Chapter 179

Tegan heard a loud bang and felt Jeremy fall onto her lap. She was completely frozen for a few seconds but snapped herself out of her daze. Jeremy didn't move, the weight heavy on Tegan's legs. Jonathan stared at Jeremy and dropped the gun to his side looking as if he was about to faint. "Tegaaaan" Lindsey's frantic screams and bangs on the door were mixed in with the ringing noise in Tegan's ears. "Jer? Jeremy?" said Tegan and shook Jeremy's shoulder. "Tee" Jeremy whispered. "Oh fuck… Jeremy? Jer?" repeated Tegan as she turned him onto his back. She looked down at his chest and then at her hands, it was soaked in fresh blood. She felt herself start to hyperventilate and tried to slow her breathing without much effect. "Jeremy… I'm sorry… I'm sorry baby" said Jonathan in tears and tentatively moved closer to Jeremy. "Get away from him!" screamed Tegan. "Jerry, baby…. Don't die… I'm sorry baby" whispered Jonathan. "Call a fucking ambulance" screamed Tegan and put Jeremy down on the floor as gently as possible.

"Call an ambulance!" Tegan shouted again. Jonathan picked up the phone and dialed 911. Tegan swiftly pulled her jacket off and pressed it to the wound on Jeremy's chest. "Hang in there Jer, help's coming... you're going to be okay... you're going to be okay" said Tegan. "Jerry... baby... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry" mumbled Jonathan and fell down to his knees sobbing. "Just breathe Jer... that's it... you're okay" said Tegan softly touching Jeremy's face. "Tee... I'm sorry... I... didn't mean... for you to... get in the middle... of this" whispered Jeremy weakly. "Shhhh don't try to talk Jer... just breathe... help is coming" said Tegan.

"Open the door" shouted Tegan. Jonathan didn't move, he was still on his knees, completely shattered. "Jeremy... I'm sorry... stay with me" said Jonathan. "Jon open the fucking door for the medics" shouted Tegan. "Tee... I love you... and... I love those kids... so much... I'm sorry" whispered Jeremy. "I love you too Jer... just breathe. You have nothing to be sorry about" said Tegan. She picked up Jeremy's upper body and held him close to her chest. Jeremy was starting to shake and made gargling noises when he breathed. "Jer stay with me buddy" said Tegan still holding pressure on the wound. Blood seemed to be seeping through the jacket now. "Tee... I... I got you... a gift" whispered Jeremy looking up into Tegan's eyes. "Yeah? Thanks Jer, can't wait to open it with you" said Tegan trying to keep Jeremy awake. "Think of me when... you wear it" whispered Jeremy and coughed up some blood. "Jer keep breathing... come on, stay with me" said Tegan sounding panicked and slapped Jeremy's cheek lightly.

Jonathan stood swaying, crying with his arms crossed over his body staring at Jeremy. Lindsey was still shouting and banging on the bedroom door. "Get me a towel" screamed Tegan. Jonathan didn't move. "Please just... get me a towel" said Tegan looking up at him. Jeremy was fading fast, his face pale, his hands over Tegan's. His breathing more ragged by the second. "Can't see... it's... going black.. round the.. edges" mumbled Jeremy. "They're almost here Jer... the ambulance is coming just stay with me" said Tegan loudly through tears. "Jerry" said Jonathan and went down on his knees next to Jeremy. "Get away from him" screamed Tegan. "Jerry... I love you" said Jonathan. "How... could you... do this" breathed Jeremy weakly. "Jer just ignore him... look into my eyes... come on buddy look right here" said Tegan urgently. Jeremy stared into Tegan's eyes. His eyelids started drooping. "Where the fuck is that ambulance!" screamed Tegan. "Jer open your eyes" shouted Tegan. Jeremy forced his eyes open again. "I'm ss... slipping... Tegan... I love you... take... care... of those... kids" whispered Jeremy.

