A/N- Once again, sorry for the delay. In all honesty I was just being lazy in editing this chapter. I'll try to be less lazy. :P Hope you enjoy, and sorry for the cliff hanger ending I left you with last chapter.
Chapter 10-
Emma looked at the clock on the hotel night stand. She noticed it had now been eight minutes since her husband had left for ice. A slight feeling of nervousness overtook her for a split second, and she tried to distract herself with her book, figuring that Will had likely run into someone to talk to along the way. Unfortunately, the distraction wasn't working. She shifted against the head board trying to make herself more comfortable, adjusting a pillow that was behind her to better support her lower back. Her attempt at reading was futile however, as the pages of words weren't even registering with her any longer. She put the book down beside her on the bed, deciding to call him and figure out what was taking so long.
Reaching for her cell phone she quickly dialed the first number on her speed dial, holding the phone to her ear and waiting for an answer. It rang once, and then she was startled by a loud buzzing coming from the counter by the hotel room door.
It was Will's cell phone flashing with her call.
Emma sighed as she pressed the "end call" button, putting her phone back down. She decided it would be a good idea to go in search of him, as she was beginning to worry. She grabbed her coat from the closet and wrapped it around her nightgown, taking a moment to button it up, and then slipped her feet into her slippers.
Normally she would care more about her appearance in public, but at this point she was really beginning to worry, so all thoughts of fashion were lost on her nerves. It wasn't like him to leave her waiting for so long and her feeling of uneasiness was growing by the minute.
Before she had a chance to reach the door however, there was a frantic pounding on it, startling her once again. She quickly rushed over to the peep hole to see who it was. Surprise sat in as she observed a round older lady standing there, beating frantically on the door, as opposed to her husband with a container full of ice and a lopsided grin. A sense of panic set in immediately.
She quickly opened the door in an attempt to figure out what was going on.
"The man! The man! He was hurt!" The lady yelled out frantically, her arms flailing from side to side. It was obvious she had been running before she arrived at Emma's room. Emma's brow furrowed in confusion.
"What?" Emma asked, trying to get her to calm down so she could find out what was wrong. "Who's hurt?"
The lady held up a hotel key with their room number on it that had fallen from Wills pocket and she waved in in Emma's face, trying to get the red head to notice the urgency. "The man from this room! He's hurt! We must go!"
Though the lady had a rather thick Spanish accent, Emma understood every word that left her mouth as she turned white as a sheet.
Emma's throat tightened. She looked to the key card, and then to the door, mentally checking to make sure the numbers matched. They did.
"Where is he?" Her heart skipped a beat from the adrenaline that was now coursing uncontrollably through her body.
"In the ice room!" Her words were a yell more than anything, as she began to run back from the direction she had come from. Emma followed immediately.
"I called 911 and they come for him now!" The lady was running pretty quickly for a woman her size, and Emma, even at seven months pregnant, was keeping up the pace. Fear and panic seemed to overcome any feeling of fatigue. Once they rounded what seemed like the millionth corner, the lady stopped abruptly in front of a doorway, no longer able to will herself into the room.
"There," She pointed somberly. It was the first time Emma had heard the lady speaking without frantic yelling. She would have preferred the yelling.
Emma peered into the doorway and the sight before her sent her head spinning. There was her husband, lying on the floor with a pool of blood coming from his abdomen, and what looked like a deep gash to his left side. If there was any color in Emma's face before she had arrived, it was gone now.
She immediately rushed over to him, kneeling beside his body, not even caring about the blood on the floor. Will's blood.
She tried to swallow but the dryness in her throat wouldn't allow it. There was an older Spanish gentleman who was already by Will's side, checking to see if he had a pulse. She registered somewhere in the back of her mind that the man was most likely the lady's husband, but it was a fleeting thought as her only focus at the moment was on Will's condition.
The man held his fingers to Will's pulse point and waited for a moment. Emma held her breath in anticipation as she scanned her husband's body for signs of life.
"He's got a pulse." The man said breaking the silence; relief washing over Emma for the slightest of moments.
Okay, he was still alive. That's a good sign. What now though? She had to focus. What was it that she had learned in that first aid and blood-borne pathogens class they'd had at the school? Oh, right. Pressure. She needed something to apply pressure to his wound.
"Give me your shirt." She held out her hand to take it, uncharacteristically demanding.
