In the cave, Ressler was still talking with Dr Fielding. Leaning on the desk, face flushed and grimacing in pain, he strove to concentrate on what the doctor was asking onscreen.
"I need to examine you, Don," said the doctor.
"How are you gonna do that?"
He smiled at Ressler. "Same way we're going to do the surgery. I'll have you lay down and have Mr Lucas press on your abdomen while I observe, then I can get an idea of where your appendix is sitting," he explained.
It actually made sense, and looking at Conrad who was now standing by him, Ressler nodded. Moving with difficulty off the computer chair, he lay down on the cot. Loosening his belt and opening his jeans a little he then lay back and pulled his t-shirt up off his belly. Liz came and sat by his head, keeping out of the line of the camera that Conrad was repositioning so the doctor could still see with Ressler laying down.
"Ready?" Conrad asked Ressler, standing over him now.
Glancing quickly up at Liz, then back at Conrad, Ressler replied. "Yeah…"
Following the doctors instructions, Conrad pressed in different areas on Ressler's abdomen with different pressures. As he flinched in pain, Liz leaned down to him, talking to him.
While the doctor wasn't in the cave, having him there remotely was more reassuring than Ressler had imagined. As Dr Fielding watched and talked with them, he had Conrad press in the lower right quadrant. Ressler expected it to be excruciating, as when Red had first diagnosed him. But while agonizing it wasn't much worse than the other places his stomach had been pressed.
Looking up at Liz as she sat by him, Ressler gave her a small smile. "I'm fine," he told her quietly, catching his breath.
"Mr Lucas-"
"Please, call me Conrad," he told the doctor, looking to the camera and computer screen as he stood over Ressler.
"Conrad, could you press there again, deeper this time. Sorry, Don, this will hurt…" he said from the screen.
Following the doctor's instructions he did as asked. Ressler squirmed under him, panting in pain but remaining as still as he could for the examination. As Dr Fielding watched on the camera, he ascertained where the appendix was sitting and instructed Conrad where to draw a 4 inch line along Ressler's lower belly. The incision line.
"Okay, you can rest there for a bit Don," the doctor told him.
"How's it looking?" asked Ressler, looking at the computer screen as Conrad placed a light sheet over him.
"Well, your belly is softer than I'd expect, and the pain appears to be very evenly spread across your entire lower abdomen, though definitely more tender in the lower right," Dr Fielding informed him, "You definitely have appendicitis, though there wasn't really much doubt from the symptoms."
"It doesn't feel quite as… sharp as it did earlier," Ressler told him facing him as he lay on the cot. "I guess that's good," he added.
The doctor smiled, looking at Ressler as he tilted his head a little, "Don't let that deceive you, Don. If you're feeling a little better, that's not good. Not good at all," he told him, as Liz looked up to the doctor worriedly.
"Why?" Ressler asked and received the answer from both Dr Fielding and Conrad simultaneously.
"Your appendix has ruptured."
###
"What are we going to do?" asked Aram as they walked from the water with Shanks between them. "I mean, about the surgery. But what about," he looked back at the water, "them? They could still come through, right?"
Red was still looking at Shank's hand. "They could. First thing we're going to do is wrap this hand and stop the bleeding as best we can," said Red as the medic turned from looking back at the water.
"Just give me some gauze and a bandage out of the supplies there. I can wrap it up as we keep moving. We can't stay here, that much is obvious," said Shanks, leaning down to the water to again wash the blood from his hand. The water was still rising, imperceptibly swallowing small stones in the sand as it crept up the tunnel. "And while we head to this cave of yours, you can tell me just who the hell that guy was, and why he was shooting at us," he added, looking to Red.
Nodding to the medic, Red moved to Aram's back and retrieved the package of surgical supplies. "Aram, call Lizzie. Have her put it on speaker so we can talk to all of them." Finding what he needed from the medical supplies, he handed it to Shanks who proceeded to wrap his hand with the gauze and bandages.
Red grabbed his own backpack that was now about 4 feet from the water's edge and after quickly throwing his shoes and socks on he stood up. "Let's get out of here," he told them, with a last look at the dark water behind them.
