Chapter Four: Eyes Look Your Last
Author's Note: Hello everyone! I just wanted to let you know that there is a scene in the chapter that has a suicide trigger warning and I want my readers to be aware of this. This occurs near the end of the chapter, so please skip over it if you need to. Other than that, as always I don't own Glee, The Night Shift or any of their characters.
It was two thirty in the morning, and Rachel was exhausted.
Of course, she was always tired, given the late hours she worked. But this week was more tiring for her.
Her mother was in town for a visit.
She fell onto one of the on call room beds face first and just laid there, not wanting to think about much else. She was tired of the constant questions from her mother, she was tired because it was seeming to be a slow shift, and she was tired from not getting much sleep that week.
She heard the door open and groaned. "If you're an intern, leave me alone unless a patient is coding. Otherwise, just leave," Rachel said, the sound muffled from her face being in the pillow.
"Well, I guess you don't want the company of your boyfriend then," Finn said, leaning against the door frame.
Rachel sighed and pushed herself up from the bed. "You can stay," Rachel said, rubbing her temples. She scooted over on the bed and Finn came in and sat down next to her.
"Everything okay? I thought you'd be relishing this shift."
"Any other day I would," Rachel said, feeling like she was about to fall asleep.
Finn frowned and moved closer to her. "Anything I can do to help?" Finn said as he started massaging her shoulders. "Damn, Rach. Why so tense?"
She pursed her lips and looked back at him. "My mother's here for a visit."
In the main lobby of the hospital, things were all completely calm. There was no one in the waiting room and the TV was turned to the lowest volume possible where all the doctors and nurses could still hear what was going on.
But instead of doing paperwork at the nurses' station, they all were taking advantage of no incoming activity and were having wheelchair races instead. Nurse Molly and Nurse Heather were on one team while Mercedes and Artie were on another.
"Team Heather by a hair!" Puck said when they crossed the finish line.
"What? No way, we totally had them!" Artie and Mercedes complained to Puck.
"First rule of emergency medicine – don't piss off the nurses," Puck said, tossing confetti on Molly and Heather.
"Hey, Kurt, can I try that thing? You know what I'm talking about? Let me try," Sam said, coming up behind his friend.
"It's not going to work," Kurt said in a singsong voice. "Tell me when you think you got me."
Sam put Kurt in a chokehold and smiled to himself. "I think I got you."
"Oh yeah?" Kurt said, breaking free from Sam's grip as he forced him down to the ground.
"That was easy. I guess that's why you fight MMA and I don't," Sam said from his spot on the ground.
"I have to say, as an administrator, these shenanigans would have driven me nuts. But I am having such a great time," Jesse said with a smile on his face. "Who knew this ER could have such a quiet night?" Jesse said, causing everyone around them to stop talking and glare at him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Puck asked. "Don't ever say the Q word. You don't talk about fight club, you don't talk about a no-hitter, and you never ever mention the Q word in an ER. You will jinx it," Puck said as he started to walk away.
"Sorry, I didn't know."
In a different part of the hospital, Finn and Rachel were coming out of the on call room with Rachel feeling slightly less stressed. "I haven't told my mom about us yet because she doesn't understand why I broke up with Brody. And she knows how hard it was for us when you got back from the war."
"Rach, she didn't like me before I went to war. Did she really like Brody that much?"
"What can I say? You know, he called her on Mother's Day. But all I'm saying is that if I tell her now – before she leaves – I'm not going to get a moment's rest. And to be honest with you, I don't feel like dealing with her nagging. So I just figured I would tell her after," Rachel said, stopping when their pagers started to go off. "Someone said the Q word."
"Okay, team!" Puck said once his trauma gown was on. "So much for coasting through to the morning. We have a multi-victim traffic collision, stragglers filling the waiting room. Santana, what's the news?"
"The first two were in a rollover MVA when it slammed into another vehicle in the rain. That victim's still on the scene."
"I got this one," Finn said when a teenaged boy came into the ER.
"First victim is 18-years-old. He has a deep gash to his left thigh from the broken glass," Santana said.
"Me and Rachel are in trauma two," Finn said as he wheeled the gurney towards the trauma room.
"Victim two was a front-seat passenger. She's a minor with blunt face and chest trauma. She has mild respiratory distress but her stats are holding."
"Take the girl into trauma one. Mercedes, you're with me," Puck said. "Artie and Kurt, start working through the waiting room patients. Kurt, take Jesse with you and show him the ropes."
"What? Me? Why not Artie?" Kurt asked, dreading working with his former boss for the night.
"He's almost as green. You're not," Puck said before going into the trauma room.
"Son of a bitch," Kurt muttered under his breath as he started walking to the waiting room.
"You know I can hear you, right?" Jesse said from where he was standing behind Kurt.
In the second trauma room, the male victim was starting to wake up. "How's Taylor? Is she okay?"
"It's alright, we're working on her in the other room. But let's focus on you right now, okay?" Rachel said as they worked on stabilizing him.
"I didn't even see the other car. Is that driver okay?"
"Not here yet," Finn said from where he was working. "I'll get you an update when we get one." He pulled one of the bandages off his leg and blood started spurting out. "Looks like he's got a femoral bleed. I need more gauze."
"Rachel, the third MVA victim is two minutes out," Molly said, poking her head into the trauma room.
"I've got this. Go ahead," Finn said.
"Alright, I'll send off A-type and cross for six units," Sam said.
"And get me large BP cuff to tourniquet the leg," Finn said.
"I think there's one in the next room," Sam said, rushing towards the doors that connected the two trauma rooms.
"How's the boy?" Puck asked from where he was working on the female victim.
"Femoral artery injury. But Finn's on the case. How's it going in here?" Sam asked, looking for the cuff.
"Her jaw is dislocated. It's obstructing her breathing."