"What?" The man asked, slightly shocked at her question; obviously oblivious to her train of thought.
"Please, I need your shirt. I need to stop the bleeding with something or he will bleed to death," Emma said with a hint of pleading and desperation in her voice.
The man, now understanding her logic, quickly took off his coat and removed his shirt, handing it over to Emma. She wadded it quickly into a sort of ball and pushed it against Will's wound with a bit of force, ignoring the slight pain emanating from her braced left wrist. His body flinched and Emma held her breath, thinking that was a good sign. He didn't stir further. She allowed her weight to put pressure on the wound, hoping this would help stop the bleeding.
It was then that the sirens were clearly audible and they could hear tire screeching from the parking lot. The lady ran to the railing, pointing the medics to the right staircase and leading them to Will.
They quickly filed into the tiny room with bags of equipment and the Spanish man left his spot by Will to allow better access for the medics, putting his coat back on and joining his wife in the hallway.
Emma was firmly rooted to her spot hovering over Will, determined to stop every drop of blood from leaving his body, not even caring that there was blood on her hands as well as her knees and clothes. It wasn't until a medic put his hands over hers and called out, "Ma'am" that she snapped out of her shock. "I've got it from here." He said, helping her lift her hands and placing his own over the wound with clean gauze.
Emma fell back against the wall. It was the only thing her body would physically allow as she watched the medics quickly set up their instruments and hover over her husband with wires and needles and gauze. They cut his shirt off, allowing better access to his wound, and quickly rolled him to his side to see if the wound went through. It hadn't so they took the opportunity to place a bright yellow backboard under him and rolled him flat once more, strapping his head to the board. Wires were quickly attached to his toned chest and monitors were soon beeping rhythmic patterns as Emma tried to control the tightening in her own chest.
How did this even happen?
The voices of the paramedics were loud and deep as orders and stats were spoken, everyone in a sort of swift, yet organized, panic. It wasn't until she heard the one with the curly blonde hair say, "He's losing too much blood! We've got to move him!" That she snapped out of her spot against the wall. "What?" She squeaked out, panic laced in every movement of her tongue.
The commotion of voices and monitors and crinkling plastic bags with tubes and equipment continued to fill the small space.
"What's going on?" Emma asked a little louder this time, needing answers but not wanting to get in the way either.
Still, nobody acknowledged her words as they were all to focused on their specific tasks. Emma watched as blood continued to soak through yet another gauze pad and the man quickly added it to the pile of soiled ones as he placed another clean one over the wound, this time taping it down. Emma was no doctor but she knew that wasn't a good sign. Her chest and her throat were constricting as her breathing quickened further and she began feeling slightly dizzy.
"What's going on?" She practically yelled the words, demanding someone talk to her. One of the medics turned to her, finally noticing her presence, as the other men stood, collecting their equipment and helping to move Will to the gurney that Emma hadn't even noticed was there to begin with.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" The medic asked, noticing the blood all over Emma's hands and clothes.
"I'm fine! What's happening to my husband? Is he going to be okay?" Emma pleaded, tears now brimming her eyes. Panic didn't even begin to cover the rainbow of emotions coursing through her at that moment and she desperately wanted answers.
Her short shallow breaths were making it nearly impossible to get more than a few words out at a time and it was making it harder to focus. She wavered slightly in her spot, which did not go unnoticed by the paramedic.
"Ma'am, you don't look so good. Why don't we take you to the ambulance and check you out too, okay?" He offered a hand to her to help her up. Emma's eyes were only focused on her husband though as the men were beginning to wheel him out on the gurney.
"Where are they taking my husband?" She asked completely ignoring the man, all logical thoughts flown out the window at this point.
"Ma'am, we are taking your husband to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical. I think we need to check you out too though. You seem to be having a little trouble breathing. Let's get you to the ambulance and you can ride with us to the hospital, okay?" He placed one hand on her waist and one hand on her shoulders, gently guiding her to a standing position. Her body complied as best it could, though it was a good thing he was holding on to her as she otherwise would have fallen from dizziness. He helped her quickly to the ambulance and she was glad to once again be by her husband's side. She noticed a few police cars arriving at the scene and they were already beginning to tape off the room she had just left but she was still to shocked from the evenings events to register the full extent of what was happening.