Aram dialed Liz's number as they headed up the tunnel. Answering, her voice came to them.
"Are you guys almost back? Because… you need to be," she told them. Red heard the concern in her voice.
"We are Lizzie-"
Conrad interrupted him, "Red, his appendix has ruptured."
"Aahh, man," hissed Shanks.
Aram looked worriedly at the two of them. He was useless here. He may have managed to swim through a tunnel and help the medic, which he had to admit, he was kinda proud of, but that was about as close as he was going to get to cutting a person open.
Red looked to Shanks, shaking his head, "Got it. We should still be in time. We do have a minor glitch though. Due to unforeseen circumstances, our esteemed medic here," he looked up at Shanks, shining the flashlight for him as the medic applied the dressing to his own hand, "is incapacitated. He will not be able to handle the primary part of the surgery."
They heard Liz gasp, as Conrad's voice came over the phone. "What happened?"
"Will explain when we have more time. For now, Conrad, you're our surgeon. And don't get all bashful on us. You had to have pre-med and at least two years of medical school training before you became a coroner," Red told him as they walked briskly, still shining the flashlight on Shanks hand as he finished wrapping the bandage around it.
"Four years actually," replied Conrad, and Red could almost see the man smiling.
"Excellent. You see? We're fine people. We will back there in about 30 minutes. Donald, how are you holding up?"
From the phone his voice came, tired and drawn, "I'm fine." And in the background they immediately heard Liz chiding him with, "Of course you are."
Red smiled, shaking his head at the agent. "Good man. Be ready, Donald. The hands may have changed, but the outcome is not in doubt."
###
Liz hung up the phone, still looking at Ressler before they both turned to Conrad. On the computer screen, Dr Fielding had also heard the news.
Ressler looked at the man. "You can do this?"
"I've seen a lot of appendixes in my day. Now granted, they've been on… the dearly departed, but yes, I can do this. It's been a lot of years since I've done any medical procedures," he added, "but I'm sure it's like riding a bike," he told them.
Liz looked at him, "That didn't exactly instill confidence," she said.
"Liz, he'll do fine," said Ressler, looking up at her.
From the screen, Dr Fielding spoke to Conrad. As he stepped over to the computer, the doctor brought up a video of an appendectomy and proceeded to talk Conrad through what he was seeing. Giving him a crash course.
Behind them, Liz leaned down to Ressler as he lay on the cot, partly to avoid looking at what was on the screen, "Are you okay with this?" she asked him, noting the sweat dripping down his face. He was burning up with fever, his normally light ginger hair dark and spiky with sweat. She wiped his face again with the damp cloth.
He smiled at her and raised his hand to touch her arm. "I am. And you know why? Because Reddington chose him to do it." He raised his eyebrows at her and chuckled at that. "Amazing, huh?" he said, "But I trust Red that much with this."
Liz smiled nervously at him, hearing Dr Fielding in the background explaining to Conrad which retractors and clamps to use, and knew he was telling the truth.
###
Not quite thirty minutes later they heard voices from the tunnel, before Red, the medic and Aram stepped into the cave. Conrad met them as they dropped their scuba tanks against a wall before they deposited the medical supplies on the small table. At the sight of Aram, Liz rose from her chair near Ressler and stood to greet him.
"Liz! Oh, my gosh, look at…" He was walking to her, concerned at the bruising on her face and put his arms around her to hug her. She winced in pain, and he suddenly stepped back at her exclamation. "Oh! I'm sorry!" he apologized, "I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay, really, Aram," she told him, mustering her best smile.
He looked beyond her now to Ressler. "Agent Ressler, um, how are you feeling?" he asked, knowing that was a stupid question. But it was the thing to ask.
Flushed and sweaty, Ressler turned to Aram. "I'm good, thanks," he panted, "I don't need a hug."
"Oh, right, yes," said Aram, coming to look at him as he lay under the sheet on the cot. He really did not look good. "I brought the medical supplies," he told Ressler, then stopped. He may as well have said 'I carried a watermelon'.
