
over to the side of the road with car trouble. Then he dumped him in the woods near
by and placed Dick's wallet next to him. He did it as a message to you. He got the
car to work and drove it where it was found ,so it would look like a carjacking to
everyone else.
" To be frank with you, I think the reason he confessed was he was afraid he was
going to die, even thought it was only a flesh wound. The guy seems to be a big
coward. He wouldn't have been able to beat that young man so severely if Dick hadn't
been dehydrated and otherwise weakened. He even kidnapped him at night when
Dick would most likely be half asleep. Of course you know he was drugged Jim says.
The Commissioner whispers I can't get used to being able to admit I know you're
Batman."
"You are right about that , Jim, the supervisor he hit was smaller than him too. He is
nothing but a bully, Bruce tells him. Under normal circumstances Dick would be
more than capable of handling those men."
Both men turn around when they hear soft feminine crying. Roy is trying comfort
Donna while Donna holds Barbara. Jim goes to his daughter and holds her as she
cries. Just then Nurse Simms comes in, and says "the surgery isn't over yet but he's
doing ok. There were some problems with heavy bleeding and he stopped breathing
for a moment. They are trying to repair the damage to his heart now . He's not out of
the woods but he's doing better than we first expected. We think he should be in
surgery for another hour. After he gets out of recovery he will be in the intensive
care unit. The doctor will tell you when you can come in."
"Thank you Nurse Simms," Bruce says.
Two orderlies push a stretcher down the hall, with a familiar looking patient on it.
Some idiot put Joe in the same hospital with Dick! He's glad there are police guards
all around the hospital to help protect Dick. .
Bruce can see himself slipping past Joe's guards and putting a pillow over Joe's face
till he stops breathing. It would be so easy with him hand cuffed to the bed! Batman
could easily sneak past the guard. The only things stopping him are his own
conscience and the voice of the dark haired young man reverberating in his head
At last Dr Montgomery walks into the waiting room. She wants to talk to Bruce. At
first She wants everyone else to leave, but Bruce tells her these people ARE Dick's
family in their own way.
She says , "Ok they can stay. Dick survived surgery but his condition is still quite
fragile. From what I was told about how long his heart stopped and he was deprived
of oxygen , it's a miracle the cat scan showed no brain damage. He is in a coma and
has a concussion though. He has pneumonia which we are treating with antibiotics. He
has a compound fracture of his left leg and a fractured arm. The bullet caused
extensive damage to his heart, which we've repaired as much as we can.. "
"You can go in to see him but you must wear surgical scrubs. Not even you can
stay more than 10 minutes at a time. Your father's name is on the hospital but
RULES are rules. PLEASE only immediate family today. The rest of them will be
allowed in tomorrow if he stays the same or improves. Oh by the way no one under
the age of 10 can visit.
Bruce walks slowly into Dicks room. He can barely catch his breath when he sees his
son lying helpless attached to what seems100s of wires and machines. He seems tiny
,childlike next to it all. The signs of his maltreatment at the hands of the kidnappers are
everywhere on his body. Besides the obvious injuries he looks like he's lost weight.
It seems clear that Joe had no intention of releasing Dick.
Bruce gingerly reaches out his hand to touch Dick. He's fighting a losing battle with
his tears. He's silently pleading with Dick to wake up. He gently lays his head on
Dick's chest for a second. He keeps hoping he will hear the natural sounds of a
heartbeat and breathing. Instead he hears machines assisting those functions. Bruce
senses he's not alone.
Bruce turns around to see Clark Kent through the window. The man also known as
Superman is watching his friend sadly. Bruce tells Dick he's probably stayed longer
than he's supposed to already. He's going to go for now, before he's dragged out. Bruce
checks his watch, he's been there 15 minutes. He will be back in an hour,
Bruce greets Clark with a wary , Hello Kent. Is this visit professional or personal?
If you're just after a story, "No comment."
"Bruce , I'd never use you like that. I'm here for you and for Dick. I know even I can't
heal your son, but is there anything else I can do? You know I think of Dick and you
as family."
" No, but I think Dick would like that you are here. He's always admired you ,you
know? I was so jealous of that sometime, even though I know he loves me. Did I
ever show you a picture of him in his Superman Pajamas? When he picked them out I
thought why not Batman's? He's threatened to kill me several times if I EVER show
you a picture of him like that. Now I wish he'd just wake up, even if he did get angry
at me for showing you the picture," Bruce says sadly. Bruce passes Clark the
cherished photograph.
Clark smiles warmly at the picture of the raven-haired boy. I can only imagine what
you're going though. I've never been faced with the possibility of losing a child I
hope Lois and I never go through that.
That's right Clark you never lost a son. You don't know what it feels like. I've
thought, I'm in control of my life, what a fool I am. Things like this show me how
little control we really have, super powers or no super powers. Barry probably thought
he was invincible and he wasn't. Oh Please God don't let me lose Dick too! Bruce
begins to sob.
The next day after Bruce and Alfred see Dick, they allow his friends to visit, one at a
time. First Tim comes in before school. Then Barbara comes in, she tells him how
for just a moment she considered taking her father's gun , returning to the hospital and
taking care of Joe. Then she decided that if she managed to get the gun into the
hospital and into Joe's room she'd probably still not get away with it.
Even if she did she knows it wouldn't be what Dick would want.
Just as Barbara is leaving ICU Roy arrives with Lian. He tells his little girl she has to
be very quiet if she wants to go see Uncle Dick. Bruce calls out "Remember no one
under 10 can visit." No one sees him wink in Lian's direction.
As soon Lian walks in the room she jumps on the bed ands says. "Wake up
Unca Dick!" She shakes him and repeats wake up!" When he doesn't respond Lian
starts crying and asks, "Has Unca Dick gone to Heaven to be with his parents and
Grandpa Ollie and his brother Jason? I don't want him to go
Roy says ,No sweetie remember I explained he was in a coma , he's in a deep sleep
cause of his really bad boo boos .and can't wake up right now. This is how he
explains Dick's injuries. I can't promise you he won't go to be in Heaven because of it
but he's just in the deep sleep right now. He needs us to pray God will make him better,
Roy tells his daughter. . Hopefully soon Dick will be back playing with her , Roy
spends some time with his friend then leaves as they do, Roy sees a person in a white
coat enter Dick's room with a hypodermic He feels uneasy but shakes it off. A few
minutes later an alarm goes off.
TBC