DISCLAIMER: I do not own Chicago Med or any of the characters. I had to delete that last chapter, published all weird so I'm reposting it. Enjoy and please review!
All Connor remembered before everything went fuzzy and did a 180 was him continuously shocking Allison Grace's pale chest, praying that her erratic heart rhythm would slow down. Before that, an intense pain in his abdomen and head was causing Rhodes to lose focus and become extremely exhausted. When Allison's heart monitor erupted, it was all Rhodes could do not to vomit when he jumped up from the ground.
There were loud voices sounding in the background, but Rhodes knew he was going and going quick. He jumped for the paddles and brought them down on Allison's chest, you are not dying today, is all he could think.
When the monitor fell into somewhat of a rhythm, Rhodes spotted several CDC men rushing into the booth outside. He stood there panting, the world like a dream, and began to feel his knees buckle and legs give out. Sinking to the floor, he lie with his back on the tile ground and eyes closing. He was sweating and breathing hard but was shivering and felt like he had taken an ice bath, pain radiating throughout his body.
He heard the faraway voices of a few hazmat suited men calling his name and speaking to him, catching only a few glimpses of conversation. There was a jumble of "Temp is up to 102" and "he's delirious, the disease is spreading" from the yellow suited men.
A gurney was brought in and moment of weightlessness overcame as he was lifted up and put on the stretcher, his mind succumbing to the black wave washing over him.
….
Rhodes woke up feeling like crap. His life was crap, his family was crap, his luck was crap. His blue eyes barely open, Rhodes noticed he was in a hospital gown and being wheeled through corridors and automatic doors. He just hoped whoever put the gown on sure as hell was a hot nurse.
After a moment of getting a feel for his surroundings, Rhodes felt the side effects of meningitis start creeping their way back. The unimaginable migraine, the pressure pushing down on his chest, the discomfort in his limbs and muscles making every small movement noticeable. His exhaustion was another story, his threatening to close at any second. As Rhodes fought to stay awake, he mumbled a few words, delirious from his fever.
"Wh-where mm..I?"
The pain in his skull magnified and his face was pinched in pain.
Quarantine was much better than this, he thought.
His chest felt like cracking under the built up pressure there and Rhodes' light headedness kept getting worse by the minute. The whole room was turning, as if suffering a 9.0 earthquake.
Unable to withstand it anymore, Rhodes let his eyelids start to close and his mind drift to the blackness once more.
….
His dreams were plagued with images of his mother, narcissistic father, and his sister, Claire. He dreamed they were back home and eating at the big dinner table full of 12 different kinds of food. Yet, the dream always ended in the same way. Rhodes would walk out the front door of his childhood home and find his mother's body on the ground outside on the porch, limbs at odd angles and surrounded in a growing pool of blood. Dead.
When he somewhat came back to reality, Rhodes knew something wasn't right. The pressure in his chest had swelled to a balloon, his lungs feeling helpless and unable to get air. His head was a different story. Each second a new wave of pain flooded his mind and hit every inch of his skull. The worst was his feeling of being on air. His mind felt like it was tied to a balloon and floating.
Great. Infection. He put two and two together.
He could feel the heat radiating off his skin but his shivers had gotten worse and he felt he was dunked into an ice bath. His dazed blue eyes barely able to focus, Connor confusingly looked around him. He was in a hospital bed, blankets mangled from his nightmares, and the sheets were drenched in sweat. Rhodes saw he was in a closed off room with safety precaution signs posted in all directions. Isolation chamber.
"Nurse.." he said feebly, the pain in his head amplifying, "Nurse..someone," he yelled a little louder.
Rhodes had a sense he wasn't going to be coming back around to consciousness anytime soon and this was his last chance to gain anyone's attention.
"Nurse!" he tried shouting again, but his door was closed. Rhodes tried to desperately grope for the call button but his mind was already fading, and fading fast.
Once more, he weakly called, "Nurse.." and his hand hung over the bed frame, the call button inches away.
….
This time, Rhodes was in the ED. Maggie had just paged him and the paramedics rushed in with a gurney covered in blood.
"Attempted suicide!" shouted one of the paramedics, filling the doctors in on the details.
Some nurses helped Rhodes into a gown, gloves, and glasses and he went to work.
A shock went through Rhodes his body jolting.
As he turned and looked down at the patient, he gasped in horror.
Once more, Rhodes' body felt waves of electricity run through him.
The woman lying on the table was young, with electric blue eyes staring blankly ahead. Her hair lay like a fan around her and she was strikingly beautiful.
"Dr. Rhodes?" a nurse next to him asked.
He didn't answer, just stared blankly down at the lady on the table.
"Come on!" A stern voice yelled in the background, electricity racing through him.
Words played at Rhodes's lips. Words he couldn't form. Again a nurse called his name.
"BP dropping!" His chest jolted upward once more.
"M-mom?" Rhodes whispered, the woman lying in front of him, eyes wide, was his mother. He stood there speechless, unable to move.
The locked eyes blinked once and a sigh escaped her lips, Rhodes' like blue eyes closing.
"Mom!" he yelled.
His mind went clear as the electricity brought him back from the nightmare he was stuck in. Familiar voices sounded around him, relief evident in their tones.
"His temp's still high but his BP is back at a safe level," a voice said, reminding Rhodes much of Halstead.
They were back in reality, the heart monitor beep filling the room and low voices spoke.
"We'll keep monitoring him, Halstead volunteered to stay," stated a Choi like voice.
Halstead volunteered to stay with him? He finally understood the "there's a first time for everything" saying.
His chest felt like it had been through the wringer and his skin stung. The exhaustion pulled at him once more, unable to control the unconsciousness that swept him away.
….