"The intubation tray is ready" Heather said.
"I don't think we'll need it. If we can reduce the jaw, breathing should be fine," Puck said, taking off her oxygen mask.
"We're in the next room, call if you need anything," Sam said once he found everything he was looking for.
In the third trauma room, Santana was helping the doctors get the third victim situated in the trauma room.
"I got it from here," Rachel said, coming into the trauma room. "Is this the woman the kid's car ran into?"
"Yeah, approximately 30-year-old female. She's tachy but otherwise stable. Paramedic on the scene found her unconscious with a bleeding scalp lacerations. Chavez has been paged."
"Okay thanks," Rachel said as she started cutting the gauze off the woman's forehead. "I need to tie this one off now. 4-0 prolene."
"Hey Santana. Rachel," Brody said, coming into the trauma room.
"See you around, Rach?" Santana said, eyeing Brody.
"Joey's off on some family thing and I'm on call. What's going on here?" Brody said, looking at the woman's chart.
"Hemodynamically stable but came in with a scalp pumper. I'm placing a purse string suture which should do the trick," Rachel said as she started to get ready to suture her scalp.
"It says here there's abdominal trauma."
"Could be internal bleeding," Rachel said, not wanting to face Brody at the moment.
"I'll check a fast scan," Brody said, pulling back the blanket. "Ultra sound please," he said to one of the nurses. He started to unbutton the woman's top and pulled it back. "Uh, Rachel…"
Rachel looked up and her eyes widened. "She's pregnant?"
"This just got a lot more complicated."
"I'd say so," Rachel muttered to herself.
In the trauma room with the young female victim, Mercedes was working on taping popsicle sticks to her hands. "Mercedes, let's go," Puck said. "The tongue depressors will keep your thumbs from being bitten off but be careful, okay?" Puck turned towards their patient. "Taylor, you're going to feel some pressure but it'll help your breathing, okay?"
"Just look at me and everything is going to be fine," Mercedes said in a soothing voice.
"Place your thumbs along her bottom teeth and push inferior and posterior. Slow and steady pressure." Puck said, watching over her shoulders to make sure she was doing it right.
"Pulse ox is dropping," Heather said as Taylor started screaming.
"Mercedes, you have to do this. Don't make me step in," Puck said.
"Her jaw isn't moving!" Mercedes said.
"Stats are down to 80."
"Mercedes, you have to push harder. Now is not the time to be polite."
Mercedes grimaced and pressed down harder. "It moved. I felt it move."
Puck walked around Mercedes and felt Taylor's jaw line. "It feels back in place. Good job Mercedes."
"Stats are up to 95."
"Let's get her up to x-ray," Puck said as he tried to put the oxygen mask back on her.
"How's my…"
"Don't talk until we know your jaw is back in place," Puck said, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"How's my husband?" Taylor got out before they placed the oxygen mask on her.
"Your what?" Mercedes asked incredulously.
"My husband," Taylor said, taking off the mask. "My husband Ryan. We just got married tonight."
"What are you, like 14? 15?" Puck guessed.
"I just turned 16. Do me a favor. Please don't tell my dad about the marriage. I don't think he's going to be happy."
"That would be my guess," Puck said.
Out in the lobby, Kurt was trying to show Jesse some more of the ropes of the night shift. "Things are crazy in there. We have to keep things running out here. We have two new patients that just came in. There's one lady complaining of a kidney stone and an elderly woman with an altered mental status. Artie, you have the Queen Mother," Kurt said, handing him her clipboard. "We're taking the kidney stone."
"This isn't one of those old people with STD pranks, right?" Artie asked, remembering one of his first shifts at the hospital.
"I promise you she's not here for STDs. In fact, if she has one, I'll pay you 500 bucks."
"Artie, if I were you, I wouldn't go looking for STDs," Jesse said, trying to get a closer look at the patient. That's Marilyn Capshaw, the matriarch of this hospital's biggest donor family."
"You mean…oh shit. The Capshaws. Like, the ones that fund the residency program."
"Exactly," Jesse said. "The family's a bunch of pain in the ass hypochondriacs. They have made my life a living hell."
"You knew?" Artie asked, looking in Kurt's direction.
"Of course I did. I had her sister my first year. She came in one time with nothing wrong with her and had me written up as incompetent. Enjoy," Kurt said, watching Artie walk into the waiting room.
"Nice move. I did not want—" Jesse started to say.
"Just take this lady's chart and come get me when you have a differential diagnosis," Kurt said, handing Jesse his clipboard.
Back in the trauma rooms, Puck and Krista were wheeling Taylor down to the x-ray room. "I knew we should have stopped to rest but we wanted to get back before our parents knew we were gone."
"And you really got married?" Puck said, trying to wrap his mind around it.
"We had to. Our parents wouldn't let us see each other. We thought if we got married they couldn't keep us apart."
"I don't think that's how it works," Mercedes said. "Don't you need their permission?"
"No. We found a 24-hour wedding chapel in Arkansas online and you only have to be 16, which I turned tonight."
"Note to self, don't let daughters anywhere near Arkansas," Puck said as he pressed the button for an elevator.
"Taylor? Is that you?" someone called as he started walking down the hallway.
"Remember, don't tell him I'm married," Taylor said. "I don't want to get in trouble."
"I'm her father, Denny Sawyer. Taylor, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Daddy. I think."
"She's been in an accident. I'm Doctor Puckerman and this is Doctor Jones."
"Your daughter took a pretty good shot to the head," Mercedes said. "So we're going to get a scan and then we'll know more."
"Okay, good. I was scared to death when I got the phone call."
"Sorry I scared you but it's all okay now."
"Not everything. You're going to be grounded for being out at three in the morning."
"Dad!"
"And that's the last time you stay at Candace's house. I need to have a word with her parents and make sure they understand—"
"Excuse me," Molly said, looking into the elevator. "Taylor's friend, Ryan? He keeps asking to see her."