Jeremy was now obviously struggling to breathe more and his breaths came in the form of small gasps. "Jer please... please" cried Tegan holding Jeremy in her arms. Jeremy's eyes closed and he gave a small gasp, Tegan waited for the next one but it didn't come. "Jer, no no, Jer come on... breathe" she shouted. She put her fingers into Jeremy's neck, desperately searching for a pulse. "Come on, come on" she cried. "Noooo" she cried when she couldn't find one. "Jeremy!" screamed Jonathan.

Tegan pulled her body from under Jeremy's and lay him flat on the floor. "Come on Jer stay with me" she cried on her knees next to Jeremy. She locked her fingers and put her palms in the middle of Jeremy's chest. She desperately started pressing down hard and fast on Jeremy's sternum. "One, two, three, four, five..." she counted until she reached thirty. "Come on Jer" she cried and tilted Jeremy's head back and pinched his nose. She locked her lips over Jeremy's and breathed into his bloody mouth. She checked to see if his chest was rising but didn't see much movement. She gave him another breath and looked up at Jonathan as she locked her hands over Jeremy's chest again. "You fucker... what did you dooo... what did you dooooo" she cried as she desperately pumped on Jeremy's chest. The wound in the left of his chest seemed to be squirting blood with every compression she gave. "Jeremy please, oh god please, please Jer" Tegan cried while compressing.

The cab stopped in front of Jeremy's apartment building and Sara swiftly paid the cabbie before rushing out. With that an ambulance pulled up in front of the building. Sara didn't pay much attention to it and jogged to Jeremy's ground flour apartment. She knocked hard on the door. "Tegan" she yelled.

Tegan looked up at the door and yelled "Sara help... help... get an ambulance" she shouted. Sara felt a rush of adrenaline through her head and tried to open the front door. It was locked. She shoved it hard but it didn't budge. "Tegan open the door" she yelled. "Open the fucking door" Tegan yelled desperately at Jonathan. Jonathan stared at Tegan in an almost catatonic state. He walked up to the front door and unlocked it. Sara burst into the room and saw her sister administering CPR, covered in what seemed to be her friend's blood. "Tegan" she shouted. "Oh god what happened" yelled Sara. Tegan just bent down to give Jeremy another breath. "Heeeeeelp" yelled Sara at the top of her voice. She heard Lindsey screaming, it seemed to be coming from the bedroom.

Tegan looked up at Sara and started pumping again. Her mouth was covered in Jeremy's blood. "Come on Jer... you can do this" mumbled Tegan while pumping, out of breath. Two ambulance officers came running into the room and immediately knelt down next to Jeremy. "Move this couch away" screamed the one. Sara pushed away the couch with what seemed to be a sudden un-human strength. "Keep going Mam. You're doing great" said the one as he opened his bag with equipment. Tegan kept pumping. "Come on Jer... come back... come back" she whispered.

One ambulance officer spoke into his radio. "This is unit 223, we need urgent police backup and another rig" he said as he took an ambubag out and placed it over Jeremy's mouth and nose. "Mam, I need you to seal this over his mouth and nose and squeeze it every five seconds" he said to Sara. Sara fell down onto her knees and did as instructed. "What's your name?" he asked. Tegan didn't answer but keep pumping with a wild, desperate look on her face. "I'm Sara, that's Tegan" said Sara. "Keep going Tegan. I'm Eric, this is Amy" he said. "Let's get the defib pads on him, start a wide bore cannula as quick as you can" said the girl. She tore through Jeremy's t-shirt with a pair of scissors and placed some trauma pads on the wound before placing two defibrillator pads on Jeremy's blood covered chest. Eric was desperately patting Jeremy's arm, trying to find a vein. "This is going to be tricky, he's lost a lot of blood he's shutting down peripherally" he said. "Stop compressions" said Amy and pushed Tegan back. Tegan sat back panting, the knees of her jeans a deep red from kneeling in the rapidly growing pool of blood. "We have V-fib on the quick look, let's shock at 200" she said. "Come on Jer" said Tegan and touched Jeremy's chest. "Tegan stay back now... stay back" said Amy . Lindsey was still screaming in the bedroom. There was no sign of Jonathan, nobody even noticed.

