The waiting seemed to be endless. After an hour they call Blair's name into one of the treatment rooms. Jim wants to come with him but Blair pushes him back into the chair.
"No Jim. It's just a scratch and it is ridiculous enough that I have to go through this, there's no need for you to come with me as well."
Jim sinks back into his plastic chair with a sigh. Blair can see the mixture of worry, pain and guilt in Jim's eyes and leans forward laying one hand on Jims shoulder.
"Sorry Jim! I will be finished in a minute and then I will try to find us some coffee!"
Jim puts his head down, leaning his elbows on his knees and putting his head into his hands. Blair walks to the treatment room. He walks through the door and inside a man and a woman are waiting for him. The man points towards a stretcher telling Blair to sit down. Then he reaches out his hand.
"Hi! My name is Dr. Olson. How can I help you Mr. Sandburg?"
Blair reaches out his bloody left hand which is really starting to hurt. He seems to feel every heartbeat in it but he would never tell Jim that he was in pain.
"I cut my left hand. It did not hurt at the beginning. I was not even aware of the cut until I saw the blood. But now it has started feeling quite painful. It feels like something is pinching in it at every heartbeat."
The doctor takes Blair's hand.
"We need to clean it up first!"
He looks back to the woman in the room and obviously realizes that he didn't mention her name.
"By the way that's Carol, she will help me with your hand!"
Blair smiles at the nurse who smiles back at him and then turns around and hands Dr. Olson some stuff, who grabs it.
"Like I said cleaning it up first, then we will get a closer look. How did this happen Mr. Sandburg?"
"I was trying to help a woman in a car accident. I must have cut myself on the broken glass but like I said I did not even realize I had been cut at first. And please call me Blair"
"The hit and run a few hours ago?"
"Yes, Do you know anything about it. How is the woman? Is she ok?"
"Calm down Mr. Sa…. Blair. I don't know anything I just heard about it as she was brought in."
Blair sighs disappointed and the doctor keeps working on his hand. It burns like fire as the doc is cleaning the wound.
"You still have some small pieces of glass in the wound and the cut is deep. I will get you some local anesthetic, then get the glass out and you will probably need two or three stitches as well."
Carol has already handed him a syringe and Blair turns his head fast and taking a deep breath.
"You ok Blair?"
"Yeah! I just don't like needles"
"Ok then better lay down please and just think about something nice. You will feel a prick and then the anesthetic should stop you feeling anything else. You ready?"
Blair nodded he just wanted to get out of this room. He still thinks that this effort is ridiculous for just a scratch. Suddenly he feels the prick of the needle and he concentrates on trying not to think about the needle.
Jim sits in the waiting room, holding his head in his hands. And he follows Blair with his hearing. Follows his heartbeat and then follows the conversation he has with the doctor. He actually knows that Blair would hate it if he knew that he was spying on him but he needed something to do. Something more useful than just sitting here and thinking about the woman he has possibly killed. So he is listening to the conversation and is also aware of Blair's raising heartbeat then the doctor asking him if he is ok.
Jim was already on his feet and just wanted to walk in Blair's direction, wanting to see that his partner is alright. But then he hears Blair saying it is about the needle and the doctor asking him to lie down. And he stops immediately realizing that Blair would be mad at him if he burst into the treatment room and he does not need an angry Blair right now.
So he turns around again looking at the plastic chair he was sitting in as it was feeling like an eternity since that he had been sitting there. But instead of sitting down again he walks to the nurse's station. The woman behind the computer looks at him with a smile on her face but also with a sad look. Before he could say anything she is already getting up from her seat.
"Detective Ellison, I am sorry but I still don't know anything more about Ms. Jaimaison. We called her apartment several times but no one answered the phone and an officer called a few minutes ago telling me that they were at the apartment but no one was there. They woke a neighbor whilst knocking on the door and he told them that Ms. Jaimaison lives alone. We will need to wait and ask her whom to contact when she wakes."
'If she ever wakes up again' is running through Jim's thoughts but he doesn't say them. His headache which has been bothering him since all this started starts to get worse.
"Can you tell Mr. Sandburg when he is ready that I am outside getting some fresh air? And thank you for the update!"
He can see a small smile again and then she sits down behind the computer still looking at him.
"I will tell him."
