Hello again :)
I'm so sorry you had to wait this long for an update. I actually wrote most of the second chapter the day after posting the first one, but never got the chance to write the ending and re-read it to check for mistakes. Now here we are, almost three weeks later. College has been insane lately and now the whole virus thing is adding to the mix. For those of you who don't know, I live right next to Italy and I go there all the time. So when the whole epidemy thing happened everything went a little crazy. And my country decided to be stupid and not do anything about it until it's too late. Actually, let me rephrase that. My country decided to repeat the same exact mistakes as Italy. And now we're screwed. It took as less than five days to become the 13th most infected country in the world. We honestly deserve a pat on the back. They finally decided to cancel schools one week ago, saying we're gonna have two weeks off. They just cancelled school for at least another month, but we saw that coming. So now I get to experience what it's like to homeschool. Well… I get a bad version of homeschool, because apparently my teachers haven't heard of a camera before, which means I have to teach myself everything. Also, in case you were wondering, we're all on lockdown and almost forbidden from leaving our home, which means the library is also closed. Which means I have no chance of getting books that I need for school. Isn't it great? And to think we could've prevented this or at least some of it. All jokes to the side, my mom has no immune system, which means this thing is very dangerous for her and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. I also have an autoimmune disease, but I'm supposed to be the "safe generation", so I'm not worried about myself. Considering the fact that I was still in college a week ago, I've decided to keep myself locked in my bedroom just in case. I'd go crazy if I infected my mom. Sarcasm to the side, I know you come from all over the world, so I hope all of you and your families and friends are safe and well.
Some of you probably know that I really like talking to all of you and I really appreciate feedback, which is why I normally answer every single one of the reviews I get on my stories. So, I wanna know if you would like me to answer each one of you personally in the future or not. (I won't mind either way.)
WhyDoIWrite: Oh my goodness, hiiii! This is so awesome! The second I saw your username, I died. What are the odds? It's amazing to see that we now share another favourite character. You always leave me the sweetest reviews on my Chicago PD story, so I was amazed when I saw you were a TK fan too. I was debating whether or not I should even post a new FanFiction, because I felt like I was betraying everyone who's been waiting for an update on my Chicago PD story. But I just wanted to write this so badly… Thank you for your kind words and support. It means the world to me. (My take on 1x08 is hopefully coming soon.)
larutanrepus89: Another familiar username :) Thank you so much!
Guest: Hi! Believe it or not, the day of the update has come.
Guest: Your wish is my command :) And yes, I have seen the promo and I am dying to write about it, so yes, it will happen.
Guest: Merci beaucoup :)
BwithUforever: Thank you so so much! I'm glad you like it.
Sara: Hi! I can't get enough of TK either, so I'm already crying over the fact that I'm gonna have to wait a while for the show to continue. It's a tragedy. Thank you so much for your sweet review! I love to read about our sweet injured TK and I also love to write about, so there's a lot more to come.
Guest: Thank you so much! I can't wait to write about episode 8 either. I can only imagine how much I'm going to cry while watching it. It's gonna be great! (I promise, I'm not crazy XD)
Guest: Aww, thank you so much! I really appreciate that. I adore the relationship between TK and Owen too. It makes me so happy that they actually show quite a lot of it on the show. I think they focus on the little things more than other shows normally do, which is probably why I love it so much. I'd still love to see more of it though. I honestly wouldn't mind watching hours and hours of it. And can we just talk about their Instagram lives? I mean… those lives and stories are everything!
X5 - 452 and 492: Thank you so much! Your wish has been granted :)
Guest: Don't worry, you're getting your TK fix :) I can't wait to watch the finale. For some reason it still hasn't aired in my country, so… that's mean. I've seen some clips though and I absolutely will write about that crash. Man, I'm so excited!
markylannister: Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're getting another one :)
FlyingWolf29: Oh my goodness, would you look at that? A silo prompt. Totally random question, but can you read my mind? That's exactly what this chapter is about, so you're welcome (even though I only saw your prompt minutes before posting this XD) And thank you, I'm really glad you enjoyed the first chapter, and I hope this one doesn't disappoint :)
Guest: Welcome to the fandom and welcome to my filling the holes/torturing TK stories :) I hope they do you justice.