"Ryan? Ryan's here? I told you I didn't want you seeing that punk Ryan. And now you're out in the middle of the night with him, in a car no less?"
"We need to settle this after the CAT scan," Puck said, trying to regain control of the situation.
"I'm sorry that we got married but we had no choice. We had to," Taylor said.
"Married? How can you be married? You're only 16-years-old!" her dad asked as they stepped off the elevator.
"Sir, I need you to calm down. There's plenty of time to be angry, but let's just make sure she's okay for now," Puck said.
Back in the other trauma room, Finn and Sam were working on Ryan. "Okay, the first unit is in and pressure is up to 84."
"Run two more units on the rapid infuser," Finn said from where he was stitching up the artery. "I need another 6-0 silk."
"Finn, Ryan's parents are here. They want to see him," Heather said from her spot at the door.
Finn sighed. "Just for a minute."
Heather stepped aside and the parents rushed into the trauma room. "Oh my God, Ryan." His mother stood next to the bed, looking unsure of what she should do. "Is he going to be okay?"
"He's injured his femoral artery but I got the bleeding until control," Finn said as he continued the sutures.
"Thank God we got the call. I almost had a heart attack on the way over here," Ryan's father said.
"I understand. Those late night calls can be scary. He's going to be okay, so if you could let me finish…" Finn said, trailing off.
"Harrison, I told you to keep your son away from my daughter."
"What are you doing here?" Ryan's dad asked.
"They went off and got married."
"What do you mean married? Did she get pregnant?" Ryan's mother said accusingly.
"I'm trying to work here. Can you take it outside?" Finn said, trying to be heard over the noise. "Sam, get them outside."
"No wonder she dresses like a slut," Ryan's father said once they got out of trauma room.
"You son of a bitch!" Taylor's dad said, lunging forward to take a swing at him.
"Knock it off!" Sam said, getting in the middle of them. "Look, this is a hospital. People are trying to work, so show some respect. Ryan's mom and dad, you can go to the waiting room. Taylor's dad, go to the cafeteria." Sam watched the three of them walk to their respective areas of the hospital and rolled his shoulders back.
"Well done, Sam. Didn't have to call security or anything," Puck said.
"Yeah, well, these are the only guns I need," Sam said, flexing his biceps as he gave them a kiss.
"Dude, I would look even more ripped in your scrubs top. What is this, a boy's small? Let me know when Mercedes brings Taylor back from CT."
"Hey, nobody ever makes fun of Superman," Sam called after Puck. "He's got a tight shirt."
In the other trauma room, the pregnant woman started to wake up. "What's wrong? How's my baby?"
"Your baby is fine. Look," Rachel said, pointing to the fetal heart rate monitor. "I'm Doctor Berry and this is Doctor Weston and we want to do a scan on your brain."
"No. My brain is fine and I don't want to expose my baby to any radiation."
"I agree. That's why I'm going to use the ultra sound machine to check the pressure in your brain and make sure there's no bleeding," Brody said. "And it's 100 percent safe for your baby."
"Okay that's fine." The woman looked over at Rachel. "I'm sorry to be such a pain. I just want to protect my baby."
"Go ahead and close your eyes for me," Brody said. "This might feel a little funny."
"This is a good idea, Brody," Rachel said, trying to be cordial.
"Well, I've been known to have a few."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "So, your fiancé is in the Army?"
A smile broke out on her face. "Yeah. He's a corporal stationed at the Ramstein air base in Germany. We're getting married when he gets back. Before she's born."
"That's great," Rachel said with a smile as she started wiping off the ultrasound gel.
"Looks like the diameter of your optic nerve is well within normal limits so I would say you're good to go."
"Thanks for understanding."
"Well, what can I say? I'm an understanding kind of guy," Brody said, making Rachel raise an eyebrow. Since when was Brody ever understanding?
"Ow!" she said, gripping her stomach.
"Is everything okay?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah. Sorry. She's just kicking. Would you mind calling my fiancé and explaining to him what's going on?"
"I'd be glad to," Rachel said.
In the lobby, Artie was being given the rundown by Marilyn's son. "Next time, don't make us wait so long. I want every possible test done and I want the results as soon as possible. Do you understand?" her son barked at Artie.
"Yes sir."
"She's been off lately but it just got so bad tonight. I just couldn't deal with it anymore. I'm expecting a precise diagnosis by morning."
"You're a beautiful dancer," Marilyn said, taking one of Artie's hands. "Do you know the rumba?"
"See what I mean?" her son asked. "Here's her things. I'll be checking in. Mother, I'll be back in a few hours.
Artie sighed as he watched the son walk off. "After you, ma'am."
Marilyn ran her hand down Artie's cheek. "Soft as a baby."
In one of the corridors, Rachel was concentrating on her phone, trying to find a way to get in touch with her patient's fiancé.
"What are you doing? Cruising Tinder?" Santana asked.
"No, I'm trying to get in touch with Chloe's fiancé, but I keep getting his voicemail. I guess I'm going to need one of the nurses to track him down," Rachel said.
"Let me do. The nurses are still working and I just got off my shift." Santana said.
"You don't want to go home?" Rachel asked, raising her eyebrow.
"To an empty apartment? Not tonight. I'd rather stay and help the pregnant girl. It's nice to know someone's getting laid, right?"
Rachel rolled her eyes at her friend's antics and headed over her phone. "Thanks, San."
In the exam room, Artie was working on giving Marilyn an exam. "I need you to follow my finger," he said, holding his index finger a few inches from her face. Every time he'd move his finger, her whole head would move. "Now repeat after me. No ifs, ands, or butts…"
"No ifs and you have a nice butt," Marilyn said, putting on his stethoscope.
