Two Hours Earlier

Don strolled through the doors of the CalSci Chemistry building. Charlie's message had told him to meet in lab room five. He scanned the doors, frowning as he realized none of them actually had room numbers. "Thanks for the info, Chuck," he muttered under his breath. He stopped at the first door on the right, peering inside and finding it empty. Not five, then. He continued walking down the hallway to the second door. It was closed so Don peered inside through the small window, seeing nothing but a half-filled beaker and an open window. Not five, either.

"Don!"

He looked up and saw Charlie waving at him from the end of the hallway. "Charlie! Lab room five?"

"Sorry, Don. I forgot they took the room numbers down to paint." Charlie pointed to the side. "We're in here."

Don shook his head, suppressing a smile as the phrase 'absent-minded professor' sprang up into his mind. He stepped away from the door, letting the grin spread over his face at Charlie's contrite look. He was no more than three steps from the door when he felt an unknown force slam into him, knocking him across the hall and into the wall. He vaguely registered a loud booming noise as the most intense pain he had ever felt dug itself into his stomach and back. His head started pounding and his vision grayed as the world tilted to one side. He thought he could just make out Charlie standing frozen at the end of the hallway, staring at him in shock. He tried to lift an arm to let Charlie know that he was okay – yeah, he's really going to believe that – but the attempt at movement sent a new wave of pain shooting through his body, and he mercifully passed out.

--

Charlie glanced at his watch. Where in the world was Don? I thought this case was important to him. I could be working on my class lecture. Charlie tamped down the anger, rationalizing that his brother might have been held up at work. He glanced over at Larry who was putting the finishing touches on their demonstration for Don. He laughed out loud at his friend's crinkled nose and disgusted expression. "What?" he asked.

"That awful paint smell, Charles. Is it not assaulting your senses too?"

"Paint!" Charlie cried. Larry raised an eyebrow in query. "I told Don lab five, but the signs aren't up. No wonder he's late!" Charlie darted out of the room and looked down the hallway, spotting Don peering into room number two. "Don!" Charlie waved to catch his eye.

"Charlie!" Don yelled, frustration in his voice. "Lab room five?"

Oh great, he's upset already. "Sorry, Don," Charlie called in his most apologetic voice. "I forgot they took the room numbers down to paint." He tried to look remorseful as he gestured to the doorway beside him. "We're in here." He watched as a smile flickered on Don's face before finally lighting it up. He must not be that mad after all.

He watched Don take a few steps toward him and was about to return to the room, when a large noise filled the hallway, followed by a concussion wave that almost knocked him off his feet. He staggered as he tried to comprehend what he had just witnessed. The lab next to Don had just blown up – he'd seen the heavy metal doors and door frame fly from the classroom and straight into Don's body. His heart broke as he watched his brother slam into the wall, the doors crushing him against it before falling away. His mind screamed at him to go to Don, to make sure he was alive and to help him, but his body had ceased to obey his commands. He saw Don weakly try to lift an arm before it crashed back to the ground, his body going completely still.

"Charles!" Larry yelled at him as he entered the hallway. "What on earth was that noise?" Larry stared as his colleague and became alarmed when Charlie didn't acknowledge his presence. "Charles?" has asked again more firmly. He followed the younger man's gaze down the hallway, gasping when he recognized Don's crumpled body lying haphazardly against the wall. Larry grabbed Charlie's arm and propelled them both down the hallway toward the injured man.

"Don?" Charlie called pleadingly as he sank to his knees next to his brother. "Don!" He reached out and held his fingers against his brother's neck, immensely relieved to detect a pulse, but sensing that it wasn't beating quite like it should.

He glanced around the area, noting that there were no flames in the hallway, although there was smoke drifting out of the damaged lab room. The heavy metal doors had bounced off the wall – no, off of Don – and landed a few feet away. Charlie's eyes swept over Don's body, surprised to see no signs of visible injury, save for a rapidly forming bruise on his right cheek.

"Stay with Don," Larry told him. Charlie glanced up to see his friend approach the lab room and cautiously peer inside. He glanced back over his shoulder. "The fires seem to have burned out – just a few smoldering places."

Charlie's stunned mind began to process his surroundings – the chemistry building. "Chemical explosion," he shakily told Larry. "Can you tell if it was a chemical explosion?"

Larry shook his head. "No, there's nothing left intact to indicate the source of detonation." He met Charlie's eyes. "Oh my God..."

"We have to get him to the emergency shower," Charlie said as he gently eased Don onto his back to better grip him under his arms. "Help me!"

Larry joined him and grabbed Don's feet. The two men groaned as they hefted the heavier man off the ground and awkwardly shuffled to the closest undamaged lab. They made it to the shower and gently set him down. Charlie began unbuttoning Don's shirt while Larry pulled the overhead chain to initiate the flow of water, making sure to rinse his hands in the process. "I'm going to call for help."

"Call my father, too," Charlie advised him as he slid his brother's shirt off of his body. He pulled Don's undershirt out of his waistband and gently slid it up his torso, gasping at the dark purple bruises that covered Don's upper abdomen. He gently leaned his brother forward to pull the now wet undershirt off, and saw another purple bruise covering his lower back. "Oh God," he whispered brokenly. He began directing the flow of water to rinse Don's chest and back, gently running his hands along the bruised flesh to ensure he was efficiently rinsing off whatever chemical residue might be left behind. His eyes filled with tears as Don quietly moaned in pain. "Don? Are you with me?" His brother didn't rouse, but continued moaning as Charlie guided the water across his body.

