Hey everyone, I'm here again with the update! Thanks for all the reviews. Quick shoutouts: Wild Force Ranger - loved your terminology 'accidental suicide', made me laugh! You'll have to read on and see! fenestrae - I know I'm mean, I told you I was evil! But please don't cry, you'll make me feel bad! Jnr Cpl Scarlett - Yup, I know how to scare people :D XRachX - I'm evil... bite me! End of the story? Hope you meant chapter 'cos it isn't over just yet! And to everyone else, thank you soooo much for you reviews, mean a lot to me!
Here's chapter 6. As always, read, enjoy and review!
Ps. Must thank my X-Men comic for help with the ER scene! Hee hee!
Emergency Room
Conner hadn't really meant to take all the pills, but he'd just wanted to get rid of his headache. One pill didn't seem to have any effect, neither did two. Before he knew it, the whole bottle of pills was gone, as was the vodka. He started to feel weird, sort of floaty, and then, as he was making his was to the door with the empty pill bottle still clutched in his hand, his legs collapsed from under him. Barely conscious, he was violently sick. Before he lost all sense he managed to roll himself onto his back, away from the mess, and that was how Kira found him.
Her screams brought Dr. O and the McKnights running.
"Kira what is… oh my god," Tommy said, seeing Conner unconscious on the floor.
Conner's parents stared in horror at their son. Tommy, seeing the frozen looks on their faces, took charge.
"Someone call an ambulance," he said in a commanding voice as he knelt down beside Conner. David went out to the phone, both him and his wife were numb with shock.
"Conner can you hear me?" Tommy shook Conner gently, but there was no response. He tilted Conner's head back slightly to open his airway and bent his ear over Conner's mouth to see if he was breathing. He gave a sigh of relief, "He's breathing," he told Kira, who was still standing staring at him. "Kira, snap out of it." Tommy's voice was sharp but it worked. "I need your help; we've got to get him into the recovery position."
Kira nodded and between the two of them, moving gently so as not to hurt him, they got Conner onto his side into the recovery position that is taught by first-aiders worldwide. The ambulance arrived in what felt like ten hours but was really only ten minutes. Paramedics took control of the situation and soon Conner was speeding off to hospital with his parents and Tommy and Kira following in Tommy's car.
"What the hell happened?" the doctor asked them as Conner was wheeled into ER.
"We found him unconscious in his room with an empty bottle of vodka and these..," Tommy said, handing him the bottle of paracetamol.
The doctor shook his head, "Ok people we've got an overdose case here, I'll need some saline and an I-V line put in. How's he doing?"
"His pressure's crashing, pulse is thready and respiration's intermittent," another doctor said hurriedly.
"Start CPR," the first doctor ordered. A nurse began giving Conner chest compressions. "Get an ambu-bag in here now!" Another nurse put an ambu-bag over Conner's mouth and nose and began squeezing it in time to the compressions.
"His pupils are dilating – he's going into v-tach," a doctor shouted.
"Get me a lidocaine drip in here and keep adding that saline. Ok, charging 200 Joules, getting ready to defib, everybody clear...!"
"I'm sorry you're going to have to wait outside," a nurse ushered the four people out.
"Conner..," his mum tried to turn back, almost hysterical, but David and Tommy firmly escorted her out.
"Come on Lisa, there's nothing we can do."
"The doctor's are doing all they can. We'll just be in the way, Mrs K," Kira tried to reassure her even as tears ran down her own cheeks. "Conner's a fighter – he'll pull through."
As David tried to comfort his wife, Tommy pulled Kira aside.
"What is it Dr. O?" she asked.
"Are you ok?" he asked, worried.
She sniffed, "I'm fine. I just can't believe that Conner would try to… try to kill himself." Her voice broke.
Tommy shook his head, "Me neither. I think the situation here was worst than I thought, worse than we could have imagined. Maybe if I hadn't been so harsh…"
"You can't blame yourself Dr. O. Conner was out of line – you did the right thing. We just didn't notice how bad things were for him. All the clues were there; drinking, mood swings… I suppose we should have known, but we didn't." Kira said, trying to hold back her tears.
"You don't have to stay. You can go home; I'll call you if there's any news."
"No, I want to stay. Conner's my friend, as well as team-mate. I owe it to him to stay." Kira insisted.
Just then a doctor made his way over to where they sat.
"How is he?" Lisa jumped up.
"We've managed to stabilize him but he's still in a critical condition. He's on a ventilator to help him breathe, but the longer he remains on it the less chance there is of him coming off it again," the doctor sighed, "I have to be honest with you; his chances of survival at this moment are slim."
Lisa gave a sob and turned to clutch at her husband.
"Can we see him?" Kira asked in a small voice.
"He's just been moved into the intensive care ward so I don't see why not. I'll get a nurse to show you the way."
Very soon they were shown into the room Conner had been given. He lay on the bed covered up to his chest with a white sheet. Machines surrounded him – the wheeze of the ventilator was mixed in with various beeps from other pieces of equipment monitoring his heart rate. A number of drips lead into his arms and there were plastic tubes in his nose leading down his throat to his lungs to keep him breathing. Wires were everywhere – it was a scary sight.
Conner himself looked very peaceful, but his skin was almost as white as the sheet, devoid of colour, and his hands were like ice. Tommy and Kira stayed a little way back, allowing his parents to see him. His mum sat down beside his bed and clutched at his hand, no longer bothering to wipe her tears away as she stared at her son.
"Oh Conner," she whispered.
Tommy's morpher gave a beep. Excusing himself, he went outside and found a deserted place. "What is it?" he asked.
"Where the hell are you Tommy?" Hayley sounded pissed off. "We were supposed to meet at the Dino Lab over an hour ago to go over the new computer system."
"I'm sorry Hayley, something came up. I'm at the hospital right now with Kira."
"Hospital? What the…"
"It's a long story. Get Ethan and Trent over there and we'll meet you in ten minutes."
Tommy walked back to Conner's room. "Kira, we've got to go."
She nodded. As they turned to leave, David stopped them. "I just want to say thanks, for everything you did back there. If it wasn't for you two… Conner might not have made it this far."
"It's not a problem." Tommy began, but there was something clearly on David's mind.
"It's all our fault you see. Conner's probably told you we've been arguing like mad lately and yesterday afternoon he overheard me say to Lisa I wanted a divorce. We sorted it out but later I found an empty bottle in his room. I knew he was drinking – I suppose I should have confronted him sooner, but well, I've never been any good at that sort of thing. I always left it to Lisa."
"And I've been taking my anger out on him as well. I just haven't had time for him, what with work and Eric being away, but I guess he's told you guys all this." Lisa sobbed from Conner's bedside.
"No," Kira said quietly, "Conner hasn't said anything. We had no idea."
"He came back in last night upset about something." David continued; Tommy started guiltily. "I think he drank some more, and then he was suspended from school today…" David sighed, "I just don't want you guys to blame yourselves about this; it isn't your fault. I'm not trying to excuse his behaviour – he was out of line at school. I'm just trying to explain it a bit I guess."
"It's ok." Tommy said, "We understand. But I suppose we should have all known something wasn't right. Anyway, it's too late now. What's done is done. All we can do now is wait and hope Conner pulls through. Me and Kira have to go now, school stuff." He took a last look at Conner.
"If there's any change, I'll phone." David reassured them.
"Thanks." Tommy and Kira left the hospital and headed for the Dino Lab, they had to break the news to the others…
