[Gunshot fires.]
Kim rounded the corner and her breath hitched, seeing Adam on the ground. Eyes darting wildly, gun at the ready, she made her way to the officer, calling urgently into her radio. "50-21 Eddie, I need an ambo NOW! West alley of Bellmont. Shots fired at the police. Officer down."
She kneeled down next to Adam, gun still raised. "Where is he?! Where is he?!"
Adam panted, eye squeezed shut, "He's gone. He's gone. You should go."
Kim ignored his command and quickly put her gun in her holster, running her hands over Adam's chest. Adam instinctively tried to push her hands away, still taking short, shallow breaths.
"Let me get this off," Kim said, ripping the velcro straps away and pushing the bulletproof vest aside. "Are you okay?!"
Kevin ran up as Kim opened Adam's jacket. "Ruzek! Where you at?!"
At the worried call from his partner, Adam mustered enough energy to call out. "I'm fine, wind's just knocked."
Kevin arrived at Kim's side just as she lifted Adam's shirt to reveal an apple-size bruise blossoming on his right side. "The vest took it, hit the ribs," she told Kevin.
"I shouldn't have taken the corner. Patrol never rolled," Adam said, still taking shallow breaths and bringing his hands to his chest.
"I'm sorry, bro. I'm sorry," Kevin started.
"He's good," Kim said to Kevin, asking him silently to stop. She turned to Adam, "You breathing all right?" she asked him.
"I'm fine," Adam repeated, putting his hands under him to sit up. He immediately groaned and laid back again, fighting to breathe.
Kim made eye contact with Kevin and grabbed Adam's hand.
"Adam, stay down. Your rib could've hit your lung. Just take a breath," she said.
"I'm fine," he said again, almost automatically. "I just...can't breathe", he said, starting to panic as he continued to struggle.
Kevin kneeled down as the paramedics rounded the corner. "I'm sorry, man," he said again.
Kim started rattling details as Sylvie and Mackie reached them, "He took a shot to the vest, right side. He can't catch his breath."
"We've got you, Ruzek," Syvlie said as she and Mackie put the backboard on the ground. "Kevin, help us get him on the stretcher."
"I don't, I'm good," Adam wheezed, putting his hands beneath him and trying to lift up.
"Adam, please…" Kim started.
"Let us do our jobs, man," Mackie said.
Adam laid his head back on the ground, his face pale and his lips continuing to take on a blue hue.
"On my count…" Sylvie started. Kim and Kevin instinctively placed their hands along Ruzek's right side and grabbed hold of his clothing. "One, two, three."
On three, they rolled Ruzek onto his left side and quickly slid the board under him. He groaned and sputtered, eyes wide. "Can't breathe," he choked out.
"I know," Brett said. The group lifted the backboard onto the stretched and Mackie placed her stethoscope on Adam's chest. He winced as the bell pressed lightly on his right side.
"Diminished breath sounds on the right…" Mackie told Brett cautiously.
Sylvie placed an oxygen mask on Adam's face. "Just breathe, Ruzek. We've got you."
Adam closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as they rolled him quickly toward Ambulance 61 and took fast, shallow breaths, barely fogging the mask while they loaded him into the back.
"We'll escort you," Kevin said, grabbing Kim by the hand and taking off toward their car. They immediately flipped the lights and sirens, and Kevin peeled out, taking the lead in front of the ambulance to block any intersections that might slow them down.
***
Kevin hit the brakes in front of the ambulance bay at Chicago Med, slamming the car into park and jumping out before the car even had a chance to settle.
He and Kim hit their running stride, catching a glimpse of Adam being rolled into the double doors.
"What'd we got?" they heard Ethan ask as they caught up to the stretcher. As Brett rattled off their report, Kevin heard Jay and Hailey run up behind them.
"Will!" Jay called out instinctively, seeing his brother in the crowd. Will Halstead made eye contact with his brother, scanned the group, took notice of the young officer on the stretcher, and yelled "Baghdad, now!"
Dr. Halstead and Dr. Choi flanked the stretcher in the exam room, making eye contact for a split second before simultaneously lifting the sheet under Adam to move him over to the bed. Adam groaned and panted, the cry of pain taking the small amount of air he'd managed to capture.