Thank you to those who favourited and followed the story, and thank you to everyone who read it. The positive feedback has been incredible and I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me. Also, I just realised that this story has had more than 1000 views. Which is a lot. I posted the first chapter on 1st March, which is 20 days ago. I've been writing my "most successful" story for almost three years and currently has a little over 140,000 views. See the difference? This story got way more views than that one, which is insane…
Okay, I'm gonna stop now. I hope you enjoy :)
Who's Going Down?
Owen's P.O.V.
"Who's going down?" I ask, after hearing a ridiculous amount of commotion from the inside of the silo. I fully expect to hear Derek's name over the radio, which means I'm not at all prepared for the response I get.
"TK and Marjan" Judd yells hurriedly and in a very much panicked way, not easing the blow whatsoever. "Cut it open now!"
Damn it. Why does it always have to be TK?
Before I know it, I'm cutting a hole into the side of the tank. I can hear the paramedics requesting additional ambulances, which only makes me worry more.
It's not just about Derek anymore. It's about my team. My son.
I know this is a ticking bomb. You see, being partially submerged into grain can cause serious contusions and can literally rip you apart, but being fully submerged is a whole different thing. Tons of corn are piled on top of you, literally crushing you alive.
Grain is similar to quicksand. Even when the smallest amount of grain has space to move, it fills the empty space within seconds. See where I'm going with this? Every time TK breathes, he risks inhaling corn and every time he exhales, the pressure on his chest gets bigger and bigger. Eventually his breaths are going to become so shallow, he's going to suffocate.
The second the hole is made corn starts piling out and spreading all over the floor, covering my feet and eventually my shoes and knees. Everyone goes silent for what feels like forever, before Marjan finally appears and stumbles out of the hole.
I rush forward, helping her stand up, while keeping an eye out for TK. "Marjan, you okay?" I ask, receiving a nod and a cough in response.
"Where's TK?" she gasps. "He was holding my hand…"
Her comment stabs me in the chest more than I ever thought possible. I share a look with Judd, who seems to be frozen in place, probably doing the exact same thing as me, which is going over every possible bad scenario.
Damn it. This can't be happening. I'm starting to freak out a little. I'm not one to lose my mind in a crisis, but when it comes to my son… let's just say I'm a bit more short-tempered.
Just then Derek falls out of the hole too, piles of corn immediately covering him again. Paramedics rush forward, pulling him to safety before whisking him away and towards a hospital within two minutes.
There's still no sign of TK though.
"Where is he?" I ask, my heart clenching tight, trying to suffocate me. "Why isn't he out yet? TK!"
All of us are standing motionless, staring at the hole in the side of the silo, waiting for TK to appear. After a while, Judd curses. "Mateo, cut more holes" he yells, before doing a little nervous pacing thing for the next minute or so.
"How long has he been in there?" Paul asks me, putting one of his hands on my shoulder.
"I don't know" I gasp helplessly, before being interrupted by Judd.
"Six minutes."
Damn it. That's too long. Where is he?
Mateo makes two more holes, while I keep watching the grain flow slower and slower, until I finally spot something black right next to the first hole.
"There!" I yell, rushing forward, a sickening feeling forming in my stomach the second I step into the grain again and realise, how difficult it is to stay afloat.
"TK!" I yell, reaching through the hole and grabbing for the familiar black fabric covered in yellow dust. He must've gotten pushed into the wall by the grain, missing the hole by inches.
Judd is suddenly standing right next to me. "Get him out, now!" he yells at whoever can hear him (probably me), his hands reaching inside of the hole and pulling desperately.
Together, we have just enough strength to pull TK and a whole lot of corn closer.
It feels like I'm pulling a sack of cement.
