A/N : Here's chapter two! Enjoy!


Marcus excuses himself and walks off the dance floor. His throat is dry from all that laughing and talking, so he goes over to the drinks table. He searches for a clean glass for a few moments, until Jordan approaches him. She leans against the table and sighs heavily.

"She had only one job," she says with a note of annoyance in her voice, making Marcus frown.

"Who?"

"Doctor Lim. Looking for a glass? Good luck with that, doctor Lim went to get them ages ago. And I really, really need a drink."

Marcus smiles and shakes his head in amusement. "I'll go find out what kept her and help her bring them, then. Where did she say she was going?"

"Break room."

Marcus makes a mental note and heads for the stairs, trying not to bump into any of the dancing people along the way. He slips through the heavy door unnoticed. It's quiet and pleasantly cool in the stairwell, so it's no wonder Lim is in no rush to go back.

The nearest break room is only two floors down, so he doesn't call the elevator and decides to take the stairs. Once he's at the door, his pager rings suddenly. Before he has time to get it out of his pocket or open the door, it gets opened by someone from the other side. The nurse nearly runs into him.

"Doctor Andrews," she says, relief and fear combining on her face in a mixture that immediately alarms Marcus.

"What's going on?" he asks.

"There was an attack in the break room. Two people injured. Stab wounds to the abdomen and a whole lot of blood." The nurse, Marion, speaks quickly in learned jargon, but the gravity and unreality of the situation makes it necessary for her to slow down for a moment, as if she doesn't believe the words she's just saying. "Doctor Andrews, it's Villanueva and doctor Lim."

The blood freezes in Marcus's veins. The break room. Lim. Oh, God.

Without wasting any more time, he runs out the door and the nurse follows him. "Has anyone seen what happened? Who attacked?"

"We don't know, but we haven't noticed anyone or anything suspicious. Lindsay's still there, it's her who's found them. She called me and I ran for you."

"Alright, we're cutting off the entire ward for safety. Raise an alarm, call the police and notify security. Tell them to secure all entrances and check anyone who seems suspicious. No one can enter or leave the hospital. Have some of them go to the rooftop too, notify Glassman, and take everyone to a safe place."

"Got it."

"And please, paige Park, Allen and Wolke. We'll need every pair of hands."

"Of course, boss."

The nurse leaves Marcus and heads towards the nurses' station. He speeds up as fast as possible, and after a few endless seconds he reaches the break room.

The first thing he sees after opening the door is blood covering the center of the floor and nurse Lindsay leaning over the motionless Dalisay and trying to wake her up. Then his gaze falls on Audrey, who is lying on the ground to his left, shaking as if she's about to fall into a million pieces.

He rushes over, kneels beside her, and puts his hands on her shoulders. "Audrey,". He looks at her quickly to assess the damage. Her face is paper white and covered with sweat, and her eyes are hazy. She has her hands on the two wounds in her stomach in a weak attempt to stop the bleeding, but the wounds are deep enough for blood to escape freely through her trembling fingers. It's bad. Marcus squeezes her shoulders gently and leans over her to get her attention. "Audrey, hey, I've got you," he says. "You're going to be fine. Just stay with me, alright? I've got you."

She hears him, but even though she has focused her gaze on him, she doesn't seem to see him for a moment. It takes her a few seconds to recognize him. "Marcus," she breaths out. Her voice is quiet, trembling, and a few tears run down her cheek.

His heart breaks. "I'm here. Everything's going to be alright, we'll take care of you," he tells her, to calm her down just a little. He wants her to understand him, he wants to give her something to focus on. Audrey moves restlessly though, as if she was uncomfortable and wanted to get up.

"Marcus, there's…". She shouldn't say anything, she has an apparent problem with that, but it's Audrey, the stubborn Audrey he knows so well, and she's not going to let go until she says what she has to. Before she speaks, however, she coughs out some of the thick blood that spatters her lips. Her face twists with pain, but she still manages to say, "There's a patient to save."

And only then does Marcus realize that Audrey, though weaker with each passing second, is still struggling to move towards Villanueva and realizes that her main goal now is to help the nurse, even though she needs help herself. And maybe it's the doctor in her being the defensive reaction, or maybe that's what she is, too stubborn to let go, but he knows she means it, despite all the pain she has to be feeling. In her mind, even now, Audrey is always a doctor first, and a human being second.

She tries to reach out her hand, but it drops before it can reach him. Marcus forces on a gentle smile. He takes her face in his hands and gently makes her look at him again. "Yes, there is. It's you," he says, hoping it'll get to her eventually. It doesn't, and from her blurry gaze and shallow breathing, Marcus can see that she is starting to drift away. "Audrey? Hey, don't fall asleep, stay with me." He shakes her shoulder with one hand and pats her cheek with the other. "Audrey?". But she can't hear him anymore. Her eyes roll in the back of her head, her body becomes limp, and she loses consciousness. Pressing his hands tightly against her wounds, Marcus tells himself in his head that maybe for now it's better this way, because at least she doesn't feel the pain anymore. He hopes so.

He hears the sound of quick footsteps outside, and after a moment the door to the room opens and Jordan, Asher and Park walk in. They all have shock painted on their faces and horror in their wide opened eyes, but they don't waste any more time and immediately go to work with Marcus and the other nurses.

The ward is in chaos, all the phones are ringing, the nurses run from patient to patient and police officers arrive, but they manage to get the two injured women to the operating rooms quite quickly. They are joined by Glassman, who takes Park and Asher to take care of Dalisay. Marcus, together with Jordan and Shaun, who appeared right after Glassman and couldn't get convinced to go to a safe place with Lea and not to work even on the day of their wedding, occupy the operating room number 2.

When everything is ready to begin the procedure, Marcus takes a deep breath and looks at everyone in the room. "It won't be an easy surgery just because of the severity of the injuries," he says. "It will be even more difficult because of who is on the table. It's Doctor Lim, our friend, our boss, and above all, one of us. We're all scared and stressed, but if someone feels they can't put their feelings aside, this is the last moment to leave this room,". When he stops talking, there is silence. Everyone exchanges glances for a moment, but everyone stands still. Nobody leaves. Marcus smiles slightly and nods. He then shifts his gaze to the unconscious, terribly pale Audrey and leans over her. "You will beat it. Just keep on fighting," he whispers, and although he knows it's physically impossible, he wants some magical power to allow her to hear his words and give her strength. He straightens up, takes his place, and holds out his hand for a scalpel. "Let's begin."