"We're charged, stay clear" said the girl and held Tegan back with her one hand. "We're clear" said the guy. "Shocking" said the girl and pressed a button. Jeremy's body jumped from the shock, everybody looked at the defib screen. "No change, charging at 300... stay clear" said the girl. "All clear" said the guy. Jeremy's body jumped again as the girl pressed the shock button. His head rolled to the side and blood trickled from his mouth. "No change, charging at 360... stay clear" said the girl. "Clear" said the guy. Jeremy's body jumped even more.

The guy put his fingers in Jeremy's neck and the girl looked at the defib screen. "No output" reported the guy. "No change on the monitor, continue compressions" said the girl. "Nooo, no Jer... Come on, you can do this" cried Tegan. Tegan was in some kind of zone and she started compressions again. "We're losing the airway, I'm going to intubate" said the girl. "Dammit I just can't get this line in" said the guy. "Help him!" cried Tegan. "We're doing everything we can mam" said the girl. "Okay Sara step away" said the guy.

Sara seemed to be in shock, her hands were shaking and she fell back onto her bum. "Tegan... let me take over" she said crawling to Tegan. Tegan just kept pumping, clenching her jaw as Amy put the laryngoscope blade and tube down Jeremy's throat. "Dammit I can't see a thing, there's too much blood, suction... More suction... cricoid pressure" said the girl. The guy put his fingers onto Jeremy's neck. "I just can't see the cords" said the girl and repositioned the blade. "Sats critically low, 73%" said Eric. "Okay... that's it I'm in. Check placement" said the girl as she connected the bag and started squeezing it. The guy listened to Jeremy's lungs. "Equal entry, decreased lung sounds on the left" he said. "Tension pneumo?" said the girl. "That would be my guess" said the guy. "Okay, I'm going to decompress" said the girl and handed Sara the bag again to squeeze. "Cannula's in" said the guy. "Hang a bag of saline, wide open. One of adrenaline. Start an IO with a dopamine infusion" she said.

Tegan kept pumping, breathing heavily. She started feeling even more light headed but didn't stop for a second. She didn't even feel the wound in her side. Two more paramedics came running into the room. "Take over compressions please" said the girl as she plunged a thick, long needle into Jeremy's chest. The needle made a hissing sound as the air trapped around Jeremy's lungs and heart escaped. The paramedic tried to pull Tegan off Jeremy but she kept desperately pumping. "Mam, we've got this, we've got him. Step away" he said. "Come on Jer, come on" Tegan kept repeating pressing harder and harder. The other new medic took over from Sara. "Tegan step away" said Amy. "Come on Jer, stay with me" mumbled Tegan. Sara forcefully pulled Tegan off Jeremy. "Let him go Tegan, let them do their jobs!" said Sara. Tegan fell back onto the carpet and started wailing. "Adrenaline's in" said the guy. "Okay we have a stronger VF now" said the girl. "Let's shock again at 360" said the girl. "Charging... stay clear" she instructed. "Clear" said Eric with his hands in the air. Jeremy's body jumped again as the girl pressed the button. The machine gave four weak beeps before returning to the chaotic pattern. "Nope, get him onto a proper monitor. Start another line, he needs volume. Resume compressions" said Amy.

Tegan sat with her bloody hands in her hair trying to get her breath back and was startled but a sudden, loud bang coming from what seemed to be one of the bedrooms. "No... Oh god no... noooo" she screamed and jumped up. "Tegan!" shouted Sara and followed her. Tegan ran into the main bedroom and saw the babies on the bed. Both were awake and started crying. "Thank god" whispered Tegan. "Stay with them" she said to Sara. "She ran to the next bedroom where Lindsey was sobbing inside. "She turned the key and burst into the room panting. "Linds" she said and took Lindsey into her arms. "Oh my God Tegan, are you okay, you're full of blood... What happened" cried Lindsey. "I'm okay... I'm okay" said Tegan. She took Lindsey's hand and led her to the main bedroom. "Stay with them... stay here" she said looking into Lindsey's eyes.

