Hi people! Thank you loads for the feedbacks. I'm so glad you enjoy your reading! Omg, what did we do to Kevin? ^_^ Here is a looong chapter for you today, hope you'll like it ;) xxx
Javier Esposito entered the manor, holding an inanimate Kevin Ryan in his arms.
"Get out of the way!" he said as he headed to the couch quickly. Martha left the sofa and whispered "Oh my God" repeatedly.
"Kevin!" Jenny cried, scared. She almost fell down but found the strength to rush to the couch where Esposito had just laid him down.
"Oh my God", Rick stammered, in shock. He didn't expect this.
"What happened?" he whispered to Kate.
"It was a trap. The guy shot many times before he disappeared. By the time I went back there, he was already gone. Espo couldn't get him. I found Ryan lying on the floor, Javier trying to keep him alive. And to top it off, the flashlight ran out of battery", she explained in a whisper as she glanced at Jenny with emotion, who was kneeling over her husband.
"Dammit this is crazy," Rick said. "I'm glad to see you again, though."
Kate glanced at him and gave him a soft smile despite the situation.
"Me too, Castle."
"Kevin…oh my God…" Jenny cried, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Don't worry honey…I'm…I'm okay," Ryan managed to whisper as he opened his eyes to see his Jenny bending over him. His vision was blurry though. Jenny stroked his forehead that was soaked in rain and sweat. She couldn't help but cry, seeing all the blood escaping from his belly, and the stain on his shirt growing bigger every second.
"Lanie, hurry up!" Esposito said as he unbuttoned Kevin's wet and muddy shirt.
Too shocked to react at first, Lanie had finally thrown her towel and rushed to the couch. She knelt down next to the latino, and gently pushed Jenny away. Jenny moved to the arm of the couch where her husband's head was resting to let the M.E set.
"He got a bullet here," Esposito explained quickly as he pointed the wound. Lanie leaned over the body, putting the shirt apart the best she could to study the impact.
The bullet was in the lower abdomen, on the left. It was deeply sunk, Lanie could hardly see it. She placed her hands on the wound, to gently put the flesh away and try to see well. Ryan let out a cry of pain.
"Sorry Ryan, I have no choice." Lanie apologized.
"Do what…what you have to do," he managed to say, trying to catch his breath.
The wound was deep. His flesh was purple and it couldn't stop bleeding. His abdomen was covered with a mix of blood and mud. Some drops were falling on the couch and Lanie's hands were already full of it.
"I made a tourniquet the longer I could, but we were in a hurry and on the way I had to release it so…"
"You did well," she whispered to Esposito. Then she opened the Irish's lids to check his cornea. His vision was blurry and he looked absent-minded.
"He's dehydrated. Did he loose consciousness on the way?"
"No, almost…" Esposito replied. Lanie was ripping a clean piece of Ryan's shirt when he suddenly coughed and turned his head towards them.
"I'm going to die, right?" he stammered, half unconscious as he had heard their conversation.
"No bro, you're not going to die," Esposito replied immediately as Lanie was placing the piece of shirt against the wound to stop the bleeding. She was pressing as hard as she could.
"Come on, buddy…you can't lie…usually when you say something, the opposite happens…guess I'm screwed…" Kevin said with a small smile.
"Shut up, Kevin", Jenny hushed, as she kept stroking his forehead.
"What shall we do?" she added as she gave Javier and Lanie a panicked look.
"Lanie, we have to remove the bullet", Esposito said as he glanced at the brown woman. The M.E raised her eyes to his, hesitantly.
"What." He said, seeing her dubitative face.
"Javier I…I can't do this…"she stammered, with a shaky voice.
"Of course you can," he interrupted, almost aggressively. "You do it everyday."
"It's different here," she shook her head.
"So what?" he groaned. "You know how to do it!"
"Not in that condition! What about the hygiene? His only chance is the hospital", she added calmly. But Esposito's hot temper spoke for him.
"Dammit, do you see a hospital here?" he barked, overwrought. "For your information, we don't have any cars to bring him there! I can't believe you don't want to do anything!"
"Stop yelling at me! For your information, you can't operate on somebody just like that. The bullet is too deep."
"You remove bullets everyday at work, Lanie. Even worse than this one."
"But it has nothing to do with living people!" she replied irritated. "I can't even see if the bullet touched the organs. I have NOTHING to check the organs…And I have no anesthetic! No perfusion, no morphine! You want him to be in agony?"
"Better than letting him die, right?"
"If I don't clean it well, he can have septic shock, or even worse…" she continued, panicked, doing her best to calm down though.
"If you do nothing, he dies, do you realize?" Esposito said aggressively.
"Calm down, both of you", Kate interrupted, next to them.
"There's no need to yell at each other…Lanie, can't you really do something? Stitch up the wound, or…do something else?" detective Beckett asked softly. She didn't want to push her friend who was already overwhelmed by the situation.