He finished bathing Don's torso and glanced down, relieved to see that his lower body seemed to be unaffected by the accident. He knew that he wouldn't be able to remove Don's pants without help, so he settled for thoroughly rinsing them. He then turned his attention to running the water over Don's head, gently stroking his fingers through his dark hair as he made sure that it was thoroughly drenched. He and Don both winced in unison as Charlie's gentle hand grazed over a knot just above and behind his brother's left ear. Parting the hair there, he found a sluggishly bleeding gash about two and a half inches long.

Satisfied his brother was no longer in danger from any potential residue, Charlie slid him away from the shower to lean against the lab counter. He sat next to Don and caught his body as it listed toward him, cradling his injured brother to his chest as his body began to lightly tremble. "Hang on," Charlie pleaded. "You have to hang on."

--

Don's ears were ringing and he could see nothing but darkness. Where am I? he wondered to himself. He determined that his eyes must be closed, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out how to open them. He strained to hear anything over the noise in his ears and gave up as his head rewarded him with an intense throbbing sensation. The headache quickly became the least of his problems as his chest, stomach, and back were assaulted with the most agonizing pain that he could ever remember feeling. Don tried to voice his discomfort but couldn't tell if he succeeded over the ever-present ringing. The intensity of the pain died down as whatever had set it off stopped, but an unpleasant ache still remained.

Don felt a touch on his head and concentrated as it roamed across his scalp, trying to figure out what was going on. He clenched his eyes shut as pressure ignited a stinging pain that began to beat in time with his headache. The weight was suddenly gone and his stomach lurched as he felt himself being dragged along the floor. He felt a hard surface against his shoulders as he was propped against something, and took a moment to fight down a rising wave of nausea and dizziness. He did manage to keep himself from becoming sick, but lost the battle against gravity and began to fall on his side, bracing himself for the new agony he knew the impact with the floor would bring him. Surprise and relief washed over him as he was stopped mid-fall and cocooned in soft warmth. Don weakly tried to burrow into it as he suddenly realized that he was very wet and very cold.

--

"In here!"

Charlie looked up to see Larry directing the paramedics into the room. He felt a tremendous sense of relief as two very composed men rushed in, pulling a gurney behind them. They both gave Charlie a brief smile as they knelt on either side of Don. One of the men began recording Don's vitals while the other one took out a pen and propped a clipboard on his knee. "I'm Paul," he introduced himself. "I just need to get some information from you...?"

"Charlie," he answered, watching as the other paramedic began lightly running his hands over Don's scalp and neck. "This is Don Eppes. I'm his brother."

"Okay, Charlie. Can you tell me what happened?"

"There was an explosion," Charlie started, abruptly stopping as Don moaned loudly in his arms.

"Shoulder's injured," the second man said as his hand rested on Don's left shoulder. "Possible dislocation."

"Got it, Tom." Paul jotted a note on the board before looking up at Charlie again. "So, an explosion?"

"Um, yeah." He tried to gather his thoughts. "I was standing at the end of the hallway and the doors just flew into him. They... they knocked him across the hall." His stomach turned as he remembered the horrific sound Don's body had made as he'd been hurtled into the opposite wall.

"Did you see where the doors hit him? Back, stomach, head?"

"His lower back. Maybe his side too. It all happened so fast."

"You're doing great, Charlie." Paul patted his arm and nodded encouragingly.

Charlie nodded, his eyes glued to Tom as he ran his hands down Don's spine. Don moaned again as the man's hands ran across the dark bruise on Don's lower back.

"Charlie?" Paul waited for the younger man to look at him. "What else did you see? Were there flames, smoke, anything special we should know about?"

"No flames and all the smoke stayed in the lab for the most part." He hesitated as he tried to remember. "This is the chemistry building. We brought him here to wash off in case..." He trailed off, not able to bring himself to voice the thought.

"That was very quick thinking, Charlie. Good job." Paul flipped to another page. "How old is Don?"

"Thirty-six."

"Is he allergic to anything?"

"No."

"Are there any medical conditions we need to know about?"

"No."

"Any family history we need to know about?"

Charlie's heart broke. "Cancer," he whispered. "Our mother."

"Okay, thanks Charlie." Paul set the clipboard down as Tom lifted the backboard from the gurney. "I need you to let go of Don for me, and stand over here." Paul gestured off to the side.

Charlie numbly realized that they had let him hold Don during the entire exam. He smiled a belated thank you as he gently shifted Don into Paul's hands. He moved to stand out of the way and watched in morbid fascination as the medics carefully straightened his brother's body before fastening a cervical collar around his neck and sliding a backboard underneath him. Together the two men began fastening restraints in order to secure Don to the board, before lifting their patient from the floor and setting him on the gurney.

"You're coming with us?" Paul asked, although it was more of a statement than a question.

Charlie nodded and joined them at Don's side. An immense wave of sadness washed over him as he looked at his battered brother laying there, looking so helpless. He slipped a hand into Don's right one, trying to offer Don an anchor with which to brace himself, and nodded at Paul that he was ready to go.

TBC