"O…kay. Now I need you to name as many animals as you can in 30 seconds. Go," Artie said, looking at his watch.
"Zebra. Coyote. Coyote. I suppose you're too young to remember Wile. E. Coyote. Always trying to catch that damn roadrunner. But he never could. Beep beep! That's the sound Road Runner made," She started poking Artie in the stomach. "Beep! Beep!"
"How's it going teaching Ragosa?" Rachel asked Kurt as they met up in the middle of the hallway.
"If it was any other physician's assistant, I wouldn't mind babysitting. But that guy has always been such a pain in our asses."
"He's not that bad. You just have to get to know him," Rachel said.
"Right. And that's right at the top of my to-do list," Kurt said sarcastically.
"Rach?" Santana said, trying to get her friend's attention. "So, that cell number Chloe gave us? Still going to voicemail. I've left a message to call but there's also no record of her fiancé ever being at Ramstein," Santana said. "They've never heard of him."
"Maybe the guy wanted out so he just lied," Brody said, joining in on the conversation. "It wouldn't be the first time someone got scared off by a baby or lied about ending a relationship."
"My gut tells me that's not the case," Rachel said, trying to ignore what Brody said. "Try calling Fort Hood to see if—"
"If he was deployed to the Middle East," Santana said. "I know right where you're headed." Rachel smiled at her as she walked off.
"Hey, Brody? Uh, do we need to talk? Because I feel like you're taking these not-so-subtle jabs at me."
"Nope. Not at all. I was talking about Chloe and her situation. Not ours. Look, was I pissed at first? Yes, I was. Was I hurt? Of course. But trust me, I am more than fine with how everything's working out. Okay? I'll go page OB for you."
Rachel watched him walk off with an eyebrow raised. Something was going on there. And she would figure it out.
In Ryan's trauma room, he was starting to wake up after the morphine started to wear off. "Hey. Look who's waking up. How are you feeling?" Finn asked as he finished the sutures.
"Terrible. How's my wife? How's Taylor?"
"Your wife is getting some tests. And just so you know you're parents are here. And her dad. No one is feeling particularly happy."
"He just hates me because we're rich."
"Well, I don't think your marriage is going to do your case any favors," Finn said, taking off the goggles.
The door to the trauma room opened and a police officer stepped in. "Is this Ryan Harrison?"
"Yeah. He's stable so you can talk to him. Just for a few minutes though," Finn said, getting up from where he was sitting.
"Officer, this is my son. It was my car he wrecked in the crash. Here is our insurance card. Anything else you need?" Ryan's father asked.
"I'm not here about the car. Ryan Harrison, you are under arrest for the sexual assault of a minor."
"Get those off my son!" Ryan's father said.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
"Get off me. You can't arrest me," Ryan said. "We're married, it's not illegal."
"If you can't afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?" the police officer asked.
"Get these off me. She's my wife!" Ryan said.
"Ow! My baby!" Chloe yelled from her trauma room.
Rachel heard her and ran inside. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure, I found her like this," Sam said.
"It's my stomach," Chloe said as she started crying.
"Sam, start her on morphine. Chloe, these are contractions. You're in labor," Rachel said, trying to calm her down.
"No, no, no. It's not time and it's too early for the baby."
"We can try to slow the contractions down but, honey, worst case, your baby's far enough along to be viable."
"Oh God why is this happening? I promised my dad I'd be married before I had the baby."
"I'm sure he'll understand," Rachel said, trying to calm Chloe down.
"He died last month. I can't break my promise to him. Please. It would crush my mom."
"Chloe, I am so sorry. The best thing you can do right now is try to focus on staying calm because that's what is best for you and your baby. Sam, start a mag sulfate infusion."
"I don't want to do this alone."
"You're going to be great," Rachel said, trying to soothe her.
"Deputy, you don't need to escalate this, okay?" Finn said once he ushered everyone out of Ryan's trauma room. "He just wants to know what's happening with his son."
"He's an 18-year-old having sex with a 15-year-old," Taylor's dad said from where he was sitting.
"She's 16."
"And that makes it okay with you?" Taylor's father said, standing up.
"You son of a bitch. You did this, didn't you?"
"You're damn right I did. I told you to keep your son away from my daughter. And you wouldn't, so I will."
"This will ruin Ryan's life," his mother said.
"His life? His life is set. He's got a BMW and a trust fund. My Taylor was at the top of her class until she started running around with your son."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. She's chasing him. He quit the baseball team because of your little gold digger," Ryan's father said. Taylor's dad lunged towards him and the two men started fighting.
"Look, fighting is not going to make your kids any better," Finn said once the fighting stopped.
"This is the second ruckus you guys have started. If it happens again, I'm booting you both. Got it?" Puck said.
"I'm calling my lawyer and this is going to end," Ryan's dad said. "You've gone too far, Sawyer."
"Well, your money isn't going to help you this time, Dick."
"Mr. Sawyer, I understand why you're upset," Finn said, trying to calm him down.
"Do you have a daughter?"
"No. But—"
"Then you have no idea. She's all I have left," Taylor's dad said before he left the break room.
Finn followed him and saw Rachel waiting outside of the break room. "That sounded intense."
"Yeah. Young love, Texas style."
"Well then. Do you have a minute to do me a favor?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"My pregnant patient is so stressed out about having her baby before she's married that her BP is off the charts which just complicates premature labor."
"Yeah that's not good."
"And Santana just found out that her fiancé lied about being stationed in Germany and he's really in Afghanistan. He told her that so she wouldn't worry. Sound familiar?"
Finn looked slightly guilty. "No. I mean, I was going to tell you eventually…when I got back."
"Sure. But I figured out where you were in less than a week." Rachel said with a smile on her face. "Anyway, we've managed to track down his unit but we've been unable to reach him. So I was wondering if you could ask one of your Army buddies to help out."
