eeeeeeppppppppp Thank you for the great response to this story not going to lie I may have squealed in excitment with every email alert haha.
Here we go I just wanted to say a couple of things firstly I have absolutley no medical knowledge so everything in here is from things I have heard on the show or other medical shows haha. Also I use (') as speech marks because my actual speech mark button is broke, dont worry it annoys me too. Finally, this is by far no mean's the best chapter ever but it answers some questions.
Disclaimer I own nothing.
'What have we got?' Asked Dylan as Jeff, Zoe and Nick pushed Dixie into Resus.
'Dixie, our Dixie brutally beaten arrested on scene. Intubated with suspicion of collapsed or punctured lung' explained Nick as he removed his jacket and moved to work on Dixie.
'On 3' said Jeff '1..2..3' Dylan, Nick, Zoe, Jeff and Tess all lifted Dixie over on to the trolley. Jeff turned to see a crowd had formed outside many of their friends and colleague's had heard and all wished to be with Dixie.
'Jeff, JEFF! Come on mate there's nothing more you can do for her' explained Lenny as he moved Jeff out of the resus room and into the family waiting room.
As Jeff sat staring at the clock on the wall he realised he was covered in blood, he realised it was her blood he had to move quickly before vomiting into the small rest room attached to the room. He remembered her words 'do not spill beans on your uniform I ain't getting those stains out as well' it made him vomit again when he realised he would have to wash her blood stains out of his uniform it was like some form of cruel irony.
2 hours after they had first come into the hospital Nick walked into the family room finding Jeff in his own world he sighed and ran a shaky hand through his hair. 'Jeff' he said making the man look up 'Dixie had an extensive list of injuries' he began.
'wait you said had' noticed Jeff fear gripping him making his blood run cold.
'She's still with us Jeff' the other man reassured quickly seeing the look on his face 'you were right, she has 4 broken ribs one of which punctured her lung she's in surgery now, however, she had a lot of internal bleeding her spleen is damaged beyond repair and there seems to be fluid around her heart. We think that's what caused her to go into cardiac arrest. She has a fractured wrist and her index finger is broken. However, the worst of her injuries is in her head her brain is swollen, we will have to remove part of her skull in order to ease the pressure on her brain and then return the skull once the pressure has gone down. Jeff she's strong and a fighter, but you may want to prepare yourself' he explained patting Jeff on the shoulder and leaving to talk to the police.
Tess came into the room not long after Nick had left. However, Jeff didn't notice her until she put a hand on his shoulder, 'Jeff I think you should go home, have a shower get changed she's not going to be out for a while Lenny or big Mac will drive you home. Come on' She said as she gently guided the shocked man out of the hospital and into the car park where Lenny was waiting beside his car.
'Come on mate lets get you home' He said as he helped guide Jeff into the passenger seat, nodding at Tess he got in the drivers side and drove Jeff home.
He seemed to snap out of his daze as he was stood in his shower cold water snapping at his skin causing a shiver to run up his spine, as he looked around he saw many of Dixie's things her shampoo; the one which had caused a huge argument when Jeff had used it 'My shampoo mate not yours! You don't have any hair!' she had shouted as he dodged her slap. Her dressing gown hung on the towel radiator where she had left it that morning so it would be warm when they got back and the rubber duck she had bought him after he fell in a duck pond chasing some thug. He couldn't take it any more he punched the tiled wall and let the tears fall. His whole frame shaking as he sank down onto the shower floor nursing his now broken hand.
That's how Lenny found him an hour later, quickly turning the now freezing water off and wrapping the man in a towel he managed to move him out off the shower and into his bedroom where he wrapped him in more towels trying to get his body temperature back to normal. Then he noticed the swollen bruised mess that was the man's hand 'shit Jeff come on that's broke we need to get you back to the ED' He explained getting the man dressed (which was not an easy job while attempting to not look).
Lenny had rung Nick on his way into work letting him know about Jeff and stating his concern that he may need help.
