DISCLAIMER: I do not own Chicago Med or any of the characters. Enjoy and reviews are appreciated, inspire me to keep going!
She left without another word. The CDC officers in the room with Connor helped him into the suit as he resentfully slipped it on. As they were about the secure the gigantic headpiece, he sharply declined and took a face mask instead.
Dr. Charles, Sarah, Maggie, and April were still in the booth outside, their faces grave, they seemed to be more grim than Rhodes.
"Dr. Reese," Connor spoke while checking Allison's rashes, "what can you tell us about meningitis?"
"Um," she stuttered, "Dr. Rhodes, I don't really think this is the right time-"
"This is a teaching hospital," he said while checking her pupil movement, "and as you're senior doctor, I am teaching a rising resident about a rare disease."
She hesitated, " It's an inflammation of brain and spinal cord membranes, typically caused by an infection."
"Good," he continued, "and what is the main courses of treatment we should take?"
"Various antibiotics, given orally or through a continuous intravenous infusion," she said quietly.
He finally looked up after his examination, "Ceftriaxone, a common drug to meningitis, but hasn't been showing results with the patient. I need all of you to pull up everything we've got on treatments and report back to me."
Sarah obeyed and left the chamber, happy for something to do.
"Are you insane, Rhodes?!" Maggie finally exploded, "This is a suicide mission! Do you know what you've done? You put yourself at risk for something that may not even work! You call yourself a doctor?!"
She stormed out of the room, April giving a last apologetic glance at Rhodes and following her out.
"Correction," Dr. Charles said, "I wouldn't want to be locked in a room with her."
Rhodes smiled, happy one person wasn't mad at him.
He sighed, "Alright, let me hear it."
"Excuse me?"
"You're the shrink, give it to me straight. I know it was stupid, but she was dying. There weren't many options."
"On the contrary, Dr. Rhodes," the psychiatrist began, "I think you're incredibly noble and brave for doing something like this. Many people would've let her go, but that's what makes you a good doctor. You're resilient and strong."
Rhodes actually smiled, it had felt like a while since he did.
"Didn't say it wasn't stupid, just noble," Dr. Charles teased.
Connor did laugh at that one.
"Just a little viral Meningitis," Dr. Charles joked, settling down, "nothing Molly's can't fix."
Rhodes settled down in the chair beside Allison's bed, the only sound in the isolation room was the beeping of various machines.
….
Halstead stormed into the isolation chamber, nerves on edge.
"What the hell happened?" Halstead said abruptly.
"Doctor of the year in there risked his own life and is now has meningitis in his system" Maggie informed Will, sarcasm coloring her tone, "Someone please present Dr. Rhodes his Harper-Avery, everybody."
Rhodes just gave her the side eye while he adjusted Allison's meds in her IV.
"Look at me real good honey," Maggie said to Rhodes, "it's the only face you'll be seeing for awhile."
Although he knew Maggie was furious at him, Connor knew it was her increasing worry that made her lash out. He could sense all his friends concern, even Will's.
"I was trying to save Allison's life-"
"Yeah, well cut the crap, Rhodes!" Halstead spoke in the mic, "This was a stupid and wrong move to make."
"Now that we've got our greetings out of the way," Connor sighed, "why don't we try and work to find a cure that will help the patient?"
"Honey, you're a patient now too," Maggie sounded, "It's been an hour."
Connor just groaned, annoyed that they were getting off task for his sake but walked over to the glass door. There was a small, drawer like pocket that Maggie safely put a bag fluids and needle in, closing her side of the air tight door so Rhodes could open his.
They stared at each other while Connor rolled up his sleeve, finally gazing away from their locked eyes to insert the needle and start the flow of meds into his body. He had been in there a total of two hours and was just starting to feel some very minor symptoms.
His surroundings got a little fuzzy just for a second every so often, needing to blink a few times to restore his vision and he began to start feeling very hot and sweaty, yet he kept telling himself it was the hazmat suit.
The meds had safely registered and Rhodes slid the IV needle out of his forearm, Will giving him a famous glare and Connor retaliating with one of his own famous ones.
"Dr….Dr. Rhodes?" a weak voice sounded behind him.
Connor instantly turned around and went to her bedside, "Hey, yes, Allison, how are you feeling? Your fever is still running pretty high."
"What happened?" she groaned.
This time Will sounded over the speaker, "You had an allergic reaction to the medication, were researching now for a different one that doesn't contain any of the drugs you're allergic to."
"Wh-Who's that?"
"My name is Dr. Halstead, a colleague of Dr. Rhodes."
"Why is Dr. Rhodes in here? Shouldn't he have all that weird stuff on?"
"Stupid mistake on my part, but you were having a seizure and your airway was closing so I came in and stabilized you. There was no time for protective gear," Rhodes explained.
"But…aren't you sick now too?" she asked with big blue eyes.
"Yes..while coming in to help you, I did expose myself to the virus but I have already started treatment and have been authorized to stay in the room with you in case of another emergency."
She didn't say anything in return, her eyes full of guilt that he risked his life for a lost cause. The medication was taking its toll as she faded into unconsciousness once more.
A door aggressively banged shut in the sound booth outside, a furious Ethan Choi barging in, his eyes finding Rhodes', and shouting, "What did you do?!"
"Question of the year," Maggie mumbled.
"You idiot!" Choi continued, "You know how dangerous this is? Not to forget obnoxious and stupid!"
"Yeah, well, seems like everyone has got something good to say about me today," Rhodes remarked.
"This completely out of line, Rhodes! Strolling into an isolation chamber unprotected? Quarantine wasn't enough?" Choi blew up at Connor.
