Kayla had refused to be turned away when they rolled Shane into the emergency room at University Hospital. She knew she was useless and probably in the way, but Carly and Marcus worked around her. Carly was asking for BP readings. Marcus called for a clamp. They were both working frantically.
"Come on, Shane," Kayla begged, as she leaned over his head. "Don't give up."
She watched his eyes. He seemed dimly aware of the people around him, but nothing seemed to be registering. The sounds of the emergency room and the bright lights were probably confusing him, a lot of noise and sights he could not process through the pain. Then he tried to jerk away, but she grabbed his head and held him. "Hold still, Shane." Kayla hated this; she hated seeing him in so much pain. She tried to calm him by touching his cheek and brushing some of his hair back from his face. "You've got to hold on. Fight this," she said.
Something changed in his expression. Through the mask, she saw his lips move as if he was trying to say something. And his eyes seemed to lock on hers. They were bright, almost feverish.
"We've got to intubate," she heard Marcus call out. One of the nurses reached over and began pulling away the oxygen mask.
"Kay. . . please. . . ." The words came so quietly that she barely heard them over the din of the room. Each word was accentuated with flecks of blood.
She pulled the mask from the other nurse and put it back over Shane's face. Then, Kayla looked up at Marcus and Carly. "He's trying to say something."
"We've got to tube him," Carly said. "It's his only chance." Kayla could hear the undercurrent in Carly's voice It was something nurses learned to pick up from a doctor's tone. She was saying it was Shane's only chance, but not a good one.
"One minute?" Kayla asked. "Just let him. . . ." She didn't have to say it. Marcus and Carly both knew. Once they inserted the breathing tube, Shane would have no further chance to say anything. Marcus nodded.
"Just a few words, Kayla."
She looked back at Shane, who was focused on her with the same fevered, intense gaze. "I'm going to pull away the mask so you can talk," she said. "But just for a moment. Then I'm putting it back on to help you breathe. And then Marcus and Carly need to put in a breathing tube. Do you understand?" He gave something approximating a nod, so she pulled the mask away and leaned close so she could hear him.
"Kim . . ." The word came out almost imperceptibly. "Tell Kim . . . love her. Always."
His last words came out so faint that she put the mask back on. "I don't have to tell her, Shane," she told him, forcing a fake smile to her face. "You'll get the chance to tell her yourself."
He shook his head weakly, and his lips moved again, so she pulled the mask away again. His voice came back a little more forcefully. "Cameo . . . know where. . . ."
She remembered. She had seen Shane look at the cameo and put it inside the top drawer of his desk the day of Jeannie's birthday party. "Yes, I know."
"Give it. . ." He coughed, spitting up more blood, and his words came weakly again. "Kim . . . sign . . . how . . . love her. . . ."
She clamped the mask down again. "I'll give it to her, Shane, I promise." She could feel tears running down her cheeks. "Just hold on, Shane."
"We need that tube, Kayla," Marcus said.
Kayla pulled the mask away again so the doctors could finish their work, but Shane's hand shot up and grabbed her wrist, preventing her from pulling away. The light burned in his eyes.
"Tell . . . Kim, kids . . . tell . . . sorry."
"Don't do this," she begged. "You can't-"
"Sorry . . . do . . . don't want to . . . go. . . ."
Kayla's voice rose. "You're not going anywhere, Shane. You got that? Don't you die!"
"Don't wa-" He coughed and his body convulsed violently, cutting off his words. Kayla waited for it to stop, but when it did - nothing. Shane fell completely still.
"No. You can't do this," Kayla cried. "You can't!"
But it was no use. The light faded from his eyes, and they became cloudy and unfocused.
"Damn it, Shane!" she yelled. "Fight!"
Around her, monitor alarms were ringing. Someone was calling a Code Blue and someone else was pulling her away. She saw Carly scrambling with the crash cart and heard Marcus call for a rib spreader. "No. Don't!" Kayla shouted, not sure if she was screaming at Shane for giving up or at Marcus for wanting to open him up in front of her.
"Get her out of here," someone ordered, and, then, she was being pulled out of the room and into the waiting room. Strong, familiar arms enveloped her. She felt the soft leather of his jacket and recognized his scent. He pulled her close, seeming not to care that she was covered in Shane's blood.
"I'm right here, Sweetness," Steve said, and Kayla sobbed and clung to him as if her life depended on it.