Chapter 6:
A/N thank you so very much to all my readers for your fantastic outpouring of reviews! My inbox was flooded this morning with review notifications. I can't stop smiling! Thank you!
Please enjoy the next chapter. I think it's what most of you have been waiting for.
REVIEW!
PS is it just me, or are these new 9x10 spoiler pics making your blood boil! I really just want to punch Stephanie's lights out! Just go away already!
…
The next hour, Jackson would probably remember as the most stressful in his entire life. He was in the storage closest up on the first level of the hospital when his pager suddenly went off, piercing the silence around him like a bullet.
911! Stat! Pit!
With a puzzled frown, he grabbed the last of the supplies and walked briskly down to the Pit. Something big had happened. In lockdown, paging was to be kept to a strict minimum, unless something really urgent happening. Thinking this, he broke out into a slow jog down the stairs. As he entered the Pit, he saw a few attendings, Grey and Yang included, crowding themselves into the tiny trauma room. Their shouting and talking muffled by the reinforced glass windows.
Jackson knew better than to enter unless he was asked to, instead walking over to the nearby nurses' station and dumping the supplies on the top of the bench. Glancing down at the nurse with confusion he indicated towards the trauma room.
"What's going on?", he questioned.
"They've found a victim", the nurse replied solemnly. "Poor thing still has the knife lodged in her back".
Jackson's eyes went wide with fear. "Her?", he demanded. "Who is it?", he pushed heatedly. "Who did they find?".
"I don't know!", she exclaimed upsettingly. "Doctor Karev found a girl on the fourth floor in the storage closest. All I heard was the knife was still in her. Massive bleed out. She's just hanging on".
Jackson didn't hear the last line because he was already at the window. The girl's body was surrounded by doctors and covered in bandages. He caught a glimpse of the blood on the floor, dripping from the bed. The person was lying on their side as the doctors attended to her.
"Feeling in the leg!", Shepard yelled out. "She's not paralysed".
"She lost at least 4 units of blood", Hunt exclaimed. "Get all the O Neg you can from the blood bank!", he instructed an intern.
"No wait!", Meredith shouted, stopping the intern. "We're in lockdown, we can't move. They still don't have the guy". She could tell that Hunt was tempted to tell the intern to go anyway, but the memories of the shooting were enough to stop him.
"Damn it!", he cussed. "Anyone willing to do a vein to vein transfusion. Anyone O Neg?" he asked the room.
Jackson moved into the hallway to try and get a better view of the person. He still didn't know who it was. He had heard Hunt's last words and put up his hand.
"I am!", he replied firmly. "I'll do it!".
Hunt glanced at him uncertainly. "Ahhh….Avery…..I don't know….".
"What's going on?", Jackson demanded. Meredith, who had her back to him, turned her neck to look at him. Her eyes were filled with pity and apology as she stepped aside and allowed Jackson to finally see who the patient was.
He felt like his inside has just been ripped out and hung to dry in front of him. There she was. April.
Her usually perky, smiley face was now a ghostly pale and her usually bright chocolate eyes were shut as she lay on the bed being treated. The trauma surgeon was now the trauma patient. At that moment, Jackson found himself short of breath.
"Step outside Avery", Hunt instructed him, a hint of pity in his voice. April was his protégé. He hated her like this too. "Get yourself together".
Jackson glanced at Hunt blankly for a moment before sparking back into focus. "No!", he shook his head. "I'll help her. Let me do the transfusion. Please!", he added pleadingly.
Hunt nodded and indicated for a nearby resident to begin the transfusion. Jackson sat down in a chair next to the door, directly facing April's face. He stared at her helplessly, willing her with his mind to get better. To open her eyes. To survive this.
His eyes were locked onto April's closed eyelids. He winced slightly as the resident inserted the needle into his arm to being the transfusion. He was saving her life. He was helping her. There she lay, the love of his life. And she really was. He truly did love her. She was different. He'd never felt this way with Cristina, Lexie or Stephanie. What he felt was love. The kind of love that makes your stomach jump. The kind that makes your fingers go all tingly and numb. The kind of love that makes you grin like a stupid fool. He was a stupid fool. He should have looked for her. Searched when he first noticed her gone. Searched when the alarm was raised about the stabber. Love isn't supposed to make you act like a coward- but he had. He would feel that guilt for a very long time. He stared at her pale face and bloodied body and willed her to wake up.
"Avery!", Hunt's booming voice interrupted his thoughts.
"What?", Jackson asked vacantly.
"You're done here. We need to get her up to the OR. The nurse just told us they've hustled some security guards to give us an escort. They were willing to help when they heard it was senior doctor", he explained calmly.
"What's happening with her", Jackson asked firmly. He didn't want the bullshit the doctors usually gave family member.
"She's going into hypovolemic shock", Cristina interjected for her husband. "We need to give her more transfusions and then we need to treat the stab wound injury in surgery".