"Thanks," Ressler told him, closing his eyes as more sweat ran in them.
At the table Red, Shanks and Conrad were going through the package of surgical supplies, getting them set out on a tray in some semblance of order. Scalpels, tweezers, clamps, needles, thread and retractors lay on the tray. Conrad looked to the medic, introducing himself. "I'd be happy to have your assistance, even with one paw, if you're up to it."
"Hey, I'm on it," replied Shanks.
Conrad returned to Ressler with the surgical instruments, speaking with Dr Fielding again. "As you can see, doctor, we have many hands here to assist. It's a team effort."
Red turned to Ressler and Liz, almost knocking into Aram as he did so and leaned down to them both. "We'll be starting soon, Donald. So you need to be undressed under that sheet."
Red turned back to Dr Fielding as Ressler looked to Liz. He really didn't feel like stripping down in front of them displaying his wares for all to see. Liz understood and leaned down to him, "Just hold the sheet over you," she whispered, then went around and removed his boots and socks for him. He then proceeded to wriggle out of his jeans and underwear under the sheet as she pulled them off his lower legs, depositing his clothing off to one side. Arms raised, he pulled off his t-shirt, then lay back down.
He looked up at her, a strange little smile on his lips. "Didn't think I'd be laying naked next to you today," he said softly, and she actually blushed, leaning down and chuckling as she sat by his left shoulder, keeping out the way of the men. Her eyes found the bullet scar on his right shoulder and she raised her eyes in question.
"War wound," he told her and before she could ask, Red was at their side again.
"You okay?" he asked Ressler, leaning down to him.
Ressler regarded him, "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied as Red smiled reassuringly at him and Liz.
"Good. We have to get a couple of IVs into your hands here and since our medic is a hand short, that falls to me. That way we can start you on antibiotics. You and I have done this before, Donald," he smiled as he tore open the pack containing the IV tubing.
"Believe me, I know," Ressler told him, laying his head back and looking up at the cave ceiling again as Red placed the IV in his right hand. After the needle went in, leaving the thin plastic tube in place, Red, positioned the tubing then taped it in place. "There, piece of cake," he told Ressler.
"Easy for you to say."
"Okay, now for your other hand," smiled Red, getting the second bag of tubing and needles.
"You just love torturing me, don't you?" asked Ressler, turning his head to look at Red.
"I consider it my life's work," he chuckled as he held Ressler's left hand and placed the IV.
Shanks came over to them as Red was finishing up the second IV. Liz looked at his bandaged hand. "I'm so sorry that happened to you," she told him.
"Oh, I'll live. Just a bummer for today. I feel like a fifth wheel. But I have the antibiotics here that will start fighting that nasty infection in your gut," he told Ressler, then turned to Red, "if you can attach this to the IV. You seem to know your way around them."
Ressler smiled a little. "Oh, don't encourage him, or he'll kick you all out and do everything himself."
Red looked to Shanks. "Donald and I have been around the block a time or two," he explained as the medic nodded his head, seeing a definite connection between the two men.
As the antibiotics started dripping down the portable IV pump that had been hung from the tall cabinet in the cave, Shanks turned back to Ressler, now placing a digital blood pressure cuff on Ressler's wrist and a pulse-ox on his finger. "I also have the anesthetic for you when we're ready. I'll administer that via the IVs also, and you'll be out in no time. How much do you weigh?" he asked.
"About 180. But hey, I've puked up half my intestines and I'm pretty sure I saw a kidney come up too, so who knows now," he told the medic, smiling ruefully.
Shanks grinned at him, "We'll say 180 and call it good," he told Ressler, then turned to Liz. "And I'll show you how to get his blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen sats."
Ressler nodded to the medic in thanks, and then looked at the activity around them. Conrad and Red were speaking with Dr Fielding, having got everything laid out. Aram had set up a work light that Conrad had given him to give them good visibility. Shanks had his kit nearby, and was measuring out the anesthetic into the injection, and doing a good job for a one handed man.
Glancing to Liz, Ressler looked at her as she viewed everything before them. "It will be okay, Liz."