Tegan ran into some cops as she left the room. One was standing in front of the open bathroom door. Tegan looked inside. "Don't look Mam" said the one trying to block the door. Tegan looked past the cop and saw Jonathan lying in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor. She breathed heavily and stumbled backward wordlessly. She turned around and ran back into the living room where the paramedics were still working on Jeremy.

"Jeremy" she said falling down onto her knees next to him. "Is he okay... is his heart beating?" screamed Tegan. "We've got a pulse but we need to get him to a hospital right now" said Amy. "Oh thank God" breathed Tegan. "Mam are you okay?" said the one. "Yeah yeah... get him out of here" said Tegan out of breath. She reached for her inhaler on the coffee table and took a puff. Tegan turned to one of the medics that came in later. "The kids, the kids... I think they've been drugged... they need help" said Tegan. "We've got it... we'll check them out. Just calm down, you're safe now, they're safe" said the medic.

"Kate, Kate... they're bringing Jeremy in, he's been shot... Kate... Oh god he didn't have a pulse" said Sara into her phone. Lindsey was on the bed trying to calm her babies down. "What? Sara? Are you okay? Where's Tegan?" asked Kate. "We're okay... just... take care of Jeremy" said Sara. "I'll be waiting for them" said Kate. "Please Katy, don't let him die" cried Sara. "I'll do everything I can" said Kate before Sara hung up.

"I want full spinal precautions, get a hard collar on him" said Amy. "I moved him… I moved his head" said Tegan. "That's okay Tegan, you did what you had to do. You did a good job" said Eric. The medics put a neck brace on Jeremy and carefully rolled him onto a spine board and lifted him onto a gurney. "You're okay Jer, you're going to be okay" said Tegan and held Jeremy's hand. "Okay guys we need to move, his pressure's taking a nose dive" said Eric.

"Tegan… Tee" said Sara coming into the room. "Sara I need you to stay here… I have to go with Jeremy but you stay here with Lindsey and the kids. Make sure they bring them to the hospital to get checked out" said Tegan sounding breathless. "Okay… Tee are you okay? What happened?" said Sara confused. "Yeah I'm good" said Tegan. "What happened?" asked Sara again. "It's a long story, I'll fill you in later" said Tegan. "Tegan you look as if you're about to go down" said Sara. "Sara just go…. I'm fine… go to Lindsey and the kids" said Tegan as they started pushing Jeremy out of the room. "Jeremy, hang in there bud… Kate's waiting for you at the hospital. She's going to take really good care of you" said Sara and squeezed Jeremy's lifeless hand.

Kate pulled on a yellow trauma gown over her scrubs and put her trauma glasses on. "Dr Morgan, paediatric trauma coming in?" asked Owen walking up to her. "Not exactly" said Kate pulling on some gloves. "What's going on?" said Owen. "You guys are having a busy day, just lending a hand" said Kate and started walking outside. "Who's the gunshot victim coming in?" asked Owen. "Owen why don't you just go glove up. ETA's 5 minutes. I need you with me" said Kate. "Kate this isn't your job anymore" said Owen. "Dr Hunt, last time I checked I was still a highly qualified and experienced trauma surgeon. I don't see anybody more competent here right now to deal with this. Present company excluded of course" said Kate. "Okay... I hope you know what you're doing" said Owen and pulled on a trauma gown. "Abby, call Alex and Erin please. They'll want to know what happened" said Kate. "What's that?" asked Owen. "We have a gunshot victim to focus on Owen, put your game face on" said Kate.