"Yeah, no problem," Finn said.
"Finn, can I have a word?" Puck said from where he was on the other side of the desk.
"I can definitely do that," Finn said.
"Thanks. I owe you one." Rachel said as Finn lazily dragged her arm across her back, causing her to smirk in his direction.
"What's up Puck?" Finn asked, walking away from Rachel.
She watched him walk off for a few seconds longer and turned towards the front entrance where she saw Brody talking to someone and hand her a cupcake.
"Having second thoughts?" Santana asked, following Rachel's gaze.
"No. I just didn't know that he was seeing someone so soon."
"Really?" Santana said, crinkling her nose when she saw the two of them kiss. "By the way, your mom called me. She wanted to know the real reason you guys broke up."
"What did you tell her?"
"The truth. Herpes." Santana said, going back to writing something down on her notepad. Rachel let her hands drop to the desk as she gave Santana a look. "What? I didn't say who had it."
"You're a horrible friend. You know that, right?" Rachel said.
In one of the corridors, Puck and Finn were talking to Taylor's father. "Mr. Sawyer, the sheriff called me himself, telling me to remove the cuffs immediately and to apologize that the deputy who did this is being reprimanded," Puck said.
"He was enforcing the law!"
"He was enforcing your revenge. Apparently in Texas, there's something called the Romeo and Juliet law, which allows for consensual intercourse with a minor within three years of age. It's not illegal," Puck said.
"We heard the deputy was your buddy and that's why you did it," Finn said.
"He did it because we served together. We'd do anything for each other."
Finn and Puck shared a look. "Look, I get that," Finn said.
"With all due respect boys—"
"Hey, I did three tours in the sandbox. Rangers. Doctor Puckerman here did two."
"I thought you were just doctors."
"You sound like my mother-in-law." Puck said flatly.
"Where were you?"
"Patika, Helmand, Gawardesh," Finn said.
"I spent some time in Helmand I'd like to forget," Taylor's dad said, running a hand through his hair. "Two long deployments. I come back the second time, my daughter is living with friends. My wife…gone. Didn't want to be a wife anymore."
"I'm sorry. That's rough," Finn said. "You know, sometimes, it's harder coming back than it is being there."
"Yeah, that's true. And I'm working these two crap jobs just to keep her in that school so she has a future. I'm not gonna let that punk ruin it."
"Why don't we get some coffee?" Finn said, putting his hands in his jeans pockets. "We'll wait on your daughter's scans and we can talk it out."
"Thanks, doc."
"So, what's your assessment?" Kurt asked, walking into the exam room where Jesse was.
"32-year-old female with colicky flank pain and blood in her urine which indeed points to a kidney stone," Jesse said confidently. "I ordered her a CT, some IV fluids, and I was going to give her pain meds for the discomfort."
"And how about a band-aid?" Kurt said. "Show me your finger." The patient looked between Kurt and Jesse and held out her left index finger. "The other finger." Kurt grabbed her finger and held it closer to Jesse. "She pricks her finger and adds drops of blood to her urine sample to make it look like a kidney stone so she can get narcotics."
"I cut this on a magazine."
"No, because I saw you in here last month running the same gag. And I remember you because you were wearing a Lakers shirt and I hate the Lakers. Stop wasting our time. Got it? We have real patients and you need help." Kurt waited until she was out of the room to turn his attention back to Jesse. "If you had checked her chart, you would have seen she was in here a ton of times trying to get narcotics. Things often aren't what they seem."
In the break room, Finn was telling Mr. Sawyer about something that happened in Afghanistan. "So, my brother, he's the platoon leader. He yells 'Hey, I got him and I smoked his ass' so we all run down there, right, just make sure it's all clear. And he smoked him all right. Except it wasn't Taliban. It was a cow."
"A cow?"
"Yeah. It was the first steak we had in about six months. And after that, Thad was forever known as Smoke. Lord Smoke."
"How's your brother doing? He still in?"
"No," Finn said, taking a sip of coffee. "He was KIA."
"I'm sorry."
"It's cool."
"Were you over there when that happened?"
"Yeah. I was about 15 feet from him when it happened."
"Let me ask you something. How are you so together?"
"I'm not together, man. It's a struggle."
"Yeah, but you have a good job, right? You got a good woman?"
"Yeah," Finn said, smiling when he thought about Rachel. "The best."
"You marry her?"
"Almost. Almost. I planned on asking her when I got back from the war and then everything went to hell."
"I'd say you have it pretty well together. Me, I'm back two years. I can't seem to get ahead. It's like quicksand, you know? I get myself out and suddenly I'm right back in it. Over there I was a leader of men. I was kicking down doors, taking names. I wore the uniform proud. I mean, look at the uniform I wear now. I'm a joke."
"No. It took me a few years to get where I'm at. I was a mess."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah. The only thing that turned it around was me asking for help."
"Who can I ask, you know? I can't talk to Taylor. She's just a kid."
"There's a lot of programs that can help. But you need to turn it around or you're going to drown in anger and self-pity. I've been there. You have to drop the pride bullshit. There's a lot of people who are willing to help you. But you have to ask for it. And if they offer it, you have to take it. I'm offering," Finn said. "Just take it."
"Okay. Thank you."
Finn picked up his coffee cup. "Do it for the cow."
Back in Taylor's trauma room, Mercedes was talking to her and trying to finish some things up.
"This isn't going to hurt, okay?" Mercedes said as she started to do an exam on Taylor.
"Have you heard anything?" Taylor asked.
"About Ryan?" Sam asked. "He's resting comfortably, he's no longer under arrest, and yes, he's been asking about you."
"How's she doing?" her father asked, coming into the trauma room.
"Her head CT looked good and more scans are coming up shortly." Mercedes said.
"Awesome. That's great."
"I don't want to talk to you." Taylor said angrily.
