Whoa guys! I got a bunch of reviews for the first chapter; I was surprised at the amount. Thank you all so much, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please let me know what you think.
Oh, and I decided to leave the title, its grown on me and you guys all seem to like it!
Selfless
2
Reed immediately felt for a pulse, obvious relief in his voice when he said, "He's still with us Sue. He just passed out."
Sue nodded as she ran a hand down the side of Johnny's face. "Hang in there, I can't lose you." She whispered brokenly. Please God, he can't die, he can't…I NEED him…
Ben turned away, his emotions getting the better of him. He wanted to cry and punch something all at once. This isn't fair! He's just a kid! He saves peoples lives; he doesn't deserve this, no matter how much a pain in the ass he can be! He thought to himself furiously, barely noticing the fact that both paramedics and police officers had entered the club.
"We need help over here!" Reed shouted, waving two paramedics over.
The two emergency workers felt their mouths falling open in shock when the saw who their patient was, neither of them believing what was before their eyes. "Holy shit…" The younger medic muttered, shaking his head.
"Don't just stand there! He's dying!" Sue cried, hysterical.
The female shook herself free of her surprise and immediately set to work, her partner right behind her.
Sue, Reed and Ben watched in silence as the two paramedics spoke to each other as they worked.
"We need to intubate him…"
"BP is rapidly falling…"
"There's an exit wound…below his left shoulder bone…"
"Give me the four by fours; he's losing too much blood!"
"We need to scoop and run; this kid is in rough shape!"
Sue felt herself being pushed away from her helpless brother as he was rolled onto a stretcher.
"We only have room for one of you, and you better decide quickly." The female paramedic suddenly said.
"I'm going." Sue immediately answered. Reed and Ben nodded in agreement.
"We'll be there as soon as possible, Suzie." Reed squeezed his fiancés arm comfortingly as they stoop up.
"He's a fighter, he'll make it." Ben added.
Sue smiled at the two and said softly, "I'll see you at the hospital."
Ben and Reed watched in silence as Sue ran along the stretcher, neither of them moving until the paramedics had rushed out of the building and into the waiting ambulance. A police officer suddenly stood beside them. "The human torch was shot then?" He asked awkwardly.
Reed nodded absently.
"Do you know what happened?"
Ben shook his head, "No, we don't know the whole story, we just saw that bastard shoot Johnny."
The police officer turned in the direction that Ben was pointing, and found himself looking at the unconscious form of a man, who was currently being treated by a paramedic.
"Where's the gun?"
Ben opened his fist, revealing the crushed to dust weapon in his palm.
The officer shifted uncomfortably, "Oh…"
"If you don't mind, we'd like to get to the hospital." Reed said in a strangled voice.
"Uh, right…go ahead, my supervisor will probably be down in a bit to take your statements." The man called after the two's retreating backs.
Neither Ben nor Reed responded as they headed out of the club, both of them thinking only of their youngest member and how they might lose him forever.
In The Ambulance…
Sue sat beside her brothers limp form, holding his hand tightly. The male paramedic sat beside her, occasionally checking on Johnny's vitals, and speaking to his partner, who was driving.
"Stay with me, Johnny…" Sue whispered to her brother, trying to ignore the wailing of the sirens. He can't die…he's way too young…
Even as Sue was thinking this, the heart monitor began shrieking, snapping her out of her thoughts. "What…what's happening!" She cried out in a panic.
"Damnit! Heather how far out are we? He's going into defib!" The younger medic yelled to Heather, completely ignoring Sue's question.
Heather immediately called from over her shoulder, "Less than one minute, charge the paddles."
Sue felt herself starting to hyperventilate when she realized that Johnny's heart had stopped. Oh please, please NO…please…this CAN'T be happening!
"I'm charging to 200!"
Heather pulled the ambulance to the side of the road and scrambled into the back seat, "Marc, hand me those paddles."
The less experienced paramedic immediately did as he was told.
"CLEAR!" Heather yelled.
Marc grabbed hold of Sue, and held her back from her brother. "Johnny! Johnny!" She called her brothers name frantically, "Don't give up on me! Come on Johnny, stay with me!"
Johnny's back arched into the air as electricity coursed through his body, his head lolling limply to the side when his back fell back against the gurney.
Marc and Heather both looked to the monitors, and sighed with relief when they saw the heart monitor returning to normal. The last thing either of them wanted was to be known as the two paramedics who let the human torch die in their bus.
"We got him back, Miss. Storm." Heather reassured the invisible woman before climbing back into the driver's seat and peeling back out onto the road.