Her gaze traveled to Will. He looked so pale and his lips were blue, but the monitors were beeping in pattern, easing her slightly, even though his appearance wasn't good. One of the medics had packed his wound and taped down clean gauze once more while the other man had intubated him. He looked so fragile lying on the gurney, rather lifeless. Emma's heart broke in two.
"Ma'am." Her thoughts were interrupted by a bright light being flashed into her eyes and she directed her attention to the voice she had been ignoring for the past few minutes.
"Wha-" Her words came out unfinished as her breathing was still fast and erratic.
"Can you tell me your name? Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked, flashing the light into her other eye, checking her pupils for reactiveness.
E-Emma. I'm Emma Schuester. I'm not hurt, just my husband." Her words came out winded through her shallow breaths, but he understood her regardless. Emma tried to ignore the tightening in her chest.
"Emma, I'm Kevin. Are you having trouble breathing?" He asked, pulling his stethoscope from around his neck.
"I'm fine." Emma said, her eyes drifting back to Will.
"Ma'am, your breathing is quite shallow. I'm going to listen to your heart for a moment, okay?"
Emma nodded in compliance, not really paying much attention to the man. Another wave of dizziness ran over her as he placed the cold end of the stethoscope to her chest. She grabbed onto the side of the vehicle for a moment, trying to steady herself. The movements of the large ambulance were not helping matters. She hadn't even noticed he had unzipped her coat as he looked at her with concern.
"Emma, your breathing is quite shallow. Are you having a panic attack?" He asked, grabbing her hands so she would focus on him. It worked as her attention was once again turned to him.
"I-I don't know…" She trailed off. It was becoming harder to focus.
"Sam, let's get some oxygen on her. I think she's having a panic attack." He called across the ambulance to the man sitting by Will's head. He got up quickly and attached a tube to a port on the side wall of the ambulance, then cranked a small wheel until the sound of airflow came from the other end of the long tube. He reached across Will and handed it to Kevin who took it efficiently and put the small openings to the tube into her nose while lacing the extra tubing behind her ears.
"Emma, I need you to focus on your breathing for me, Okay?" He held her hands in his once more, attempting to direct her focus to him. He tried to hold eye contact with her and took in deep breaths Emma could only guess she was expected to replicate. She did as she was told and began taking deep breaths, filling her lungs with the oxygen her anxiety wouldn't previously allow. This obviously pleased Kevin as he said, "Good job, Emma. Just keep doing that." And grinned widely, noticing a small amount of color returning to her features. She took several more deep breaths, trying to slow her heart rate and increase her oxygen flow. The dizziness was beginning to fade and her mind was better able to focus once more on the details.
"How far along in your pregnancy are you?" He asked, as he pulled out his stethoscope once more and placed it against her stomach, listening for a fetal heartbeat. He grinned slightly when he found it. "And are you allergic to any medications?"
"I'm…I'm 30 weeks." Emma said after thinking for a short moment. "I don't think I'm allergic to any medications." Her chest was beginning to burn less as the air was circulating in it once again.
"Okay great." Kevin said, letting go of her hands to grab a pen and a chart from the small wrack behind him. "What about your husband? Is he allergic to any medication?"
"No." Emma said, "He's only allergic to dust. And ragweed."
"Alright, that's great Emma. You're doing great." He said, talking soothingly to her so her breathing would continue to return to normal. "Do you know what happened to your husband?" He asked.
"I-I don't know. He went to get some ice and he didn't come back…and a lady came to my door telling me my husband was hurt. When I got there, there was blood. A lot of blood." Emma let out a small sob she didn't even know was in her. "Is he going to be okay?" She asked, staring once more at her husband's pale face.
Kevin placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as a gesture of sympathy. "It seems he's got a pretty deep stab wound to his abdomen. We are taking him to the hospital so that the doctors there can give him a transfusion of blood and make sure the knife didn't knick any necessary organs. We won't know exactly what's wrong with him until the surgeons have a chance to look at him."
"He's going to need surgery?" She asked, concerned.
"Most likely, yes." Kevin stated, just wanting to be honest with her.
Emma swallowed hard. "Okay."