Everything was set. Conrad stood at Ressler's right side, then turned to look at them around him. "Okay team, these are the positions, so that we all know what our duties are. I will be the primary and will perform the appendectomy, making the incisions and suturing. Red and our one handed Mr Shanks here will hold retractors and clamps for me, swab and rinse the abdomen when needed. Dr Fielding will talk us through every step. Aram, your job is to make sure the camera is positioned where Dr Fielding can observe the surgery at all times. Liz, you will take vitals when Shanks asks for them, and keep our patient comfortable," he told them, as they all nodded, aware of their assigned duties.
Laying on the cot, Ressler spoke up. "And I'll just be here taking a nap, if anyone needs me."
###
It was time. "Ready, Donald?" asked Red.
Ressler nodded, then gave a little smile to all of them. "I'm sorry you have to do this. But thank you. I think."
"No problem at all," smiled Conrad, as Shanks got ready to inject the anesthetic in the IV. "Shall we?"
"Wait." Liz was suddenly in Ressler's face, leaning close as she locked eyes with him. And leaning down, she gently kissed him, her lips brushing his. Lifting back up, she smiled at him. "For luck," she told him.
He held her eyes for a few seconds before reached his arm up and pulling her head back down to him, kissing her firmly, his tongue lightly touching her lips and lingering there a moment before breaking contact with her. "For me," he smiled, as Liz cracked up at him, the tension in her shoulders suddenly releasing.
"Oh, smooth move, sir," said Shanks beside him, grinning at Ressler.
Ressler looked sideways at the medic, a faint smile still on his features, "Now I'm ready."
Red laughed, and looked to the computer screen where Jeff Fielding was chuckling. "I've seen worse in my OR's, believe me," he told them.
"Okay, then here we go, I'll administer the anesthetic," said Shanks, suddenly all business as he placed the injection into the IV on Ressler's left hand, guiding it expertly one handed. "You'll feel a little light headed, then you won't know much of anything," he told Ressler, now pulling the needle from the IV and capping it off.
As the anesthetic made his head swim, Ressler felt a momentary uneasiness at the loss of control and turned back to Liz, who was leaning forward in her chair close by his head. "Sleep well," she told him, as her hand rested on his forearm.
"…Liz…" he whispered as his breathing became more regular. His last view was of her blue eyes close by him as his eyes closed and he fell unconscious.
Dr Fielding spoke up from the computer, "Okay, so get his belly covered in Betadine, and then drape him. After that, Conrad, he's all yours and you can make your incision."
Aram moved the camera so that it focused on Ressler's belly now as his betadine covered skin was covered in green surgical drapes from chest to knees, leaving a gap on the right side of his abdomen. Conrad's drawn line was visible through the opening. Placing the scalpel, he looked at them a moment, and as Red nodded to him, he cut evenly along the line. Red wiped the small amount of blood away, before reaching for the retractors.
Liz couldn't look. At the sight of her partner's skin being cut, she turned back to him, determined to just focus on the upper part of his body. Shanks smiled at her. "It's okay, just concentrate on keeping him wiped down and give me vitals when we need them," he told her. "Actually, here," he told her, removing the stethoscope from around his neck and giving it to her. "Listen to his heart."
Placing the stethoscope to her ears, she gently placed the round drum to his chest. As the steady thump of his heart filled her ears, she smiled, looking at him unconscious beside her, mouth slightly open and his head still tilted toward her. Reaching for the damp cloth, she wiped the sweat from his face and as she drew back and looked at her sleeping partner, she saw Conrad's drawing come to life before her.
Aram was having a problem looking too, which was an issue since he needed to. "Aram, keep the camera steady. Actually, you can probably put it on the tripod for now, and aim it down to the incision," said Red, looking at the agent who was a little green around the gills.
"Um, I'm okay. I can hold the camera," said Aram still waving it around slightly. He was determined to do this for Agent Ressler.
"This is all rather different for you, isn't it, Agent Mojtabai?" Red asked him, glancing up at the agent as he held the retractor in place for Conrad. "Away from your desk and your trusty laptop. I must say though, you've surpassed any expectations I had of you. You're doing an excellent job, Aram."