Sue immediately wriggled out of Greg's hold and grabbed for her brother's hand again, she leaned in so that she could kiss her brothers forehead. "We're almost there, Johnny, we're almost there…"
Indeed, less than one minute later Sue found herself in the ambulance bay of the hospital. She quickly jumped out of the vehicle and followed her brother's gurney as it was rushed through the automatic doors. An emergency team awaited them in the hallway.
Marc and Heather were talking to both the doctors and nurses, but Sue only heard snatches of the hurried conversation.
"Approximately twenty three year old male, one gun shot wound to the lower right side…"
"Exit wound underneath left shoulder blade…"
"Lost him once in the bus…"
"Lost a rapid amount of the blood…"
Sue soon found herself being held back by an older nurse, who said to her gently, "You can't go any further, dear…the doctors need to work…"
"You can't stop me!" Sue snapped back, her hands rising up as she got ready to create a force field.
The nurse stepped back but said firmly, "You are only going to interfere, super powers or not…you can't save him."
Sue felt her resolve crumbling, and she fell to her knees, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. "He's my baby brother! He can't die, he can't…he doesn't deserve this, it doesn't matter how hot headed he can be!" She sobbed into her hands, all composure lost.
The nurse knelt down beside her and said comfortingly, "Rarely do people deserve for something like this to happen to them. You have to be strong for your brother, and pray."
Sue took a few calming breaths and nodded her head. "I'm sorry for freaking out…"
"Don't worry about it, happens all the time in this place. Now, why don't you go and sit in the waiting room, I'll make sure the doctor working on your brother knows where to find you."
"Alright…" Sue said softly, allowing the nurse to steer her into the waiting room, which was currently deserted.
"This room was ordered sectioned off for you and your teammates the moment the hospital learnt who its patient was to be, so you don't have to worry about any intrusions."
"Thank-you…"
"I'll leave you alone now, and don't worry; I will make sure your teammates find their way here." The nurse said before leaving the room.
Sue watched her leave before dropping her head back into her hands. Please be okay, Johnny…
Twenty Minutes Later
A very frazzled Reed and pissed off looking Ben entered the waiting room, shutting the door behind them quickly.
"Sue?" Reed said softly as he walked towards his fiancé.
Sue looked over at him and gave him a small, trembling smile. "It took you guys a while to get here."
"We were questioned at the club, and then when we arrived here we were bombarded by reporters waiting outside." Reed explained.
"Inconsiderate assholes, all of them." Ben growled menacingly, "Don't know the meaning of privacy…"
"Has there been any word?" Reed quickly asked, not wanting Ben to get himself more worked up. The last thing we need is holes in the walls…
Shaking her head sadly, Sue whispered, "Nothing, it's been at least a half an hour…"As if listening in on their conversation, a doctor suddenly entered the room.
Sue stood up with Ben and Reed, trembling slightly as the doctor read her unspoken question.
"He's still alive." The doctor quickly said, "But his condition is very critical, we're taking him up to surgery right now."
"Can you do that? I mean with his body temperature being much higher than a normal human's?" Reed immediately asked.
The doctor shrugged helplessly, "We don't know, but we're willing to try…if he doesn't get the surgery he will die, no doubt about it."
Sue shuddered at the very thought, but managed to ask softly, "What are the extent of his injuries?"
The doctor took a deep breath, "When the bullet entered it hit his ribs, causing several of them to break, one of them punctured his left lung, which is rapidly filling up with fluid. The projectile also managed to nick an artery on its way out, causing a significant amount of blood loss; his chances are very low, I'm afraid."
"Why…why didn't the bullet melt though? Wouldn't Johnny's body temperature cause the thing to melt before it could get too far?" Ben directed his question to Reed.
Reed sighed and said slowly, "It was a close range shot, the bullet was in and out before it could really be affected by the heat…a bullet itself is very hot when it first leaves a gun…this is just a theory though…I'm not sure if I'm right…"
The doctor's beeper suddenly went off, and he looked apologetically at the three, "I have to go, but the moment I know anything, I'll come and get you. If you have any questions, please get one of the nurses to page me…Dr. Shinx."
Sue sat back down with a dejected sigh once they were alone, her eyes yet again welling up with tears.
"It's going to be okay, Suzie." Ben comforted her, "The doctor's don't know Johnny the way we do…he's too stubborn to die."
"He's right, Johnny will pull through this." Reed added as he sat beside her.
Ben remained standing, knowing that the measly chairs would never support his massive weight.
"I just…I can't believe that this happened…it was supposed to be a relaxing night on the town…" Sue said softly, "He…he was shot protecting me…he might die because I let my guard down…"
"Sue, we don't know exactly what happened, but it wasn't your fault…you didn't aim that gun or pull the trigger." Reed said firmly.