Jim nods a thank you and then heads to the emergency room entrance. The headache really badgers him now and he feels unable to breathe anymore whilst he is inside the hospital. As he steps out into the fresh air he takes a deep breath. He walks a bit and then leans against a wall. The sun is going to rise soon. He can see the first sunrays already.
After the anesthetic Blair is unable to feel anything in his hand anymore. He closes his eyes while the doc silently does his job and he starts to drift off.
"We are done Blair!"
Blair startles at the sudden voice and his breathing rate increases rapidly. The doc grabs forward to calm him down again.
"Sorry Blair! Don't mean to frighten you."
"I think I dozed off a bit."
Blair looks a little embarrassed at Dr. Olson who has a wide smile on his face.
"For a doctor it's the best thing when the patients fall asleep. So we know, we are making everything right."
Blair smiles now too.
"After taking out all of the small pieces of glass I gave you three stitches. Keep the hand dry and change the bandage every other day and see a doctor for taking the stitches out in 10 days. I will prescribe some pain killers, you may need it for the first two maybe three days. After that it should work without. If the pain gets too much or the wound gets swollen or red come in again. I think I got everything out and cleaned the wound but infection is something that can always spread if you are not careful. If you promise to come in at the slightest change to the wound or the pain level I will desist from giving you antibiotics for now and give it a chance to heal without."
Blair nods fast and the "I promise" was said before Dr. Olson really could finish his sentence. Blair hates to take drugs and he is very happy to be able to avoid it this time. Dr. Olson smiles at his immediate answer.
"Good! You will get the prescription for the pain killers and some bandage material at the station outside."
Blair nods and thanks Dr. Olson and then leaves the room to walk back to the nurse station beside the waiting room. The woman there is already holding his papers for him before he can say anything. Blair takes the papers with a thanks and then turns around to look after Jim. But Jim is not sitting where he left him before his treatment. He looks around in the waiting room to see if he can spot him anywhere else.
"Your partner is outside. He said he needed some fresh air."
Blair immediately turns around to the voice behind him. He must look as confused as he feels at the moment because the nurse just repeats what she said.
"Your partner went outside the emergency room to get some fresh air."
Blair now more aware of what she said nods a thank you towards her and then makes his way outside the hospital as well. He doesn't need to walk far as he sees Jim leaning on a wall right outside the door. He just needs one quick look to know that Jim had zoned again.
"Damn Jim!"
He runs to Jim, who leans at the wall. His eyes open as he seems to just be looking at the rising sun but Blair knows better. He grabs Jims arm and starts rubbing it slowly.
"Come on Jim! Not again. Twice in one night that's not good. Come on get back to me Jim!"
Suddenly Jim's legs seems to give out from under him. Blair grabs Jims arm and trying to hold him up. But the sudden weight was too much and so both sink down to the floor. Jim shakes his head several times and then looks at Blair who shoots a worried look at him.
"Twice? You are getting me really worried now Jim. How are you feeling?"
Jim bends forward and starts to massage his temples again with his thumbs.
"Headache!"
Blair grabs forward and helps Jim to get up from the floor again.
"How are you feeling?"
Jim points at the bandaged hand of Blair.
"I am all right. Just a scratch like I said"
Jim wanted to protest about the scratch thing again when suddenly a voice can be heard from behind.
"Mr. Ellison, Mr. Sandburg. Rebecca Jaimaisons surgeon is ready to speak with you now!"
Blair and Jim look at each other for a moment and then Jim starts to run back into the emergency and Blair immediately follows him.
A doctor waits at the nurse station and Jim stops right in front of him. Blair stands directly behind Jim, his hand lying not visible for others on Jim's back to keep him as calm as possible. The doctor turns towards them and reaches out his hand.
"Hi! I am Dr. Stevenson. I did the surgery on Ms. Jaimaison and was informed that some people are waiting to get some information."
Jim shakes the doctor's hand.
"I am Detective James Ellison, my partner Blair Sandburg"
The doctor shakes Blair's hand as well, who just nods at him without saying anything. Jim continues.
"We witnessed the accident and would like to know more about the current condition of Ms. Jaimaison."
Blair can feel the tension in Jim's voice and puts his right hand again on Jims back.
"Ok Detectives. Most important, the injuries from Ms. Jaimaison are no longer life threatening. The fact that she got help very fast saved her life. She had heavy internal bleeding which probably would have killed her in less than half an hour but we were able to fix that. She has two broken ribs and a partially fractured collarbone. Several cuts a real deep one on her left lower leg but no nerves or tendons are damaged. A concussion is possible as well. It will need some time but she will fully recover."