"I am? I am. Yes. Thank you, Mr Reddington." And suddenly, the camera was much steadier. Red smiled a little to himself, then returned his concentration to Conrad. He was cutting through the fatty layer under the skin now, and once through that he'd reach the abdominal muscles. Seeing some blood, Red swabbed it with gauze, before stealing a quick glance to Liz as she sat close by Donald's head, listening to his heartbeat.
"How's he doing, Lizzie?"
Hearing him she turned a little and gave him a thumbs up. Her partner's heart was beating steadily in her ears and under the current circumstances, it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard.
From the computer screen, Dr Fielding was watching on the camera and instructed Conrad on the next part for when he'd reach the tougher muscles to cut through.
"But first, see that blood vessel? We need to clamp it twice, then cut it across the middle between each clamp, then tie each end off. It will be in your way if you don't move it, and you will likely cut it," he told Conrad. "Aram, could you come in closer on that shot for me, thanks."
"Got it, thanks doc" said Conrad, concentrating on the task at hand. While the procedure of cutting into a body was familiar to him, doing it under such circumstances and on a living, breathing patient was definitely keeping him on his toes. It had been a long time since med school. But as he maneuvered his scissors under the blood vessel, separating it from the surrounding tissue, he also realized something else. He was enjoying this. As stressful as it was on his new friends around him, this was the most excitement he'd had in years. It brought back memories of a past life. One that had disappeared after his 'untimely death'.
As Dr Fielding continued instructing Conrad, he worked on getting through the small blood vessel as Red clamped it in place. As Conrad cut the vessel, Shanks spoke to Liz. "Vitals, please Liz?" he asked her, and she looked on the pulse ox and gave those to him. Then lifting Resser's wrist up and bending it at the elbow, she took his blood pressure. Giving that to Shanks, he nodded. "Very good."
Aram stood in the background as the three men hunched over Ressler, and Liz sat at his shoulder. Though it was hard to tell it even was Agent Ressler, he realized. It was just a square of flesh with an incision in it surrounded in green drapes that seemed apart from the rest of the agent's body. A strange calm had come over him as they all worked together. Granted, all his job entailed was holding onto a rod that held a tiny camera, but he had come to think of himself as the "Remote Surgical Media Liaison." And he'd be the best RSML he could be.
As Liz listened to Ressler's heart, it kept her calm. Like Aram, now that the surgery was progressing things seemed calmer. Gone was the rushing around to get Ressler prepped. From behind her, Conrad and Red were discussing cutting through the muscles as Dr Fielding observed. "Cut those in the opposite direction to the skin incision, and once through those, we will be able to see the white peritoneum."
Red was leaning over and moving the retractors further down as each layer was cut, opening up more of the incision. Beside him, Shanks had become 'chief swabber', and expertly swabbed up each blood spill, keeping the area clean. "There it is…" said Red, and even Liz turned around.
"His appendix…? You can see it?" she asked, removing the stethoscope.
"Not yet, Lizzie, but we can see the last layer covering it, the peritoneum. Once we're through that, we'll be able to see it," he told her.
"Careful with the peritoneum as you cut it, so you don't cut the cecum underneath it," said Shanks, leaning over.
"Hold it in the clamps and make sure it's moving freely before you cut it," added Dr Fielding from the computer.
As they clamped the peritoneum, they each breathed a sigh of relief as Conrad cut it a little, then safely maneuvered the scalpel in to cut a longer incision into it.
"Tighten that camera angle, Aram. Thank you. Now Conrad, since he's ruptured, you'll have to-"
They never heard what Dr Fielding said.
The entire cave was suddenly plunged into darkness as the power went out.
Liz gasped, instinctively gripping Ressler's arm as across from her Shanks stood up quickly. "What the hell?!"
Conrad froze in the dark, not daring to move his hands with the scalpel inside Ressler.
It took Aram a few seconds to realize he didn't need to hold the camera anymore, and holding the pole close to him, he fished his phone out of his pocket and lit up the area with the flashlight on his phone.
