BANG!
The noise brought Alan out of his musings and he raced up the stairs towards Charlie's bedroom, just dreading what he would find.
The news about Don had shocked Charlie, heck it had even shocked himself, but the only thing he could do for Don was to be there for him.
"Oh my gosh, Charlie!" Alan said as he rushed up the stairs to his youngest son's bedroom.
Looking in the bedroom, Alan saw the broken glass and Charlie lying on his bed sleeping, or that's what it looked like.
Suddenly a red blossom of blood appeared on Charlie's shirt and quickly saturated the bluish shirt in blood.
"CHARLIE!" Alan said as he rushed over to Charlie's side.
Charlie was barely breathing and his lips had a bluish tinge to them.
Thinking fast, Alan grabbed his cellphone, flipped it open and dialed 911.
After two rings the dispatcher took his call.
It took nearly four minutes for Alan to explain what had happened.
"Alright sir, an ambulance has been dispatched to your location." The dispatcher informed him.
Alan nodded his head as he glanced at his son again.
"He's getting worse!" Alan said worriedly.
"Please calm down sir. We all understand how you feel." The dispatcher said calmly.
Alan, who was near tears almost didn't hear the wail of sirens as the ambulance pulled up and stopped outside the house.
Quickly, he closed the cellphone and dashed downstairs.
Charlie, who had lain there on the bed quietly, suddenly felt very sorry for his father.
He didn't want his father seeing him like this, because Charlie suspected that his father would loose it, just as he had already done.
Within minutes the paramedics entered the room carrying their equipment in the stretcher.
The lead paramedic stood by Charlie as he removed the bloody shirt and examined the wound.
"Hand me that oxygen!" The paramedic said to his partner, who reached over and handed the other man the oxygen bottle.
The dark haired paramedic slipped the oxygen mask over Charlie's face and ajusted the flow of oxygen before he set to work patching up the wound before transport to the hospital.
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When Alan arrived at the hospital, there were doctors and nurses swiftly walking everywhere.
After asking several people, Alan just took a seat in the waiting room, since no one would tell him where his son's were.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, the door to the waiting room opened and a docter in a white lab coat stepped out and said, "Is anyone here for Charlie Eppes?"
Swiftly, Alan stood and made his way over to the doctor.
"I'm Alan Eppes. I'm Charlie's father." Alan said shakily.
The doctor nodded sympathatically as he turned and said, "Please follow me."
Alan followed the doctor to one of the rooms where inside Charlie was being attended to by several of the nurses.
"Mr. Eppes, we have gotten your son stabilized for now, but we're still waiting for an OR to remove the bullet. He is not out of danger yet, not by any stretch of the imaginitation." The doctor said as he glanced at his patient.
"What about my other son? Don Eppes?" Alan asked.
"Ah yes him. He's stabilized but he's in a coma at the moment. He's in room 207 if you would like to see him." The doctor said as he pointed down the hall.
Nodding, Alan took one glance at his youngest son before he turned and walked down the hall to visit Don.
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'He's so still...so very still.' Alan thought as he gazed at Don's features.
The oldest Eppes son was lying there in the bed, eyes closed with an oxygen cannula still attached to his nose to help pump the oxygen into his system.
Two normal saline IV's were attached to Don's arms to give him as much help as his body required.
'He looks so much like my wife.' He thought as slowly, timidly he reached out a hand and clutched at Don's slack hand.
"Donnie, you have to hang on, you have to fight this. Not just for my sake, but for you're brother's as well. He needs you right now." Alan whispered.
He had never been one for crying, but right now there was not one thing in this world that could stop the tears from falling from Alan's face.
--Meanwhile--
"Sir, his blood pressure is dropping." A nurse said worriedly to Charlie's doctor as he gazed at the chart.
The doctor looked up at Charlie's still form as the cardiac monitor, which had showed a steady heart rythem, suddenly went flat!
"FLAT LINE!" The doctor yelled as he started the chest compressions on his patient, in a vain attempt to save him.
He knew that Charlie could very well die before an OR opened up, and if he didn't get the boy stabilized soon, Charlie would die!
Turning to his nurses he said, "Paddles!"
One pair of hands grabbed the paddles, while another pair grabbed the gel and squirted it on the paddles.
One nurse handed the paddles to the doctor who quickly rubbed them together before applying the paddles to Charlie's chest.
"CLEAR!" He yelled as he let go with the charge.
Charlie's body jerked upwards as the electricity flowed through his body.
"Again!" The doctor ordered when no change was apparent.
"Charging!" The nurse said as she watched the paddles recharge.
Within seconds the doctor was zapping Charlie again.
'Come on Charlie, don't do this!' The doctor silently pleaded with his patient as his eyes flew to the cardiac monitor to see if they had a heart beat.
A small smile flew to his face when a weak heartbeat was seen.
"We got'em back. Nurse Ringers Lactate." The doctor said.
The nurse walked over to the medication cabinite and grabbed an IV bag before walking back over to Charlie.
Within seconds the IV had been started and was dripping the solution that would hopefully prevent further shock to Charlie's system.
Clearing his throat, Dr. Craig turned to his nurse and said, "Nurs London, let me know when an OR is avalible. This young man doesn't have that much more time to waste."
"Yes sir, right away." Nurse Susan London replied as she left the room to fulfill the doctor's request.