"Okay Emma, we're almost there. Can you give me a few more details about your husband?" Kevin asked. She nodded, answering all of his questions that she could. The ride to the hospital was a short one, and Emma was thankful once they had arrived. Will's monitors were still going strong as they pulled him out of the back of the noisy vehicle. Sam, the medic that had set up her oxygen, pulled the tube from the wall of the ambulance and plugged it into a smaller green tank of oxygen that he handed to Kevin.
Both men helped her out of the ambulance and into a wheelchair, much to her dismay and protest. They wheeled her in quickly behind Will, but once inside they directed her to an exam room while Will went rolling down the hallway in the direction of the trauma rooms.
The sign on her room read "ER exam room 2."
"Wait, I want to go with my husband." Emma said, protesting their separation and attempting to get out of the wheel chair. Kevin was by her side instantly, helping her stand.
"I'm sorry but you can't go in there right now." A nurse with flowered scrubs told her as she helped Kevin move Emma and her things to the bed. Sam came in right behind them with a bag full of Will's belongings. "We'll get you checked out and cleaned up and if everything is okay we will take you up to the surgical waiting room." The nurse said, helping Emma move her body back onto the hospital bed and adjusting a few pillows behind her.
Emma let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that she wouldn't be able to argue it.
Kevin and Sam left after getting her settled, handing her a card so she could call them with an update once one became available. After she thanked them for their help they were on their way.
The nurse hooked Emma's oxygen up to the port on the wall and placed monitors on her chest so that they could monitor her breathing, and they set up a fetal monitor for that baby as well. The doctor came in as the nurse was starting an IV.
"Mrs. Schuester?" The doctor asked, looking at her chart. "I'm doctor Howards. I'll be taking care of you this evening." She offered her hand to Emma, who shook it.
"I hear you're having a little bit of trouble breathing after a panic attack?" She asked, looking over the monitors.
"I'm okay, really. I'm fine now." Emma said, wincing as the nurse pierced the needle into Emma's arm. "I'd really like to go and be with my husband please." Her eyes were pleading. She wasn't intentionally trying to be manipulative, but she was also determined to get to Will.
"Well it seems your oxygen levels are improving quickly." Dr. Howards said, looking over her chart and copying a few numbers from the monitors.. "You said you are 30 weeks?"
"Yes. 30 weeks yesterday." Emma clarified.
"Well everything seems to be fine here. We'll clean you up and keep you on the oxygen for another 15 minutes or until your oxygen saturation is back to normal. Then we can get you to the surgical floor to be with your husband. Does that sound alright?"
Emma nodded, grateful that the doctor was being understanding and compliant.
"If you are feeling anxious we can also offer you something to take the edge off." The doctor said, writing a script for Emma. She tore it from her pad and handed it over. "There is a pharmacy on the fourth floor that is open twenty-four hours a day should you need it." They went over a few more details and Emma was thankful when she was able to leave the ER 45 minutes later, dressed in dark blue scrubs and holding two bags of belongings. They directed her to the surgical floor where she began her waiting game.
Emma was in the waiting room for about 20 minutes when she decided to call Shannon. She hated to bother her friend, particularly this late in the evening when she was hundreds of miles away, but Emma didn't know what else to do so she let the phone ring until she heard the familiar voice on the other end.
"Ello?" Came a deep country voice, still groggy with sleep.
"Shannon, it's Emma."
"Oh, hey Em! How's it going in New York?" She asked, clearly pleased to hear from her friend.
Emma's eyes began to fill with tears. "Something's happened, Shannon." The other end of the line went silent. "Will was stabbed. We're at Memorial Medical Hospital in Niagara." Emma's tears began to fall at this point, and she choked on a sob as she willed her composure to return.
"What? " Came Shannon's confused question. "Em, give me the address. I'll be there faster than you can say cowboy on a camel!"
Emma paced the small floor of the private waiting room in silence. She had been walking from one end of the floor to the other for quite a while already, but it was the only thing that could sooth her as she waited. She had lost count of the number of "laps" she'd done after about 45. It didn't matter anyway though. Will was still in surgery and his life still hung in the balance. She just wished someone would come and talk to her.
She paused her walking briefly and stretched her back for a moment, placing her hand at her lower back for support. She felt so uncomfortable in the navy blue maternity scrubs the hospital had given her in exchange for her blood-soaked nightgown and coat. She wasn't used to wearing pants all that often, particularly ones with a large elastic middle.
She began pacing again, glancing at the clock as she did so. Four AM. They had been in surgery for about four hours and she still hadn't heard anything. That couldn't be a good sign.
