Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! I'm trying to get these chapters up as fast as I can think and type (some days it's slow). I appreciate everyone's feedback. Thank you for reviewing! I appreciate it so much, and it helps me out a great deal!

Special thanks to Bloodsuckers37 for reading and helping me get the medical 'stuff' right.

Bad to Worse

Chapter 3- The News

5hrs later, OR waiting room

The atmosphere was tense; as most knew, 5 hours in surgery was probably not a good sign. The crowd had only increased. More and more agents, officers, and people showed up to wait for news about Don. Periodically someone would leave, but they would come back. Charlie and Terry were fast asleep and had been for some time. Everyone was well aware that Don's father and brother were there, and gave them space. Alan, tired, was resting his head on his fist. By now, Alan was worried.

Was there a problem?

Finally a middle-aged doctor came out. The doctor looked very tired, and he went right up to Alan.

"Are you Donald Eppes' father?"

Alan stood up and nudged Charlie. It took Charlie a couple of seconds to rub the sleep out of his eyes and comprehend that the doctor was there.

"Yes, I'm his father." Alan said looking the doctor in the eye. Everyone else was looking at them, waiting for what the doctor was going to say.

"Mr.Eppes is out of surgery. I'm Dr.Andrews, I operated on Mr.Eppes. Luckily, both bullets didn't cause any serious, permanent damage. The bullet that went through the chest did puncture his left lung, and embedded itself in the back of a rib. Luckily the bullet that went through his neck didn't hit anything major. There was a slight nick on his carotid, and a vein was hit. However there was a significant amount of blood loss. Mr.Eppes did waver a few times, but he stuck it out." The doctor gave Alan and Charlie a couple seconds to absorb everything.

He's alive.

"So how is he?" Alan asked.

"Right now, he is resting in the ICU. The next 24 to 48 hours are going to be critical. "If he makes it through this critical time period, then his chances for recovery are greatly increased."

"Can we go see him?" Charlie asked from behind his father.

"Sure. He is in the ICU so that means he can only have no more than 2 visitors at a time, and they must behave themselves. If you follow me I will take you up there."

Alan gathered his coat and followed the doctor. Charlie was right next to his father. The rest of the crowd stared at the three men, and all looked relieved. The doctor started talking as they were walking.

"When you get up there, don't be afraid of all the machines and such. Since Mr.Eppes' chance for infection is high, we have him on a potent antibiotic. Most people have trouble tolerating it, so there is a tube down his nose so he can't throw up. Also, don't worry about the ventilator. It's just helping his lungs because we don't want them to strain." The doctor silenced as they approached Don's room.

Alan was glad that the doctor finally quit talking. The doctor led the two men to Don's room (#4), and opened the door and let them in.

"Oh my gosh!" Alan was taken back by the sight of his eldest son. It was hard to tell where Don was underneath the myriad of tubes and wires. The ET tube down his son's throat made Alan feel worse, and Don looked like he was sleeping peacefully. Charlie was staring at the bandages peeking out of Don's hospital gown at the neck. The bed was set up against the right side of the room. Apparently someone knew about Alan and Charlie because there were two recliners, one on each side of the bed. Charlie took the seat on the left side of the bed, the one closet to door, and Alan took the other seat. Alan just looked at Don, and took his hand. Charlie just sat there, staring.

This is all my fault. We wouldn't have to be here if it weren't for me. Come on Don, you have to pull through.

A couple of minutes later a cherry, brunette nurse came in. Only Alan looked up to see who was in the room.

"Hello, my name is Erin. I will be Mr.Eppes' nurse while he is in the Unit."

"I'm Alan, Don's father, and this is his brother Charlie," Alan said pointing to Charlie. The nurse just smiled and nodded.

"If you have any questions, please feel free to ask," Erin said as she was writing the numbers from the heart monitor onto a piece of paper.

Charlie looked at the heart monitor too, and he noticed something strange. Don's heart rate was high. Millions of numbers were running through Charlie's head. He was going to ask about it.

"Ex-Excuse me?"

"Yes," the nurse said turning around to meet Charlie's eyes.

"W-Why is his heart rate fast?"

Alan looked questionably at Charlie, and then at the nurse.

"Well his heart rate is fast because he doesn't have enough blood in his body. His heart has to work harder to keep the blood flowing. It's kind of like squeezing a balloon that doesn't have much air in it, but were giving him blood to fix that."

"Oh, okay. Thank you."

"Sure, no problem. Well I probably will be back around 7:30 with Dr.Andrews, but if you need anything the call button is here," the nurse said pointing to the buttons on the bedrails. Alan nodded and the nurse left.

Both men continued their vigilance. Charlie scooted his chair closer to the bed and sat down. Charlie had a full view of the damage done to Don's left side. He looked at Don's hand and saw the IV that was delivering the precious blood to Don's veins. Charlie carefully took Don's hand, as if it would break if he dropped.

I'm here Don. What can I do?

Please Review!

I hope you enjoyed. I know guys don't hold each other's hands, but they're all family.