4

Broken Future

Sharon waited patiently as Isidore Latham walked out of the OR. The black man looked unusually distraught and thoughtful as he walked up to her. "Miss Goodwin," he acknowledged.

"Doctor Latham," she responded. "How's Doctor Rhodes?"

"I suddenly realize why it is not allowed for doctors to treat patients with whom they have a personal history and if I am to be frank with you – even with my so-called deficiency or lack of emotions – I had trouble performing this surgery. Doctor Rhodes – Connor – is my friend."

Sharon nodded, suddenly feeling sorry for the man in front of her. "I am sorry, Isidore, but you are the Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the best we have in the field. Doctor Halstead paged you because he trusted no one else to take care of Doctor Rhodes."

"You wanted to know if he is all right. You are not interested in small talk," he deduced curtly, retreating back into his shell. "His left lung is severely bruised, amazingly his ribs are not broken, only fractured. The main cause for concern was the hematoma that had formed into the chest cavity due to a spleen injury. I was able to repair the organ and stop the bleed but he has lost a lot of blood and he will be weak from the surgery for a while. However, barring any complications, I do expect him to make a full recovery."

Sharon let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Thank you, Doctor Latham," she said with relief. "I'll let the others know."

OOOOOO

"Where is he?"

Maggie looked up from her notes only to stare into the demanding, steady blue eyes of Claire Rhodes. The similarities between the two siblings were striking.

Will walked up behind the charge nurse and answered before she could even begin to form a reply. "Miss Rhodes, your brother is upstairs. We're waiting for news as we speak," he informed her.

"Upstairs," Claire echoed worriedly. "Meaning what exactly?"

"Connor was taken to surgery a few hours ago," Maggie filled in.

"Oh, my goodness," she managed, blanching. "Surgery is bad? Isn't it? Will he be all right? You have to tell me he's going to be all right."

"Claire," Maggie began kindly.

"Look, he's been gone for so many years and now our schedules never seem to match. We've only recently started to catch up. I can't lose my brother now," she said worriedly as she placed a hand over her mouth and shook her head.

"I am sure there will be plenty of time for you two to reconnect," Will reasoned. "Why don't you follow me and I'll see what we can find out?"

She nodded appreciatively as she began to follow him down the busy corridor toward the elevators. "Our last conversation ended so badly," she blurted. "I never should have said the things I said."

Will felt a knot forming in his stomach at her anxious words, knowing the feeling of leaving something unattended all too well. He had a complicated relationship with his dad and deep down he knew he could have handled it better. "Connor's tough. I am sure he can take whatever you threw at him."

Claire sighed as she gathered herself and straightened her posture. "It was dad, actually, and I just stood there watching the argument unfold; doing nothing to interfere. I let Connor think that I agreed with dad. That I took his side-," she shook her head and let out a bitter snort. "I don't know why I am telling you all this."

Will shrugged. "Sometimes it helps to talk to someone about it," he reasoned kindly.

"The police told me he was involved in a car accident?" she said.

"Yeah, I don't know much more than you do at the moment," he replied as they stepped out of the elevator and onto the surgical floor.

"He-," she paused curiously, "he said his name was Halstead and that if I needed anything I could just call. Are you related in any way?"

Will frowned, silently wondering why his brother Jay would investigate a regular car accident. "Jay's my little brother," he replied.

He spotted the familiar operating nurse, Beth, and walked up to her. "Hey, do you know anything about Connor?"

She nodded with a bright smile. "Follow me, he's just been settled in here."

Will and Claire shared a hopeful look as they followed the nurse further into the ward.

Beth led them into a secluded room and nodded toward the pale black-haired patient. She looked at the emergency doctor. "Doctor Halstead I don't have to remind you that this visit must be kept short, do I?"

He shook his head lightly and then replied softly. "Thanks Beth. I'll make sure to see Miss Rhodes out in a little while."

As the nurse left them alone Will watched Claire walk up to her brother's bed and gently take his hand into hers, squeezing it. His eyes quickly scanned the monitors for something out of the ordinary and when he'd made sure everything was as it should, he finally allowed himself to feel relief.

"I am afraid he won't wake up yet but he's doing fine so you shouldn't worry," he informed her softly. "I know there are a lot of people downstairs that eagerly awaits news so I'll leave you two alone for a while but when I come back-,"

Claire raised her head to look at him from where she sat next to her brother's bedside, the strong woman gently dabbed at a tear that had escaped her eye. "When you come back, I'll leave," she concluded with a slight quiver in her usually strong voice.

Will was momentarily stunned by the stricken look on her porcelain face but at the same time he was glad that despite their fractured relationship Connor and Claire had come a long way in repairing the past and building a future.

OOOOOO

Ava exhaled deeply as the patient was wheeled away from the operating room – alive. It had been a close call despite her best efforts and Connor's exceptionally good groundwork on the field and in the trauma bay downstairs. She discarded her chaperon and threw her gloves in the bin. She was deeply concerned for her colleague.