"Shine it down here!" Red told him and holding the phone, shining the light into the abdominal incision, Conrad safely removed the scalpel. Standing back from Ressler a moment, he looked to the computers and the power cable snaking up the wall.
Aram looked at Conrad, "Did you forget to pay your bill…?" He was ignored.
"Shit," said Conrad. Pulling off his bloody gloves, he tossed them into the trash and went to light the oil lamps. As the soft light filled the cave, he held one close to the power supply behind the computers. It was completely dead. The smell of burning wires came from the computers.
Shanks stayed by Ressler, and gently placed another piece of green drape over his open incision.
"Has this happened before?!" Liz asked, rising to her feet, and hovering over Ressler in a protective stance. She wasn't leaving his side.
"No, it has not," Conrad told her,
"Oh! Mr Reddington, you don't think-"
"That's exactly what I think Aram. It's our friends on the outside. They've cut the power to the cave," said Red, thinking rapidly.
"They could be coming!" Aram added turning to the tunnel entrance in fear.
"I would be surprised if they are not. We gave them the way in," Red told him, scowling as he also looked to the far tunnel entrance. "But the first thing we HAVE to do is finish the surgery," he told them. "We cannot leave Donald like this."
Conrad was gathering oil lights around them, bringing the light in closer. "Agreed. How many phones do we have with flashlights?"
"Mine does," said Liz, fishing it out of her pocket. "And Resslers too. I have his phone," she said, lighting them both up.
"Okay Lizzie, new job. You and Aram are to provide us with as much light as we can get here. We need to move safely, but quickly," Red told them, then looked to Conrad.
"I think we can manage it without Dr Fielding, after seeing the prep video and his prior instructions, don't you, my friend?"
Conrad was donning fresh gloves. "Absolutely. As long as we don't get any more surprises. Okay team. Let's roll."
Tears suddenly pricked Liz's eyes at Conrad's words. She glanced at Red as he held the clamps while Shanks removed the additional covering he'd put over the incision. Conrad picked up the scalpel and cut through the peritoneum, finally exposing the abdominal organs underneath it.
"We're in," he told them. "Now to find that appendix…" he said, pushing his gloved finger in and circling around the incision. And as his finger came up, Red placed some grips into the opening, holding what was on Conrad's finger. As he drew it out of the incision, the appendix, horribly red and inflamed, and slowly leaking lay before them.
"It's ruptured alright," said Shanks quietly. For a moment they just looked at it, then sprang into action again.
"Clean out the area as much as you can with swabs, then we'll need to flush it with saline," said Conrad as he viewed the blood vessels leading to the appendix. As they worked quickly but carefully, Liz kept stealing glances to the tunnel beyond their lighted area. As she did so, Aram threw glances at her, both of them silently aware that it was likely only a matter of time before someone appeared in their cave. And waiting for that to occur was agonizing.
Once Red and the medic had cleaned out the infection in the abdomen, Conrad nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, let's cut its blood supply," he instructed as they placed the clamps. While Liz and Aram were nervously looking toward the tunnel, the three men working were concentrating on their patient. Working together in a procession of clamping, cutting then tying off the blood vessels leading to the swollen appendix, they began to cut off its blood supply ready for removal.
Holding the phones to give light, Liz tried not to look at what was now laying on her partner's belly as the three men huddled around it, working together. She didn't know what was worse. Looking at his sick appendix, or looking at the tunnel. In the end, she turned and looked at her partner's sleeping face, lit softly in the glow coming off her phone.
Aram spoke up, "Um, Mr Reddington, should I inform Samar what happened so she can let Dr Fielding know?"
Red spoke to Aram without looking up. "Yes, do that. The poor man will be worried sick."
"He's not the only one," said Aram quietly, as he texted Samar, keeping his phone in a position to still shine the flashlight onto the surgery.
"How is your phone still working?" asked Liz quietly, looking at him. "You swam underwater."
