Hello everybody! I didn't update for a while, because I'm so busy with university (and I don't have chapters in advance). But here is the next chapter, hoping you will like it and let me a review ;)
Time to read and enjoy !
CHAPTER 6: Keep hope
Kelly was running. He was running as fast as possible through the streets to come to Chicago Med in time. He didn't care about his drunk shape. He was running as hell. With the wind and the speed he was running, the tears were streaming from his eyes and down his cheeks, then going behind him. Shaywas running after him, and was receiving his tears on her face. It was hard to follow him, but she knew that nothing and no one could stop him. Matt was too important to him to lose him without doing nothing. He was desperate. After five minutes of intense effort, he sttod there near the doors. Dr. Riley was waiting for him, his face was completely closed, dark. He waited Kelly to catch his breath and motioned him to follow him into his office to have more privacy. No one dared to speak, but someone had to.
"I... I shouldn't have asked you to leave his side".
Kelly gave him a dark look. He didn't know what to say or to think. What it really meant? Matt was dead?
"Your brother was once again taken into emergency surgery. The bleeding had returned and the swelling doesn't go down. If we don't do something, his brain will shut down".
"Sh-shut down?!"
"If we don't do anything, his brain activity will stop. And in that case, there will be nothing left to do".
Kelly closed his eyes a moment. His little brother...
"And uh... He... There will be chances for him to uh... have some damage?"
Kelly swallowed his saliva by hearing these words going out of his own mouth. Damage... He heared the doctor take a deep breath.
"It's a high possibility. Particularly if the problem isn't resolved ASAP".
The docteur had a trembling voice, desite his efforts to hide his feelings. He tried to stay calm and monotonous, but having Kelly in such a bad mood in front of him, this was simply impossible.
"I... I need to see him. Please... I... Please".
Kelly was unconsolable. He smelled of alcohol, but the shape of Matt was stronger than that.
"I can't let you see him. You know that".
"Just... Just a minute. I have to see him... Please..."
Tears were streaming down his cheeks and didn't stop. Riley saw clearly that Kelly wouldn't give up until he had seen him.
"I will take you in the observatory room, above the OR. I will stay with you. The time you need".
Kelly, eyes still closed, couldn't help but nod. Riley came near him and helped him to stand up because he saw that Kelly had been drinking. They went down two floors and reached the OR. They entered a small room, above the OR where Matt was. Each sound of this room resounded in Kelly's ears through the speaker. Kelly saw for the second time Matt since the accident. His brother. His body hadn't change, except this time, his skull was open, a surgeon was inside his brain trying to find and stop the bleeding. He had patches used for the defibrillator on his chest, one on each side of his chest, the other on his left flank. He was also connected to a machine that was monitoring his brain activity. Kelly didn't understand the graph. Dr. Riley tried to explain.
"We're monitoring your brother's brain activity. This allows us... To know if there is an activity or not".
"And? He... There is one?"
"The fact that he has a big swelling and a high ICP false the result. But for now... He... There is no brain activity".
Riley was heartbroken to have said this. Kelly put his hand on the glass and his forehead, and closed his eyes. No brain activity... He knew what it meant: his brother was dead for now. Dr. Riley turned his head to one of the screens.
"Dr. Hermit is very competent. I trust him. If there is someone who can bring your brother back... That's him".
But Kelly didn't want to hear this. He wanted to hear that Matt was fine, that everything was fine, and it was just a nightmare. But this was real. Suddenly, the doctors hurried up.
"What it's happening? Doc?"
"Dr. Hermit has found the source of the bleeding. He has to be careful and do this quickly to stop it and drain the fluid out of his brain. Otherwise the damage will be permanent".
Several minutes passed and looked alike: Dr. Hermit trying to control the bleeding, Kelly holding his breath and praying for a brain activity, and Dr. Riley controlling the EEG, also hoping for an activity. Ten minutes had passed and finally, the bleeding was controlled. One of the nurse was checking his pupils for a reaction while Hermit was also looking the EEG. But nothing happened. He turned his head to the window and shook his head slightly. From left to right.
"Doc? What does that mean?"
"It means... We have to wait, at least three hours to confirm the diagnosis. If his shape doesn't improve... He will be declared brain dead".
Riley ordered the suspension of the sedation, telling Kelly that sedation could cause a brain death in some cases, and also put all the chance on Matt. He also recommended to place an EEG probe directly into his brain to be sure about the diagnosis. Kelly was really lost.
"Shay..."
Dr. Riley turned to him.
"What is it? Shay?"
"It's uh... My roomate and uh... She's Gabby's best friend. She was with me when you called".
"I presume she is wondering where you are?"
He nodded. He grabbed his phone and looked if she had called him or texted him. There were nine unread messages and four missed calls. He sent a message back to her to tell her where he was, and became very nervous.
"You... You want me to get your friend here?"
"Please... I don't want... I can't leave Matt".