Without answering Kate, Lanie glanced at Jenny who was crying her eyes out, as she was staring at her husband's wound. His eyes were closed, as he was half unconscious.
"Please. I'm begging you, try something," Jenny stammered, sobbing.
Lanie stared at her. Then she remembered what she had told her. She was expecting a baby. Lanie glanced at Kevin, who was shaking a little bit in his sleep. Jenny had to tell him the news. They deserved it. Finally Lanie swallowed hard and looked back at her.
"I'm going to try something for the bullet. But I want you to be aware that it might not save him…Considering the wound, and the blood he lost. And the lack of equipments…"
"Do whatever you can, I'm begging you," Jenny interrupted her before she sniffed and wiped her tears from the back of her hand.
Lanie nodded and stood up, febrile.
"All right, I'll try…Here, press on the tourniquet in my place, please."
Jenny nodded and pressed on the shirt that was already full of blood, against Ryan's abdomen. Javier looked at Lanie who had walked away. He stood up as well and watched her pacing.
She sighed heavily and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds, waiting for a sign that wouldn't come. She seemed lost, as if she didn't know where to begin. She had barely recovered from the earlier scary events in the woods and now she had to operate on Kevin or he would die on her. Lanie tried to stop thinking about the worst and gathered her courage as she rubbed her temple.
"All right…First, I need…my suitcase."
"I'll go," Alexis interrupted as she crossed the living room to take Lanie's suitcase that had been dropped in a corner.
"I have everything for pliers and stitches but I need something to anesthetize him. I only have sedatives…Castle, do you have sleeping pills?" Lanie asked.
"No…But I have bourbon!" he remembered as his eyes widened. Lanie shrugged.
"Anything else?"
"All kinds of whiskies, cognac, chartreuse…"
"All right then…Pick up the strongest one," Lanie interrupted him.
Rick nodded.
"All right. I'm going to pick it up. Let's make a special cocktail just for him," he said as he walked away.
"I'll help you, Castle", Kate offered as she followed him to the back of the living room where the bar was.
"It's not great to make him drink considering he's dehydrated but it's better than nothing to ease his pain…" Lanie said before she looked at Martha.
"Martha, I need clean towels, hot water to clean the wound. If you also have antiseptic and alcohol that will be fine…I don't think I have enough. I also need you to light more candles, because it's too dark here…"
"I got it," the actress replied as she headed to the bathroom.
"Thank you", Lanie whispered as she watched her walk away. Alexis came back with the suitcase in her hands.
"Here, I'll help grandma."
The red-haired girl walked away as Lanie opened the suitcase and let out a pair of gloves. Then she put the suitcase aside and put them on like a professional, before she glanced at Kevin. His eyes were still close and he was hardly breathing. Lanie was paralyzed as she thought she was his only chance to survive. She was panicked at the thought she would mess something up, doing this unprepared operation, and he would die because of it.
"What if I do something wrong…what if he dies…" she whispered, still staring at him. By her side, Esposito grabbed her arms and made her look at him.
"Don't think about it Lanie, you're a great doctor. I know you'll do whatever needs to be done," he assured her. Lanie shook her head and let out a bitter laugh.
"I'm not a great doctor, Javi, and certainly not a surgeon. I'm just a medical examiner who hasn't operated on living people since her internship."
He shrugged.
"So what? You do your job with your heart, it's the only thing that matters. You always know what to say to comfort families, you're great. You're passionate, determined, and I know you can save him," he said softly.
"Determination isn't enough to save lives…What if I fail? They'll all blame me. You will blame me…"she stammered.
"Never", he interrupted her as he shook his head. Lanie felt tears in her eyes. With all this, she was losing it. Javier felt guilty for yelling at her a few minutes ago.
"Lanie, listen…I'm sorry for earlier. I was aggressive and I shouldn't have…It's not your fault."
She gave him a sad smile and shook her head.
"Don't worry about it, it's forgotten. I understand why you did it, your best friend is bleeding to death on the living's couch," she said.
He shook his head.
"It's not a reason for talking to you that way." He let her arms go and stroked her hair still wet before her replaced a lock behind her ear.
"You don't deserve it, chica," he whispered as he leaned towards her. He kissed her on the forehead then he stepped back with regret. She gazed at him tenderly, surprised as she didn't expect such gesture. His face was so close…in other circumstances, she would have kiss him and tell him how much she missed him. But it wasn't the good time.
"You can do it Lanie, I believe in you", he added, snapping her out of her reverie. Lanie shook her head softly.
"I can't do this alone…Can you…Can you assist me on this operation?" she asked shyly.
He raised an eyebrow.
"You want me to help you?"
Lanie nodded.
"I need someone to give me the instruments, clean them, check on his blood pressure…"
Esposito shrugged and interrupted her.
"I guess I can do this."