"Doctor Bekker," one of the attending operating nurses called as she walked out of the OR. "Maggie called from the ED. They are eager for news about your patient."

The South African woman nodded. "Yeah, I'll get down there. The patient made it out of surgery and will be monitored closely so I'd say she is out of immediate danger for now. There is something I need to do-,"

The nurse smiled. "Doctor Rhodes was brought out of surgery an hour ago," she informed kindly, knowing the surgeon was most likely worried about her colleague.

Bekker let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Where is he?" she asked, trying not to sound too demanding.

OOOOOO

"Hi, Jay," Natalie said with a bright smile.

The detective nodded. "Nat," he replied. "Look – ah - is Doctor Rhodes awake yet?"

The doctor made a face and then shook her head. "Will went up to see if he was out of surgery-," she paused as the ginger head walked out of the elevator and began to walk towards them.

The doctor and the detective waited expectantly for him to join them.

Will let a small chuckle escape his lips as he shook his head and placed his hands on his hips. "Why the long faces? Are you waiting for someone's funeral?"

Natalie's eyes darkened. "It's not funny Will," she chided.

"What isn't?" he asked cockily. "Connor's going to be just fine. I just spoke to Beth and the surgery went well."

Nat breathed a sigh of relief as she mirrored the victorious smile on Will's lips.

Jay shrugged, then frowned. "So, can I see him?"

"I am sorry, broh, he's not exactly going to bounce right back on his feet," Will pointed out. "Besides, I thought I heard him say something about already giving his testimony back at the accident site?"

Jay offered an enigmatic half-smirk as watched his brother. "Let's just say that based on what we have been able to ascertain so far, we need to hear him again."

Natalie looked at him with a mix of sadness and disbelief as she began to draw her own conclusions. "What is it you are not telling us, Jay? Is Connor at fault-,"

The detective shook his head. "No, no, nothing like that," he assured her. "Just give me a call when he's ready to see me, okay?"

Will placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Sure," he replied.

Jay nodded his thanks and headed off towards the main entrance.

Nat watched him disappear and turned to Will. "What's going on?" she asked curiously. "Why is the Intelligence Unit working the case? I mean, it was just a regular accident, wasn't it?"

OOOOOO

"Miss Goodwin," Nina acknowledged with surprise.

"Doctor Shore," the Head of Patient Care Services replied kindly.

"It's good to see you down here but I didn't expect your company," the blonde pathologist said with a smile.

Sharon shuddered lightly at the sight before her. The naked man on the steel table was covered up by a thin sheet up to his hips and his chest had been cracked open for the autopsy. The paleness of death covered his body like an invisible veil, giving him an unnatural and eerie appearance.

"I never seem to get used to this, you know," she offered with a faint smile as she came to a stop next to the medical examiner.

"I don't think many people do, Miss Goodwin," Nina replied kindly. "Death is seldom beautiful or joyous. I'd say it is kind of sane to avoid this place."

"Does that mean that you consider yourself insane, Doctor Shore?" Goodwin asked carefully, with a blink.

That elicited a smirk from the pathologist. "I consider myself a professional. Someone has to do a little digging-," she paused and removed her hands from the chest cavity. "No pun intended."

Sharon smirked as she looked from the doctor to the deceased. "And no disrespect, I am sure," she said warmly. "Look, I don't want to rush your work but the police seem very eager to get his test results and the post-mortem report."

Nina sighed, then shook her head. "Yeah, I bet they do," she said sadly. "Is he a suspect?"

Goodwin seemed troubled for some reason. "He was involved in the car accident midtown earlier this morning," she explained. "One of our own was-,"

Nina nodded. "Yeah, Doctor Rhodes," she quickly filled in. "I-," she swallowed. "Earlier, when you opened the door – I was afraid another victim had arrived – and that perhaps it was Connor."

"No, dear," Sharon assured her. "He's very much alive. I spoke to Doctor Latham earlier and he expected Doctor Rhodes to make a full recovery."

Nina let out a deep breath. "I am so glad to hear it. It came as a real shock to all of us when Doctor Downey passed away and Connor is such a nice guy – such a good surgeon – it would be a tremendous waste to have him end up here."

Goodwin nodded slowly as she looked from Doctor Shore to her patient. "What do you make of this man?" she asked curiously.

Based on my findings so far, he was involved in a high-speed accident. There is a lot of blunt force trauma to his head and chest, the poor guy didn't stand a chance really," she explained. "But even if he had survived the crash, his days would have been numbered."

Sharon turned to her sharply. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I thought Doctor Abrams had already told you," Nina said. "He came to see me about an hour ago. Apparently, our boy here, Lucas. He was diagnosed with a badly situated brain tumor a few months ago over at the Memorial Hospital."

Sharon felt her blood run cold.

"Was he suicidal?" Nina asked carefully. "Is that what the police thinks? That he caused this accident?"

"Right now, I am afraid that there are more questions than answers," Goodwin offered kindly. "Would you let me know when you have something ready?"

"Of course," Nina replied.

OOOOOO

To be continued