The doctor tapped Kelly's shoulder slightly, and left the observation room to pick her up. Kelly sat on a seat, and looked through the window. All this was too much important and hard for him: he broke up. He ran his hands through his hair and began to cry. He couldn't imagine that his brother was dead for now.
Shay had arrived in the waiting room fifteen minutes ago. She was worried because Kelly didn't answer her texts, and this wasn't his habit. The secretary didn't want to give her informations. Suddenly, she heard a door open and instinctively, she turned her head to see what was happening. She knew the face of this doctor who appeared and was heading toward her.
"You're Shay right?"
She nodded, frowning.
"Kelly needs you. He isn't going well and it's understandable".
She looked right into his eyes, wanting to ask him what he meant. And Dr. Riley seemed to understand.
"I don't know if Kelly explained to you, but I will assume not".
He took a deep breath.
"Matt's heart stopped again this evening. We managed to restart it and ran some more tests to find what cuased his heart to stop. The brain bleeding he developped sooner had returned and spread in a major part of his temporal lobe, significantly increasing the swelling and his ICP. While Dr. Hermit was operating on him to find the source of the bleeding, the brain activity of Matt stopped. However we found the source of the bleeding and drained the fluids. But... But his brain activity didn't restart".
The more Riley was giving explanations of the situation, the more Shay was feeling bad. For him, but also for Kelly.
"And uh... It means that... Uh..."
"We have to wait. It has been an hour, so three more hours to confirm the diagnosis. If after those three hours, the EEG remains flat, then... Then Matt will be declared brain dead".
Shay understood why Kelly needed her support right now. Matt was for now dead, and Kelly had already lost Andy. So losing antoher brother, he wouldn't support it.
"I... I can see him? I mean..."
"Kelly wanted to pick you up, but... But he didn't want to leave Matt. So I came for him. He is in the observation room of the OR".
"Can I call someone first? Uh... I don't know if Kelly told you but... Matt's fiancee is in Lakeshore and also in a coma. She was also struck by a car, but Matt has protected her as he could. Her brother is with her and... And he asked us to call him if there was a change".
"Can I give you an advice?"
She frowned again. She was ready to listen, but she wondered what advice he wanted to give her.
"I think it would be better to give him the news when we will know more about his shape. If you tell him right now what's going on... He'll be scared and... Well, I think it will be better to give him a potential good new instead of a bad new and make him panick during hours, thinking there is nothing to do".
Leslie understood his point of view. If she announced to Antonio that Matt was in surgery again, brain dead, and that they will be sure about this in three hours, he will go find the guy who had done this and would kill him. But if she waited, there would be a chance to give him a good new: Matt with a brain activity. And then, the pill could pass better.
"I think you're right. He is cares enough for his sister".
"Kelly... Explained her injuries. You can't lose hope for her. She can deal with her new disability. I can't hear with my left ear, and I have the same problem as your friend. And look: I'm a neurologist and a surgeon. Some days it's harder than expected, but this doesn't stop me in my work. She has to stay strong".
Leslie smiled a little after several seconds.
"Thanks. To give us hope again".
"Here. I take you near Kelly and Matt".
She followed him into the OR to join Kelly.
At Lakeshore, Antonio was looking at his sister, lying in this awful bed. He couldn't bear to see her so vulnerable, hooked to a ventilator, covered in cuts and bruises,bandages, sutures and plaster. He had let Shay join Kelly because he wasn't in a good shape and began to break mentally, but he was also in a bad mood. He knew how to handle these situations but when your own family is affected... You broke. He sighed, tears in his eyes for more than an hour. He didn't want to sleep. He was afraid that something might happen to his little sister in his sleep. And the mechanical hiss of the ventilator prevented it anyway. A nurse came in to check her vitals and saw the fragile mental shape of Antonio. She ran the exams and smiled at him.
"Your sister is stable. It's a good thing after the trauma she suffered. You ate or drank Mr. Dawson?"
He shook his head from side to side.
"I don't want to leave her alone. I... I can't leave my sister".
In saying this, he took her hand and strocked it, letting a tear streming down his cheek.
"Then maybe I can get you something to drink and eat? Sandwich, coffee, water..."
Antonio didn't have the heart to eat or drink. But he knew that he had to keep his body in a good form. He had to eat. If he didn't take care of his obdy, it will shut down before Gabby could be out of her coma.
"It's a goo idea. Thanks".
"I will ask someone to bring you something".
She was about to leave the room when she stopped and turned back to Antonio.
"I uh... I heard that... Her fiance was also injured?"
Antonio, who had closed his eyes, reopened them and faced her.
"He... He pushed her so she... She won't be hurt. The car hit him at full speed. He... He is in Chicago Med".
"I... Can I ask you how is he?"
Antonio explained his injuried and its severity.
"I sincerely hope that your sister and her fiance will make it without damages".
She gave him a slight smile then left the room. He turned his head to his sister, still asleep in this hospital bed, a tube down her throat breathing for her. He took his phone and looked if whever Shay or Kelly had called him or texted him to give him some news of Matt. But there was nothing. So he told himself that everything was good, and this reassured him highly.