I stumble back, my back landing on top of the corn piled all over the floor, with TK right next to me. Buried headfirst in the grain.
"TK!" I yell, scrambling to my feet while simultaneously reaching for his shoulder. "You okay?"
He's not moving.
Why isn't he moving?
Judd's next to me now, helping me turn TK over on his back, yelling his name very loudly too. I think the rest of the team must be standing really close to us by now too, because all of their screaming is starting to make my head feel like it's gonna explode any second.
I feel sick.
TK's face is white, with a clear blue tint to it. You know all those dead bodies from cop shows? From the people who either drowned or froze to death. Yeah, that's what his face looks like.
This feels a lot like New York. Except this time, I don't know how to fix it.
Judd rubs TK's chest with his hand, hoping to get any sort of reaction from him, but he stays still. He's TK. He's never still.
I keep expecting him to burst out laughing and tell me it was all a joke, but it doesn't happen.
"He's not breathing" Judd announces, grabbing TK under his shoulders and dragging him away from the corn, carefully laying him on solid ground. I crawl my way towards them, wincing as I see Judd start chest compressions.
"Check his airway" he orders, motioning towards TK's head. I'm honestly glad, he's taken control of the situation, giving me the freedom to be a dad and lose my mind. Well, at least a little.
I gently pull TK's chin up and open his mouth, my heart stopping at the realisation of what's in front of me.
Corn.
Everywhere.
"Damn it" I hiss, using my finger to try and get as much of the corn as possible out of TK's mouth. He must've inhaled it.
Judd eyes me carefully, never breaking the rhythmical pounding. I can tell he isn't holding back, using all of his strength to try and get TK breathing again.
Seconds seem to last a lifetime, before the tiniest little cough finally escapes his mouth.
Judd immediately stops compressions and turns TK on his side, gently patting his back. "That's it, buddy. Cough it up."
His head is still resting on my shaking hands. "Breathe, TK, breathe" I whisper, making eye-contact with Judd, who despite not liking TK very much, seems really concerned. I'm starting to think I should be happy about the fact that I know absolutely nothing about these type of Texas things. Such as grain silos and their dangers.
"How far out's that ambo?" Judd yells at no one in particular, while I try my best not to puke at the sound of barely existing irregular wheezes, coming from my son.
"Three minutes" that no one in particular yells back, his response followed by some serious cursing coming from Judd.
"Keep his airway open" he says, doing a onceover of the motionless figure in front of him, while I make sure that the horrific wheezing never stops. "Somebody get me oxygen! Come on, TK, breathe." Who would've thought Judd would be the one to look like he's about to puke at the sight of my son? Go figure. "He's freezing. Paul, go get him a blanket!"
Judd's words struck me like a lightning. I never even realised how cold the skin underneath my fingers was. But it's boiling hot in Texas… Seconds later a blanket is wrapped around TK and the emergency oxygen mask we keep in the truck for just in case is secured around his head.
The whole team is standing around us, each member expressing their fear and concern in a different way. Some apparently have a very good pokerface, while some look just about ready to cry.
I notice Judd is running one of his hands up and down TK's arm and leg, while using the other one to keep TK on his side. I, on the other hand, am in the middle of my reassuring monologue, when TK finally starts to wiggle around.
"Hey there, buddy" I say, gently rubbing his back to hopefully offer him some additional comfort. "Everything's gonna be okay. Help is on the way. Just breathe." His eyes have made no effort to open yet, but his hands and feet keep twitching every now and then, making me wonder exactly how alert he actually is.
Suddenly, he jolts, arms reaching towards his face and pulling the oxygen mask off.
"Whoa, hey, leave that on" Judd says, trying to pry his fingers off of it unsuccessfully.
I notice TK's lips moving, but no sound's coming out, so I lean closer. "Everybody quiet! What is it TK?"
It's barely audible, but I immediately know what he's saying. "M-ar"
"She's okay, buddy. She's right here" I say, looking towards Marjan. "She's safe."