Blair can feel that Jim's muscles under his hand relax.
"Thank you for the good news doctor. Is there a chance we can see her?"
"She is in ICU and she will sleeping for most of the next day or so. There is no chance to get an interview with her now."
"Please doctor just a minute!"
"You can look at her from outside. I can do nothing more at the moment. Follow me."
Dr. Stevenson turns around and walks down the corridor, Jim and Blair following him. They take the steps down into the first basement level and there walking down another corridor. Then they stop in front of a glass window. Blair recognizes the woman he was holding the hand in the car and his anger rises seeing her lying there with all those machines around her.
"I will go in and check her vitals. You can watch and then I need you to leave again"
Blair nods towards the doctor. Jim is standing at the window staring at the young woman. He can hear the beeps from the heart monitor but that's not what he wanted to hear. He stretches out his hearing and found the natural heartbeat from the woman. The same steady heartbeat he heard at the scene and the guilt just creeps over him again.
'I could have killed her' was all he could think while watching her and listening to her heartbeat. Everything gets blurry around him until suddenly something hits his shoulder. He winces from the pain and looks confused towards Blair, who is standing right next to him with clenched fist.
"Not again Jim. I warn you. If you drift off into another zone I am not getting you back anymore."
Jim can hear the worry in Blair's voice and Blair's look is telling him the same.
"I am sorry Chief. It seems uncontrollable at the moment"
Before Blair can say anything more the doctor steps out of the room again.
"She is doing fine and should be out from the ICU in a couple of days. You can see her again then if you still need to. Now I really have to ask you to go."
Blair thanks Dr. Stevenson and then pushes Jim down the hall towards the staircase. As they step out into the air at the emergency entrance the sun has already risen high. Jim covers his eyes as they step out into the sunlight and winces back a bit.
"You Ok Jim?"
"Yeah just this nasty headache it has been bothering me since the accident."
"I think it's really time to go home now and get you some rest."
Blair looks at Jim who clearly wants to say something about Blair's advice.
"No arguments!"
Blair reaches out his hand towards Jim.
"Keys! I am driving and I will call Simon at home telling him what has happened and that we will come in this afternoon."
Jim grabs into his pocket and gets out the keys. He never planned to protest Blair's decision. His head is nearly killing him, and the sunlight was making it worse. He hands the keys to Blair and both get into Jims car. The drive home was quiet. Jim rests his head on the window and has his eyes closed. Blair looks at Jim from time to time while driving home. He thinks about how this night was able to go completely wrong. He thinks about Rebecca Jaimaison but mostly he worries about his partner.
"Three times in five hours. No wonder you are feeling like crap at the moment!" mumbles Blair behind the wheel. After that Jim looks at Blair but immediately closes his eyes again with a painful look.
"You said something Chief?"
"Yeah, we're home!"
Blair parks the car, jumps out of it and is running around to the passenger side. He opens the door and help Jim out of the car.
"Just keep your eyes closed Jim. I will guide you."
They get into the loft at the third floor and while Jim is heading towards the bathroom. Blair is closing all the blinds to keep as much as of the sunlight out of the loft as possible. Jim comes back with a pack of Tylenol. He gets a glass of water in the kitchen and swallows two pills then walks straight towards the stairs to his bedroom.
"You will call Simon?"
"Yeah will do. Don't worry. Get your rest!"
Jim walks up the stairs but stops halfway. Blair just grabs the phone.
"Chief?"
Blair looks at him.
"Thank you!"
A smile appears on Blair's face. Jim just continues to walk upstairs and then gets undressed and was lying in bed just a few seconds later. He listens to the conversation Blair has downstairs with Simon on the phone but then just concentrates on Blair's heartbeat which immediately lets him drift off into a calm and relaxing sleep.
Blair finishes his phone call with Simon. Silent snores can be heard from upstairs and Blair feels relieved. He is heading towards his own bedroom gets undressed and falls into his own bed. Just as he lays down he recognizes the heavy pain in his left hand. But before he could even think about it to get up and take one of the Tylenol for himself he was already falling asleep as well.
Authors note:
Sorry for the long waiting. I had it finished a while ago but my proofreader was quite a bit busy and I dont wanted to post it without the check. Again it would be nice to know what you think and if its worth to continue. Thx