Brett rolled the stretcher out of the room, making room for the officers to surround the bed as best they could. Kim took Adam's hand and squeezed, Kevin's hand on her shoulder.
Hailey touched Jay's arm and Jay looked to his brother, asking for answers without saying anything.
"Adam, how're you doing, bud?" Will asked as the medical team acted, controlled chaos. He placed his stethoscope on Adam's left side, then his right, taking notice of the growing bruise. "He's not getting any air on the right," he told Ethan.
Dr. Choi, poised on Adam's right side, palpated his ribs, feeling for deformities. "I need a chest x-ray, now. Everybody back," he said loudly, feeling abnormal ridges on Adam's ribs.
Kim reluctantly let Adam's hand drop as everyone in the room took a few steps back. The technician slid the tray under the bed and positioned the machine above Adam's chest. In an instant, the film was taken and the team was back at his side.
"I'm fine," Adam said again, to no one specific.
"You're going to be fine, Ruzek," Dr. Halstead responded, looking at the image that had just appeared on the screen beside the bed. "The bullet broke a couple ribs and your lung was punctured. We've got to re-inflate it so you can breathe, bud."
Adam's eyes darted from Dr. Halstead on one side to his team on the other, still gasping.
A nurse wheeled a tray to Will's side of the bed. "Hold him," he told her quickly.
As she moved to the other side of the bed, Kevin and Jay instinctively moved into position on either side of Kim, laying their hands on Adam. "We've got it," Jay said.
The nurse looked to Will and he nodded. "It's fine," he told her.
"Adam, this is going to hurt like hell, but we've got to do it," he said. Adam nodded once, acknowledging Will's statement with as much effort as he could muster.
Will took Adam's right hand and lifted it up and over his forehead. Adam winced and squeezed his eyes shut. Will looked to Jay and nodded as Jay held Adam's upper arm where Will had placed it and put his other hand on Adam's shoulder, holding it down.
"Keep him from turning," Will told Kevin. Kevin put his hands on Adam's thighs, holding them down. Kim gripped Adam's left hand, squeezing until her own fingers turned white.
"Don't look," Will told Adam, using his hand to turn Adam's face in the other direction. Kim used her other hand to hold Adam's cheek, keeping him from turning toward the doctor.
Will felt down Adam's right side, counting ribs until he found the right place. He placed blue, sterile towels around the spot and took the swabs from the nurse, hastily cleaning the area in a circular motion.
"Okay, Ruzek, I'll be quick…" Will promised as he steadied one hand on Adam's side and took the scalpel from the nurse in his other hand. He made a precise incision between the ribs and a small sound escaped Adam's lips. He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands.
Will inserted two gloved fingers into the new hole in Adam's chest, spreading the ribs slightly and making way for the chest tube, feeling for the right spot. Adam instinctively bucked his hips and turned away from Will, with an animalistic, guttural groan.
"Hold him!" Will shouted as Kevin leaned his upper body against Adam's hips, doing his best to straighten his partner back on the bed.
Kim held Adam's face toward her as he squeezed his eyes shut again and a tear escaped, rolling down his pale face. He tried to bite his lip, but his body betrayed him, gasping for air and making it difficult to keep himself together.
Will continued to spread Adam's ribs with one hand, taking the chest tube from the tray with the other hand. "Adam, I know, man, just hang on and it'll be done" Will pleaded, wanting the procedure to be over as much as he did. Jay and Kevin made quick eye contact and leaned their bodies over Adam, forcing him into position on the bed.
Jay nodded at Will, signaling silently that they had Ruzek tightly in position, and Will crouched next to the bed, swiftly inserting the tube into Adam's lung. An audible rush of air escaped the tube and Adam let out a yell as Will twisted the tube into position and held it. Jay and Kevin released their hold slightly, and Adam opened his eyes, tears falling down the sides of his face, panting heavily. He took his hand from Kim, bringing his hand to his head and wiping the tears away quickly as he took full breaths for the first time since the accident.
Kevin released his partner, but Jay kept a hand on Adam's upper arm, keeping it above his head as Will went to work stitching the tube into place.
Once Adam finally had control of his breathing, color returning to his face, he reached up to Kevin with his free hand and Kevin wrapped both his hands around Adam's.
"I'm sorry…" Kevin let out.
"No." Adam said "Nothing to be sorry about. We've got your back."