It's so much like TK to think of everybody else before himself. He's the one barely breathing, and he's still concerned about the wellbeing of others.
Marjan officially gives up on her endlessly tough reputation and kneels next to TK, gently grabbing one of his hands.
My thoughts are interrupted by painful groans and coughing, so I gently snatch the oxygen mask out of TK's other hand and gently press it over his face. "Put the mask back on, son." I don't bother with the strap, knowing it's gonna be way more comfortable for TK if I'm the one holding the scary uncomfortable thing.
"TK, I know you like your sleep and all, but do you think you could open your eyes for me real quick?" Judd asks, achieving absolutely nothing, which makes his face scrunch up in a weird way.
I decide not to get into it, so I keep talking until the second ambulance finally shows up, paramedics rushing forward with all of the necessary equipment.
The female one immediately grabs a stethoscope and listens to TK's heart, while the other one connects him to a monitor. Apparently, that's interesting enough to get TK to finally open his eyes.
"Hey, buddy. Stay awake for me, okay?" I whisper, rubbing his head with my fingers, just like I did when he was little.
"He's barely getting any air. We need to move" the paramedic states, just as TK's eyes roll back and his body goes still once again.
"TK!" I scream as I get pushed out of the way by the male paramedic.
"Bag him" the other one says, throwing an ambu bag to the man who just shoved me out of the way.
They turn TK on his back again, before the man starts squeezing the ambu bag, forcing air into his lungs.
"There's too much resistance" he states.
"Alright, we need to intubate."
Oh god. Please, TK, you have to be okay.
Owen's P.O.V.
This whooshing thing is really starting to get on my nerves.
So is the constant beeping.
And this plastic chair, which is giving me a hernia in case you were wondering.
"I'm gonna go get a cup of coffee" Judd whispers, while standing up with a very dramatic groan. I guess that makes two hernias. "Do you want anything?"
I shake his head and try my best to offer him a half-smile, even though I'm dead tired.
It's been 34 hours since TK was brought in. That makes about an hour of emergency room horror, almost eight hours of surgery and 25 hours of sleeping. Well… coma.
"-he's been unresponsive ever since. His lungs are filled with corn. I can barely keep his oxygen above 80. He's also slightly hypothermic."
"How long ago was this?"
"About 35 minutes."
"Okay, get him into trauma 2. In need a warming blanket and a portable chest x-ray! I'm sorry, sir, I'm gonna need you to wait outside."
"What? No! That's my son!"
"Come on, cap, give 'em space to work."
"Page the OR, we need to get him up there right now and drain his lungs."
"You really should eat something, cap" Judd says, making me jump as if I'd been burned.
"Huh?" I hum, completely out of breath.
"I said you should eat something. You're gonna be no good to TK if you collapse."
"I'm fine" I whisper, transferring my attention back to the motionless face resembling my son. Judd gives up on trying to get me to move and leaves, making this the first time I've been alone with TK in the past two days.
The tubes don't scare me as much anymore. They looked very intimidating at first, but the doctors explained what each one of them is, which makes it a little bit less awful. I've come to know the worst one on that horrible piece of cement, when the paramedics decided it was time for them to intubate TK. I was well aware of the fact that TK's breathing was anything but good at that moment, but the thought of someone else doing the breathing for your son… is crazy.
The next few tubes were added on the way to the hospital, while I was told to keep squeezing the ambu bag every five seconds as gently as I can, to make sure I wasn't doing more damage than good. Those were a fun twenty minutes of my life I'll never forget. The paramedic used that time to get an IV going, while simultaneously arguing with me about why he shouldn't give TK any unnecessary pain medication. I knew TK would've done anything to avoid opioids, and since he was too busy not breathing, it was my job to fight for him.
Surprisingly enough, the ER didn't reward TK with any more tubes, but to be fair, the OR really did make up for it with the chest tubes on either side of my son's chest. Those things look highly uncomfortable. And huge. The surgeon explained to me that the surgery was to make sure they removed every single grain of corn from TK's lungs, which apparently took forever. The chest tubes were the result of his chest being cracked open to ensure his lungs didn't collapse.