"Taylor, I'm just trying to protect you."
"So you got Ryan arrested?"
"I did nothing to them—"
"You never even tried to get to know him. Or how he makes me feel. I hate you. I hate you."
"Don't say that," Sam said as Taylor's heart rate monitor started beeping like crazy.
"She needs to rest," Mercedes said to her father.
"What's going on, I heard the alarm," Finn said, coming into the trauma room.
"She's having a heart attack!" Mercedes said, reading the print out from the machine.
"How is she having a heart attack? She's sixteen years old!"
"Her aorta is tearing in half," Finn said, reading the scan. "Call Brody and tell him to meet us in the OR now."
"What's happening, where are you taking her?"
"Sir, we're going to the OR. I need you to stay here," Sam said as they started running to the elevators.
Once they got to the OR floor, Brody was waiting for them. "She coded in the elevator. 16-year-old with an aortic dissection from an MVA," Finn said once the doors opened.
"Sixteen?" Brody said. "Her parents here?"
"Her father and her husband. Long story."
"Tell the OR we're going on bypass immediately," Brody said.
In the lobby, Marilyn was eating chips from the vending machines and dancing to the music that was playing. "You got stuck with Marilyn Capshaw, huh?" Puck said, coming into the lobby.
"Yeah," Artie said. "She's here with altered mental status, disorganized thinking and attention. I'm thinking acute delirium or maybe encephalopathy."
"Her CT?" Puck said, eyeing her curiously.
"Normal. As was her EEG, CMP, CBC and all her other labs. Her son has called over five times and left messages about her diagnosis. I just wanted to run the case by you first," Artie said.
"Yeah, of course. Mrs. Capshaw? Hello, I'm Doctor Puckerman. We've met a few times before."
"Do you have change for a 20? I need more chips."
"Sorry, ma'am, I don't have any cash on me. Do you mind if I take a look at your pretty eyes?"
"Sure, you sweet thing."
"Pretty as ever," Puck said, shining the light in her eyes. "Thank you love." He turned back to Artie. "Did you do a tox screen?"
"Um, no. She's 82."
"She's 82 and high as a kite."
"What?"
"Baked, blazed, stone out of her gourd…whatever euphemism you want. Trust me, send the test," Puck said with a slight laugh as he left the lobby.
"How's checking his vitals going?" Kurt asked, drawing the curtains back on one of the exam rooms where Jesse was working.
"It was going fine but I can't find this guy's pulse," Jesse said as Nurse Heather gave Kurt a look.
"What do you mean?" Kurt said, walking into the exam room.
"You're checking for it in the wrong spot," Heather said.
"No, I know how to check a radial pulse. There isn't one."
"I can't feel a femoral," Kurt said. "Son of a bitch, what did you do?" Kurt asked. "God, I stepped out for one minute."
"Nothing! I was practicing vitals like you said," Jesse said.
"Get the crash cart." Kurt said.
"Wait. Wait. You're going to shock him?" Jesse said.
"Yes. Damn it. He has dog jaw."
"What?"
"Dog jaw. Check his carotid and see if you can find a pulse," Kurt said.
Jesse nodded and put two fingers on the artery. As soon as he did, the patient woke up and made dog noises at him, making Kurt and Heather burst into laughter.
"Mr. Howard has a ventricular assist device. He comes in a couple of times a year to get it checked. His blood flows continuously rather than by pump so there's no pulse," Kurt explained.
"Freaky, huh?" Mr. Howard said from his bed.
"Yeah, pranking that someone's in cardiac arrest. That's hilarious," Jesse said dryly.
"Welcome to the night shift," Kurt said. "And what did I tell you last time? Check the chart. It's all right there."
"You're a great teacher, Kurt. Thanks for all your help," Jesse said sarcastically.
Back in Chloe's trauma room, Rachel was doing an ultrasound. "The good news is we stopped your contractions. But you have an early placental abruption. So when the OB is done with his other delivery, you're going to need a C-section."
"Oh god," Chloe said, sitting up in bed. "I need to call my fiancé. Have you found him? I need to talk to him."
"Technically, yes," Rachel said. "We just need to get our hands on him physically. Stress is not good for the baby or the abruption. Remember. Deep breaths."
"Please find him," Chloe said.
"How's Jesse doing?" Puck asked Kurt as they walked the halls together.
"Still pouting, still thinking he's the VP and not the PA." Kurt said.
"Well Rome wasn't built in a day."
"I still don't understand how you can just give him this job," Kurt said. "He was such a dick to you and the rest of us."
"Yeah, he was. But remember when you first came out?"
"What? I'm gay?" Kurt said as he started laughing.
"You know, one of the board members wanted to fire you, which, as you know, they can in Texas. But guess who called him a bigot and said he'd fight him tooth and nail on that one?"
"Jesse did?" Kurt said, unable to believe Jesse would do something like that for him.
Rachel walked out of Chloe's trauma room and ran into TC. "How's the girl?"
"Brody's got his hands full. I came out to talk to her dad but I can't find him anywhere. By the way, one of my buddies tracked down the fiancé. He's in Afghanistan in Bagram."
"Good. And he's still—"
"Totally into her," Finn said, taking a sip of coffee. "Just freaked out about her and the baby."
"Well, it doesn't look like this baby is going to wait for a wedding." Rachel said.
In another part of the hospital, Marilyn was sneaking out of her exam room into a supply closet. She opened up her purse and started looking for something.
"What are you doing in here?" Artie asked, following her in.
"Getting some privacy."
"Well, your lab results came back. They show very high levels of marijuana."
"I could have told you that," Marilyn said, rocking back on her heels.
"So why didn't you? You made me look like an idiot in front of my boss."
"You did that to yourself. You saw an old lady and never thought of the possibility, though I was exhibiting all of the behavior."