Lanie smiled softly.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome…So, what do you want me to do?" he asked.
"Go wash your hands first, they're dirty…Then put them on."
She lent him a pair of blue gloves and he nodded before he headed to the kitchen's sink to wash his hands.
The M.E turned back to the couch, a little bit more confident after their talk. Martha and Alexis came back from the bathroom, with towels, covers, a kettle and another first-aid kit. They put them all on the floor next to the couch where Ryan was going to be operated and Lanie thanked them before she knelt down next to her patient.
"How do you feel?" she whispered to Ryan who had opened his eyes when he had heard someone approaching.
"Great, I'm up for tennis, what about you?" he managed to say, playful. Lanie smiled and put a hand on his forehead before she replaced Jenny for the tourniquet.
"You shouldn't stay here while I'll be operating on him, honey," she said to Jenny. "It won't be nice."
"I can't let him."
"Jenny, I don't want you to see this," Ryan interrupted with a weak voice.
Jenny seemed to hesitate, then finally let her husband's hand go. She kissed him softly on the forehead, told him to fight before she walked away from the couch, in regret.
With her latex gloves, Lanie took out a syringe from her suitcase and prepared the injection.
"I'm going to inject you benzodiazepine, a sedative. You won't sleep but at least, it will be easier for your organism."
Ryan didn't have the strength to react when she injected the product in his arm after she quickly cleaned it. Jenny had turned her head not to see it. She felt a fresh hand on her arm. Martha's.
"Come on Jenny, stay with us," the actress whispered. Jenny nodded softly and let her guide her to the kitchen, as Esposito was coming back into the room.
"Everything's going to be fine, Jenny," he whispered as he walked past them. Jenny gave him a sad smile and kept heading to the kitchen's counter where Alexis was waiting with a glass of water to comfort her.
Javier arrived to the couch and took a seat next to Lanie who was now cleaning the wound with a wet towel. White at first, it quickly turned red and stained with mud.
Rick and Kate also headed to them. The writer was proudly holding a big whisky glass full of alcohol one could have smelled from twenty meters away.
"Here, drink it Ryan."
He lent the glass to Lanie who was closer and made him drink. The Irish took a sip before he winced.
"Dammit, what did you put in here?"
"I don't want to answer", Castle said as he cleared his throat.
"Nah, better not," Kate said with a soft smile.
They went wild with the cocktail.
"You want to kill me!" Kevin teased with the little strength he had.
"Try and drink it all, Ryan…I don't want to lie to you, it will hurt. And I don't even have any morphine to ease the pain…" Lanie admitted.
"Listen to Doctor Parish, bro. You gotta be strong," Esposito chuckled.
Ryan sighed and agreed to drink the glass, before he let out a disgusted moan in the end.
"Dammit…disgusting."
"I thought Irish people loved alcohol?" Rick teased him.
"Stop considering us as alcoholics…the Scottish are, not us…" Ryan managed to say in a whisper.
Espo, Castle and Kate smiled at his joke, then Lanie gave the glass to Castle. She took out all the materials of dissection she needed from her suitcase. Then she took a deep breath, clearing her mind. Kate noticed she needed to focus so she grabbed Rick's arm.
"Come on Castle, we're going to set a chimney fire. They'll see better and it will warm us up."
Rick startled a little under her touch.
"Good idea, your skin is frozen…you look like a dead body."
"Do you think it's necessary talking about dead bodies now?" Kate said.
He winced, grinding his teeth.
"You're right. I'm sorry, that was inappropriate."
Then he turned to Esposito, Lanie and Ryan.
"Good luck, doc. Ryan, hold on buddy, okay? I want you to beat me at tennis next time", the writer said playfully.
"Count on me," Kevin said with a half smile.
Rick gave him a smile before he let Kate guide him to the chimney corner, a few meters away.
"Kate, I'm busy helping Lanie on this, so stay alert," Esposito ordered her as she walked away.
"Don't worry, I got it," she assured as she touched her gun, in her pocket.
A deafening silence was in the kitchen. Martha, Alexis and Jenny were staring at what was going on in the living room, barely breathing not to disturb Lanie.
Standing in front of the couch, Lanie felt Esposito's hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes.
"Ready, chica? It's going to be okay", he assured in a whisper. Lanie gave him a smile and nodded even if she wasn't sure. Then she glanced at Ryan. The Irish was unconscious, knocked out by the cocktail the writer and Kate had made him drink. Good, Lanie thought as she took the first pliers, ready to move the flesh aside to search for the bullet.
.
to be continued...
n/a: When Hell-and-Bliss and I wrote the story, we imagined Lanie would have to remove the bullet...we are not doctors and know nothing about surgery so maybe it's a wrong idea to some purists...But let's just pretend that was the right thing to do at the moment, okay? ^_^ (btw, is Lanie going to save him? hmm...) Thanks for reading and stay tuned! xxx