Rhodes knew he deserved it and didn't say anything, but tried so hard not to say something.
"What were you planning on doing, huh?" Choi continued his rant, "you strolled in there and then what? Get her heart going until you're too sick to finish the job?"
To Connor's relief, Sarah Reese stepped hesitantly into the room and spoke into the mic, "Uh, Dr Rhodes? I got the information you wanted."
"Good. Let me hear it," said Connor as he reassessed Allison.
Reese listed a few common drugs used to treat the disease, along with oxygen therapy and plenty of fluids, "..hopefully the disease should clear up on its own if it's a mild case," Reese finished.
"Tell me, Ms. Reese," Rhodes asked, done with his assessment, "is this a mild case of viral meningitis?"
"No, sir," she said quietly, "I mean no sir-or doctor-"
"Thank you Reese, if you could let the nurse know," he dismissed her.
She left with a nod and walked out of the isolation room. Choirs eyes still burned with fury, but his mouth was a thin line, too angry to speak.
Rhodes sighed. This was going to be a long night, he thought.
…
Halstead walked up to the glass next to Natalie, both staring at the two infected persons behind the clear wall.
"How's he doing?" Halstead asked gravely.
"He's not showing it, but the last hour has gotten worse," Natalie responded quietly, Rhodes having been locked in the room for 10 hours now.
Rhodes was sitting on the floor, back to the wall, and eyes scrunched in discomfort. The symptoms were beginning to start and, tough as Rhodes was, had a few cracks on the surface.
"Rhodes," Halstead said through the loud speaker, thinking that if he aroused his friend the pain wouldn't be as bad.
Rhodes opened his eyes instantly and tried to quickly get to his feet, flinching slightly at the pain in his head and chest.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down Rhodes," Halstead said, "Take it slow, alright?"
"I'm fine," he responded.
"No Connor, you're not," Natalie responded, "This is serious and you better take it seriously too. Do what Will says and take it easy."
"Noted," Connor responded, "Any news on Allison's tests?"
"Her EKG shows slow heart function," Natalie informed, her eyes growing a little worried when she saw Connor make a pained expression, "But looks like her temperature went down from the antibiotics."
"Good, keep me posted," he struggled to say, dark shadows beginning to form under his eyes.
"Rhodes," Natalie started, "Maybe you should sit down for a few minutes, take a little break. I can get some morphine up here-"
"No need, Natalie," he cut her off, "It's nothing I can't handle."
Halstead aggressively turned the mic off, Rhodes not being able to hear him but sure as hell know what he was thinking.
Natalie picked the mic back up, saying, "Rhodes-"
Suddenly, Allison's monitor started blaring, alarming everyone in the room. Rhodes got up as fast as his body let him, ignoring the screams of pain in his head and abdomen.
"Her BP's bottoming out!" Connor yelled.
Allison was drenched in sweat and a painful expression was apparent on her face, blood pressure steadily dropping.
"Rhodes she's tachi-cardic!" Halstead screamed through the mic, tempted to run into the room.
Rhodes grabbed the paddles by Allison's bed, breathing heavily. The virus was catching up with him, but that was the last of his worries. His one focus was to save this patient's life. Charging the paddles, Connor shocked Allison twice on the chest, not giving up anytime soon.
Will began rushing to the door, noticing the pallor of Rhodes' skin and the beads of sweat on his forehead.
"Will, no!" Natalie screamed, and erupted from her chest and caught his arm before he opened the door.
"Natalie she's crashing in there and Connor isn't in the best of shape to save her!" he cried frantically, worried about the two patients behind the door, "We've got to help him before he crashes too!"
Rhodes was inside, breathing heavily, but the determination in his eyes showed he wasn't about to let the patient die in his hands.
"Come on, Allison!" he screamed at the girl in front of him, "I ran into the isolation room to save you once and now that I'm in here you want to slip away?! Not this time!"
The heart monitor behind Rhodes made a long beep, an indication that regular heart rhythm was restoring.
Natalie and Will both let out big sighs and Manning hugged Halstead, happy the patient was going to keep fighting.
"He's right," Will said, a smile on his face, "Like Rhodes said, she's young and healthy. She can pull through this- Rhodes!"
Rhodes inside, paddles still in his hands, sank to the floor and rested his head on the cold tile floor, eyes closed. His breathing was extremely heavy, almost gasping, and the painful expression on his face indicated saving someone's life wasn't an activity Meningitis patients liked to handle.
"Rhodes!" Natalie yelled again, racing to the mic so her friend could hear her, "Connor!"
Halstead was already putting a hazmat suit on, not caring about the consequences.
Rhodes lifted a weary arm, as if saying he was still with them.
"Just c-catching my b-breath," he huffed.
Finally, hazmat suited men rushed through the isolation room, seeing Rhodes on the floor and rushed into the room that held the patients, pushing Halstead aside.
Maggie and Sharon also ran in, walking straight to Natalie.
"What happened?" Sharon asked, worriedly.
"Allison started crashing," she explained, her nerves still on edge, "he got a regular rhythm back, it just took its toll on him."
Maggie looked into the room with horror, seeing the multiple suited CDC officers surrounding a motionless Rhodes on the floor, eyes still closed.
Muller at last entered, walking over to the door to speak with the officers, Halstead's furious eyes following him, but he took no notice.
After a few privately exchanged words with the officer who stepped out of the room, Muller walked up to Sharon.
"Dr. Goodwin," he said in a level voice, "Dr. Connor Rhodes' illness is beginning to progress. It's in the CDC's and hospital's best interest if her were to be removed into another isolation room and monitored. He is physically unable to look after Allison Grace any further, the virus is beginning to take effect."
…..