As the two walked into the ED Nick moved to put Jeff in his own room and began examining the man's hand. He could see the man had slipped into shock and mentally kicked himself for not noticing earlier.
'Jeff listen to me,' he began turning the man's face so he was looking at him 'you need to snap out of it, if not for your own sake for Dixie's she's going to need you.' He attempted to get through to the man but he seemed to be failing that was until he heard a shaky breath from the man in front of him.
'The blood, Nick I can still taste...her blood' he stuttered looking at the floor.
'Jeff you saved her life she wouldn't be here now without you' He tried to reassure the man but he could understand his feeling's he knew it had taken a little a bit of himself every time he had to wash away the blood of his colleague's. No, his friends.
Jeff just sighed he knew he needed to pull himself together but he was so close to losing her he couldn't not until she was up and about shouting at him for chasing people when he should have left it to the police, or ramming on their bathroom door when she was purposely taking forever to wash her hair.
'She's the best thing that ever happened to me she is my wife and I love her like a wife' he confessed 'well without the romantic side of course' he added to himself with a small chuckle.
'I know, Jeff god I know. You can see it everyday your around each other its not easy to miss' replied Nick putting a hand over the other man's shoulder's. 'Come on lets get this X-rayed and then I will go see how she's doing' he promised leading the man towards the X-ray department.
3hours and one new pot later Jeff found himself sat in the staff room with a cup of coffee, it had been four hours since Dixie had gone into surgery and he had been warned it could be another couple of hours more depending on what they found.
People kept coming in telling him how strong Dixie was and how much of a fighter she was, he was slowly getting sick of it although he knew they were only trying to offer him comfort, he had done It himself many times but this time was different. He decided he needed some air so left the comfort of the staff room and walked towards the ambulance bay and most importantly their office.
He sat down in his chair and closed his eyes imaging it was just like any other day and she was out helping another team or on a coffee run, he soon fell asleep the adrenaline of the day wearing off leaving him exhausted.
That's how Zoe found him, she had been sent to find him with the news about Dixie but had been wandering around the hospital for the past half an hour totally confused as to where he could have gone until big Mac mentioned something about the ambulance's. She didn't want to wake him he finally looked peaceful but she knew he needed to know.
'Hey, Jeff hunny wake up it's me Zoe' She spoke softly as she placed a hand on his arm shaking it lightly, slowly the man's eyes opened and he locked eyes with her seeming totally confused for a couple of seconds until the realisation of the day's event's hit him and he was left looking ultimately worried again.
'Zoe, what's up' He asked slowly as if not wanting the answer.
'It's Dixie, Jeff she's out of surgery come on you can go see her now' she explained pulling the obviously relieved man out of his seat and on to his feet before leading him toward the direction of the hospital.
As they both entered the ED lobby they noticed many of the ED staff where in the staff room, Jeff looked on curiously as they passed the door. He stopped when he heard Nick mention Dixie's name 'As some off you may be aware Dixie a close colleague and friend of ours, was brought in early today after a horrific attack, Dixie has suffered many injuries and is extremely ill. I know she will be in our prays tonight, thank you and I expect to see majority of you bright and early tomorrow morning.'
As Nick left the staff room he stopped when he saw Jeff 'Thanks Zoe I'll take him up' he said dismissing her.
'How is she Nick, and I want the truth no matter how brutal' He admitted he couldn't take false hope for once he needed to know exactly what was going on.
'She's in a coma, a natural coma in other words its not medically induced' He began making sure the other man was okay before he continued 'She's had to have her spleen removed and she's having difficulties breathing on her own we think it may be down to her asthma as well as the damage to her lung. They managed to drain the fluid from around her heart but its left it weak, the cardiac surgeon Miss Naylor believes it should strengthen itself. However, her brain isn't improving the way we would have liked the swelling is going down very, very slowly. Jeff what I'm saying is we've down all we can it's up to her now.' He explained as they stepped out of the lift and into the Intensive care unit.