Sue however, was not listening to Reed; her eyes were instead focused on the window that led out into the hall.
"Sue…?" Reed questioned, following her gaze, which was directed at two police officers, who were currently flanking the man that had shot Johnny.
Sue was out of her chair in a flash; she shot past both of her companions and flew out the door. "YOU BASTARD!" She screamed in the direction of the man.
Reed and Ben both exchanged grim looks as they followed her through the door, both knowing that Susan Storm rarely lost her composure or swore.
She was furious, and her protective, big sister instincts were in full gear.
The police officers stopped, both still holding Greg, who stood handcuffed with a bandage around his head.
Before she even realized what she was doing, Sue had Greg in a force field. She slammed him against the top of the wall, her eyes flashing dangerously. Both the officers, Reed and Ben (albeit reluctantly) shouted at her to let him down.
Sue paid them no attention, instead talking to her captive in a low, threatening voice. "I swear to god, if he dies…I'll kill you!"
Greg was slightly panicked from being held seven feet in the air by an invisible force, and he stuttered, "Y-you wouldn't dance with me!"
"SO YOU SHOOT MY BROTHER?!" Sue screamed, causing everyone in the vicinity to wince.
"Suzie, put him down, you can't help Johnny this way." Ben said quietly, watching the shooter squirm with disgust.
Sue hesitated, and only lowered the field when Reed squeezed her shoulder gently. Greg fell to the ground painfully.
Breathing heavily Sue glared down at the man and spat, her voice venomous, "If my brother dies, you will regret it!" With that, she strode back into the waiting room.
The officers quickly grabbed their prisoner and hurried down the hallway, both worried that the invisible woman would lose her temper again. At the same time, Ben and Reed followed Sue into the room, snapping the door shut behind them.
"Sue, you shouldn't have done that…" Reed started, but was cut off.
"Don't tell me what I shouldn't and should have done, Reed. That lunatic shot my brother and may have killed him, I'll do whatever I damn well please!" Sue hissed.
Reed fell silent, and Ben opted to stay out of it as well, Sue was obviously beyond thinking rationally.
The three sat in silence for the next hour, all of them looking up when another police officer entered the room. This one was obviously the supervisor the other cop had told Ben and Reed about.
The cop introduced himself as Sgt. Jason Junivoski, and shook hands with the three.
"I would like to know if you are ready to give your statements." Junivoski asked politely, trying to disguise the fact that meeting three of the fantastic four was a bit overwhelming for him.
Sue recounted the events slowly, her voice trembling as she spoke. Reed held her hand in a silent type of support.
When all three of them had given their statements, which surprisingly had taken nearly an hour, Junivoski got up to leave. "I may need to speak to you again, but it isn't very likely. There were several eye witnesses and lots of security footage…this should be an open and shut case." He said.
"Wait," Sue said softly, "Who was the guy that shot Johnny? He only told me his first name…"
Junivoski shoved his tape recorder back into his coat and responded, "His name is Gregory William Stepler."
"How'd he get into the club with a gun?" Reed demanded to know.
Sighing, the gray haired officer replied, "We are not positive as of yet, but we believe he wandered in through a back entrance after smoking marijuana in the alleyway. We have called his mother –his father is deceased- and she informed us that he suffers from a drug addiction, is obsessive compulsive and bipolar."
Ben whistled, and Reed blinked in surprise.
"So…is that why he kept repeating himself? Because he was high on drugs and his OCD was taking over?" Sue asked.
"That is our theory, yes." Junivoski replied, "We also believe that his bipolar disorder is what compelled him to pull out the gun and fire it. I cannot confirm any of this yet though, not until we have completed a thorough investigation."
"He isn't going to get off because of his disorders, is he?" Sue asked worriedly.
"He will not be set free after shooting somebody at point blank range, Miss. Storm. He is, all facts considered, guilty. He had medication for his disorders, which he has obviously not been taking."
"If he isn't sent to jail he'll go to a psychiatric hospital instead." Reed added, looking at the officer for confirmation.
"That is another possibility." Junivoski said, "However, as I said, nothing will be known until an investigation has been conducted. Now, I've really got to be going, there are only so many hours in day…"
The three thanked him as he walked towards the door, pausing when he opened it.
Junivoski turned around and said quietly, "My thoughts are with your brother, Miss. Storm."
Sue smiled a little and whispered a soft thank-you as the officer left the room, shutting the door behind him.
I don't even how likely it is to have bi-polar disorder and be OCD, but just run with it, okay? It fits the story heh heh. I also wasn't sure if Johnny's body temperature would melt the bullet so I just wrote what I thought would seem realistic : )