"I need to tell your son. He's been all over me about what's wrong with you."
"There's nothing wrong with me. A little advice, Artie. Don't try so hard to please everybody. You'll only end up with regrets." Marilyn reached into her purse and grabbed a joint of marijuana.
"You know you can't do that, right?" Artie said.
"Why do you think I wanted privacy? Besides, are you gonna stop me?" She took a hit and extended it to Artie. "You want a hit?"
"No thank you."
"Good choice. Your father would be very disappointed."
"Wait, how do you—"
"Know your father? He called me last year about your internship."
"He got me in here?" Artie asked, feeling a little less of himself.
"Actually, he wanted us to keep you out," Marilyn said as she continued to smoke.
"You know, he still calls me once a month, trying to get me to quit ER. He says one day I can join him and my brother's practice in Chicago."
"Then why don't you?" Marilyn asked.
"Because I don't want to follow anybody."
"What's the real reason?"
Artie paused and sniffed. "What if I'm not good enough? You know, I could be Peyton Manning, right? But maybe I'm Jeffrey Jordan. Those are the sons of—"
"I know who they are. Look, I know I'm buzzed, but I'm going to give you one last piece of advice. Even though I was the black sheep of the family, I still never followed my heart. I did what they wanted me to. So you figure out what you want to do. Not from fear, but for the right reasons. And your family can go to hell if they get in your way."
"Thank you." Artie said. "I will."
"Now, here's what we're going to tell my son."
In one of the trauma rooms, Kurt was working on resuscitating a patient. "You paged me?" Jesse said, coming into the room. He looked at what Kurt was doing and shook his head. "I'm not falling for this again."
"This is real," Kurt said, looking up at Jesse. "You want to learn what to do? Grab that crash cart. This is Mr. Simpson. He came in with a heart attack and went into v-fib arrest. Hit power, set the voltage to 360 and press charge," Kurt said. "This is all you."
"I've never done this before."
"Well, now is a hell of a time to learn," Kurt said. "Set the paddles on the pads."
"Like this?" Jesse asked.
"Exactly. Everybody clear," Kurt said as him, Sam, and Heather stepped back.
"Still v-fib," Jesse said after shocking him.
"What now?" Kurt asked.
"Um, charge them again," Jesse said, going back to the crash cart. Jesse shocked him again and watched the heart monitor. "That's sinuous." He stepped closer to the patient. "I can feel a pulse."
"Yes it is," Kurt said. "Hang an amiodarone drip and get him to the cath lab," Kurt said to Heather.
"Holy cow. That man was—"
"Dead," Kurt finished for Jesse. "And now he isn't. Congratulations. You just saved his life."
Artie was walking the hallways with Marilyn and her son. "Turns out she just had low blood sugar." He handed her son a piece of paper. "Here's a list of dietary adjustments."
"That's all?"
"Get the car." Marilyn snapped. "Doctor Puckerman?"
"Yes ma'am?"
"Are you aware of what a remarkable young doctor you have here?" Marilyn asked, turning to face Artie, who started blushing. "I expect him to be made an attending physician at this institution one day very soon in whatever specialty he pursues." She winked at him and started walking out of the hospital.
"How did you pull that off?" Puck asked.
"It must be my wonderful bedside manner, I guess."
In Chloe's trauma room, the doctors and nurses were starting to get her ready for her wedding. "I love you baby," she said to her fiancé over Skype.
"You look so beautiful."
"You paged?" Finn asked, walking into the trauma room.
"Yeah. We're all set here. We just need an in-person proxy groom to read the vows," Rachel said, looking up at Finn with a smile on her face. "You game?"
Finn chuckled. "Why not? I have a few minutes."
"Good man," Rachel said rubbing his arm.
Finn leaned against Chloe's bed and looked at the computer screen. "Tom? I'm Doctor Hudson. It is an honor to stand in for you, Sergeant."
"The honor's mine. I can't thank you enough for making this wedding happen, doctors."
Santana ran into the trauma room and laid a bouquet of flowers down on Chloe's bed. "Can't get married without a bouquet."
"Are you ready?" the hospital minister asked.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Chloe said with a smile.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God to join together in holy matrimony…" the minister started. Finn looked in Rachel's direction and once he caught her eye, winked at her.
"Oh no!" Chloe said as she started gasping.
Rachel looked at the fetal heart monitor. "Baby's having accelerations."
"I'm feeling short of breath," Chloe said.
"We need to get you to the OR," Rachel said.
"I'm sorry baby," Chloe said as Rachel put an oxygen mask on her.
"It's not over yet, sweetie," Rachel said. "Someone tell the OB we're on our way.
"Where are you taking her?" Tom asked through the computer.
"Reverend, skip to the good stuff and try to keep up," Rachel called as they started running to the OR.
"I've never done anything like this," he said.
"Move it along, Padre. You have about 15 seconds," Finn said.
"Do you take this woman to be your wedded wife?"
"I do," Finn said, answering for Tom.
"Chloe, do you take this man to be your wedded husband?"
Rachel looked down at Chloe as they were running. "I do," Rachel said, getting caught up thinking about marrying TC. "I mean, she does."
"Then I pronounce you man and wife."
"Her BP is down to 40 systolic." Santana said, taking the laptop away.
"She's hemorrhaging."
"We can't get her to the OR," Finn said. "We have to do it down here. Trauma one, let's go." He looked over at Rachel. "Ready to deliver another baby together?"
"The baby's heart rate is still down," Rachel said when they started doing the C-section.
"Opening the peritoneum," Finn said.
"Two units of blood are in," one of the nurses said.
"This is a hell of a honeymoon," Puck said, coming into the trauma room.
"Any word from OB?" Rachel asked.
"She has her hands full with a uterine rupture upstairs.
"Glad we got started then," Finn said.
"Incising the uterus," Rachel said.