"Oh, it has one of those waterproof, shockproof, everything proof covers," he told her, while reading Samar's reply. "Okay, Samar has contacted the doctor and explained what's going on. Well, kinda. I'm sure she didn't mention the part about the scary bad guys who will be knocking on our door soon," he told her, looking worriedly back to the tunnel.
And he'd no sooner spoken, when a dark figure emerged from the tunnel followed closely by a second man. Both wearing black wet-suits and yielding semi-automatic assault weapons, they stepped out of the dark and walked toward Conrad.
Horrified, Aram turned and met Liz's eyes, "Oh, God," he whispered, stepping backward into the dark.
"Conrad Lucas!" the first man yelled, the sound echoing through the cave.
Startled out of his concentration, Conrad jumped, his scalpel nicking a blood vessel as he did so. Blood spurted out onto Ressler's stomach as Shanks quickly placed a gauze swab there to collect it.
"Shit!" Conrad swore under his breath.
"Conrad Lucas! You're a hard man to find," the man called out again as they approached him, weapons pointed to Conrad's head. "Come with us. Now!"
Red spoke up, addressing the men. "Open your eyes," he told them, waving his hand to Ressler on their pseudo operating table. "It should be obvious, even to you, that we need him right now."
Turning to the gunmen, Conrad eyed them steadily, noticing their spokesman had a bandage on a badly bruised nose. "I'm not going anywhere with you," he told the gunman. "Can't you see that right now I have a problem?!" His eyes dropped from the gunman as he pointed to the blood pooling on Ressler's stomach, running into the incision and seeping into the green drapes.
The broken nosed gunman dropped his weapon from Conrad. Stepping quickly, he pushed Liz roughly out of the way, dropping her to the floor.
Raising the assault rifle to Ressler's temple, he faced Conrad. "I can take care of your problem. Won't take me any time at all."
"No!" screamed Liz, clambering to her feet, as Red helped her up, "Don't you dare! Don't!"
The man eyed her steadily, the gun barrel pressing on Ressler's temple so hard it moved his head. "That's up to him, sweetheart. Lucas comes with us, or I'll put a bullet in this man's head."
"No!" Liz screamed, dropping to her vulnerable partner as the man readied the assault weapon. "Please! No!"
Shanks was watching all this, vainly trying to stop the bleeding on Ressler's abdomen, holding his gloved hand over the cut blood vessel. But blood was still seeping out from under his hand.
"STOP!" Conrad shouted to the man, stepping closer to him. "I will come with you," he told the gunman as he tore his gloves off his hands. "But you will not hurt this man."
Conrad stood before the broken nosed man as the gunman turned to him. "You have no beef with these good folks. It's me you want. Let's go," Conrad told him, edging back from Ressler in an effort to protect his patient from the volatile gunman. As the gunman stepped back, moving the rifle butt from Ressler's head, Red spoke to him.
"Glad to see there is some sense under that broken nose after all," said Red, tilting his head at the gunman.
The gunman turned back to Ressler, looking at Liz. "No, sweetheart, I won't hurt this man," he told her, looking at Ressler as Liz hovered over him. "But I have no qualms about hurting this smart mouth," he said and swung the butt of the assault rifle hard into Reddington's head, immediately dropping him where he stood, his head hitting the side of the tall metal cabinet as he went down.
"Let's go!" Broken nose yelled to his colleague and together they shoved Conrad in front of them as the others looked on in horror. As they headed for the tunnel, they threw a scuba tank on Conrad's back and picked up the other two to take with them.
"So no one has any hero complexes about following us," he told them. And then they were gone, pushing Conrad ahead of them and running down the dark tunnels as Conrad's patient lay bleeding on the table behind him.
Liz dropped to Red, shining her phone light on him. "Red! Oh, God, Red!"
Aram came over to her, feeling Red's pulse in his neck. "He's alive, but he's out cold," he told her, standing and looking wide eyed at Ressler. Shanks looked at Aram, his hand still covering the cut blood vessel. Blood ran down the side of the drapes, dripping on the sandy floor.
"Aram," said Shanks, "Get over here. I need you to be my hands. I will guide you, but I need you to finish the surgery."