"Tegan stay here, the cops will want to talk to you" said Amy. "No… I'm going with him. Please!" begged Tegan. She started wheezing again. "Let her come, I'm not leaving a victim with breathing difficulties here" said Eric. "One of you will have to drive" said the girl to the other two ambulance officers. "It's okay, I've got the kids" said a kind looking female ambulance officer. "I'll ask one of the cops to bring me back" said the guy and helped push Jeremy into the ambulance. Tegan sat down on the bench in the ambulance. The medics were completely focussed on Jeremy, pumping air into his lungs, adjusting IV bags, keeping pressure on the wound. Tegan was still wheezing, her hands shaking violently. She stared in shock at Jeremy's pale, lifeless face with tape all over it keeping the breathing tube in place.

The doors slammed shut and few seconds later the ambulance pulled away, sirens blazing. "You're okay Jer… hang in there" said Tegan wheezing. "Tegan, I'm just going to have a listen to your lungs" said Eric. "No I'm okay" said Tegan softly. He proceeded to listen to Tegan's lungs anyway. "Let's just put this on your finger" he said and put a pulse ox meter on her shaking finger. "I'm okay, just take… care of… Jeremy" said Tegan struggling more and more for air. "Amy's got him, he's okay. Let's just check you out real quick" said Eric. "Not sounding good. Lots of wheezing. Sats are only 90%" said Eric. "I'm okay" mumbled Tegan. "Okay Tegan, just put this mask on for me and take nice deep breaths" he said. Tegan shakily held the oxygen mask to her face. "Is he gonna be okay?" she asked, her teeth clattering. "We're doing everything we can for him Tegan" said Eric and put a blanket over Tegan's shaking shoulders. "That's not… an answer" said Tegan gasping. "Eric I need you" said Amy with her stethoscope on Jeremy's chest.

Kate paced up and down in front of the ER entrance. She put her hands in her sides and threw her head back taking a deep breath. "Kate? You okay?" asked Abby walking outside. "Yeah, I'm good. Abs, please get Dr Jordan to take over Sonia's care. Page Altman to come check Tegan out, don't know if she's hurt but I want to make sure we cover our bases" said Kate. "I've got it Kate. You focus on Jeremy. Oh and Kate... Good luck" said Abby and patted Kate on the back.

Sara found Lindsey in the bedroom, hugging her babies in tears. Both kids were crying. "Come here Casey… everything's okay. This nice lady's just going to see if you guys are okay" said Sara hugging Casey. "You can hold her while I examine her, might calm her down a bit" said the medic. "I don't think they're hurt but they seem groggy and they're very fussy. It's not like them" said Lindsey in tears. "Okay let's have a look. Mommy, try and calm down, they're probably sensing your distress" smiled the medic. "I'm Lucy… what's your name little one? Aren't you a cutie!" she said sweetly. "This pretty girl is Casey and this handsome boy is Ryan" said Sara bouncing Casey up and down. "Okay Casey, I'm just going to shine this light into your eyes for a second" said Lucy. Casey's bottom lip started quivering again after the light in her eyes. "Okay Case, it's okay sweetie. It's over" said Sara and kissed Casey's hair in tears. Lucy proceeded to check Casey's heart and lungs, temp and BP. "She looks okay to me. Temp's slightly high and her BP's a bit low though, so I'm going to take them to the hospital to get checked out. They may want to do some blood tests, just to be safe" said Lucy. "Oh god…. Please let it be nothing" said Lindsey, still in tears. "Calm down mom, they'll be okay" smiled Lucy and started checking out Ryan.

"Pressure's falling, he's becoming bradycardic. Pulse down to 40" said Amy. "Hanging another liter of saline. Open the dopamine drip wide, let's try point 5 of Epi" said Eric. "Jer… almost there hang on, hang on" said Tegan. "What's our ETA?" shouted Amy towards the front of the ambulance. "A minute or two" said the driver. Tegan's ears were ringing from the loud sirens on the ambulance. She took a deep breath of oxygen and closed her eyes. "Please… please, please, please… please be okay" she whispered.

A/N: *Gasp* Traumatic (and long) chapter - Sorry! Review please!