Her feet and back were really beginning to hurt with the weight of the baby so she decided to sit down on the large couch for a few minutes. It wasn't until she sat that she noticed how swollen her feet were so she slipped off her hospital issued shoes and propped them up on a pillow. She was thankful this was a private waiting room, as she wasn't sure she would be able to deal with any people right now.
A soft knock came from the large wooden door and Emma looked up as a person with scrubs, much like her own, came in. Her breath caught in her throat as he pulled his scrub cap with palm trees off to reveal a bald head. Emma began moving to sit up but the doctor grabbed one of the waiting room chairs and quickly sat in front of her so she wouldn't have to move. "You're Emma Schuester?" He asked, holding his scrub cap in one hand and what she could only assume was Will's chart in the other.
"Yes," Emma stated, anticipation filling the room as she sat up a little bit straighter.
"I'm Doctor Noah Cahn. I'm the surgeon who operated on your husband tonight." He stated, offering her a hand. Emma shook it, and looked him in the eye, searching for answers.
"Is my husband alright?" She asked, half afraid of the answer.
"Your husband had a stab wound to his abdomen. The knife nicked a small amount of his large intestine as well as his pancreas. I was able to repair the damage and control the bleeding with several blood transfusions, and he is healing nicely in recovery now. I do need to tell you that he flat-lined in surgery twice as a result of the blood loss but we were able to shock him into a steady rhythm. Assuming he has no further complications, I expect him to make a full recovery." The doctor smiled at Emma, clearly happy to be offering her good news.
Emma let out a long breath, not even aware that she had been holding it, and a few tears trickled down her cheek. "Thank you Dr. Cahn. Thank you so much." Emma said, shaking his hand once more as a smile appeared on her lips as well.
"My pleasure." He said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "He is in surgical recovery right now and they will move him as soon as he wakes up to a room."
"Can I see him?" Emma asked, desperate to make sure with her own eyes that her husband was actually alright.
"Sure. I can take you to him now." The doctor said as he stood up. Emma quickly grabbed her belongings bags and slipped her hospital issued Crocs back onto her feet, and followed the doctor. It didn't take long for the pair to arrive at the large double doors that marked the entrance to the surgical recovery wing. The doctor typed a key code into the pad by the doors and they quickly opened.
Dr. Cahn led Emma to a large metal sink and instructed her to wash her hands and put on a mask as well as a hair net while in the recovery room. He got a page and left her with the on-call nurse as she scrubbed her fingernails one at a time. Once she was sufficiently clean, the nurse led her into Will's room.
It was incredibly small, but it didn't need to be big as it was only for short term recovery. Will looked so fragile laying on the bed hooked up to monitors and IV's. She was pleased to see he was no longer intubated though.
There was a white chair directly next to the head of the bed and Emma made her way over to sit down, placing the belonging bags under Will's bed. She cautiously looked him over, noting the color had returned to his cheeks. She rubbed his left cheek gently and placed a soft kiss on his lips. She was so happy he was okay.
"Oh Will. You really scared us." Emma said, placing her braced hand over her stomach. She grabbed his hand into her right one, relishing its warmth. She sighed lovingly as she watched him; his chest rising and falling with the monitors.
Emma's mind wandered as she began stroking the back of his hand with her intertwined fingers. She almost didn't notice Will's eyes flutter for a brief moment, but she caught sight of it out of the corner of her eye. Immediately she gasped and turned her full attention to his face.
"Will?" Emma asked gently, "Will, honey, can you hear me?"
At that moment the nurse came into the room to check on things. She noticed Will beginning to stir as well.
"Will, it's Emma. Can you wake up for me?" She asked, continuing to stroke his hand.
The nurse came closer, pulling the chart from the end of the bed as she did so and writing down the numbers from his monitors as well as checking the time.
"Will…" Emma urged again. His eyes fluttered once more, this time beginning to open.
Emma was thrilled to see his bright orbs once again as a rogue tear fell from her cheek.
Will coughed a little bit and grimaced as his eyes opened all of the way. He was looking around at his surroundings a bit frantically before his eyes settled on Emma, which relaxed him instantly. She smiled softly at him. "Will, you're okay." She couldn't contain her grin now as happiness flooded her entire body. He was okay, and that's all that mattered.