You think I'm done? Nope. Two more tubes to go.
Since TK's lungs have been through a lot, they're going to keep him on the ventilator for at least the next few days, to make sure his lungs get the rest that they need. Which also means that he can't eat. Hence tube number five, which is there to get the nutrients that he needs directly into his stomach. And last, but certainly not least is the tube that I'm sure TK will enjoy and appreciate very much, is the catheter, since he obviously isn't going to be making the short journey to the bathroom anytime soon. And that, ladies and gentlemen, completes the round of tubes.
I don't know how long I sit there, just staring at nothing, before the fingers inside my hand twitch. At first, it's almost unnoticeable, making me think it was just one of those subconscious things.
I can't resist to squeeze his hand though. And to my surprise, the cold hand squeezes back.
"TK?" I ask, carefully standing up and leaning closer to him. "Can you hear me?"
I'm trying not to get my hopes up, since the doctors told me they were keeping him mostly sedated, so that he's not too uncomfortable, while being stuck on the vent, but a part of me wants to see him awake so bad it hurts. I did say I was trying… doesn't mean I'm successful.
It takes a little more coaxing, but finally, TK's eyelids flutter and the sparkling blue eyes stare directly into mine.
"Hey, kiddo" I say, with a ridiculous grin plastered all over my face, trying it's best to disguise the tears that are threatening to fall. "Hey, buddy. You're okay, everything's okay. You're in the hospital, buddy. No need to worry about it though. I'm here and you're gonna be just fine. I promise." I don't see fear or confusion in his eyes, his hand squeezes mine a little harder though. "It's okay, TK. Get some rest. I'm not going anywhere."
He blinks a few more times, before finally closing his eyes again.
I lean closer to his ear, gently rubbing his head. "I love you, kid." I could almost swear I saw the corner of his mouth curve into a smile. "And just so you know, I'm never making popcorn again."
The end.
What are we thinking? Do we like it or no? I kinda went a little dramatic with this one. Especially considering TK fell into corn, which I'm guessing is way more difficult to inhale than smaller grain, but hey, it's fiction. You might wanna get used to it, since I tend to do it quite often. Oops, I did it again… I'm not sure whether I like this chapter or not. I was gonna write a very long description of what happens at the hospital, but I figured I'd have to leave you hanging for even longer, so I decided to cut that short. It was either that or leaving you with a cliff-hanger, which I'm guessing some of you probably hate, so… The verdict was made, and the hospital scene is way shorter than intended. I hope you don't mind. Also it's literally one in the morning right now, so I'm sorry for any mistakes that I made.
So, what should I write next? Should I do something original or continue with my takes on what my ridiculous imagination would've liked to see on the show? If so, should I write something about the tornados, move on to episode 8 or 10? I was going to write my expectations for episode 8, but I kinda want to see where they take it first. I haven't seen it yet. (I know, I know, I don't know how I've managed to wait for this long.) I've seen spoilers though, so I sort of know what happens. It's impossible not to see spoilers when you have social media, no matter how much I try to avoid it. I might finally take the time and watch all three episodes this weekend. I'm guessing they're not gonna do anything dramatic to TK, but who knows, they might surprise me. (I really hope they do. Sorry, TK.)
I would really appreciate it if you left me a review, if you have the chance. To me, it's like a five-year-old getting a pile of candy. Absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Till next time.
Love, N
PS: Tomorrow, 21st March, is World Down Syndrome day. Everybody is so focused on this whole coronavirus thing, so how about we change it up a little and help make a difference? I encourage you join me and consciously put on mismatched socks. The meaning behind this is that just because they don't naturally go together, doesn't mean they can't be friends. Isn't it cool to stand out by breaking the mould? So, let's do something nice. Let's embrace difference and wear bright, crazy socks with pride.