"I'm setting up the Skype with the father in fifteen minutes. Anything I can tell him?" Santana asked, poking her head in the trauma room.
"Yeah, I'll have the story in about five seconds. Wanna watch?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah," Santana said, pushing the door open wider so she could get in.
"Alright, here she comes," Rachel said as Finn pulled out the baby. The baby immediately started crying. "Oh, I know sweetie," Rachel said. "You tell them all about it."
"Cutting the cord," Puck said as Rachel smiled over at Finn.
Chloe took the oxygen mask off. "How's my baby girl?"
"She's beautiful" Finn said. "Just like her mother and her doctor." Finn said, winking at Rachel.
"I think he's talking about himself," Puck said.
"Oh, he totally was," Rachel said with a smile.
Everyone looked over at Santana who was crying. "I'm sorry. I just love babies. And weddings."
Finn and Rachel shared another look before turning back to Chloe. "You have no idea what this means to me," Chloe said, holding her baby. "Thank you all so much."
Sam poked his head into the trauma room. "Finn? Brody needs to talk to you."
"It's okay. We'll close up," Rachel said.
Finn met up with Brody outside of the OR who filled him in on everything that happened during Taylor's surgery. The two of them walked out to talk to Taylor's father together.
As soon as he saw the two of them and saw the looks on their faces, he assumed the worst. "Is she dead?"
"No," Finn started. "But she's comatose."
"Her brain was deprived of oxygen for too long," Brody said. "We've done everything we possibly could."
Taylor's father started crying when he saw her hospital bed get pushed through the doors. "Not my baby. Not my little girl. It's her birthday."
"I'm sorry," Finn said. "There's still a possibility she could come out of this. We have to run a few tests of her brain function."
"No, just leave us. Just leave us alone."
"Okay," Finn said, taking a step back. He turned around to see Ryan and his parents coming up to where Taylor was and he put his hands out to stop them. Taylor's father didn't need to see them at that moment.
"What's wrong with her?" Ryan asked.
"What's wrong with her?" her father repeated. "What's wrong with her? You did this to her! You did this to her." He reached down to his sock and pulled out his gun.
"Denny, what are you doing?" Finn asked.
"He killed her."
"No. She's not dead," Finn said, trying to calm him down.
"She's brain dead. It's the same thing." Denny cocked his gun and held it out towards Ryan and his parents.
"It's not the same thing. She's not dead. She still has brain activity. There's still hope," Finn said.
"I have no hope. Get out of the way."
"That's not true. Remember? We're going to help you."
"Doc, you've been good to me. I don't want to shoot you, but I will."
"Look, I don't want you to shoot me either. But I'm not going to let you hurt that boy," Finn said.
"Get out of the way!"
"Denny, give me the gun. Give me the gun and we can figure this out. Just you and me."
"There's nothing to figure out," Denny said. He turned the gun towards his heart and shot himself. Mercedes and Brody rushed towards him and they started doing compressions on his heart.
In the OR, nothing they were doing was able to keep Denny alive. "This is the tenth unit of blood," Finn said.
"He's gone five rounds of epi," Mercedes said.
"And been cross clamped for 20 minutes already," Brody said. He looked over at Finn. "I'll keep going if you want."
Finn kept squeezing the blood into Denny's body and sighed. "No. We should call it. Time of death is 6:13," Finn said, reading the time from the clock on the wall. "There's just too much damage to his heart. And everything else."
In Ryan's trauma room, his mother was crying as his father tried to comfort her. "Such a damn waste. What are we supposed to do now?" his father whispered.
Mercedes turned around and stared at the two of them. "You hug your son. Every chance you get."
In the hallways, Jesse was walking around after saving the guy's life. He ran into Kurt, who stuck his hand out. Jesse smiled to himself and pushed the door to the break room open.
Artie was sitting at one of the tables on his laptop, checking his email. He read one from his father, who asked if he'd given more thought to doing his residency at Johns Hopkins and his father assured him there was a place there waiting for him. Instead of responding, Artie hit delete.
Before Rachel was ready to leave the hospital the for the day, she stopped by Chloe's room and saw her giving a bottle to her daughter as her fiancé – now husband – was on the laptop screen for a Skype session. Rachel smiled to herself.
Behind Rachel, Brody got off the elevator and took in what was in front of his eyes. He sighed and walked off, leaving Rachel to look in on Chloe and the baby.
In Taylor's trauma room, TC and Puck were in there, looking at her brain scans. "Poor guy," Puck said. "Just couldn't find his way back."
"It happens," Finn said with a sigh. "He didn't have what I had here. You know, you and Rachel." Finn looked up at Puck. "I never would have made it without you."
"Yeah, well, you had to. It's too much of a pain to train a new best friend," Puck said, making Finn laugh.
Finn felt slight pressure on his fingers and looked down to see Taylor squeezing them. He looked up and saw her eyes were open.
At the end of the shift, Finn and Rachel were walking around the hospital, hand-in-hand. "We're trying to find Taylor's mom and see if she wants to step in again."
"That's a hell of a bridge to repair." Rachel said. "There's no other family to speak of?"
"Nope. Just all of us and Ryan's family. We got her lined up in a good care facility. She may actually recover."
"That's unbelievable. I mean, just when you think you've seen everything, her waking up has to go down as a miracle."
"If only we could have had another one." Finn said. "Anyway, why don't we go back to my place? I'll make you a nice breakfast and we can think about how lucky we are."
Rachel stopped walking and turned to face him. "Actually, let's go to my place. I think it's time that I told my mother about us."
Finn sighed. "Are you sure now is the right time?"
"I've never been so sure in my life." Rachel said with a smile. Finn smiled back at her and his hands reached up to cup her face before pulling her in for a kiss. "Let's go home." Rachel said, wrapping her arm around his waist as he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer.