Jane was too busy staring dumbly at the paramedics to jump into the ambulance after them; by the time he realized what was happening the doors to the rig were closing and much as he wanted to ride with them there was no way in hell he was going to hold them up. He spun around, grabbing Cho and pulling him toward a cruiser.
"Let's go!"
Rigsby and Van Pelt were hot on their heels. Grace had the sense to find a free officer, dragging him along in their wake. The officer refused to hand them his keys, insisting that he had to stay on sceen and that he needed his vehicle. Rigbsy loomed over him, looking his most intimidating, and very calmly laid out the situation to him. The man met them halfway, directing them towards the next ambulance and promising to drive them himself should they not find a ride.
Rigbsy growled, shoving his way past the man roughly, the other three following unapologetically in his wake. Jane easily smooth-talked the driver of the ambulance into letting them all ride.
The trip was long, the rig bouncing over the road it raced along. The paramedic tried to attend to Rigbsy but he brushed him off, forcing him to look at Van Pelt first. The man quickly patched her forehead and turned back to Rigbsy.
While that was happening Cho and Jane were silent, each lost in their own thoughts. Both refused treatment; they were too busy focussing on Lisbon to worry about bruises.
The ambulance pulled up and had barely stopped when Jane pushed past the others and leapt out the back. He shoved through the entrance and skidded to a halt at the admit desk, his colleagues directly behind him, stopping just as shortly.
"Agent Teresa Lisbon. She would have arrived in the ambulance just before us. Where is she?"
The admitting nurse nodded in recognition; the small hospital was between two little towns and as such did not receive much traffic, "Just down the hall is a waiting room. I'll send someone down to speak with you as soon as I can."
Jane leaned forward, about to tell her that her answer just wasn't good enough; Cho reached forward a hand, giving a firm tug on his shoulder to straighten him up.
He bit his tongue for a moment, just watching the woman, before saying quietly, "Just make sure they know her name."
The woman bobbed her head up ad down, softly responding, "Teresa. I'll let them know."
Jane nodded in approval before letting the others lead him down to the waiting area. Van Pelt dissapeared, Rigbsy trailing, once they'd reached the room. She returned, the bigger agent by her side this time, with three coffees and a tea. She knew that it wasn't prepared the way Jane liked and so did he but the consultant downed the drink anyways, the hot liquid scalding his throat.
"She'll be fine," Rigbsy muttered, both to himself and the others. Van Pelt settled beside him with a nod, clasping her paper cup tightly between her hands. Neither Cho nor Jane responded.
The nurse appeared within half an hour, a doctor trailing behind her. The man offered them a small smile, quirking up one side of his lips.
"She's alright for now."
Van Pelt gave an audible sigh of relief; Rigsby grinned and patted her leg with his hand. Cho remained stoic and Jane stood up to address the doctor.
"For now?"
The man shrugged, "We've done all we can but she's been given quite the cocktail of drugs. Looks like a mixture of a chloroform- and ruphynol-based mix but we're still waiting on a full toxology workup. For now she's stable. They got her back in the ambulance, thankfully. Since she wasn't down very long we don't expect that there's been any brain damage but we won't know for certain until she wakes up. She's breathing on her own but we're giving her extra oxygen for now."
"Can we see her?"
The doctor nodded, "Of course. Keep in mind that she's resting and should stay that way. We don't expect her up for some time. Even if she does wake she probably won't make much sense."
The four nodded and followed him to Lisbon's room. He left them outside the door and bid them goodnight.
"I'll be back in the morning to check up on her but my pager will be on all night. I can be contacted if need be. And I'll be sure to have the nurse bring around for pain medication should any of you want some. I would recommend taking it; you all look a little rough."
With one last smile for the four he was off, leaving them standing outside their boss' hospital room door.
Jane seemed frozen so Cho led the way, pushing open the door. The others all filed in after him, silent. Lisbon was lying in the hospital bed in front of them, pale and still. There was a mask covering most of her face; Jane noted with relief that it gently fogged everytime she breathed out. A nurse appeared at that moment, forcing them all into taking ibuprofin and setting up cots and chairs for them, tellling them firmly to al get some sleep before morning came and brooking no argument.
The four lay in silence, all but Jane dropping off relatively quickly. He was content to watch Lisbon for a time, relaxing into couch cushions that he wished were a brown leather rather than a scratchy polyester. After a time he relaxed, allowing the pain medication and the gentle sounds of Lisbon and the others to lull him into sleep.
I'm so sorry that this took so long! I've been so busy helping my folks with the yard/house and work that I just haven't had the time. The next chapter is written though, so it should be up tomorrow once I have it edited. Hope that the wait was worth it and thanks for all of your wonderful reviews!
Ciao loves, Moksgmol