Jackson nodded solemnly and stood aside as they wheeled out the gurney that April lay on. As they rode past, Jackson reached out and brushed his hand against her. She was deadly cold. Not warm and inviting like the last time he'd held her. It only reinforced just close to death's door she truly was.
"She'll be alright Avery", Hunt comforted Avery with a gentle pat on his upper arm.
Jackson looked up at Hunt threateningly. "Just look after her. She's special. She's April Kepner and she needs to live".
Hunt simply nodded once in mutual agreement and understanding and walked away to follow the trail of doctors and April's gurney.
Jackson backed himself up against the wall of the room and sank down onto the ground, folding his knees to his chest and resting his head in his hands. Now that they'd found April, the hatred was beginning to set in. Hatred for himself and hatred for the gutless wacko responsible for this. What brought people to feel the need to kill other human beings was beyond him. He hated himself for neglecting to look out for April better. He hated the perpetrator for mortally wounding and torturing the women he loved. His hands curled into fists and he let out a loud shout, pushing away a nearby chair violently.
A nearby intern, none other than Stephanie Edwards, rushed into the trauma room with confusion and fear painted on her face. "Is everything alright Doctor Avery?", she asked nervously, looking at him down in the corner.
"Yeah", he replied through gritted teeth. He wasn't in the mood to play happy and nice with her.
"This must bring back so many memories", Edwards spoke quietly.
"I don't want to talk about it", Jackson muttered furiously, looking away from her purposefully, instead staring down at the ground.
"I just heard that they've found three more victims", the timid intern added gravely. "Two nurses and a resident- Doctor Jamal. One was a NICU nurse- they say she's critical".
"What are her injuries?", Jackson asked intently.
"Apparently the knife got into her bowel and colon. They don't know anymore", Edwards spoke sombrely, clutching her hands together.
"That sick bastard", Jackson spat, looking directly ahead of him into thin air. "Who does that? Stab people?".
"The same types who pick up guns and rifles and decide to go on shooting sprees in hospitals", Edwards answered blankly. "The same types who shoot up movies theatres or shopping malls. They don't see their actions resulting in death and pain and suffering. They see it as an justifiable act of revenge and justice. That's their view of the world", she reasoned.
"This world is truly twisted and sick", Jackson added.
"Yeah", Edwards gave a wry smile. "It truly is", she agreed.
Jackson slowly stood up and walked out of the room over the nurses' station. Leaning forward he bent over to stretch his neck and back, taking a few deep breaths to relax himself down. He knew he had a long wait ahead of him before he knew anything about April and the lockdown prevented him from being in the gallery.
Suddenly the phone rang, being the closest, Jackson picked up the receiver
"ER Seattle Grace Mercy West", he answered evenly.
"Who does the redhead belong to?", a male voice demanded with an unsettling titter.
"Excuse me?", Jackson asked, frowning. Something wasn't right. "Who is this?", he questioned further.
"Who does the pretty little redhead belong to?", the voice repeated. "WHO DOES SHE BELONG TO?", he yelled ragingly.
"I don't understand what you're saying Sir", the plastic fellow responded, trying to keep his voice calm and unfaltering. But he knew, he knew exactly what he was saying. April.
"Hmm…no owner eh? Too bad!", the man laughed loudly. "She's soooo pretty", he quipped playfully. "Such lovely soft hair. Nice arse too".
"Hey!", Jackson shouted warningly.
"Ohh!", the man giggled. "She's yours eh? Nice catch boy!".
"I know where you are sicko", Jackson warned him heatedly. "I won't hesitate to come up there and break your neck".
"But I wouldn't", the mysterious voice told him teasingly. "See I've got a whole bunch for your friends here too. I'm sure they wouldn't want to be witness to that scene, would they?".
Jackson froze in terror. He glanced at a nearby nurse and mouthed police to her, pulling out his mobile phone and handing it to her.
"I don't believe you", he stalled.
There was a long pause before Jackson heard some breathing on the other side of the receiver.
"Hello?", he demanded anxiously.
"It's Meredith", Grey spoke quietly into the phone, her heavy breathing continuing into the phone.
"What the hell is going on?", Jackson asked softly, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.
"It's the guy who did this to April", Meredith explained. "He's got a knife to Bokie's throat. He standing next to April and won't let us continue to operate on her".
"Shit", Jackson swore under his breath. "Well what does he want?".
Silence.
"Hello?", he pushed.
"I'll call you back", the male voice told Jackson before he hung up.
…..
I'm sure you know by now that I love leaving you with cliff hangers. Please enjoy and REVIEW.
On a side note, the heaps of reference to blood and that in the last couple of chapters is significant to me because today I went and donated blood for the first time. It didn't hurt much, but it means that three lives are saved or helped because of my donation. So I urge you to think about donating- wherever you are. Just think about the people that get to live their lives because you live through a few hours of slight discomfort. You'll feel very proud of yourself. I know I am right now.
And another thing: just want to reply to a few reviews collectively. In a real life situation, April probably would've been found really quickly. But I'm no expert in these things, only writing what my imagination provides me with. So for the sake of the fic and storyline, let's go with it
See you soon!